What does an economist & a movement expert have in common?

Well, a strive for equilibrium for a start! Eek, that’s slightly cringey isn’t it? Ok, I will move on…

This story is about an economist turned movement expert. It’s about my journey.

When I tell people that I used to work as an economist they are usually surprised and say things like:

“Wow that’s a big change.” “What made you do that, do you miss it?” “Is this some sort of mid-life crisis?”

Early choices

When I was aged 18 and applying to university all I could think about was money and wanting to make a better life for myself. As the first person going to uni from my entire family, doing economics seemed a much more sensible option than Theatre - the subject I actually liked!

A passion for studying people

Looking back the thing I most loved about the world of theatre was the study of people. I liked people. I liked behaviour. I liked watching people perform. I liked analysing behaviour and coming up with solutions to problems within the plays that I would write. I loved seeing how people responded to each other, situations, and feelings.

And I was really good at it.

I think this is where I started to gather information about how people move and the impact that different emotions can have on their bodies. I just didn’t know it at that point.

Anyways, I ditched my passion in pursuit of money and off I went to Durham university to study economics. Was I passionate about economics? No. I was competitive and massively determined and at that point, that seemed enough.

Life masquerading as an economist

After uni, I worked in world of competition and regulation for 10 years. I did well but I always felt like a fraud. I always felt like it was by chance I got the jobs. I got to be involved in cartel investigations, merger analysis and market studies all from age 21. There was a lot of responsibility but I felt like I wasn’t good at it because in my mind, the subject matter made no sense at all. In hindsight I had major imposter syndrome/a perfectionist thing going on!

I also couldn’t see the impact that the work was having on people. Its impact on an individual level seemed unclear. I didn’t understand how it made people feel and, therefore, it didn’t feel right.

Thinking analytically and coming up with creative solutions has always been something I’ve done well. It’s a thing I continue to do well. I didn’t really value it back then as all I could fixate on was that I didn’t understand rather than what I did (typical perfectionist, right?)

Pilates because of Pain

I wanted to get out of the world of economics and do something that I felt I could do better and I found movement by chance because I had a load of desk-related pains.

I started doing Pilates seriously when working for an NHS regulator. In the throws of merger analysis the pains were creeping in: long hours, stressful deadlines and sitting like a cross between a cashew/pretzel we’re taking it’s toll on my mind and body. I was drinking way too much. I wasn’t moving and I definitely wasn’t taking care of myself.

Movement started to shift how I felt. Those hours at the Pilates studio were the catalyst I needed for change. I quit my job. I retrained (a very privileged opportunity perhaps made possible because of that earlier belief that economics would make me money. Money I needed to do the next thing!)

A spot of luck

In fact, as luck would have it, the Pilates course that I did was perfect for me. It happened to be the one that was offered at the studio next to my job BUT it was also one of the most analytical and thorough of all of the options out there. My training was with Fletcher Pilates. Ron Fletcher (who founded it) trained with Joseph Pilates. Ron was an incredible man who approached movement with intuition, creativity, joy, precision and all through an analytical lens! It couldn’t have been more perfect for me.

I wasn’t much of a mover

That said, the training was hard. 11 months of it. So many practical and written assessments. I was in the studio every day. I was practicing all the time. Again the competitive and determined beast had been unleashed. I wanted to do this well. To be honest I was pretty terrible at the movement for a lot of my training because (a) I hadn’t moved that much; and (b) I lived in my head.

On top of this, I didn’t always understand the language. Technical anatomical words and phrases with movement cues that filled with analogies that made no sense to me whatsoever. The imposter was back but I wasn’t going to let it beat me this time.

Ta-da! I had a super power

Something I put down to all that people watching was the discovery of a very useful skill: I could see things in people’s movement/bodies, figure out why they might move that way, and ultimately recommended how to make changes to feel better. Finally, the skills of intuition and creative problem solving could be put to good use.

My Pilates teaching journey

I passed my exams thankfully and was a qualified Pilates teacher. I didn’t have anywhere to teach and I didn’t have any clients. So I put myself out there offering classes in exchange for feedback. 121s mostly. I love teaching 121s. The ability to get into the detail and really hone in on helping that person move and feel better. My clients were coming back and feeling better. . Meaning that could do things in their every day lives better. Making a REAL difference. This was excellent.

The office workers

I started to notice that although clients would leave me feeling great they would return a week later with new/recurring aches and pains. All of these people worked at desks. I decided to do something about it and so I put together some movements for them to do at their desks. Those who did them really saw the benefits. No more aches and pains. Feeling better and incentivised to move more because of this but also because they felt more energised and less stressed too.

The birth of PAYD

This is how Pilates At Your Desk came about - I wanted to help more office workers. To spread the joy of simple movement so that we do more of it. Being in pain sucks, feeling mentally fatigued is rubbish, and sitting still of 9 hours each day like a cashew isn’t great for our bodies.

I found group teaching scary and I avoided it in the early days. Mostly because the people pleaser and perfectionist in me was scared of not being able to give everyone what they wanted. Now I love it. I love the creativity and the performance element of it (no surprises) and I always base my classes on the bodies I see. Which, when you have a melting pot of different bodies, can be tricky and call for some creative thinking!

Simple and intuitive

I now work with 1000s of bodies around the world and I love it. Do I love anatomy? Maybe not as much, but i am passionate about movement. I try to keep my language as simple and as literal as possible so that I fully understand what I am talking about when I communicate it. I’ve spent a long time going through movements and understanding how they feel, how different cues work for different people, and also looking at the interdependencies between movements so that I can offer alternatives to suit different needs.

My intuitive approach (and anatomy training of course) means that I no longer feel like a fraud. I am passionate about the difference that movement can have on people both physically and mentally. The joy it brings. How small changes can make a big difference. Such a huge impact on people’s lives.

And so…

Here is my journey from economist to movement expert. A bunch of skills that I have applied to different subject matters. Both striving for equilibrium. One has a more tangible and positive impact on the lives of those who experience it. The other not so clear cut.

(Btw I am much more interested in economics these days than I was when I was an economist. I wonder if that’s because the imposter syndrome is no longer the biggest voice in the room?)