Living in the Now
Suzie here - I am blessed to live with my two daughters by the sea in beautiful Kinvara. Every morning I go into my studio, I lie on my reformer or mat and I get into my movement groove. I’ve enough awareness to know my whole day starts from this point and my swim in the sea. It’s like a springboard for the whole day. My real goal in life is for the people I teach to love moving as much as I do - so their class becomes a highlight of their week not a burden. With 5 Basi Reformers arriving into my studio I can’t wait to guide each person to use this incredible tool invented by Joseph Pilates and get us all working together to get stronger, fitter and in the driving seat of our health. People are complex and the one size fits all doesn’t work in any aspect in life - literally every person I know has some challenge whether its physical, emotional or mental, together we find that challenge, we tease it out, we enjoy the process and we come back for more. There is nothing better than seeing student advance at their own pace - get their body back and feel confident in movement. There has been and never will be an end to me training.
Iyengar Yoga was my first love - which moved me towards Pilates - another highly intelligent body system - which moved me towards acupuncture - a new obsession. I’m always going to workshops or trainings, swotting up on anatomy and practice practice practice. But my real training comes from my clients - every day I learn from them - my studio is a truly organic laboratory. I like to start my morning in the sea with the Flaggy Mermaids and back home for a class with half the swimmers — coffee and then back on the reformer to experiment, play and learn.
I do not know how but suddenly its 3pm and the kids are home - back into mammy mode - homework, dinner, chats - 7pm back on the reformer for the first class of the evening. Another class at 8 and then bath, chats, read and bed - when I write it sounds monotonous, but every day is filled with joy and learning, laughs and craic. When I think back to my early days in Kinvara I cannot believe how much life has changed for me. My goals are to keep going in this vast subject of the human body in motion, bring my girls up to be great women and connect daily with life in all its beautiful forms.
Just Go With the Flow
I love to move. My mum always said I was never happy unless I was moving, handstands, cartwheels - I used to watch tv upside down. My story has always been about movement - as a little one I did ballet and gym, as a teenager I loved playing tennis on the circuit and hockey in school. Team sports gave way to a more solitary yoga practice which helped me so much with my rocky 20’s. Post 3 children Pilates has now come to the fore to build pelvic health and core strength - I’ve never felt better. Helping others to find the movement that is right for them is my passion. Today I taught a client who has Parkinson’s a shoulder stand on the reformer - the joy and confidence, disbelief, and pleasure in her face when she came down - is why I do what I do.
Earlier I taught a zoom class to my Tuesday morning class - seeing their keenness, the commitment not to backslide in these difficult times - this is why I do what I do. I do not care how many show-up 1 or 20 makes no difference - if you’re there to learn I am here to teach. It was never a decision for me to become a teacher it just happened so naturally.
