The Approach
My teaching is ultimately about helping people become more capable in their bodies, and supporting that capability as we grow older.
Being capable is about more than strength or flexibility. It involves how we breathe, balance, coordinate, react and adapt; how comfortably we can get down to the floor and back up again; and how effectively we can walk, turn, reach, carry and move through space.
Many of the movements we explore are grounded in fundamental human movement patterns. Breathing, head movement, rolling, rocking and crawling help develop coordination and the reflexive qualities that support movement. Balance, rotation and gait give us ways to explore how these qualities come together as we move.
The nervous and vestibular systems are part of this too. Changing head position, shifting our weight, balancing, moving our eyes and changing direction all give the brain information about where we are and how the body needs to respond.
Strength and mobility matter, but I don’t see them as isolated qualities. The aim is to develop a body that can use these qualities together, responding and adjusting rather than relying on one way of moving.
This becomes increasingly valuable as we grow older. Maintaining strength, balance, coordination and reflexive movement, alongside the ability to get down to the ground and back up again, change direction and respond when something unexpected happens, all contribute to remaining capable.
Balance can help us avoid a fall, but capability also means having more options to respond if we do lose our balance, and being familiar with the ground rather than only encountering it when something goes wrong.
Classes are structured and purposeful, but not rigid. Movements can be scaled and adapted, allowing each person to work with an appropriate level of challenge while continuing to explore and learn through experience.