Introduction

Let me start by apologising to any of you who experienced difficulty in emailing us during the last few weeks, either having your emails bounced or simply ignored. The fact of the matter BT failed to fix our business broadband until I took the somewhat unconventional step of laying siege to our local Exchange next to the fire station at the top of Snakes Lane West in Woodford Green, and threatened to stay there until the problem was resolved. Within 24 hours an engineer was able to rectify the problem and we were back in business. I have no idea how many of you may have tried to email me but please don’t think you were being ignored; it was as frustrating for us as it was for you.

Classes

• Because of the holiday period single places are now available on a number of our courses either as a replacement to your existing course or as an additional session. If you have a particular day and time in mind please contact the office to see if a place is available for you.
• From 22 July to 26 August inclusive the Thursday evening courses at 19.30 (no.1207) and 20.45 (no.1208) will be amalgamated and run at 19.30 as one Improvers course.
• Please check the notice board in the cloakroom for details of all forthcoming courses. Renewal Forms are available on the wall next to the notice board.

House Rules

Many of our classes are now full so it is imperative that you book with the office before taking replacement classes as there may not be room for you. This, of course, then releases places for other clients wishing to swap classes. Additional places to your existing course can also be booked with the office.

Bending the Body Like Beckham

Eduard Botha, who owns a Pilates studio and two boxing gyms in Cape Town and is a member of Body Arts and Sciences International (an international Pilates association) recently wrote this article.
With the Soccer World Cup having successfully been hosted in our country it is time for all South Africans to take a deep breath and reflect on what an amazing event it has been. It has been great to see faces from all over the world enjoying the biggest sporting event on the planet. A few of the tourists even made their way to our Pilates studio in Camps Bay, Cape Town.
After watching almost every game of the World Cup and being lucky enough to attend games at the spectacular stadium in Cape Town, what never ceased to amaze me was the pure athleticism of the players. Training at such a frenetic pace must inevitably take its toll on the body. No wonder football stars like David Beckham have turned to Pilates. In a recent interview, David Beckham (LA Galaxy and AC Milan soccer star) acknowledged incorporating Pilates into his daily training regime, with the intention of prolonging his career.
Beckham does one hour of Pilates a day, a practice he picked up at AC Milan, which boasts a fully-equipped Pilates studio at its training ground. The Milan players have credited Pilates with improving their balance and flexibility and Beckham has said that Pilates has helped him get into the best shape of his life.
No doubt other progressive thinking coaches will ensure that their players follow suit.

Planned Pilates/Cooking Holiday

If you are interested in the mixed Pilates/cooking holiday starting on Monday 9th May, as advertised in last month’s Newsletter, please contact Marcia for further details or to make a booking. The holiday is based at  the Cascina Papaveri, situated in a vineyard near Asti in Italy. Pictures and testimonials are available at Cascina Papaveri.

Summer Holidays

For a lot of us summer holidays are looming and the long summer break is upon us. Firstly, if you are going to be away for the whole six weeks but are intending rejoining in September please notify Graham so that he can put your name down for that course as we won't be able to guarantee your place otherwise. Secondly, please do not use the excuse of the break not to do any Pilates. It is a perfect time to actually do some practice: you have more time and less of the hassle of everyday living. If you can't remember the exercises there are Pilates Bibles for sale at the studio or on Amazon and, albeit they are a little old, some CD's I made a few years ago that will give you a reminder for a workout.  Remember, Pilates is for life, not just Christmas, and have a wonderful action packed summer.

Marcia's Exercise of the Month: Waist Twist

This comes in many guises but whichever version you do the main theme is to get rotation in the ribcage and not just to turn your arms and head. It has the added benefit of being excellent for enhancing breathing and cleaning the lungs of stale air. Due to modern life and working at computer work stations we very often only rotate one way and this exercise will hopefully counteract this action. The surprising thing is that the muscles between the ribs also aid our walking. The version I have chosen is the standing version as it makes you work harder to keep the hips facing forward.

Stand in correct standing with one forearm resting on the other (Cossack dancer style). Breathe in to prepare, engage your core and with your eyes in the middle of your arms rotate to the right initialising the movement from the ribs, exhaling deeply as you turn. Inhale to return and exhale repeat to turn the left. Repeat three times on each side; if you find you are noticeably stiffer on one side do an extra one or two to that side. Remember to think of your hip bones being like headlights and keep them pointing forward at all times.

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