Your Teacher
Originally from South Africa, Michelle started her career as a dancer with Cape Town City Ballet. She enjoyed 10 successful years with the company and was promoted to Principal in 2004. Michelle discovered Pilates after her second baby and was amazed at how quickly she felt the benefits. Michelle's passion for Pilates led her to training under master teacher trainer Rachel Rafiefar. She has gained qualification in Matwork, the Apparatus, a postgraduate in pre and postnatal Pilates, Pilates for MS and Biomechanics Trainer. Michelle's love of movement and attention to detail come together to provide a fun and challenging class appropriate for each client
Originally from South Africa, Michelle started her career as a dancer with Cape Town City Ballet. She enjoyed 10 successful years with the company and was promoted to Principal in 2004. Michelle discovered Pilates after her second baby and was amazed at how quickly she felt the benefits. Michelle's passion for Pilates led her to training under master teacher trainer Rachel Rafiefar. She has gained qualification in Matwork, the Apparatus, a postgraduate in pre and postnatal Pilates, Pilates for MS and Biomechanics Trainer. Michelle's love of movement and attention to detail come together to provide a fun and challenging class appropriate for each client
Benefits of Pilates
- Improves Posture
- Enhances your breathing
- Increases flexibility
- Improve balance and co-ordination
- Relief from back pain
- Increases strength and stamina
- Ideal for osteoporosis by promoting good posture and balance
- Rehabilitation before and after surgery
- Relaxation and stress relief
- Injury prevention and injury rehabilitation
- Addresses muscle imbalances
- Defines and tones your body.
- Boosts energy
Joseph Pilates
Joseph Pilates was born in Germany. As a child he had rickets, asthma and rheumatic fever. This lead him to study many forms of self improvement systems. He drew from Zen Buddhism and
Eastern practises as well as studying anatomy. Pilates worked on developing his body and became a body builder, boxer, gymnast, skier, diver, wrestler and martial artist. He watched wild animals in motion and children at play to develop his principals for his exercises. He came to England as a circus performer and boxer. At the outbreak of WW1 Pilates was placed in forced internment. Whilst imprisoned he practised his exercise regime with his fellow internees all of whom did not succumb to the influenza epidemic which killed thousands of people. He was later transferred to the Isle of Man where he worked as an orderly. Here he began to work with wounded soldiers and experimented by attaching springs to the hospital beds. This provided resistance which Pilates used along with his own body weight to move the soldiers arms and legs helping them to recover. After the war, Pilates went back to Germany and was asked to train the German Army. He was against this so emigrated to America and met his wife Clara on the passage to New York. Together they set up his Studio in Manhattan where he evolved his work and called it Contrology. He worked with talented dancers such as Martha Graham, George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. Pilates was first introduced to England in 1960 by Alan Herdman.
" Ideally our muscles should obey our will. Reasonably , our will should not be dominated by the reflex actions of our muscles" Joseph Pilates
