This was a really interesting article that I came across about the "healing powers" of Pilates. From a knee injury as a child through to undiagnosed fractured ribs after a car accident later in life, she believes that Pilates was the reason she managed to avoid costly surgery and rebuild her life, pain free. I am really excited that we can now offer chair-based Pilates - which is great for those with mobility issues, spinal conditions or pre and post surgery. Recently I have been able to offer two clients these sessions; to recover from a knee operation and spinal surgery (before they were able to get back to their usual mat-based class). My passion is to help everyone and these new classes really are allowing us to do that. There are no limitations! Further details of the chair-based sessions can be found here. Don't forget to get in touch if you have any further questions or if you would like to book a seat! "...Growing up, ballet was my life. I started dancing when I was 3 years old, and did everything from ballet to tap, as well as jazz and modern dance. By the time I reached middle school, I was dancing five hours a day, six days a week.
But in seventh grade, I got an itch to try something else. I didn't want to stop dancing, but I also wanted to be more like the other kids in my grade, so I decided to join the track team. My dance coach was NOT a fan of the idea, so I ended up keeping it a secret. You know when you’re a kid and you sneak out of the house, and you know you’re doing something bad? That’s how I felt when I joined track. Then, in the very first meet, I competed in a long-jump event, which involves sprinting and then jumping into a sand pit. When I landed, it felt like someone stabbed me in the knee. My stomach dropped—I knew something bad had happened. I knew I'd screwed up, and I was devastated. My mind started spinning—I knew people would be upset with me, and worse, I was upset with myself. I was dancing in The Nutcracker at the time, and I knew I'd have to drop out. When I saw a doctor, I learned I had torn my miniscus, and all my fears were confirmed. At 13, I realized I wasn't invincible. But I started physical therapy to help rehabilitate my knee, so I could hopefully dance again. But then, my physical therapist put me on a reformer—the machine that's used in Pilates training—and I thought: What the heck is this crazy contraption? It made my body feel so good—I could feel my muscles working, and I felt very connected to my body, similar to how I felt during dance. I actually started looking forward to PT—injury aside, I wanted to get on the reformer as much as possible. That was the first time I'd ever done something that wasn’t a performance sport. It was more about rehabilitation, and learning about all the intricate muscles that stabilized my joints. I loved it, it made me feel amazing. After my PT was complete, I went back to dancing. I also ended up joining a performing theater group in the Bay Area, and I traveled around California with them. When I was a sophomore in high school, I got into a summer program at CalArts. We were dancing all day, six days a week. It was such an amazing program, but at one point toward the end of that summer, when we were at the ballet barre, my knee literally gave out and I collapsed. The instructors carried me out, and I went straight to the program's PT office. The verdict: I needed to get back into Pilates. After that, I started to take Pilates regularly, on top of dance. Then, at the end of high school, I got into an awful car accident. I didn't think I'd suffered any major injuries at the time. But a few years later, during my junior year of college at UC Irvine, where I was pursuing a degree in theater and dance, I started to experience serious pain around my ribs, especially when I was dancing. It got so bad that there were times when I would pass out on stage. I finally went to see a doctor who told me I had broken my ribs in that car accident, and they were now covered in scar tissue. The injury was likely made worse by all the crazy twists I was doing while dancing. The doctor told me I had two options: Get a $300,000 surgery; or rehab with Pilates, and strengthen my core muscles so they could securely hold my ribs in, almost like a corset. I remembered how much Pilates had helped with my knee, and decided to go with that option. Luckily, it worked—I never had to get the surgery, and to this day I feel great..." Check out the full article here! Ellie x
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AuthorI'm Ellie - I started my Pilates journey when I had a bad back. I fell completely in love with it! Archives
April 2019
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