FEBRUARY 2026 NEWSLETTER – FITNESS PILATES
Dear Fitness Pilates Member
Welcome to the start of February 2026
“Our body is the product of our thoughts. We’re beginning to understand in medical science the degree to which the nature of our thoughts and emotions actually determines the physical substance, structure, and function of our bodies.”
– Dr. John Hagelin, Quantum Physicist and Public Policy Expert
Well, that’s one month gone of 2026 and here we find ourselves in February. It’s been a rather wet January. Class number have been so good face to face in the community and via ZOOM. I hope they will continue into our new month.
Class Timetable
Monday – Stisted Village Hall 0930-1015 & ZOOM – 1100-1145
Tuesday – BSC 0930-1015
Wednesday – Wethersfield Village Hall 1100-1145
Thursday – Coggeshall Village Hall 1100-1145
Thursday – Stisted Village Hall Chair Pilates1500-1545 (1st Thursday of the month)
Friday – 1st Friday of the month – Fitness Pilates/Mindfulness for Carers Connect – St Peters Village Hall, Braintree 1115-1200
PLEASE NOTE THAT AS FROM 1ST MARCH THERE WILL BE A PRICE INCREASE TO ZOOM FROM £7 TO £8. I AM SORRY TO HAVE HAD TO DO THIS BUT ZOOM ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP HAS INCREASED WAY ABOVE INFLATION. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE.
Have you ever wondered what our comprehensive class looks like and how I plan my lessons each week to deliver to you? Well here are the basics that I work from. Just thought you may be interested in how our classes are structured.
A comprehensive Fitness Pilates class should include:
- Warm-up and joint mobilisation to prepare the body and mind
- Standing, functional, and travelling sections for balance, strength, and function.
- Floor work incorporating supine, prone, side-lying, and quadruped positions.
Stretch & Relaxation
Random Acts of Kindness Day
17th February is known as Random Acts of Kindness Day. The celebration of this day can seem somewhat ironic in a world that seems so harsh and unkind most days.
I know that I personally get jaded by the unkindness I see around me each day. From rude and impatient drivers to cyberbullies – it seems as if finding a fellow kind soul among us is a lost cause.
I know that it isn’t, though. I know that the good still far outweighs the bad and that we just notice the bad because our brains are wired to do so as a survival tactic. This is known as negativity bias – it is our tendency not only to register negative stimuli more readily but also to dwell on these events.
It takes effort, but we can choose to be kind in an unkind world.
The most significant way I’ve found to do that is through courtesy. Extend courtesy to everyone around you in every situation. Allow others to be human. To make mistakes, step in it, and mess up.
Love them through it. Allow your compassion to shine through.
We never know when we might be the one needing that same courtesy and kindness from someone else.
Creating a kinder, more understanding world begins with ourselves. So maybe the best random act of kindness isn’t even what you do for someone else.
Perhaps, it needs to begin with you. Are you allowing yourself to make mistakes? Have you given yourself the grace to be human? Are you loving yourself through it?
It isn’t random acts of kindness that we need. It is daily acts of kindness.
10 Things We Always Wait Too Long to Do for Ourselves (Year After Year)
Something I was reading last month sent to me by a friend. Some many wise and wonderful words in there. It’s time to stop waiting and make yourself a priority this year.
https://www.marcandangel.com/2025/01/02/10-choices-you-wont-regret-in-10-years
🌟 What is Hypermobility?
Hypermobility means that a person’s joints can move beyond the normal range expected for that joint.
It happens because the connective tissues (like ligaments and tendons) are looser, stretchier, or more fragile than usual.
Some people are simply “naturally flexible,” but for others, hypermobility can lead to pain, instability, and a greater risk of injury.
There is a range:
- Some people have mild joint hypermobility (loose joints but no problems).
- Others may have Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders (HSD) or hEDS (Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome), where it causes pain, fatigue, and impacts daily life.
💬 How Does Hypermobility Affect People?
- Joint Instability: Joints feel unstable and “wobbly.”
- Pain: Especially around the joints, after exercise or even after basic activities.
- Muscle Fatigue: Muscles work harder to stabilise joints.
