It felt like the first evidence of a season change his last weekend, as I found myself saying in utter astonishment: 'look at me just sitting on the beach in a t-shirt!' - true British-ness coursing through my veins as I remark on the weather with genuine enthusiasm...
Not bad for the first half of March, which can notoriously swing to either end of the temperature scale.
We (my partner Danny, and I that is) had escaped usual life, routines and surroundings on for a realxing spa weekend on the Cornish coastline. Bedruthan to be precise, nestled quietly between the more bustling tourist spots of Newquay and Padstow.
The original 'excuse' for the indulgent weekend, was part Valentine's gift from me to D - and also a slightly pre-emptative 'congratulations' gesture for his new career move, which despite not having the final final job offer yet, I feel is very imminent. Yes, I hear you - the gesture was not entirely selfless, as I too reaped the benefits...
As the date drew nearer however, I had also turned my mind (aka day-dreaming tendencies) to a potential development within my career, and also lifestyle, which just so happened to tie in nicely with this little toe-dipping excursion. A toe dipped into the world of travel and exploration that is. A quick tangent, if you'll allow me, for the purpose of context, before I delve into telling you a little more about this gorgeous hotel visit...
I was reflecting on my life values recently, or more simplistically - what do I really treasure in life? What brings me the most joy and pleasure? And can I dial that up so as to feel satisfied that I'm squeezing as much juice out of this experience of life on Earth? not to be dramatic or anything...
I concluded the following three elements are what being me the most joy and satifaction, my life's passions if you will:
Family & close relationships.
Movement: dance, Pilates, ways to move and express using our bodies - fascinating!
Travel, adventure, exploration.
I vowed to find a way to boost all three, and came up with a long-term creative project whereby I travel to new places, meet new people and document me learning (hopefully even trying!) all the ways in which movement and dance is used, in different places by different people. I will use this documentation in the form of film, blogs, maybe even books one day - who knows?! For now it's about getting stuck in and honing the craft and project along the way ...
With all of this rattling arounf in my brain, I saw this weekend as a good first attempt and dusting off my creative brain-cells, editing software and throwing together some of 'warm-up' content.
Here's how my weekend of being on the move in Cornwall went:
We left Dorset on Friday afternoon, and to the audioscape of some Linkin' Park and Louis Theroux (I wonder how many people sit in the middle of that venn diagram of tastes) drove though an increasinlgy grey drizzly landscape in a South-Westerly direction. 'Where's that sunshine gone?!' we both remarked as D flicked the windscreen wipers on to a slightly higher setting. We're back to weather again aren't we? But it's relevant - because about 2 mins before arrival at Bedruthan Hotel, the sky opened up as if to welcome us dramatically. It was saving the sunshine until the last minute to give us maximum 'wow factor' as we swung the hotel room door open to a magnificent view over the beach in glistening early evening sunshine.
That evening we had a dinner booked at the hotel. To be hoenst, neither of knew what to expect but we were blown away by the dinner. The attention to detail, local produce, customer service, flavours and aesthetic of the whole dinner was outstanding and we had a really memorable meal - I'm still daydreaming about it a week later!
A close second to the gorgeous evening meal was the breakfast spread. With an on-site bakery, we were spoilt by the almost-constant top-ups of baskets full of freshly baked croissants, pain-au-chocolat, cinamon swirls, sourdough toast -and that's without the fresh fruit, homemade compotes and preserves, homemade cinnamon cereal (my personal fave) overnight oats, smoothies and too many options to list out... all of this and with that same sunny beachside view. Complete heaven.
Our only trouble was finding the right balance of wanting to stuff ourselves silly, and still be able to make to 9:30am Pilates class without any unfortunate gastrointestinal issues...
I was really looking forward to a Pilates class.
At Bedruthan hotel, guests have complimentary access to the programme of wellness classes and activities. That list turned out not to be terribly extensive (a Pilates class one morning, and a yoga class the next) but we were very grateful nonetheless and I was itching to see what kind of studio they had on site.
As so often happens, as a Pilates teacher (and business owner I suppose!) I have quickly run out of time and opportunity to partake in my own training - the very activity that fuelled my interest and passion in the first place.
