About

Hello and thank you for stopping by . I hope you will enjoy reading my short story of how I moved away from pain, avoided back surgery and regained full health again.

It all started in 2003 with severe pain and spasms in my back on a daily basis which was due to an accident involving a cycle bike. Some days I would be in bed and could not move because of the nerve pain which travelled through my femoral nerve , my groin, my hip and leg. This is the opposite nerve to the sciatica nerve in case you are wondering. This cycle accident had left me with a torn vastus medialis muscle (near the knee) and this consequently cost me a 2 cm loss of muscle in my entire left leg. My weak leg then became the cause of my faulty alignment as there was now considerable nerve damage to the muscles of the leg which eventually created more issues in my back and hip. The pain in my back and hip was agonizing and the only way I could get through my days was with my ongoing treatments from an osteopath. My clinical diagnosis at the time was arthritis in my L5 and L4, herniated disc and degenerative disease through my entire lower back and which at some point in the near future I would probably need surgery.

Like yourself, I had heard so many good things about Pilates and I finally decided to join in a Mat Class at my local Leisure Centre and even though I had just started my treatments of osteopathy, I thought at the time that “surely any beginners class will be a good place to start “ . Sadly I could not of been so wrong as this so-called beginners class were all taught random exercises ranging from beginners to advanced exercises like the exercise below called the “Teaser “. This particular exercises requires strong abdominals to support the lower back against the weight of your legs. (SEE IMAGE BELOW )surgery.

So here I was, trying to follow a teacher at this leisure centre class with no idea of how to engage my core muscles or even breath. I sadly found myself leaving my first Pilates class in utter disappointment and a delicate back that felt much worse than before.

My Pilates journey was not love at first sight especially with these MIXED LEVEL classes teaching a posh version of bums and tums. I decided to take matters into my own hands by becoming a qualified teacher and at least now I could help myself and then others. After a few years of teaching Pilates Mat classes I then returned to London to complete my full training.

PILATES REFORMER, WUNDA CHAIR, CADILLAC AND BARRELS

The apparatus exercises had such a positive effect on my weak left leg. Within a few months I was able to walk much further and get back to hill walking without my lower back going into spasms or locking. The machines do look intimidating when you first see them , in fact many clients say that the machines look like some kind of torture machine or even something out of 50 shades of grey, but they are definitely not.

Today...

I teach everyday, Group Mat classes and 1-1s. I walk my dog 90 minutes a day and practise 20–30 minutes of Pilates movements in my own home studio everyday. At the Age of 52, I intend to keep moving like this for as long as I can as movement is more than just a stretch or strengthen here and there, It is the very thing that feeds our entire system, rebooting our mind and flushing any stagnation through the lymphatic system resulting in a sense of total well-being and balance.

Hi my name is Kelly. I first met Claire a long, long time ago now when she was working and teaching from Harrington Community Centre upstairs in the little room, which I quite liked actually up there. It was my 1st time doing Pilates, and I absolutely loved it, previous to that, I'd done a lot of different fitness kind of ways… gym, boxing, swimming. My back had started to hurt not long after I’d had my son in 2000. I was getting lower back pain, I'd been going to a chiropractor for some time before that, and he’d suggested Pilates, which is when I found Claire… not long after I stopped going to the chiropractor. I continued to practice Pilates, followed Claire to her studio, which was amazing. I loved that little studio. I got to know Claire really well even though I only used to go twice a week, but it was kind of a thing that I wanted to keep up and I wanted to do and I wanted to also share my experience of Pilates in that, what it had helped me do, how it had helped my back, and share that experience really and share that knowledge and strength with other people.

Claire was looking for somebody to work alongside her at the studio. Myself and a lad, who I can't remember his name now, were interested and we stated going through the Basi training, which was a real privilege. I absolutely loved learning all about the body. I had taken PE at school and wish I'd pursued that actually once I'd got into this Pilates because I realised I really was intrigued in how the body works and how the muscles and the bones work together, I also realised I didn't know as much as I thought about how the system works and how your body can kind of heal and protect itself, when the muscles get stronger. I continued the Basi Pilates training. Sadly failed my first exam. I was absolutely gutted. I cried like a baby. I was determined to pass, so I had to go down to London the second time to do the exam, which was a bit daunting, but very exciting, and I was adamant I was gonna pass it. And I did, which was amazing. So I started to teach for Claire in her studio. I have some funny stories of those times, because my daughter was only 6 at the time and what with working and juggling childcare and being a busy working Mam, Grace sometimes joined our class… Because she wouldn't sit in the office. She was determined she wanted to come in and join in, so that was good fun. I really enjoyed the Basi flow, the Basi training and teaching. But then I myself started up a business not long after that actually, which wasn't really planned but it was an opportunity that we couldn't let go. I was teaching and I started up the business at the same time, and I was also still working part time at Sunderland College and working part time as a freelance wedding photographer. So I was doing a lot of things. And sadly, I chose to give up Pilates, I also gave up my college job once the shop was up and running and my wedding photography because I couldn't sustain it all.

I wish if I could turn back the clock, I wish I had kept up with the Pilates and made it fit in with my life. Sadly, I didn't even practice it, which showed in my body only a couple of years ago.

I got a bulging disc which created the worst sciatic pain in my left leg, to the point where I couldn't walk. I was kind of lay on the floor for a number of weeks. I had kept in touch with Claire over the years, and I knew she could help, through Claire's help, and my knowledge of learning Pilates through the Basi training and through Claire, I believe that I managed to fix myself.

I can walk now and I am no longer in pain, so that is amazing. I would put it all down to the Strength and alignment that Pilates brings to your body. Posture, definitely posture, and working out, also trying to not have too much stress in my life. I got stronger, I started off in the beginner's class, which was quite frustrating for me because I'd been intermediate and I'd also been at an actual teacher, so it was quite frustrating for me to start back at beginners, but I knew there was absolutely no chance of me going into into intermediate classes, with the lack of mobility in my leg and back and the pain I was in. Quite quickly, I got stronger and I got more confidence in myself that I was not going to break myself. I was kind of fixing myself and I could feel myself getting stronger. I was doing a lot of dog walking aswell, really concentrating on my feet and my posture and a lot of you will know that I talk about feet being like the roots and kind of where it all starts. I spoke to Claire and asked if she wanted me to cover any classes, I'd be happy to. I believe I'm stronger now than I ever was before, even when I was teaching Basi and I was doing it like, 4 or 5 times a week. I think, I just have a better understanding of it now. Although I don't have as much knowledge or experience in the healing side of it, the physio side of it, like Claire does, I do think I understand it a hell of a lot better. I started teaching not so long ago, just maybe a year ago, one or two classes at first and then just after Christmas I stated teaching at Biddick Primary, and the Arts centre, and the rest is history, as they say. What I will say is if I hadn't found Claire all those years ago at Harrington and totally believed in her and worked hard with her and in her classes.

I really think I would be in a completely different place now with my back because they said I needed injections and Operations, which I was adamant I didn't want to do. I do think if I didn't have the knowledge of Pilates and the experience of practising it as well as teaching it. I really don't think that I would be doing what I'm doing today and feel as Aligned and strong as I do today, so I just want to take this opportunity to thank Claire and to also let you know that I am still learning.

We all can learn something new every day. It doesn't matter how much we know we need to keep on learning. I will be passing on anything that I find out, and I kind of experience, and I know that will help. That's what I like to do. I like to pass it on to help others. Come along to one of the classes…See you soon