Ellie joined the Studio in January this year, starting where every SPR teacher starts: Fundamentals training. Since then it's been Beginner training, then Intermediate — and she's just submitted her video teaching and personal drills for assessment. Her next stage, the Intermediate 2 workshops, is coming up this month.
Proper apprenticeship training is a long road, and most of it happens behind the scenes — hours of personal practice, observations and teaching practice with repeated assessments at each step — something most clients never see. It's easy to only ever notice the finished version of a teacher: poised, correcting your form without a second thought. What's usually invisible is everything that led there.
In her own words:
"I started my journey with Becky in January and have learnt a lot since then. I'm constantly learning new things, moving my body in different ways to be the best teacher I can be for you. At the start, my posture wasn't the best — I couldn't sit up as tall as I wanted, and my hamstrings were extremely tight. Even though I still hate the Saw, my body has improved, and will continue to, with the help and support of Becky, Nic and the rest of the team. They've helped me develop each move in every training session, finding muscles I hadn't used before. I can see how Classical Pilates has changed my body for the better.
A huge part of my progress has been the studio itself — developing my teaching style, watching and learning from other teachers, always having someone to ask if I'm not sure how to do or teach something, and adapting for different injuries so everyone gets the best out of my classes.
I've loved teaching so far, and I'm excited to keep learning and developing, through my own body and my teaching. It's a lot of work — teaching over the week, making time for my own practice, and writing observations of other teachers for my training in Southsea. It's time-consuming, but knowing I've led a class where everyone leaves feeling taller and more accomplished tells me I've done well by you.
Teaching people who aren't teachers themselves is a learning curve in itself — different injuries, tight spots, and the occasional shock that not everyone already knows what they're doing! It's taught me to slow down, stay controlled, and be able to explain the same move three different ways, so everyone feels comfortable and confident in my classes."
There's more of this journey to come — Intermediate 2 this month, and whatever comes after that. We'll keep sharing it as it happens.