This year I have vowed to prioritise my own exploration of movement, and my own training more, and this felt like a fantastic way to kick off that intention.
The little studio was a gorgeous, clean space with soft pink walls, great glass windows looking out, of course, toward that gorgeous seascape beyond.
D and I made up 50% percent of the class, and we exchanged some smiles and polite chitter-chatter as the four of us picked a mat each from the wall, and set it out to create our own little personal section of the studio.
The instructor had a lovely airy, 'Cornish-chill' vibe about her and lead us through what felt like a really natural-flow of Pilates-inspired movements. I really liked her instruction, she was pretty hands-off, making sure to offer plenty of options, suggestions and ideas for us to explore with our own bodies. There was a good amount of verbal back-and-forth, which I love in a class, as people shared their thoughts and asked questions. I love those classes that are a combination of guided movement, exploration but also conversation and idea-sharing. We had a really good conversation about pain-science and the balance of physicality and mentality when it comes to managing pain and discomfort in the body.
I recognised a good spattering of classical Pilates exercises throughout the class, mermaid, double leg kick, teaser, roll-overs, roll-ups. It felt really good to practice them in a class situation, having been focused on the mat repertoire recently for the March MATness challenge we're doing this month.
I fell refreshed, worked, challenged and stretched after our class - the perfect state to head in to a spa to 'flop about' for a couple of hours....which is exactly what was next on the menu!
The on-site spa, yes you guessed it: overlooking the ocean - included indoor and outdoor pools, sauna, steam room, jacuzzi, and (we didn't explore this bit) but also an outside sensory garden, with cold-plunge, outside hot tub all surrounded by plants and herbs.
To balance out the high-end culinary experience of night one - on Saturday night, we got take-away chips and found a gorgeous spot in the next bay along to watch an abolsute treat of a show put on by mother nature in the form of a drawn-out, ever changing deep orange sunset. Interspersed occasionally by a quick sprint along the beach as some of our cardboard was swept away by the wind (at least we worked off the chips) it was an otherwise very relaxing dinner - and definitely the first al fresco one of the year!
The following day was yet again glorious sunshine - weather commentary getting boring now isn't it?
Danny dusted off his longboard and headed to the beach to get battered by some Cornish swell - and I took the opportunity to do, and also film, a couple of movement sessions;
1 - As requested from D: a 10min surf mobility warm-up
2 - A 20-minute flowy-waves inspired beach Pilates session
(both available on my new project Youtube Channel entitled Sarah On The Move - where I will be hopefully soon incorporating both movement and travel diaries...
Aside from getting used to the idea that people enjoying their beach-walks would see me doing, and more embarrassingly: filming myself doing Pilates - I did really enjoy the experience of moving in this way in fresh air and on the sand.
Having been so focused on the reformer repertoire for so long in the studio, I have really enjoyed dipping my toes back into mat Pilates recently. It's such a simple but effective and satisfying way to exercise - and always always more challenging than I anticpate!
Despite the late-winter-British climate (sorry), I managed to actually work-up enough of an internal heat to alarmingly remove a jumper leaving me in gasp just one short-sleeved layer!
I put together a little flow that was inspired by the ebb & flow of the sea and the waves. I took some of the classical Pilates mat repetoire - things like the mermaid, seal, some curl-ups, roll-ups, shoulder bridges - and I added in an element of ebb and flow, and lots of undulating, waving movements to them. It ended up feeling a little yoga-esque I think due to that spine-waving and stretching quality to it. Check out the full class and let me know what you think.
My plan going forward, will on this new channel, and as part of this new projct will be to upload regular, weekly movement sessions for people to (hopefully) enjoy - and to also start vlogging my own explorations into other movement modalities, and specifically how different places and peoples use movement in different ways.
I'm really looking forward to getting my journalistic, explorative and creative hat back on.
We thoroughly enjoyed our relaxing weekend at Bedruthan Hotel in Cornwall - and I really loved finding these ways to move, and partake in some mindful mat-Pilates movement as part of it too!
You can check out the hotel's website and packages here
You can check out Sarah's fledgling Youtube project 'Sarah On The Move' here
Until next time....
S x
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