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Seated Exercise provides a structured and progressive exercise program using a chair for stability allowing a safer alternative for those who may be elderly, deconditioned, have knee or hip joint issues, suffer auto-immune disorders (Multiple Sclerosis, Fibromyalgia, Ehlers Danlos and conditions such as chronic fatigue and M.E). 

This type of exercise is for everyone but is a particularly useful alternative for people with actual physical or physiological barriers and restricted mobility, people that would love to stay active but sadly don’t have much in the way of access to safe exercise.

There’s s a huge lack of provision for those that need specialist exercise and yet these are the people that will benefit the most. If, like me, you believe that everyone should have access to exercise, that exercise should not be elitist but accessible to those that need it the most, then you will understand why I decided to train and instruct people that find it hard to take part in mainstream exercise.

This part of my coaching journey began a few years ago when I was approached to train a friend who suffers with Fibromyalgia and who had suffered an unexplained infection in her back that unfortunately caused widespread inflammation starving the nerve supply to her leg.

She needed someone to help her stay active but she couldn’t walk without crutches. So, I started working with her on a weekly basis to keep her heart healthy and strengthen her muscles. Her body responded; she became stronger and healthier than she’d ever been. I developed a pre-session daily sleep score and a pain score so that I could work with her intuitively, understand her body better and work with ‘today’s body’, not against it.

Training was very much holistic, it was not about writing an exercise plan and coaching it, it was about seeing the bigger picture, all of the influences and factors in life that could be manipulated to bring about an improvement in symptoms. 

This time for me was greatly rewarding and a huge learning curve in my coaching journey that I am extremely grateful for. In fact, the vast majority of my clients experience some kind of physical barrier or a chronic condition that has made it difficult for them to train elsewhere.  I love this part of my job because it is so rewarding to help someone find their spark again!!

Physical Benefits:

• Increased flexibility
• Increased Strength
• Increased Coordination
• Increased Circulation
• Improved Posture
• Improved stability and balance

Mental Health Benefits:

• Reduces Stress
• Stimulates happy hormones
• Improves thinking and memory
• Improves sleep
• Promotes social connection
• Promotes resilience
• Improves self-esteem

This is why I have started a new Seated Exercise class at The Centre in Birchington. I am passionate about helping people nurture, accept and work with their restrictions, bolstered by tangible achievement and progress. I believe that once we accept the body we inhabit, only then can we truly learn to live in it peaceably, through all of the ups and downs, the steps backward and the stumbling blocks forward.

In today’s fast paced society there are many factors that have the potential to affect our physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing. For example, computers, mobile phones, social media, processed foods, lack of sleep, work-related matters, stress, financial pressures, sedentary lifestyle, repetitive strain injuries – to name but a few! And in our fantastic group, us coaches are here to help.

At the core of Pilates – the fundamental principles of the original Pilates method remain true to this day. These include: breathing; concentration, control, centring, precision and flow. The quality of our attention and focus can have transforming effects on all systems of the body. By slowing down, paying more attention, we can awaken kinaesthetic awareness (a person’s awareness of the position and movement of the parts of the body by means of sensory organs (proprioceptors) in the muscles and joints). which is at the core of the rehabilitative process.

Here are 10 Top benefits you will start to notice if you are consistent in your Pilates practice:

1. Your body will become better aligned to prevent imbalances leading to injuries and improve posture. 
2. Flexibility and mobility will be substantially improved over time so that the body can move freely, without putting undue strain on the back.
3. The space between your vertebrae will be increased which will minimise pressure on discs and nerves.  There is no question that Pilates will prevent back problems or at least teach you to manage them.
4. You will become more body-aware and better coordinated, improving your skills of proprioception – the sequencing of movement.
5. You will learn how to breathe correctly and efficiently so that plenty of oxygen reaches every part of the body, especially the spine.   Breathing relieves stress and can reduce high blood pressure as well as increasing energy.
6. Your body will change shape for the better, giving you a leaner, toned physique rather than bulky and muscular.
7. You will build core and back strength to help support the spine and maintain good posture.  Many of us have posture that is far from ideal, often the cause of many health issues, particularly back problems.
8. All muscles are worked so that the whole body can work together in harmony rather than one area becoming overloaded.
9. The condition and strength of your pelvic floor will be greatly improved as the pelvic floor is part of the core, reducing incontinence problems.  A huge problem and not just for women!
10. Exercise increases the levels of serotonin and endorphins which promote feelings of wellbeing and meditation is now widely used as a way of dealing with depression.  Yoga and Pilates are an excellent way to help you lead a happy, positive life.

By remaining consistent and showing up there is no reason why you cannot feel all of some of these benefits.

The Beautiful Benefits of Beach Yoga

Beach yoga not only sounds idyllic and makes you feel like you’re on holiday, but it is proven to improve your physical and mental wellbeing, which sounds like more than enough reason to take a class!

1. Deepen Your Relaxation

Exercising outdoors can have extremely positive effects on the nervous system. The sensory experiences of the sounds of the sea, the soothing breeze, and a few peaceful birds chirping can help you to relax and deepen poses.

2. Connect with Nature

Feeling the sand in your feet and the fresh air on your skin brings us back to our evolutionary roots and can help you to feel grounded in your yoga practice. Practicing outside enhances our moods and makes us feel much more positive!

3. Sea Air

Breathing in the sea air has many health benefits that are particularly enhanced by yoga. Your body can actually absorb oxygen easier thanks to the negative ions that are present in the sea air. These negative ions can help naturally boost your serotonin, which can help you feel more relaxed and happier.

