Celebrating 15 years of teaching classes!
This November marks 15 years since I qualified as a Pilates instructor. When I first qualified, I could never have imagined where the next 15 years would take me, how much I would learn along the way or quite how much my teaching would evolve.
I certainly couldn’t have imagined just how important MELT would become, not only to me personally, but to my business, my team and the wonderful community of people I now teach every week.
So as I’m celebrating 15 years of teaching classes, I want to thank everybody who has joined me along the years. I also want to celebrate MELT and everything that has grown from discovering this incredible method to becoming an experienced MELT Instructor.
From instructor to Senior MELT Trainer
One of the things I have always loved about teaching is that you never stop learning.
Becoming a MELT Instructor was certainly not the end of my training. I am constantly developing my knowledge, learning more about the body and looking at how I can make my MELT offering even better for my clients. Most recently, this has included further training in postural stability, which has given me even more knowledge to bring into my classes.
I feel very fortunate to now be a Senior Trainer for MELT. This means that as well as teaching my own clients, I help to train new MELT Instructors and support existing instructors with their own learning and development.
It is a real privilege to be able to share what I have learnt and help other instructors develop their own knowledge and confidence. The more brilliant MELT Instructors there are, the more people we can introduce to the method.
Taking MELT beyond Wokingham
Something else I could never have imagined all those years ago was teaching people around the world.
I now teach MELT globally through MELT On Demand and regularly record classes and programmes for the platform. I am very proud to be the UK Instructor with the most videos on MELT On Demand, but more than anything, it is lovely to know that the work I am doing here can help people much further afield too.
At the same time, my local classes remain at the heart of Balanced Fitness. I currently have 19 MELT classes running each week, with different options to suit different levels, needs and experience.
As my teaching has evolved, I have become one of the relatively few instructors who teach pure MELT classes. This is really important to me. It gives clients the opportunity to properly understand the method, build strong foundations and then progress their practice over time.
More than just a weekly class
One of the things I value most is the community that has grown around Balanced Fitness.
For me, teaching has never been about turning up, delivering a class and going home.
I know my clients. I communicate with them personally. I notice when somebody hasn’t been for a while. I love seeing people progress and I want people to feel that they are genuinely part of something when they come to Balanced Fitness.
Over time, we have also been able to introduce much more variety.
There are different classes for different stages of your MELT journey, progression series, online options and opportunities to learn more as your knowledge and confidence grow.
And Balanced Fitness is no longer just me. I have been delighted that Jo and Matt have joined the team <link to blog>working alongside me, which means we can support even more people while still retaining the personal, friendly feel that has always been so important to me.
I am also really pleased to have helped bring new MELT Instructors into the local area. MELT was relatively unknown when I started teaching it and it has been lovely to see more people discover it, talk about it and want to learn more.
Spreading the MELT word
Over the years, I have had some wonderful opportunities to take MELT outside the studio too.
Collaborations with other instructors and organisations have introduced the method to completely new audiences and this summer we took MELT to CarFest. What a weekend that was! Our team delivered around 270 MELT treatments across the weekend, introduced huge numbers of people to MELT and completely sold out of our stock. Being able to introduce so many people to MELT, often for the very first time, was incredibly special and a real team effort.
There has also been some lovely recognition for Balanced Fitness along the way, including through the Prestige Awards. Awards have never been the reason I do what I do, but it is always very appreciated when the work of the whole team and the community we have built is recognised.
15 years on
Looking back over the last 15 years, I think the biggest thing I have learnt is that being a good instructor means never standing still. There is always more to learn. There are always new ways to help people understand their bodies. And there are always opportunities to share that knowledge with somebody new.
MELT has taken me from teaching local classes to teaching people globally, recording for MELT On Demand, training other instructors, building a team, collaborating with some brilliant people and creating a community here at Balanced Fitness that I am incredibly grateful for.
But underneath all of those achievements, the most important part has not changed.
It is still about the people who walk through the door or join me online each week.
To everyone who has taken a class with me, recommended MELT to a friend, joined one of my workshops, watched one of my videos, supported an event or simply kept turning up week after week, thank you.
You have helped make Balanced Fitness what it is today and it is a real honour to be able to keep doing something I love while helping others feel better in their bodies.
Fifteen years after qualifying, I am still learning, still teaching, still developing and still very happily spreading the MELT word.
And I am looking forward to seeing where the next chapter takes us.
If you have any questions about my work as an experienced MELT Instructor, please get in touch.
