Hello,

Here we are entering week three of the new term….already! 
Mondays class is going to be starting at the later time of 7.30pm from tonight due to the user before me, requesting more time in the hall. I agreed as I felt they were using the room before I booked and have been a long time user, so I wanted to respect their wishes. 
I hope this will be ok for most of you, and the later time might work out even better for some. 
I still have spaces in my classes on Monday night and Saturday morning, so please do come along if you can make it. You are welcome to drop in and pay cash or pay online (£8.50). 

This week is set to be a beautiful one, weather wise, and my morning which quickly turned into late and then later morning/afternoon, was spent walking down the prom admiring the view (see photo above). I listened to an interesting podcast and chatted to a friend on the phone; bumped into some more people I knew at the coffee shop and then bumped into another lady I walk past often and with whom I always exchange polite conversation. It was a pleasure to have this time to soak up the atmosphere of this beautiful place we live in and the conversations peppered my otherwise, solitary day with some lovely moments of social interaction.
This is why I love going for walks! 
The unexpected conversations coupled with the ever changing views…it was so misty this morning I couldn’t see much further in front of me, to then be delighted by the sun burning through the mist, as I walked back. One thing you get used to (living by the bay) is you need one set of clothes whilst walking north and a different set for walking back south! 
I did plan on doing some studying and hadn’t planned on such a lengthy walk, but then, you only live each day once and the beauty of the day was too much to ignore. My books will have to wait to be read…and that’s what evenings are for! 

Morning workout moves
Last newsletter, I shared my link to demonstrate some of the moves I have been doing in my morning workout. I have deleted that video off my phone now, but will upload another one containing more exercises onto my You Tube channel over the next few days, for those of you who aren’t on Instagram and who’ve expressed an interest in seeing the routine. 
The most important point I wanted to convey in my last newsletter, was the action of consistency. I really don’t think it matters too much what exactly it is (exercise wise) that you do, just as long as you do something that gets your heart rate up for half an hour or more, every single day. Although, me being a Pilates teacher, I have to (obviously) promote the wonderful art of Pilates as a possible daily workout regime!

The benefits for a daily practice are huge in terms of the increase in blood flow to the heart, muscles and brain and will help set you up for a more positive and productive day.
I was reading an article this week, that said exercise (particularly when done in the morning) stimulates the part of the brain that is responsible for organisation and helps to focus the mind on tasks better.
I have to say that this has been my main motivation for doing my exercise routine each day, because I can struggle with this in my day to day life. 
I notice I am far more clearer in my decision making and even when I do take time to have a long walk like today (a total luxury I know), I am still more productive with the rest of my day and I don’t feel like I am in a constant state of rushing. 
Joseph Pilates talks briefly about this in his introduction to his book ‘Return to Life Through Contrology’ (which is the name he gave to Pilates initially).
He says ‘By reawakening thousands and thousands of otherwise ordinarily dormant muscle cells, Contrology correspondingly reawakens thousands and thousands of dormant brain cells, thus activating new areas and stimulating further the functioning of the mind’ (Pilates, 1945, p10).
So there you go…if JP says it, it must be true!
Another thing I wanted to stress, was the duration of your workout. I have noticed that thirty to forty minutes is far more manageable to complete every day, than setting myself an hour.  I have mentioned this before, but a decent twenty to thirty minutes of continuous movement that elevates your heart rate and gets you sweaty, is enough for the body to start seeing results both physically and mentally. 
But I don’t have time in the mornings Natalie, I hear you cry!
Well, sometimes, I don’t either, and so I do my workout later on in the day, and that’s ok! Yesterday, I enjoyed the luxury of a lie in until 10.30am and found myself doing a Pilates reformer session at 1pm in the afternoon….oooooo, rebellious! It’s a glorious thing to be able to go with the flow sometimes and that’s the beauty of the weekends :).
So go for it. Do that workout you ‘meant’ to do in the morning, in the middle of the afternoon or later on in the evening. You won’t ever regret moving your body, and your mind will be thankful you did. 

FREE 30 MINUTE WORKOUT
To help you get started here is a 30 minute circuit workout.
Just repeat it as often as you can and let me know how you feel!
https://youtu.be/DiziQ_-xvs8

I would love to hear your thoughts on this and if you have a daily routine that works for you and you’d like to share it, please email me or share your thoughts on my Facebook page so other people can delight in your wonderfulness! 
https://www.facebook.com/Unitedpilateswithnatalie

Saturday Pilates and coffee
It was lovely on Saturday to retire to the Royal pub in Bolton-le-Sands for a coffee with some of my Saturday crew.
The offer is there again this week so come along for the short walk down the canal to the pub afterwards for a Saturday morning debrief!

Have a super week in the beautiful sunshine and I’ll look forward to seeing you class soon. 

Best wishes, 

Natalie Rusiuk
United Pilates