About Katie
Katie & Pilates
Pilates was first introduced to me at a local gym in spring 2000. Back then Pilates was very little known in the U.K. and most people didn't know how to pronounce it. Having already been practicing yoga for some time, I went along to my first Pilates mat-work class, thinking it would be a very similar experience. Little did I know I was about to encounter something that would change my life completely.
You can only see what your brain can recognise. In other words, if we have poor self-awareness of the ideal posture of the human body & its optimum musculo-skeletal movement patterns, we are unable to recognise our postural tendencies or faulty movement habits.
My first few Pilates sessions revealed small facts about my body; like how I was favouring one side. I was fascinated by how these exercises could tell me so much about my muscular imbalance, areas of tension, & muscles I would not otherwise have known I had. Pilates became my passion from that moment & I began my journey to re-educate my body, restore alignment, & build strength.
Several years on, I decided to take my Pilates to the next level by training to teach matwork with the PILATESfoundation (www.Pilatesfoundation.com), known for its in-depth training encompassing all aspects of the Pilates method from human anatomy & physiology to practical application of Pilates exercises from both the classical & evolved repertoires. Having successfully qualified to teach Pilates matwork at all levels in 2006, I went on to train further with the Foundation and became a certified Pilates instructor on all studio apparatus in 2009.
A little more about my background..
I
was born in Japan & came to live in London in 1996. I was working in a recruitment office back then and spent hours sitting at a desk (with most likely a poor posture!) and my stress level steadily increased as years went by. I knew I needed to bring positive changes in my life and joined a local gym in 2000 as a way to get myself more physically active - what followed afterwards is a history and my Pilates journey has begun.
It's been over 20 years since that first day and I'm still enjoying the ride. Pilates has helped me discover and develop strength and flexibility I never thought I had & I'm so glad I have a body that is far more supple & toned than in my 20s! For me, Pilates is like looking after your old but most treasured musical instrument. Daily tuning of the instrument (body) rewards you with far richer tone (movement) and energise your spirit.
