How Madonna Changed Pilates

You can say what you like about Madonna (and most do) but there is no denying that in her fifties she has the strength, tone, flexibility and endurance of a twenty something athlete.

I remember a phone call roughly ten years ago with my trainer friend James D'Silva.

James: Guess who I'm training?

Me: Don't know, give me a clue.

James: The most famous woman in the world.

Me: The Queen, you're training the queen!

I was wrong! (it had been a long day, I wasn't thinking straight). It wasn't her Majesty but it was her 'Madgesty'.

 Or M as James now refers to her.

M leaving J's

James and I didn't see much of each other (he is the hardest working trainer in London, if you want a catch up, go to class!) but there was the odd phone call.

James: She's my worst client and my best client.

Me: How so?

James: Worst because she's so busy. Her schedule can change at any time so I'm always having to change her about.

(bearing in mind that she was booked in for two hour sessions five times a week this can be tricky, spesh when you have a lot of high profile clients on your books.)

Best, because she is so demanding. It's a case of having to constantly evolve the repertoire to keep her challenged.

One day I went down to his studio and saw a machine that I did not recognise. It was like a much larger reformer with the scaffolding of a cadillac on top. James told me this was M's machine.

Madonna was such an advanced Pilates student that a new machine and repertoire had to be created to accommodate her level of fitness, strength and competence. This was a prototype, the first of it's kind. The machine has since been finalised and named The Garuda (after the asian bird god)

Time passed. I moved to Scotland. M moved to TA(?!) and J opened another studio. 

Garuda Pilates.

 It is just up the stairs from his original Pilates studio.

James's flyer

The new machine has a split carriage, a chair, hanging straps, climbing frame, adjustable pulleys (work from above or below). It combines every bit of kit you can get but better.

The repertoire of moves James has invented are nothing like what you will have done in your classical or Stott repertoire. He has moved Pilates into a new era. Gone is the rigidity of a neutral or imprinted spine to make way for a much more dynamic, free flowing, organic way of moving and you have to try the Garuda lunge to understand what accessing your glutes really means!

The Garuda is an incredible machine and just what the Pilates industry needs (dont know about you but leg circles bore me and I'm all teasered out).

James offers equipment teacher training and matwork training throughout the year. For dates and info look here

James has re-invented Pilates as we know it. With Madonna as his muse what else would you expect.

The truth about yoga

I know that the word yoga means union. I know that yoga has eight different limbs or sections and that it is not all about the asanas or poses or throwing shapes. I know that a true yogi does most of their yoga off the mat (ie. embracing the full yoga lifestyle and philosophy). I know that it can make you taller, slimmer, strengthen the nervous system and open your heart. I know that it is a very personal practice and everyone experiences it differently.

I know that yoga can fill in the gaps where we need it most. For some it provides the strength and flexibility to remain healthy and functional. For others it is time out from a chattering overactive mind. A relief, a meditation in movement. Active relaxation. A place of refuge.

What I did not know though was how the discipline of yoga can affect other aspects of life. I did not know it would become a way of keeping my body and lifestyle in check. I did not know how deeply it would make me question my physicality and health and that if I'd been eating badly that my third backbend would let me know all about it.

Yoga does not lie and you cannot lie to yoga.

You can't skip your practice and expect to move on in your asanas. You cant make clandestine deals with yoga perhaps the way you do with yourself (if I drink a bottle of wine tonight and eat all that dessert then I wont do anything unhealthy for the next two days...)

I did not know that yoga can make you confront your demons and ask questions of yourself that you may prefer to leave unanswered. I did not know that yoga could highlight your fails as much as your wins. I did not know that if I remained disciplined on the mat then that discipline would flow into other areas of my life where it was badly needed.

In a chaotic world yoga is a sure thing.

Simple.

You don't even need a mat just the ability to breathe. Where there is breath there is yoga. Where there is yoga there is truth.