THE ANSWERS AREN’T “OUT THERE”.
THEY’RE IN YOU
About Rachael
That’s exactly what happened to me.
Motivation
You may feel like you’re doing everything right? Eating your veggies. Going to the gym. Practicing Yoga. Meditating every morning (ok not quite every morning)..
But after all the stretches, the “Om’s”, and the cleanses, do you still feel an underlying feeling of stress and anxiety?
Your neck and shoulders still feel tense. You’re aching for a massage. You’re exhausted and dreaming about the biscuits in the cupboard while you urge yourself to have some fruit instead. If you’re doing it all right, why don’t you have unlimited energy, deep inner confidence and a clear mind?
Perhaps you’ve been looking on the outside for so long that you’ve learned to ignore what was happening on the inside.
The Ballet School
At age 11, I attended the Royal Ballet School and received full-time professional classical ballet training. It was a wonderful foundation; it taught me to strive for the impossible, to push my limits, and to be uber conscientious.
Training in such a prestigious and competitive environment, I was constantly trying to move 'perfectly'. I was so caught up in what I looked like from the outside, that I didn't pay attention to what things felt like on the inside. I had NO IDEA how I was biomechanically designed to move, I just moved. I jumped further. I turned faster. I lifted my legs higher. And higher. This type of movement may have looked freeing.
But all I felt was frustrated.
Frustrated with my body. Moving often felt unnatural. Even breathing felt unnatural! My creativity and unique expression became blocked. Instead of understanding how my body was evolutionarily and functionally designed to move, I tried to control it. As my Franklin Method teacher, Eric Franklin himself always says:
“You get better at whatever you practice.”
So what was I getting better at? A lot of tension, stress, injury, and anxiety.
FROM POINTE SHOES TO PILATES
After graduating from The Royal Ballet School, I danced professionally with several companies, including The Royal Ballet, The Birmingham Royal Ballet and Ballet Im Aalto in Essen, Germany.
While working on Don Quixote in Germany, I severely injured my ankle. In the warm up pre show I heard an almighty crack when I landed from a split leap.
Thankfully I received fantastic rehab and discovered Pilates. I had never felt so strong in my life: Pilates gave me a huge insight into creating balanced strength and flexibility throughout the whole body. Unfortunately, my ankle still wasn’t strong enough to support a competitive career in pointe shoes, life was pointing me in a different direction. In London I trained as a Master Pilates teacher, and moved to the coast to start my new career.
While working in Melbourne, Australia with my good friend Bruce Hildebrand at his innovative Pilates Studio, I was introduced to The Franklin Method. Bruce was studying for his Level 3 Training and blew me away by his enthusiasm for life, health, and his career. He was so inspiring, I knew that he was onto something!!
“In Rachael’s workshop I picked up many new useful tips and tricks to help dancers achieve a better understanding of how their body functions. Rachael’s clever use of dynamic imagery helps her students to understand their own anatomy and movement patterns in a clear and practical way."
Aedin Kennedy, London UK. Senior Physiotherapist of the Royal Ballet Company.
To be a part of this fascinating world, I knew I had to study the Franklin Method as soon as humanly possible…
On moving back to the UK I set up my own Pilates Studio and started studying the Franklin Method. My intensive study periods with Eric Franklin took me to London, New York, and Colorado, I now teach workshops and teacher trainings all over the world - Morocco, Costa Rica, Canada, America, Dubai, Iceland, Italy, The Netherlands and the UK
I am nourished by studying the human body and mind, every year since I qualified as a Pilates teacher in 2001 I completed training courses. I am also a Biomechanics coach and Universal Health Principles Educator, Reiki practitioner, Doula, Hypopressives teacher.
Although I have danced and moved my body my entire life, it was Franklin Method and Universal Health Principles that showed me how to really get to know ME. How to get out of the daily competition, out of everybody else’s ‘stuff’, and to find out how life and movement work for me, my way.
This was the piece that was missing during my days as a professional dancer. Had I understood and worked with what was naturally happening inside my body, I know I would have discovered SO much more potential in my body. There’s now so much more enjoyment in moving, more confidence, less injuries, and much more energy and presence.
I now have an Online Studio ALIGNED with hundreds of beautiful members all over the world and an empowering Pelvic floor programme called The Ultimate Pelvic Floor Plan.
I truly have a deep purpose to empower individuals by guiding them to cultivate a deep mind- body connection, embrace their uniqueness, and find transformation through mindful, embodied movement practices, like I have.