Hip, Knee, Ankle Pain? Check your feet!

If you’re sitting or laying down, your knees (and ankles to some degree) aren’t weight baring; generally it won’t be noticeable if there is an imbalance or some damage in the muscles that produce the movement around these joints. It’s when we translate weight through the legs during standing, walking, that the problems may present.

When you walk, are you aware how you walk? Do you notice which parts of your feet hit the ground?

Does your shoe always wear out evenly? As opposed to more on one edge more than another.

Are you pain free from ankle, knee or hip pain when walking/running/exercising?

If answering no to any of the above questions my curiosity as a movement professional would have me watching your feet in static but more particularly in dynamic standing. It can be a question of the chicken or the egg? Which came first, the joint pain or having an irregular gait (i.e. the way you walk)? I watch thousands of pairs of feet, regularly (either in my clients or just people who walk the streets of London in front of me in my day. For me clients, by also hearing or seeing what issues are present for the body, it no longer surprises me to hear what pains a person has after seeing them move on their feet. The more I watch, the more I remember how many problems I had before educating myself about the biomechanics of walking.

So, if you have unexplained pain in your hip, knee or ankle (or even in your shoulders and back but that’s too complicated for this simple blog post), try paying a bit more attention to your feet..

December 15, 2016January 4, 2017

Somatic Unwinding

So far, the experience has been profound. I’m feeling a need on some level to do some crazy exercise to shake it all up and get back into my past default in questing for muscular strength. However, having just received a second 1:1 hands on session of Body Mind Centering, from the lead trainer Katy Dymoke, I’m just going to continue to lay on the floor and be with the tangled mess which is my inner body.. This beautifully sweet training, and supporting body work is helping me to unwind the world of pain felt in my body which; I had surrendered to needing to endure forever, now I’m not so sure.

It’s a crying shame that despite the amount of yoga and Pilates sessions I’ve received that there isn’t more of this information present. I have just 2 teachers in each discipline whom teach from this perspective. THIS is what it’s all about, not your abs, your yoga selfies or your legs a kimbo!.. I’m so exhausted, in a good way, hence why this is the only thing I’ve managed to publish through out my so far 2 weeks Somatics training, but more is coming! Watch this space ..

Day 3 Nervous System, 2nd Session with Katy

Dropping in, listening..

Relearning how to hear.

A deep yearning for these pathways to clear!

To sense in(my)sides,

Of course before sensing the other may fully arise..

Organ support, how to purport?

After a life time of neglect,

6 short years means I’m not quite there yet..

So many feelings, mainly in my gut and head,

To hear, implicitly, impartially,

My body craving this in its totality.

I’m sorry, I’m here now..

No wonder it all hurts, for so long working as a disjunct and abstract organism..

It’s not just you dear muscles, ligaments and bones whom need to hold up this being.

It’s not just you dear organs, fluids and glands, whom cope with digestion, procreation and feeling..

As, all together, a synergy can persist,

Allowing ease, strength and harmony to exist.

Crossed messages, fibres and pain,

Never again can I move the same..

April 19, 2016

Moving In – The Most Important Physical Relationship

To learn, at least in this physical plane, if something hurts, how does it want to be treated in order to heal?

We know instinctively, intuitively what is good for us, the body is an accessible tool to help find answers within.

Physical manifestations of pain have been said to start in the psyche, i.e. something jabs us emotionally and perhaps it’s felt in the gut, or your shoulder got stuck..

Listen to oneself.. ..DEEPLY..

Listening to how the body responds when making the most simple of movements can be a tool to self-empowered healing.

Learning how a bone rotation of 3 degrees can cause the firing up and lengthening of different strings of your muscles fibres, contrasting to the regular pattern of shapes your body makes..

Being mindful not to just feel the burn, but to learn from the edges of it.. To be where the heat is at its most intense, feeling when there is an internal response to that edge and the burn kicks in, momentarily finding that magic spot..

Re-engage your focus, to enquire How to play curiously with the movement of your structures and to once again move through those fire..

As like fire, those intense places, those edges and spaces within us, are never still. Constantly shifting and changing, moving and grooving with its constituents and where these input variables each meet their environments.. The only constant is change. You think you found your magic edge, think you got it, then look again! ..It changed!..

To stay in one’s zones of comfort. To always be using the same line of action and enquiry, reinforcing the known and further disempowering the rest…

By mitigating ones usual placement, the resonance points can be heard from where one can strengthen those parts which suffer from less frequent action and engagement..

Being blessed, with such a physical system as this.. The human physical, our complex and epic instrumental tool for this life.. And to only access a fraction of its abilities..?!.. Please..

Working with the body is an amazing way to empower yourself physically but it’s also a stepping stone to something much deeper..

February 29, 2016

NEW PILATES CLASS! Thursday 8pm In Hackney!

I’m very excited to announce – New Pilates class alert!!

Starting THIS Thursday 3rd March, 8-9pm at Love Your Body Health Hub!

Come on down and get warm from the inside out 😉

Tone up your buns whilst you work on your core!

