Every Thursday, I catch a train to London.
The timetable doesn't quite work. There's usually some waiting around between trains and classes. It's a long day, and by the time I get home, I'm ready for an early night.
If I'm honest, there are plenty of weeks when staying in Tamworth would be far easier.
But every Thursday I make the journey to Pi Studios in Battersea anyway.
Not because I have to.
Because I believe it's part of my responsibility as a Pilates teacher.
Nobody Talks About This Enough
The Pilates industry talks a lot about education.
We're encouraged to attend workshops, gain qualifications and continue developing our knowledge. All of that is important.
But there is one conversation I don't hear often enough:
Should teachers have a regular personal practice?
Not teaching.
Not demonstrating.
Not jumping on a Reformer between clients.
Not joining in with a class you've been teaching all day and convincing yourself that counts.
A genuine practice of your own.
Because teaching Pilates and practising Pilates are two very different things.
Teaching Isn't Practice
When I'm teaching, my attention is entirely on my clients.
I'm observing movement.
Identifying compensations.
Making adjustments.
Planning progressions.
Listening carefully to what is happening in front of me.
My role is to help somebody else move better.
Practice is different. Practice asks me to focus on myself:
notice where I'm compensating.
discover what still challenges me.
experience frustration
progress and breakthrough from the inside.
Those lessons are invaluable because they remind me what it actually feels like to learn Pilates.
What Classical Pilates Changed
Before discovering classical Pilates, my professional development largely followed the route familiar to many teachers.
There was always another course.
Another workshop.
Another qualification.
The message was simple:
Keep learning.
What I don't remember hearing was:
Keep practising.
Nobody explained that some of the most important lessons would come not from the next training course, but from repeatedly experiencing the method in my own body.
To be fair, many respected contemporary organisations do require practice, observation and teaching hours during training. The issue isn't that practice doesn't exist.
The issue is that once qualified, many teachers stop prioritising their own development as practitioners.
Classical Pilates introduced me to a different perspective.
The most respected teachers weren't simply teaching the work.
They were still doing the work. Week after week. Year after year.
Every Thursday I'm the Student
That's why I travel to London.
Not for another certificate or to add another qualification after my name.
I go because, for a few hours every week, I am not the teacher.
Making that happen has meant reorganising my week. I've moved private clients, adjusted classes and reshaped my Thursday schedule to create the time. It's not always convenient, either for me or for the clients affected by those changes.
But I believe it's worth it.
Because the better I become as a practitioner, the better I can serve the people who trust me with their Pilates.
I take Tower classes and advanced Chair classes that push me well outside my comfort zone.
I get the same corrections I've had again and again. I’ll also receive new corrections I've never heard. I get things wrong; sometimes repeatedly. And that's exactly the point.
Every week I am reminded that the method still has something to teach me.
That there are details I've missed. Connections I haven't fully understood and skills I haven't yet mastered.
As teachers, we regularly ask our clients to trust the process and stay committed to their practice. I think we should be willing to do the same ourselves.
The Value of Being Uncomfortable
The journey isn't convenient and its’s not an inexpensive commitment.
The classes can be physically demanding and sometimes I'd much rather stay at home.
But growth rarely comes from convenience.
One of the greatest benefits of putting yourself back into the role of student is that it keeps you honest.
It reminds you what it feels like to:
struggle
not to have the answer
work hard for progress.
Those experiences shape the way we teach.
They help us develop empathy, patience and a deeper appreciation for the learning process our clients go through every day.
Staying Teachable
One of the dangers of experience is that we can begin to think we have arrived.
We become the expert in the room, the person with the answers. The teacher.
But the best classical teachers I've met share a different mindset.
No matter how experienced they are, they continue seeking guidance.They continue refining and studying the method through practice rather than relying solely on what they learned years ago.
Their expertise comes not just from teaching the work, but from continuing to experience it.
A Personal Responsibility
I believe every Pilates teacher should maintain a regular practice.
Not because a certification body demands it.
Not because it earns professional development points.
But because our clients deserve teachers who understand the work from the inside.
Teachers who still experience challenge and continue to grow. Teachers who are willing to invest in their own development with the same commitment they ask of their clients.
For me, that commitment looks like an early train to London every Thursday.
For somebody else, it may look different. The details don't matter. The principle does.
The Best Teachers Never Stop Practising
When I get home after a long Thursday, I'm usually tired.
I've spent the day travelling, training and learning.
But I'm always reminded of why I went.
Not because I learned a new exercise or I gained another qualification. But because I spent time as a practitioner rather than an instructor.
I believe that's one of the defining characteristics of classical Pilates.
The expectation isn't simply that we teach the method.
It's that we continue to participate in it.
Because the most valuable lessons in Pilates aren't always found in a manual, a workshop or a certification.
Sometimes they're found on a Reformer, in a Chair class, while receiving a correction you've heard a dozen times before and finally understanding it in a completely different way.
And that's why next Thursday, I'll be back on the train to London, ready to be a student again.