This column was published in the February 2025 issue of Women's Fitness, as part of my regular Pilates Doctor feature.

Cold weather affects joints more than most people realise. As temperatures drop, the body prioritises keeping your core organs warm — which means less circulation to your hands, feet and joints. For anyone living with arthritis or a chronic joint condition, this can mean increased stiffness, pain and reluctance to move. But staying still makes it worse.

Pilates is not about pushing through. It is about learning how your body moves, where it holds unnecessary tension, and how to build the kind of deep stability that actually supports your joints rather than straining them. The approach I write about here — breath, alignment, core connection — is the same foundation I use with clients at Beyond Move every day, whether they are managing osteoarthritis, recovering from injury, or simply noticing the effects of age and cold on their body.

The five Swiss Ball exercises in this feature are a good starting point. They are low-impact, adaptable, and work precisely the areas that tend to suffer most in winter: lower back, shoulders, hips and the smaller joints of the hands and feet. Five minutes a day of focused, intentional movement is enough to make a difference over time.

If you are unsure where to begin, please speak to your GP or physiotherapist first — and when you are ready, seek out a qualified teacher who understands your condition, not just a general fitness class.

The full article is featured in Women's Fitness, February 2025.

This feature was published in Top Santé magazine in April 2026, as part of my ongoing work as a Pilates instructor and movement specialist.

The hips hold more than most people realise. In Pilates, we talk about the pelvis as the centre of everything — posture, movement, core connection — but it is also an area where the body stores stress, tension and even emotion. If your hips feel tight, restricted or uneven, it is rarely just a physical problem.

Daily habits make this worse. Sitting for long periods, carrying a bag on one shoulder, hunching over a phone — all of these gradually pull the pelvis out of alignment. You may not notice it at first, but over time it shows up as lower back discomfort, restricted movement, or a sense that one side of your body works harder than the other.

The Pilates work I focus on in this feature is about two things: releasing what is held, and rebuilding control. The exercises target the hips and pelvis specifically, using oppositional stretching and strengthening to restore balance. They are accessible enough to do at home, but precise enough to make a real difference if you do them with attention.

The five moves include a high kneeling hip opener, hip hinge, side-lying clam, hip twist with a spikey ball, and leg circles. Start gently, notice which side feels more restricted, and work with that information rather than pushing through it.

The full feature is published in Top Santé magazine.

This column was published in the April 2026 issue of Women's Fitness, as part of my regular Pilates Doctor feature.

Running is one of the most accessible and beneficial forms of exercise — but because it is repetitive and one-directional, it creates imbalances. The same muscles get loaded, the same joints take the strain, and over time that pattern leads to injury.

This is where Pilates earns its place in a runner's training plan. It is not about adding more intensity — it is about addressing what running misses. Foot and ankle stability, hip strength, spinal mobility, pelvic control. These are the foundations that determine whether you run efficiently or whether you compensate, overload and eventually break down.

In this feature I focus on when and how to bring Pilates into your running routine: as a warm-up, a cool-down, and as active recovery between runs. The four moves I share work across all three planes of motion — forwards and back, side to side, and rotational — because your body needs all three to move well, not just the sagittal plane that running dominates.

If you are dealing with a recurring injury, weak ankles, or just a sense that something is slightly off in how you move, these exercises are a good place to start. The goal is a body that is stronger, steadier and more resilient — not just faster.

The full feature is published in Women's Fitness, April 2026.