- Frequent Injuries: Sprains, dislocations, or subluxations (partial dislocations) are more common.
- Poor Proprioception: Difficulty sensing where their body is in space (leading to clumsiness or poor balance).
- Postural Issues: Due to lax connective tissues, posture may be harder to maintain.
🧘♀️ Fitness Pilates and Hypermobility
⭐ Good Pilates Exercises for Hypermobility
- Core Strengthening Work: E.g., Dead Bug, Toe Taps, Leg Slides
- Pelvic Stability Work: E.g., Shoulder Bridge (modified), Clamshells
- Small Range Movements: Encourage control over speed and range.
- Isometric Holds: E.g., Modified Planks (short holds for strength)
- Closed Chain Exercises: (Hands or feet fixed, e.g., Wall Sits) for safer joint stability
- Balance Work: E.g., Standing Stability Exercises with support
- Scapular Stability: E.g., Wall Angels, Shoulder Rolls
🚫 Exercises to Avoid or Modify
- Deep Stretching or Overstretching: Especially hamstrings, hips, shoulders
- Extreme Range of Motion Work: Like deep lunges or large arm circles without control
- Unsupported Loaded Movements: E.g., heavy resistance bands without stability
- Hyperextended Positions: (e.g., locking out knees or elbows in standing poses)
- Fast, Jerky Movements: Keep everything controlled and deliberate
⏳ Can Hypermobility Get Worse Over Time?
- Yes, if not managed carefully.
Without strengthening and stabilising exercises, joints can become looser, more unstable, and painful over time, especially with ageing, hormonal changes (e.g., menopause), or after injuries. - BUT regular strength work, posture training, and mindful movement (like modified Fitness Pilates) can hugely help protect and even improve function over time.
Is this helpful….let me know.
What would you like me to cover next? I have had some great suggestions and will keep going with this series.
Dealing with Arthritis
Arthritis is a medical condition that is characterised by aching, painful joints. The cold weather can heighten the pain and worsen stiffness and inflammation in the affected areas. The most common forms of arthritis are osteoarthritis (wear and tear) and rheumatoid arthritis, an inflammatory autoimmune condition. Arthritis can affect any joint in the body but most commonly occurs in the hands, hips and knees.
Hands and Shoulders
Most cases of arthritis develops as we get older. Some causes of arthritis can be caused such as infection or trauma which can injure the joint surface and accelerate wear and tear changes with the affected joints. Simple hand/wrist exercises which I have covered in the Pilates classes can be of help.
With the shoulder it’s a case of keeping the joint moving without aggravating your symptoms.
Hips
Arthritis is a progressive degenerative disease and the main symptoms tend to be pain, stiffness and gradual loss of movement and function. Strangely, pain in the groin is actually the first sign of arthritis in the hip joint. In the early stages (especially if the person is younger than 50-60) can be mistaken for a groin strain or muscle injury. As it progresses, the pain can radiate into the buttocks and outer thigh, even reaching to the knee. Initially people may have difficulty in doing things that involve a lot of hips flexion i.e. putting on shoes and socks. This can progress to being unable to fully stretch or straighten their affected leg. They may also experience restricted movement such as when they are getting into and out of a car. In the early stages, regular movement is recommended. Its important to keep the surrounding muscles and ligaments as strong and flexible as possible so that can support the failing joint. There will be some forms of exercise that your hip will stop you from doing, but it’s always important to keep being active.
Knees
Osteoarthritis is usually age-related but it can also start because of previous injuries. It’s exacerbated when people are overweight or very inactive. Physiotherapy can initially help to strength the muscles around the knee. Strengthening the quadriceps are key to knee pain. Losing weight and reducing activities that cause pain are also recommended.
I was listening to a various interesting podcast on Radio 4 which came on expectedly when driving. Just One Thing, Michael Mosley quizzes the world’s leading health experts on the best ways to live well. The professor in sport and health emphasises the importance of strength training and being able to sit to stand without help along with many other interesting subjects on health. Here is the link. I found it fascinating. Let me know what you think. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001tr5v
I made some notes from some of the subjects I found more interesting, it might save you a little bit of time if you want to fast forward as the podcast is 38 minutes long.
