July 2022 – Pilates With Ayla

– July 2022 –

My normal weekly classes have run nice and smoothly this month but only for a couple of weeks because the end of the school year has come bringing the Summer Holidays. This year I have been working alongside Southampton City Council with their Summer HAF project to bring Pilates into as many different School holiday clubs as possible. With the aim of supporting deprived children in the city, the HAF programme is bringing healthy lifestyle education and new experiences to those children who may not get a chance otherwise.

So far, I have been very much enjoying my experience with the children, getting to know so many new faces and watch how they learn new things about their bodies, how they work, how they move and how they can control themselves in different ways. I may have been called crazy a couple of times already.

I will be continuing you work with the Summer Holiday programme for a couple more weeks before I go on holiday myself but until then evening in person and online classes are still running at their usual times.

Shoulder Bridge

Shoulder Bridges are designed to bring mobility and flexibility to your spine while also strengthening your glutes and quads.

Breathing:

Firstly, you need to know that moving into flat back positions means all your ribs pushing into the ground.

-Inhale to flat back, exhale to peal up, inhal while at the top and exhale to peal back down.

Step 1

Set up

-Position yourself laying on your back, knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
-As you inhale pelvic tilt until you’re lying flat back (no gap between your back and the ground).

Step 2

Into the bridge

-Exhale, engage through your glutes and start to peal your spine away from the ground.

Note: Try to keep pealing your spine upwards until you reach your knees, hips and shoulders in a diagonal line. If at any point you notice back pain, then stop here.