As a Pilates teacher, I'm very familiar with New Year's Resolutions. Around the second week of January, people often decide to "give Pilates a try". It's probably a consequence of having eaten too much and moved too little over the Christmas period, mixed with a sense that a new year should be accompanied by something else that's new. Sometimes this effect is closer to home than anticipated, as evidenced by this letter I just received from my aunt... Dear Charles, You're alw

The concept of "wintering" (slowing down, resting and renewing) became popular a few years ago, due to a book of the same name. It's become hard to avoid at this time of year and anyone visiting a bookshop will find guides on how to winter, the joy of wintering, poems to winter with and, for all I know, a wintering colouring book and jigsaw set. By the way, on the subject of books: if you're wondering what I would like for Christmas, it's a review of my book! If you bought Pi

Yesterday we had snow - real, proper snow - in North London. It was a bit of a shock. Not just to me - there were people on the bus trying to take pictures of it. The snow didn't actually settle and was soon gone, but it was enough to make me think that winter has finally arrived. I remember winters when I was little. Sometimes the snowfall was so heavy that it would come up to my waist. Admittedly, my waist was a fair bit closer to the ground when I was seven, but even so, i

This Sunday at 2am, UK clocks go back to 1am. We get a chance to re-live the whole hour once more! It's like deja vu, all over again (to quote the American baseball manager Yogi Berra). How often does that happen? Well, yes, I know - every year, but even so... I still like the idea of getting a "free" hour. Think of it as a sort of promotional gift to take your mind off the fact that it's getting colder and darker and wetter. Far be it from me to tell you how to spend your ex

(By which I mean: everybody stay in) With strikes on the London Underground starting today, there will be no tube service until Friday. Travelling around London is going to be grim. Personally, I try to avoid the underground whenever possible, as I prefer travelling by bus, but I have a feeling that even the buses are going to be a lot less pleasant this week. At times like this, what I like best of all is staying at home and teaching online. Zoom classes work brilliantly: al

This is a bank holiday weekend in the UK (that's our version of a public holiday, overseas readers). These always present certain...

In many parts of the world, August is the time for summer holidays. It's also the time of traffic jams to the airport, queues at the...

People sometimes ask me why I became a Pilates teacher. (I try to see this as genuine curiosity, rather than baffled disbelief, but I...

I have to admit that I don't (like it hot, I mean) when it comes to Pilates. Maybe it's my all-too-obvious Northern European genes, but I...

When I was young, most sportspeople just practised their particular sport. Unless they were cricketers, in which case even that was...

The glorious spring weather in the UK is persuading many of us that it's summer already. It isn't. There are Bank Holidays (aka public...

If there is one thing that the current rollercoaster of global trade perfectly illustrates, it's that we all crave stability. When I...

Today is Shrove Tuesday in the UK, when Christians confess their sins, cleanse their souls and ask God for help in making changes to...

We are a twelfth of the way through the year. With the festivities a dim memory and resolutions already receding in the rear-view mirror,...

Is this a happy time of year? Well, I suspect that might depend on your perspective. If you see the new year as a clean slate and an...

Today, on the winter solstice, in London we enjoyed just 7 hours and 50 minutes of daylight. Compare that with the amount we get on 21...

Every day brings fresh reports of how AI will soon be coming for all our jobs. That's not the boring jobs like putting the caps on...

Do you start the day all scrunched up and feeling in need of a good stretch? Or are you the type that would happily stay curled up all...

This is the time of year when I reminisce about my father's tendency to use the calendar (as opposed to the thermometer) to control the...

(No, me neither until about ten minutes ago but read on and maybe we'll both learn something)   Anyone running a small...