Learn about how to move more optimally and, not just fortify your body again future or current back pain but also create a more connected and stronger version of your former self..

The way I love to deliver Pilates involves intermittent stretching, whilst you’re catching up with yourself, so look forward to longer and stronger muscles, finding your flow and taking whatever other training you do (or not) to the next level.

Move, live and breathe from a powerful and centred space.

Not for the faint-hearted, yet you’ll need to leave your seriousness and ego at the door.. Bring your sense of humour and expect to be challenged in a NEW way 😉

February 29, 2016February 29, 2016

Pilates for Posture – Upper back and Shoulders

Sunday 13th March 12.00 – 14.30

Do you ever notice yourself or those around you with classic hunched shoulders and neck when checking ones phone or other electronic device? Even when reading a paper book it seems that we don’t do enough to counter this forward curving position to help the body to find balance again. There was a time when people would practice walking with books on their head as a means of steady posture when walking, people were more active and there was less back pain in the ‘developed world’. Thus today, let’s take a step into finding, mobilising and using those long lost muscles; preventing atrophy, frozen shoulder, chronic neck pain, increased risk of issues associated with thoracic osteoporosis and many other things which could be positively impacted by knowing more about your anatomy and how to use it.

How does your ribcage sit? Do you feel sometimes (or all the time) like the hunchback of Notre Dame? Keep getting told you need to pull your shoulders back? Get tight in the neck, shoulders, upper back? Tension head aches? Feel a bit lost in your own skin?.

No need to worry, get yourself aware and re-aligned, come see me for part 2 of the Posture workshop where we’ll be focusing on the upper body bones alignment, how this related to your posture and, how you present yourself and how you feel out in the world. If you didn’t make it to part 1 (although the work we did there does feed into this) you can still make it to part 2, as our focus will be on the upper body with a basic recap on the previous workshop; part 2 contains Pilates and mobility exercises and stretches to help empower you and your ability to move out of excessive kyphosis (i.e. the hunchback look) and it’s associated symptoms.

When we allow our vertebra (bones in the spine) to stack optimally, not only does this allow us to breathe fully, move easily, and promote a sense of balanced confidence; but it also helps us to prevent future injuries, strains and even some diseases. Thus, also we’ll be looking in more depth on how to breath deeply, maximising mobility of the rib cage, mobilise parts of you which you didn’t know you could mobilise and use Pilates and some other tools to get you more present in your body, moving more as nature intended!

If you want any more information or to book on then contact Christine now (email and phone number below)! Places are limited to 5, all equipment is provided.

£20 investment with Early Bird booking (book on or before Thursday 3rd March)
£25 regular investment price*

If you’re interested but would rather the 1:1 attention and privacy of a private session then get in touch! 1:1 sessions are a great way to also help support you better if you want or need that little extra.

Love and thanks
Christine x

email: christine@core-focus.co.uk

Links for why posture matters:

TED Talks about Posture:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljm0ldxgkcE&index=6&list=FL7znEFcqi4uQ88oActfL7Cg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks-_Mh1QhMc
Websites on Posture:
http://blog.crew.co/power-postures/
http://jamesclear.com/body-language-how-to-be-confident

* Please note, space only reserved once payment has been made, refund only given if requested 2 weeks or more before course start date, unless you can swap your place with a SUITABLE candidate (suitable down to the discretion of Christine @ Core focus). This is to ensure that you get the best quality sessions from Christine, and that Core-Focus can continue to deliver what you need, on a small scale and at an affordable price. Thanks 🙂

January 29, 2016January 29, 2016

Pilates for Posture Workshop – Sitting and Standing

Pilates for Posture – Sitting and Standing

Sunday 7th Feb 12.00 – 14.30

How are you sitting (or standing) right now? Are your pelvis and spine aligned and well? Does it even matter?

When we allow our vertebra (bones in the spine) to stack optimally, not only does this allow us to breathe fully, move easily, and promote a sense of balanced confidence; but it also helps us to prevent future injuries, strains and even some diseases.

How we chose to sit or stand, and being aware of how the spine aligns through the different arrangement of our bones, is key to influencing and having a positive impact on our physical and emotional health. Ideally, we were not created to sit or stand still for long periods of time; however, the current situation for most of us is just that; being overly static and without enough awareness about how this impacts ones health. Hence, why more and more people are turning to Pilates as a preventative and restorative for issues caused by poor posture in day to day life, sports, work and even some forms of extreme physical yoga.

Emotionally speaking, your posture affects both how you see the world and how the world sees you. Standing tall and broad has been proven to help people to not only feel confident but to feel happy too! (check out some of the links below if you want to learn more!)..

Thus, in this 2.5 hour workshop we will be discussing and looking at how to sit and stand optimally for the health and happiness of you and your spine. Empower yourself to have better health, awareness and longevity; look at the relationship of your spine to your pelvis so you can learn easy ways to correct your own posture when out and about or at work. Also, we will be incorporating different Pilates exercises and other relevant techniques to strengthen and relax different parts of your anatomy, enabling you to move, sit and stand more freely; whatever it is you do with your life.

