Transforming Life Through Movement: Angie’s Journey to Wellness
As part of our recent series of posts focusing on our amazing clients, today we’d like to share with you the incredible journey of Angie which started at the age of 55.
In August 2021 Angie decided to try something new and began to take 1:1 Pilates classes.
Angie in the Studio
Background: Angie has been a nurse since the age of 16 and she always prided herself on her strength and ability to lift heavy patients. However, this really took a toll on her body and she suffered a bunch of work-related injuries from lifting heavy loads. These injuries led to countless surgeries and operations over the years and she found herself relying on alcohol and prescription medication just to get by. It was a very tough battle!
On top of that she struggled with a food addiction and her weight reached its heaviest at 20 stone. She was constantly visiting doctors and hospitals for various disorders not to mention dealing with anxiety, depression and overall poor health. Her exercise regime consisted of walking her dog but the rest of the time she was a couch potato slumped in front of the TV on a comfy sofa. She honestly believed she would never get better and resigned herself to a life of waiting for doctors to fix her. She lost count of how many prescription drugs she took as well as their side effects. It was a big mess!
Fast forwarding to her nursing career, she specialised in cardiology, oncology, hepatology and transplantation. Things were relatively fine when she was working the wards as she stayed relatively active but then she transitioned to GP surgeries where she was glued to a desk and chairs for most of the day which didn’t do much for her functional movement. But, there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel. She now works in Urgent Care where she assesses up to 30 patients a day. Its a bustling environment and she has a better work-life balance allowing her to move more and feel more alive.
Enter Pilates. This marvellous practice (her words) changed her life. Through Pilates she finally connected her mind to her body. And guess what? The pain started to vanish and she was able to gradually ditch the medication. It was a revelation! She realised that nursing school had never taught her the fundamentals of movement like Pilates did. To deepen her knowledge further she went on three Pilates retreats in 2022 which took her understanding to a whole new level.
Today her life revolves around holistic well-being and she has conquered her addictions. She embraces practices like meditation, eating nutritious food and of course continuing her Pilates journey. After four decades of traditional Western Medicine she has come to a profound realization. If she wants a comfortable, pain free life Pilates is the way to go. “It has transformed me and now I want to share this incredible experience”.
Since finding us at Stourbridge Pilates Rooms she has continued to progress her movement practice and now even has her husband involved! She is embarking upon Pilates Teacher Training to help people move in a pain free and meaningful way and to spread the joy of movement and healing to those who haven’t discovered this incredible exercise system yet.
We will have more of Angie’s journey in the coming weeks so keep an eye on our socials!
