Self-Reflection and The Unseen Benefits of Postnatal Pilates: Physical Renewal for Mums
Hello! I'm Sarah McMinn and I run a beautiful Pilates Studio in East Kilbride called GRACE.
We are all about supporting women through the different life stages, encouraging balance and promoting healthy body confidence, kindness, and strength.
I have 3 kids and so I totally love working with mums. I get the juggle, I get the change in your body when you have a baby, the struggle to find your sense of self again, and the new discoveries you make about yourself, your capabilities, and vulnerabilities.
One of the first things I say to women is- stop and reflect regularly.
I love a bit of self-assessment, where am I at, what are my priorities, what do I really need in life, and then I make my decisions based on these values. We have so many little and big decisions to make as mums and so stop and think from time to time.
I teach Postnatal Pilates at the Studio and I think one of the main benefits of it is just that it allows you to reflect, to take you into your body again. How is it feeling? What is different now? And then at class we work over the time we have to help mums re-connect with their body again, and hopefully restore it to strength again.
There is NO rush to return to exercise. Honestly, I think it took me a year to even feel a bit of strength again, and maybe 3 years after my last baby to feel really great again! And I teach Pilates everyday!
Take your time, focus on yourself and little one, and focus on classes and exercises that promote connection and healing first. After that I always say Pilates is good for everyone (I suppose I have got to anyway!). It keeps you in tune with your body. Like I said before, self-reflecting regularly means you can feel when things are changing again, or when you are feeling your strongest.
I'm fascinated by the impact of the menstrual cycle on our monthly moods, energy, and strength, and so Pilates is a great, more mindful type of exercise that helps you really feel what it going on each day. It is also great when we head into our peri-menopausal years too (hopefully a while away still!).
Why Pilates?
Pilates is great for our core strength, our posture, our mobility and flexibility, our stamina, I could go on. There are so many classes around. Make sure if you go though, that you find a good teacher as classes can vary in quality.
As well as Pilates I would encourage women to do some strength training. This isn't about massive biceps (unless you want it to be!) but weights are super beneficial for women, for our bones, our hormones, our weight and shape. There are so many ways you can incorporate weights these days. It could be a Circuits or HIIT class (which we have at the studio), or it could be PT, or maybe following something online. It can be low impact too so something you can sustain throughout your life. Please get in touch if you have any questions about this.
As part of my story of encouraging and supporting mums to find the right balance in their own lives I started a podcast recently called The Balanced Business Mum Podcast. It is full of ordinary women sharing their stories of success, family, work, stress, values and joys. I would love you to have a listen and let me know what you think! Click HERE to listen
If anyone would like to try a Pilates class in East Kilbride we would love you to say hello and have a link to a free week's trial if you would like to use it. Click HERE to Book
Well that is my tuppence worth! I want to finish by saying "Keep going!" I think you are doing the hardest but most rewarding job in the world!
Listen to this episode from The Balanced Business Mum Podcast
