International Self-Care day is all about learning to treat ourselves with love and compassion in order to improve and maintain our health. Therefore, we thought, who better to talk to about self-care than our fantastic and inspirational Pilates teacher, Eleah Waters?
Pilates is all about self-care, as it teaches people how to move mindfully and with awareness through poses and exercises. For this reason, it is great to practice Pilates alongside other more physically straining sports, as often, when we play competitive sports – such as racing or matches – we forget to listen to our bodies because we become so focused on the goal of winning. The problem being, when stop to listen to our bodies we tend to push ourselves too hard, making us more at risk of injuries. Therefore, whether you are a dancer, footballer or athlete, Pilates can be an invaluable tool in both the rehabilitation and preservation of your body.
Eleah is an amazing fount of knowledge for everything health related, so we decided to pick her brain for all the juicy details of her personal 4 step evening self-care routine that she does every night without fail. She swears by it and says it keeps her energised and bright everyday.
With these top tips and 3 pints of filtered water a day, you’ll be glowing like an Australian Pilates professional in no time!
STEP 1.
Decide what time you want to be in bed by early on in the evening so you can give yourself time to prepare accordingly. Eleah says she sorts out her clothes for the morning and does her laundry well in advance, so she isn’t rushing or doing it just before bed.
STEP 2.
If you want to be in bed by 10pm, set your alarm for the following morning an hour before and once you’ve done that put your phone on flight mode. Alternatively, you can buy an analog alarm clock and charge your phone outside of your bedroom, this way you know you really won’t touch it!
STEP 3.
Commence your hour of screen-free time, no phones, no Instagram, no TV or computers! Read a book, draw, write or practice a cool down Yoga Sequence, we recommend Yoga with Adrienne. Do anything that gets you relaxed and ready for bed that isn’t digital.
STEP 4.
Light an oil burner full of lavender, ylang ylang and chamomile and if you’re into calming teas, make a brew!
This wind-down time is now Eleah’s favourite part of the day, “You’ll feel less flustered and stressed and sleep much deeper” she says. “On an evening where I still feel a bit tense, I’ll do the ‘legs up on the wall’ pose for 10 minutes”, a gentle and relaxing yoga inversion. She also uses Pukka Night Time herbal supplement i she’s feeling particularly jittery, “2 capsules and I’m out like a light, and I find I wake up really refreshed.”
Eleah’s next 1:4 group Pilates course starts on the 3rd of August at our London Fields clinic. If you’re interested in signing up and giving it a go please give us a call on 0208986551. She also runs Pilates retreats, her next one is from the 13 – 15th of October. For more info go to http://www.eleahwaterspilates.com/retreat/.