If you want any more information or to book on then contact Christine now (email and phone number below)! Places are limited to 5, all equipment is provided.

£20 investment with Early Bird booking (book on or before Sunday 24th January – offer made available to email list, sign up to recieve future discounts and information before everyone else!)
£25 regular investment price*

If you’re interested but would rather the 1:1 attention and privacy of a private session then get in touch! 1:1 sessions are a great way to also help support you better if you want or need that little extra.

Love and thanks
Christine x

email: christine@core-focus.co.uk

Links for why posture matters:

TED Talks about Posture:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljm0ldxgkcE&index=6&list=FL7znEFcqi4uQ88oActfL7Cg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks-_Mh1QhMc
Websites on Posture:
http://blog.crew.co/power-postures/
http://jamesclear.com/body-language-how-to-be-confident

* Please note, space only reserved once payment has been made, refund only given if requested 2 weeks or more before course start date, unless you can swap your place with a SUITABLE candidate (suitable down to the discretion of Christine @ Core focus). This is to ensure that you get the best quality sessions from Christine, and that Core-Focus can continue to deliver what you need, on a small scale and at an affordable price. Thanks 🙂

August 21, 2014August 21, 2014

Frazzled?

I’m being blessed with many sessions to instruct recently, from meditation through to strong Pilates classes, thus I see a lot of bodies and the majority of them seem to be more tired than I realised at this time of year!

Caffeine helps but for how long?

Getting more into instructing the physical side of my job (yoga and Pilates more so than Reiki or meditations), it’s great the more I get to know different groups of people so that they can appreciate I’ll give them a VERY hard work out if that’s what I feel I’m needed to give, but sometimes, the minds of many are up for super physical Ra Ra Ra!! (which is very fun to deliver!) But, their bodies and eyes seem to say something totally different to me, more like, “be kind and gentle with me, I’ve had a hard xxx”. This feels challenging to administer, as the mind/ego quite often will not thank you for leaving out the super sweatathon in favor of something more ahhhhhhhhhh than Ra Ra Ra (both session types require similar energy from me so it makes no difference except to my gut instincts)..

Finding this balance in my own life too can be mystifying when living in such a hardworking and fast paced city, I’m getting better at it, but, being freelance I’ve realised is rewarding but tricky to self-manage at times.

When you’re shattered and frazzled do you still push yourself 120%? Or do you listen and perhaps rest or go for more gentle activity?

Why is it so many of us seem ruled by the head rather than what our body maybe screaming at us about in signs of pain, fatigue or everyday niggles? This morning I had no choice, I missed my alarm to instruct a 07.15am class, *gulp*, so not cool but I guess this is the universe telling me I need to rest this morning! Not great for future of covering that class, but this is enough of a wake up call for me to ensure I get that rest when it’s feeling needed..

May 13, 2014January 31, 2016

What is and who was Pilates?

Pilates, previously termed ‘Contrology’ by its founder, Joseph Pilates, is a method which combines core-conditioning with spinal alignment; strength training, especially in the deep core muscles (through the back, trunk, hips, legs and shoulder girdle) and breath awareness. Pilates’ Contrology was designed to use the mind to control the muscles, building strength in both as the student progresses with the exercises.

Pilates’ method can be done on a simple mat, using complex machines and/or using equipment such as various balls, blocks, bands and barrels. Each of the original 34 exercises can be broken down or built up to make it accessible to anyone; today, there are also many more functional exercises included in classes for warming up, cooling down, adapting and in my opinion, helping to have fun with achieving physical and mental fitness!

Joseph Pilates was born in Germany in 1883 or 1880 (there are a couple of different opinions about his birth, life and death), he spent his life seeming to be dedicated to attaining and assisting others with their own optimal physical health.

From my experience, the Pilates’ method today is one of the best methods for building strength in the body. It brings optimum use and balance to the muscles, in a safe and controlled way; and due to its focus on precision and control, rather than maximum peripheral exertion it seems to work the body from the inside out.

There are 6 fundamental principles of the Pilates method which need to be adhered to in each exercise:

Breathing, each exercise is led by its own breathing pattern to make optimum use of the core muscles.
Concentration, focusing the mind on which muscles are engaged for flexing or stretching; as well as having awareness about your current bodily movement and position (proprioception).
Control, is needed so the right muscles are engaged at the right time and in the right way to help achieve the correct exercise and it’s alignment; whilst being mindful to not over-exert and loosing form.
Core-Centring, the core region is the foundation from which all other movements move out from, essential in controlling and stabilising other parts of the body.
Precision, care and attention must be given to joint and limb alignment during static postures as well as during movement.
Flow, the exercises are performed with grace and fluidly, flowing out from the core and working at lesser speeds to help enforce the precision.

And if you’ve been to a couple of classes you’ll see every teacher is wonderfully different, as is every student. To me, Pilates is one of the most accessible things we can do physically, a lot of physios also use it when assisting their patient’s rehabilitation too!