5. Vitamin D

Any exercise that you do outside is going to give you a huge boost in vitamin D, even on a cloudy day. Vitamin D is essential for regulating the calcium and phosphate in your body. You need plenty of this vitamin to feel happy and healthy.

6. Sand Support

While supporting yourself on the sand might add a little challenge to your practice, you’ll get the relaxed benefit of having a soft cushion of support underneath you.

So, will you give it a try?

The way we’ve come to view exercise, certainly in recent decades, is as a means to
an end; the accompaniment to a diet, a short-term solution often for a “Bikini Body”, the LBD for the Christmas party or the sleeveless low-cut gown for the Big Day.

Not only are we fixated with short-term goals but we expect to achieve them in an
unrealistic amount of time. We’ve been doing it wrong on so many levels!

If I had a fiver for every time I heard someone say, “I used to be really fit, a real gym bunny”, I’d be a rich lady. In every single case, the training stopped! We’ve been conditioned to achieve a physical ideal for a short-term goal and there are two big problems with this formula:

One, we are so focussed on the ‘physical ideal’ that we are not learning to enjoy
movement and love exercise, and two we are dealing in short-term goals so they are by definition a means to an end; once the goal is achieved, the work stops, normality resumes and we are back to square one.

There is a much better way to get fit and healthy and it doesn’t involve multiple
attempts. You do it only once and you stay on track.

If you work with a Personal Trainer, you can look at drafting up three goals instead;

• Short-term goal (to achieve within the first 3 months).
• Medium-term goal (to achieve within the 6 month mark).
• Long-term goal (to achieve within the year).

This is the best way, to feel engaged and motivated, so you can stay on track and be accountable, not only to your trainer, but to yourself.

“I feel that if more people found their way to exercise under the guise of Self-care, for the health benefits over the aesthetics, it would become as second nature, as brushing our hair.”

Someone once said it takes 21 days to form a habit…

…and that may well be true for many things but when it comes to exercise it takes a great deal longer for the habit to stick.

I like to describe it like this:

Fitness is a never-ending journey, there will be bumps in the road, lots probably, the car might run out of petrol or you may run a flat tyre but you wouldn’t expect to give up on the car or the journey just because of the interruptions along the way.

You have to get the car back up and running and continue the journey or maybe even take a diversion. That to me is what fitness is all about. It shouldn’t come to an end and we shouldn’t give up on it, even when the going gets tough.

It’s often said that “exercise is the best medicine”, and it’s very true, but what if you are not fully able to partake in exercise which requires you to use the floor as your platform?

Luckily, chair yoga is an effective and accessible exercise for everyone! Once you begin practicing chair yoga, you will start to feel a sense of ease and relaxation flow through your body.

Over time, you will notice the tension that once overtook your muscles and joints begins to release, and basic tasks of daily life are once again possible.

My name is Denise Hayward and I specialise in Chair Yoga, helping ladies over 50 to move better, feel better and live better. You may have seen me host one of the W&F Groups Weekly Wellness Challenge, the well known series of poses known as ‘Sun Salutation’. This gave me the opportunity to showcase, traditional yoga using a mat and chair yoga, where the chair is used for seated poses and as a prop for balances.

Despite any limitations you may have, chair yoga can help you feel stronger. Some of the many benefits are:

• Increased flexibility: “Use it or lose it.” By gently challenging your body with chair yoga, you can increase your range of motion and improve your mobility at any age.

• Improved Strength: Using your muscles to build strength with chair yoga can lead to better balance. More muscle mass can increase bone density and make activities of daily living easier and doable.

• Improved Self-Awareness: Practicing chair yoga generally means shifting smoothly from one pose to another, which improves your coordination.

• Reduced Stress: Focusing on your movement, your breathing, and how your body is reacting to the exercise creates a kind of moving meditation that promotes relaxation, reduces stress, and improves mental clarity.

• Improved Pain Management Skills: Gentle movement combined with focused breathing can be applied in other situations to cope with pain and discomfort.

I hope this helps…

In the UK roughly 1 in 3 people are sleep deprived and in the last 20 years we’ve inadvertently forgotten the importance of sleep. Our environments are more stressful, our jobs more competitive requiring more out of hours availability, and our tech has become more intrusive of our down-time.

Are you Sleep Deprived?

• Difficulty falling or staying asleep
• Daytime fatigue
• Strong urge to take naps during the day
• Unusual breathing patterns
• Unusual or unpleasant urges to move while falling asleep
• Unusual movement or other experiences while asleep
• Unintentional changes to your sleep/wake schedule
• Irritability or anxiety
• Impaired performance at work
• Lack of concentration
• Depression
• Weight gain

So, How Important is Sleep?

Very important. The results of a recent study in mice proves that sleep is as essential to our survival as eating and breathing, yet because we have no conscious perception of what happens when we sleep, we are unaware of its benefits.

We know that cell regeneration and memory consolidation are linked to sleep but we have also discovered some interesting associations between lack of quality sleep and Obesity, Diabetes, Mood Disorders, stress, ADHD, poor performance, slower reaction times and blood pressure.

With so much at stake, what can we do to ensure we get a better night’s sleep?

• Reduce Alcohol & Caffeine
• Increase daily Movement & Exercise
• Keep A Regular Bedtime and wake time
• Get consistent sleep
• Keep the bedroom cool and dark
• Try wearing an eye mask
• Create an evening wind-down routine with stretching or foam rolling
• Disengage with screens an hour before bed

Increasing daily movement or purposeful exercise, including strength training is great for improving sleep. Best done at least a few hours before bedtime, to give your body time to relax.

I hope this helps!