In the past four weeks we have had 2007 visits to the website !! I hope at least some of those having been doing some Pilates !!
Well another week has flown by, several times I thought to myself I must do the blog only to find myself on my evening walk with Archie and nothing written on the blog !!
The ups and downs of life in lockdown seem to keep rolling in although I realised this week I am very lucky to have so many ups. So many people are suffering so much in so many ways, the sadness of normal life is greatly intensified for many.
The net of Covid -19 seems to be drawing in around me this week with friends and colleagues testing positive and the horrible news that our physio department cleaner is on a ventilator in ITU fighting Covid-19. I always stop for a chat with him as I leave the department on a Thursday afternoon, he always likes to remind me that he still has several hours of his evening shift left !! I realise from our conversations how lucky I am to work just one evening each week doing a job I love and find so rewarding. I often smile to myself as I leave the department on a Thursday knowing I am back to the studio the next day with time to chat to people and see the progress and pleasure they gain from Pilates.
Standing for the Minute Silence to remember those front line workers who have died in this pandemic was a truly bleak moment. Who would have thought at the beginning of the year that so many people would have died just doing their job.
Sue Jacques, Chief Exec of CDDFT , visited the Physio department yesterday. Feedback from a lot of staff that she is meeting is that they are pleased to be coming to work. Being kept busy and feeling useful in these challenging times is often the lesser of 2 evils compared to being at home in all its various guises . I would say the same and actually having the time to spend with every patient I am seeing brings enormous satisfaction to my work . Sue discussed the lessons learnt over the past month and how we can change our practice in the future to keep some of the good things that have come out of our current working practices. As patient numbers have not risen to the heights feared I have had the time to really listen to patients , acknowledging their fears and deliver the best quality of care in the current circumstances. I'm not sure how long this luxury will last but stepping back in time to Acute Orthopaedics has also made me realise its like stepping back to a time when the number of patients seen was not such a high priority. Going home knowing I have done my best in these difficult times is very comforting .
The main excitement of my week has been the two live Pilates classes I did on Zoom on Monday. I got enormous pleasure knowing that several clients had never used Zoom before but their commitment and determination to join the live class overcame their reluctance to use technology !!! My view on the screen of nearly everyone was perfect and I'm sure with practice we will solve some peoples device positioning issues!! I hope to do some more classes next week so do get in touch by text or email if you would like to have a go.
From my NHS work and listening to the news I think it is dawning on everyone that life has changed for a long time ahead. Mike and I are getting our heads around what this means for Pilates by Physiotherapy so some of you will have received a survey this week about prices for the future. It has been an enormous challenge for both of us so do bear with us as we learn which surveys are reliable and which seem to disappear into thin air and all the other admin issues that arise when you are trying to communicate with over 200 clients. If I am taking a few days to reply to emails don't stop sending them ....I am not ignoring you just trying to make some big decisions .Please keep in touch via email / text or blog as I really need to know your thoughts on how to do my best to keep Pilates by Physiotherapy as a viable business. I hope we are getting there, we both certainly enjoy the challenges we are facing .......some things are so obvious in hind sight !!
Below is a video a few people have sent me in recent weeks , I love it. I think Rachael's dog is our best hope of trying to produce something similar or maybe you would like to take up the challenge ??? Archie can now sit by the mat for a few seconds so I think he is work in progress. He is staying downstairs now since we removed the stair gate for the 3 Peak Challenge so that is great progress.....he even slept with his cage door open this week so maybe he is growing up !!
Take Care, Stay at Home
Annexx