A strong body is a healthy body. It’s vital as we age. Here are my top 10 strength exercises, sure to keep you strong and healthy in the future. A strong body is a healthy body – essential as we age. Being active and maintaining strong, healthy bones and muscles means we’re more stable. We move efficiently and avoid injury. It means we can enjoy our lives and do what we want. But the adage ‘use it or lose it’ is critical here. The fact is that Australian women are four times as likely as men to develop the bone disease. And half of all women over fifty are likely to suffer a fracture from fall ..read more

Not sure where you stand on New Year Resolutions, but I find it’s a good time to set a few intentions for the year ahead. Have you taken some time out over the summer to think about what your year ahead might look like?  I’m trying hard to avoid the usual cliched resolutions – drink less wine, eat less chocolate, buy fewer clothes, spend less time scrolling on my phone – though I think I should probably do those things anyway. This year, I’m setting my intentions for movement. Equip yourself to care for you and for those you love Perhaps it’s something to do with reaching a ‘certain age ..read more

No-one likes pain. Usually, your first instinct is to take some painkillers, go to bed, and hide from the world. But often, movement is what you need. Chronic musculoskeletal conditions affect up to 20% of Australians. This type of pain can really wear you down, affecting your mental health and your ability to cope with everyday ups and downs. The many benefits of low-impact exercise for chronic pain Work done by the International Association for the study of pain (IASP) confirms that physical activity has broad economic as well as health benefits. Regular exercise impacts the musculoskeletal ..read more

If you’ve made the decision to do begin practising Pilates, congratulations! Pilates is an excellent exercise for beginners and more advanced practitioners alike. That’s because it’s a progressive exercise. It’s the sort of activity that you can build upon, getting stronger and more flexible as you practice. If you’re practicing Pilates on the mat (which is how we do things at Active Pilates), you don’t need any special equipment. And with hundreds exercises to work with, it’s easy to modify each exercise to suit your abilities. My 4 top tips for Pilates beginners Here are some tips on getting ..read more

There’s no shortage of wellness gurus eager to share their formula for ‘peak wellbeing’. But what is wellbeing? Put simply, wellbeing is ‘the state of being comfortable, healthy, or happy’. Simple, right? But straight away you can see that reaching a state of comfort, health, and happiness can mean different things to different people.  We’ve all heard to phrase ‘money doesn’t buy happiness, but it sure helps’! Four key ingredients of wellbeing The Black Dog Institute, an organisation devoted to supporting people’s mental health and wellbeing, describes it as ‘a ..read more

If you’re new to Pilates you may have heard people sing the praises of mat Pilates over Pilates practice using the Reformer – or vice versa.  As it sounds, mat Pilates is done without equipment. It’s literally done on the mat and low to the ground, using your body and gravity to provide resistance, tone your muscles, and increase your balance and flexibility.  The Reformer is a specialised Pilates machine. It’s made up of a foot bar, straps, and pulleys. It can provide extra resistance during your Pilates workout and is often used for rehabilitation following an injury. The Reformer ..read more

Why now is the time to tackle your health challenges and look after your wellbeing What does ‘wellbeing’ mean to you?  We usually associate wellbeing with happiness and health. A feeling of optimism that makes life enjoyable. It can also be an absence of chronic pain and disease.  I was recently reading about an Australian study of women, from midlife (then aged 45-55 years) before the menopausal transition and into ageing. It’s a sister study of the Women’s Healthy Ageing Project which has run since the 90s. This 30-year study, alongside the Study of Women's ..read more

Start building strong healthy bones with your Pilates practice Strong bones are important at any age. They support you as you walk, exercise, and go about your normal everyday activities.  As we get older, having strong healthy bones helps us maintain good balance and prevents injury if we do happen to fall. Of course, bone strength goes hand in hand with muscle strength, balance, and flexibility.  Your regular Pilates practice is a great way to keep strong and maintain good bone density.  What is bone density? We have 206 bones in our body – from the smallest bone in our ear t ..read more

Winter is a great time of the year if you love snuggling up in your winter woollies and sipping on a nice mug of hot chocolate.  For many of us, there’s a tendency to hibernate. To stay at home, out of the cold, enjoying your favourite comfort food.  It’s only when we step onto the scales that we see that those extra kilos have crept on in the blink of an eye.  So, the question is, what’s the best way to avoid gaining weight and how can Pilates help? Pilates keeps your body moving – in all the right ways I’ll start by saying that, when it comes to weight gain in winter, Pilates ..read more

Ageing gracefully: tips for maintaining your strength and flexibility as you get older What does ‘ageing gracefully’ mean to you?   Brands promoting the latest miracle cream, facial fillers or a popular super-food fad will tell you that you need what they’re selling to stay young and look and feel good as you age. As a Pilates instructor (and woman of a ‘certain age’), ageing well is all about confidence. It’s about knowing yourself better, having a sense of purpose and appreciating who you are.  It’s also about keeping active, maintaining physical strength and balance as y ..read more