Just One Thing
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001tr5v
Exercise special – Professor Murphy
Benefits of exercise, physical, over 23 diseases can be prevented or delayed by being active. Psychological and social benefits
Staying healthy
Short vigorous bursts – vila – fits in easier to our lifestyle
Making physical exercise habitual.
Post exercise oxygen consumption, slightly elevated after the exercise. Post exercise boosts to the metabolism
30 mins per day 7 days a week of exercise, do resistance exercises x 2 per week. – The forgotten guideline
Muscular strength exercise
To live a long healthy life, to be independent, age from 30’s onwards, decrease in muscle mass and strength
55% over the age of 65 did not have sufficient quad and glute strength to rise from an armchair unaided (on/off the toilet)
We only want to live long if we can live independent and healthy
Squats, lunge, plank Stand to sit 10 times during the adverts
Joint movement of the knees and hips that get you to rise from a chair. Its not easy for most 90-year-olds. Use it or lose it.
Squat best exercise – increase blood flow to the brain. For strength and CV. Big muscles that require a lot of oxygen – quads and glutes biggest muscles
Men have more muscle mass than women. Build muscle mass at any age
Waiting for the kettle to boil, calf raises both feet or on one
Muscle is the furnace of the body, it burns energy. More muscle mass, metabolism stays higher. Person with more muscle sitting still is burning more calories. Metabolic boost.
Muscles soak up excess sugar in the blood, avoid type !! diabetes.
Journalling
Before I sign off the newsletter, I have brought something back into my life, something that I did regularly and then forgot one day, then the next, then it didn’t happen again……… Journalling.
I journal each day now. When I have had periods in the past year when I haven’t and then restart I realise how positive this habit is. I start with my affirmations, then a bit of exercise housekeeping and then note the best things that have happened that day (I journal in the eve). 1) It isn’t pretentious – there is lots of research to show how beneficial it is, 2) It doesn’t take long – 2 mins 3) you can journal at any time of the day 3) it doesn’t have to be an essay.
Making journaling a habit is a good thing! To get you started attached to the end of this newsletter is a template. Make it yours – you will only make it your habit if you make it something that works for you.
Someone I follow on Instagram, Mel Robbins. I am sure a lot of you have heard of her. She is amazing! However Ive been promoting one of her suggestions for a better more peaceful life, during the classes last month.
This is what she had to say………………
Mel Robbins – 3 MINUTE NIGHT JOURNAL x 3 things grateful for
Better sleep, lower inflammation, higher variable HR which is a positive thing and means a flexible nervous system – helps us to become more resilient and handle stress better
I am unable to find the link to share with you, but love this short video just as much!
https://www.instagram.com/p/DQxp2vOEQd3/
Just one more link Ive been watching last month…………. When I always thought Magnesium (which I have been taking for years) helps you sleep, well apparently it doesn’t and we can also keep our phones in our bedrooms at night, as long as we use them standing up. 😊
FEBRUARY’S MOTIVATION
It’s a brand-new month! If YOU want it badly enough YOU will move heaven and earth to make it happen. Nothing will stand in your way. Anything can happen so roll with it.
Make a plan and go after what you DESIRE!
I hope you enjoy this month’s newsletter. Look forward to seeing you soon
Keep shining bright.
Marisa x
Fitness Pilates Health Coach
https://marisaswain-fitnesspilates.co.uk
www.facebook/PTSfitnesspilatesclassesBraintree
Mobile 07811441810
JOURNAL TEMPLATE
MORNING
Daily Affirmations
I am
I am
3 things I am grateful for:
1.
2.
What will make today amazing
1.
Evening
Daily reflection – 3 brilliant things that happened today
1.
2.
How I can make tomorrow better?
1.
WELCOME FEBRUARY
Nature has no fear that spring will come, that better days will arrive.
And neither should we.
So let the power of the rebirth carry you onwards this month, and count all the ways in which light blesses you.
Four words my friends…
Light, life, hope and faith.
February brings them all.
And on we go…
Donna Ashworth
#februaryquote #hellofebruary #februarypoem #newmonth #imbolc #february1st #welcomefebruary