You may have got a theme forming from my last couple of posts. I’m trying to be a healthier version of myself. It doesn’t take much to accomplish that at the moment to be fair. I’ve become a really sedentary creature these past few months and now that I’ve got a new job which is currently 100% at home, there are days where I rarely leave the house other than to do the school run. With that being said, I am trying to do more with my body and my latest foray in to a healthier me was to try out online pilates.
Ha! I say this as if I’d already tried regular, in person pilates. I hadn’t. In all honesty, I didn’t actually know what pilates was. I know people in my book club rave about the local pilates classes in our village and have encouraged me to go but it just seemed like something wealthy, middle class people did and I’m neither of those things.
Grace Lillywhite of Centred Mums offered me a free pilates session and seeing as it was online and I could do it in the comfort of my home without feeling self conscious, I jumped at the chance to give it a go. As I mentioned in a previous post, I’ve put on a lot of weight recently and have become a tad self conscious of the beautiful body that I inhabit. I was a bit nervous but really excited at the same time to give it a go. Grace owns a pregnancy and postnatal pilates and holistic health company in St Albans, which whilst not down the road from me, would be close enough to go to in person if and when the lockdown restrictions ease.
What's in this post
What is pilates?
Grace’s classes and online courses offer education and practical exercises to help improve pelvic floor and abdominal function.
Pilates is a physical fitness system named after its creator, Joseph Pilates (or so Wikipedia tells me!)It’s particularly popular in Western countries such as the UK, Australia and USA. Although there are some comparisons with yoga, it isn’t based on the same principles and it is less likely that any spiritual aspects will be addressed in a pilates class as opposed to a yoga class.
There are up to 9 main principles of pilates which are:
- Breathing
- Concentration
- Centering
- Flow
- Postural alignment
- Precision
- Relaxation
- Stamina
Before the lesson
As you would expect from an exercise or health practitioner, I had to answer screening questions before the pilates lesson. It was via a really easy online form and didn’t take long. It screened for any health concerns or injuries as well as asking specifically about my pelvic floor.
What was the actual pilates lesson like?
The lesson lasted around an hour and I learned a lot about my body in this time. For example, I’ve had a dodgy knee now for a year and although the pain comes and goes, it became obvious that I’d been compensating for the pain by overusing my other leg. The strength in one leg was so much more than the one with the damaged knee. Additionally, Grace was able to check my gait and stature and zoned in on my pelvis not being as secure as it could be. My hips are misaligned and something I’ll be working on fixing in the coming months.
I spent a lot of time laying on the ground focusing on my breathing and on NOT scrunching up my bum cheeks! It turns out it’s harder than it looks to isolate your pelvic muscles but after expert guidance from Grace, I eventually got the hang of it and of ’squeezing my hips together’ too.
3 Tips for pelvic floor health
Grace was generous enough to send me loads of tips for improving my pelvic floor health. Thankfully, I don’t suffer too badly but my pelvic floor could be better. Here are a few of the tips she gave me.
TIP 1: TUNE INTO YOUR BREATH
Our breath and our pelvic floor have an important relationship – when we inhale our pelvic floor moves down and releases, when we breathe out it lifts and contracts. We should be using the whole canister of our torso so that the pressure created as we breathe is balanced. Bring your hands around the bottom of your ribcage and make sure you are able to feel that the ribs are moving and you are not sending too much breath into your belly.
TIP 2: SIT LESS!
Look at your day and think about how much time you spend sitting down. When we sit, particularly if your pelvis is tucked under, your pelvic floor shortens and tightens. We need to allow the pelvic floor the ability to both contract and release. If we are sitting for the majority of the day, our pelvic floor may lose the ability to release and therefore it won’t contract as effectively when we try to strengthen it.
TIP 3 – LOOK AT THE BODY AS A WHOLE
Pelvic floor health is a full body issue. Everything is connected! So the way that your feet, your legs, your ribcage and your head all have an impact on how your pelvic floor functions. Tension and imbalance throughout your entire body make a difference to what is happening in your pelvis so you need to look at that too – at your posture, your alignment and the way you are moving day to day.
Would you recommend pilates with Grace?
Yes I would. I found Grace to be so personable and friendly. I had to do my lesson in my office space after a last minute logistical error (someone was playing their playstation in the living room…) and she didn’t roll her eyes at me lugging a 27inch iMac to the floor so that she could watch my hips in action as I practised her exercises.
Grace was very knowledgeable and patient. Even via video call, she was able to recognise when I wasn’t breathing correctly or getting a movement right. She corrected me and fixed the issues with ease and humour. By the end of the session, it felt like I was speaking with someone I’d known for years, not for an hour.
Fancy booking your own pilates session with Centred Mums or finding out more? Click here to visit the Centred Mums website
I was offered a complimentary online pilates session. All views are my own. As ever, I’d tell you if I thought something sucked 👸🏾
