About NicoleNot too many years ago I was a bit tired and a bit sick this was due to a few reasons that has brought my journey to where I am today.
I'll start at the beginning, which is mostly the best place to begin. Growing up I was not the sporty kid, I didn't excel at any form of athletics or sport at school. I had a pretty low self esteem and was always extremely shy. While I always had a happy outlook on life my low self esteem and shyness held me back from taking various plunges that I wished I could have. When I reached high school I started running. In private, so nobody apart from my family really knew about it. Not until about year 11 at school did my friends realise that I had been secretly going out running in the early mornings. Why did I do this? To get some mental clarity, to improve my health and to improve how I felt about myself. I loved how it felt to get up and put on my gear to go for a run. I loved the feeling of running. I never timed myself and just assumed that because I never excelled at sport that I mustn't be very good. I became a member of a gym thanks to my dad who also went to the gym a fair bit. We were lucky as this gym had an indoor heated pool, spa and sauna. (A great benefit in Canberra, especially in winter). Here I started to join in on the circuit classes, combining it with a few kilometres of swimming and even more running and cycling each week (I didn't have a licence in Canberra and cycling was the easiest way to get around, if you're a cyclist go to Canberra there is an amazing cycle path network that other cities can only dream of) I really started training myself for nothing much in particular. But I felt great and that was the main benefit from all my hard work. I continued with a similar routine over the next few years through to my twenties. |
"Why did I do this? To get some mental clarity, to improve my health and to improve how I felt about myself. I loved how it felt... " Jump forward to that period not so many years ago
With such a good routine how could things go wrong? I had two children, not the cause of my ill health but a factor in my behaviour change. My husband had landed an amazing job (He's a film producer, videographer) he was flying all over the world filming famous surfers, snowboarders and skaters. I on the other had had limited access to assistance with our children. Yes we have fantastic parents but sometimes you can only ask so much. And at that time we didn't have a lot of family around. We had both made a decision that I would be a stay at home mum for a while as this was something that we really wanted for our children. We were able to do this and felt blessed for it. Staying at home with my children for the first formative years of their lives is something I will cherish for the rest of my life. I'm very grateful for having had that opportunity. It did mean though, through no fault of anyone but myself that I neglected to look after me quite as much as what I was used to. This is the reason behind my former ill health. I thought that being so tired all the time was a part of mother hood and a part of having very small children. A visit to the doctor told me otherwise. I had had a bout of glandular fever (in the recent past and had not known it), my allergy response way extremely high and my Iron levels were extremely low. It was time to make a change. Finding Pilates
People had suggested Pilates to me before, to help me with my scoliosis. I had looked into it but wasn't sure. My husband said to me that a few of the people at his work were going to a place that did Pilates and I should try it. It was a Pilates studio with reformers and other Pilates machines. I went along and gave it a go, the machines looked pretty daunting at first but I came to love them and Pilates too. |
After going to classes at this studio for a few years it was then destroyed in a storm and my Pilates journey here was brought to an abrupt end. After that it took me a while to find another place to go. I was going to community classes, which are great but I wanted more. I found out about Essence of Living and their Academy. That was it, I signed up to do the course and became a Pilates teacher. I wanted to share all that Pilates had done for me with others. It had helped me gain back my health, it helped me train for my first marathon and it gave me back a little bit of me that I had lost in myself by becoming 'Mum'.
It was at Essence of Living that I fell for Yoga as well. I'd done a few classes before and liked it, but while I was training there I loved it. So you guessed it, I signed up for their Yoga Teacher training as well. Learning the path of yoga and why yoga asana was created made me fall even harder. It felt like a part of me had now been completed. There are so many teachings to learn from in yoga, and so much of it is in line with my own thinking. I really feel that Pilates and Yoga while different to each other are a great compliment. As they both move your body in dynamic ways to strengthen, stretch and focus the mind they have different initial intentions. While Joseph Pilates created 'contrology' (Pilates) as a way t o learn how to control the body. Yoga has been used over the years as a way to understand our mind. So how does this help me be a good Pilates and Yoga Instructor? Well, I can tell you that I've had my hard times too. I've learnt from the past and being an active person wasn't part of my DNA to begin with. I know that at times its hard to find that motivation to get you going. I know that sometimes we put pressure on ourselves to do things at a level we are not quite ready for yet. I know what it's like to be a busy mum, to put yourself last. (Which is why I don't mind when you bring your children to class at all). I know what it feels like to second guess yourself, to not feel like you are quite as able as 'others'. These comparisons, by the way, are only created by us in our own heads. In my classes there is no judgement. My aim in giving instruction on Pilates and Yoga is to help you find your best 'you' possible. I'm about lifting you up by raising your spirit and showing you that you are capable of much more than you had previously thought possible.... in a good way. |
The training I had at Essence of Living was a great start to my teaching career. However, I found that I was beginning to need more, and so were my clients. I had people asking about their injuries and conditions and I just want able to know right away what I could do to help them. So I decided that I needed my Clinical Pilates qualification.
That's when I found Breathe Education. Without doubt this was the best form of learning how to be a great instructor. With all of the knowledge given to us through science based study. We were taught how to and were encouraged to explore the findings of the science behind injury, rehabilitation, chronic conditions and how to prescribe exercise for everybody in every situation. This was the most empowering thing I learnt. That no matter what difficulties there were, even though there be hurdles, exercise was a great piece of the puzzle to how people reacted to stress, injury, illness and chronic conditions. It is through this learning that I aim to help people with their movement abilities to then empower them to feel stronger, healthier and ultimately happier. As their bodies become more able, and through the mind body connection they begin to find a way in which to feel their best. |