lockdown pilates (Part 1

LOCAL business Pilates Classes Delivered from the Essex Countryside Part 1

Zanna Newton Pilates 07719 862371

www.zannanewton.co.uk

During the week of the 16th March 2020, when the severity of the COVID pandemic was emerging, it quickly became clear that my Pilates classes would not continue from my regular hall venues in Stotfold and Melbourn.

My final “real-life” classes took place on the afternoon of Friday 20th March and with help from my daughter Sophie, back home early from university, I was able to deliver my very first online Pilates class at 9.30am the following Monday, 23rd March!

That day, four classes were delivered from my house in Stotfold, but after that evening’s Government announcement, about what was to be the first national lockdown, I decided to pack a bag and join my partner, Martyn, at his house an hour away, on the Essex-Suffolk border. Classes have continued from there ever since.

By Autumn I was keen to deliver face-to-face classes as an option for my clients, many of who have been with me since I started teaching 16 years ago. In September, as restrictions eased, I restarted two hall classes, with strict social distancing and sanitising measures firmly in place of course. But as we all know less than two months later, all face–to-face classes were sadly cancelled once again, due to the second national Lockdown in November. Back to Zoom it was!

Zoom has become a part of our daily lives, be it for keeping up with Pilates classes, with work or for keeping in touch with loved ones.

The online Pilates classes have evolved over the past year. In those warm summer months of 2020 we had fun taking part from the garden. Occasionally due to rain, or indeed computers overheating in the sunshine, we had to make a dash back indoors! In the dark winter months I invested in photography lamps to improve my image quality during class so that details of each exercise could be seen clearly. Everyone has also bought new small pieces of Pilates equipment, such as a resistance band or small Pilates ball to use at home. The regular weekly Pilates class timetable has been supplemented with what I call “Lockdown Special 40-Minute Focus Classes”. These are shorter additional classes that can more easily be fitted into a busy day at home between work and home schooling. We have done “abs focus, stretch & relax and even a legs & bums” class to music…which was a lot of fun and with some classic exercise-class old tunes it took us back a few years!

Thank you to everyone for your continued support and encouragement. It would have been so much harder without all your kind words and many emails of appreciation.

To be Continued next month...

Zanna has been leading her ‘highly recommended’ Pilates classes since 2004. Classes are available live on Zoom; one-off sessions are available to try as well as whole courses. Check the website to see class availability and book online. www.zannanewton.co.uk