Susanne is one of The Pilates Hut’s more recent members, joining in March 2021. Let’s find out more about Susanne, and her reasons for choosing Pilates over other forms of exercise.

How you came to know about The Pilates Hut?

After sustaining an injury in Jan 2021, I undertook considerable research on the most effective way to increase my strength, balance, and flexibility. What I read all pointed towards Pilates and of course to the realisation that a resource like the Pilates Hut was in Banchory. What a find.

When did you join The Pilates Hut?

I first contacted Michelle around March 2021

What made you join?

In truth, 3 months after surgery following a significant fracture to my ankle and foot, I felt lost and afraid. My physio input had been minimal due to covid restrictions, and I was becoming increasingly scared both about my future mobility and risk of further injury. I was desperate to hook onto something that could lead me out of that place which on reflection felt dark and hopeless at that point.

Have you met any new friends through The Pilates Hut?

Not in the sense of meeting up outside of class, but I will say this. There is anything up to 6 people in attendance at the two mat classes a week I attend and up to two of us in the weekly large equipment session I also attend.
The interactions between those attending is gentle and respectful, so there is no awkwardness. Most people seem to be there in earnest, trying to improve some aspect of their strength or mobility and using the hour class/session to work hard. There is a sense of wanting to make real use of the teaching and everyone is highly focussed on what they are doing.
I have never felt watched or judged by other attendees and out with the occasional gently humorous real time observation of what is happening in the class, the tone set by the teacher is quiet, considered, and mindful. (I have only worked with Michelle to date but from what I have heard and what I observe, Rebecca’s approach is very much the same.)

What was the deciding factor behind joining The Pilates Hut?

When Michelle first contacted me in response to my email enquiry, she assessed from what I described, that I would benefit from Movement Therapy as a prelude to joining a class. Basically, I wasn’t ready to join a class and my enquiry had been about Pilates at some point in the future. So, I worked with Michelle over 6 individual sessions on a 1-1 basis, using the large equipment to slowly build up strength balance and flexibility. When I arrived at the hut for my first consultation, I felt heavily reliant on crutches and in a lot of pain. I was almost afraid to move.
At that point I genuinely felt that at any moment, I could fall without warning and fracture the ankle again, and maybe worse. I think it was at that point, after the first consultation and Michelle drew up a plan, set clear “homework” that something changed, internally for me, and fear turned into determination and self-belief.
Michelle was quietly understated in her approach, but the predominant message was one of “can do” and there was never any question about that. And she has never wavered from it. She went above and beyond, and I will always feel gratitude towards her for that.
I was overwhelmed and confused by the physiotherapy regime that I had been given on discharge from hospital and on follow up. Michelle took all the notes I had been given and distilled the numerous and ever-increasing number of exercises I was being given by the NHS, into one carefully engineered exercise regime that I could do every day and I was able to access it through the App. A turning point for me.
Michelle recommended massage therapy and suggested I see Ruth Hutchinson for Myofascial Release which was another critical strand in my rehabilitation and continues to be so.
I can honestly say that I would be in quite a different place had I not come to Pilates. When I was discharged from the Fracture Clinic, the consultant said that he did not expect me to walk into the consulting room end of April last year, the way I did. He was very supportive of the fact that I was attending for Movement Therapy at the hut and so even early on the benefits were apparent.

What is your favourite class and why?

My answer to this does surprise me! Mat class.
The large equipment class I attend on a weekly basis is great. There are only a maximum of two people attending and the teacher works intensively over that hour on an exercise regime that slowly over the weeks and months (and without one hardly being conscious of it) starts to increase in complexity and challenge.
I felt that because I started there for the Movement Therapy, it represented a safe and predictable (and risk free) environment. However, Michelle announced (to my mixed response) that I was ready to join a mixed ability mat class. I am far from grasping this, by any means, but I love the mat class and I now have started attending 2 per week.
Working quietly in a group in the studio, quiet music on, view over the golf course and Scolty Hill becomes a holistic experience. I feel for me the gains in my core strength and flexibility are becoming more and more apparent (to me anyway) and I drive back from class revigorated, feeling strong yet peaceful.

Why did you still go to Pilates? Could you describe the benefits? Has it changed you at all?

Starting at Pilates represented a change.
I have worked full time in a demanding career role for 30 years, have raised 2 daughters and kept home and marriage going. We even managed to incorporate our beloved Labrador Teddy into our lives, along the way.
But I have known for years that I was heading towards some sort of brick wall, spinning too many plates through necessity not choice, but the impact does not discern based on motivation. The day I fell, I was unfit, preoccupied with a work issue, over tired, and disconnected from my mind and body. I had tried various strategies from joining a gym, meditation, coaching etc but nothing had me fully sold on the methodology or approach so had been short lived.
I am now stronger, I stand taller (literally half an inch), have confidence in my physical strength and I now believe that I am less likely to fall than when I did last year.
My husband and friends see the difference in my general demeanour, and I would self-report that I feel stronger and more mindful than I have ever done.
I am 12 months into an 18-month rehabilitation period, I am still sore, swollen, and stiff at times, but the general trajectory is consistently towards recovery goal which is to remain injury free and not to limp. I now know that is a completely realistic goal.
I attend 3 times a week – the Gold Membership is worth every penny and basically you can attend as many mat classes or large equipment sessions as you can fit in.

Have you tried the @Home Pilates that Michelle has been taking?

I don’t rule it out for me, but I have not yet taken one of these classes.

If someone was not quite sure whether to join The Pilates Hut, what would you say to them?

I would strongly encourage anyone to join the Pilates Hut and would say to them that if you come and stick with it you will slowly yet steadily start to experience quite a fundamental shift in core strength, balance, and flexibility.
The teachers and other clients/students are friendly and welcoming and there is a respectful and quiet environment that is unintimidating and non-judgemental.
Yes, you do have to work hard, the approach is quite serious, but that is what anyone attending is looking for and is what brings the gains.
If we asked you to write some kind words about your experience of attending The Pilates Hut, the studio, its instructors, and the classes offered, what would these words be?

I don’t think it is a stretch to say that Michelle has been pivotal in my recovery both physically and in terms of the broader impact of the injury.
She has an understated can-do attitude, and she quietly sets the bar for others through the expectations and standards she sets for herself. A true teacher like Michelle inspires others through that authentic approach.
I do feel incredibly grateful for all the support and patience. There has been a tear or two shed along the way when I have had moments of doubt or felt tired or sore. Michelle neither ignores or indulges these moments – they are what they are, and we keep going. I can’t thank her enough.
The Pilates Hut is highly professional. The standard of teaching is consistently high, the attention to detail is immaculate and the overarching principle is clearly one of ensuring that quality of the experience and the benefits of the teaching are the most predominant theme.