Marianne.CoreConnect

⛰️Yesterday was the boys’ first proper hike in the Alps.


I didn’t train for this. Yet this is exactly why I train!


6 lakes.
A mild 350m of elevation.
Nothing particularly impressive by mountain standards.


But at some point Adam and I realised we were asking a little too much of Juju.
So we slowed down.
We changed the pace.
We stopped.
We watched butterflies.
And eventually, we made it to the top lake.
Dipped our feet in the fresh water.


I held Juju’s hand all the way down.
Kept him from losing the cricket he had in one hand.
Kept him from falling multiple times.
It felt like the whole point.


Not reaching the top.
Not proving that we could do it.
The journey.
Last night, my grandmother wrote to me exactly that:
“It’s not the elevation that counts.
It’s the journey.”


And maybe that’s what I want my boys to learn about pushing their limits.
That slowing down isn’t giving up.
That listening to your body is part of being strong.


This is why I train.
Not just to climb mountains.
But to have a body that lets me live the life I want to live - with them.


P.S.: They laughed so much in the cable car they shot the last video.
2,000m elevation scares me less than relying on those machines.
We all fear different things, don’t we?

💥Kegels won’t create this.
Most pelvic floor workouts focus on contraction.


I’m often more interested in elasticity.
In how well the tissues can lengthen, glide, and respond.


Your pelvic floor is not just a group of muscles.
It’s also connective tissue.
After childbirth (and with age) those tissues can become less supple, less hydrated, and less responsive.


That’s why I love combining a Magic Circle and a band.
The opposing forces create length under load.
A feeling of reaching and resisting at the same time.
Which can help restore glide and adaptability through the deep hip rotators and the pelvic floor.


This isn’t about replacing strengthening.
It’s about understanding that Pelvic Floor Muscle Training is not a mere squeezing of muscles.


It’s about giving your pelvic floor more options.


Save this for the days your hips or pelvic floor feel stiff, heavy, or disconnected.


And tell me: which variation would you like me to break down next?

The reformer isn’t magical onto itself.
It’s magical because those loops do more than hold your hands or feet in place.


They give your body a reference point, which creates that feeling of length under load.
Strengthening while reaching away.


That’s exactly what I’m recreating here with a Magic Circle and a band.


More feedback.
More length.
Less guessing.


Save this while you’re away from the studio.


I’m genuinely excited to be teaching more mat-based strength work in the studio this year.
And I’ve also been building the Georgia retreat offering.
I’ll definitely be bringing the MC + bands so it feels like reformer on the go!


Which variation is your favourite here?

Because holidays are wonderful… but they also come with:

✈️ Hours sitting on planes or in cars
🧳 Carrying bags, suitcases, and children
🛏️ Sleeping in unfamiliar beds
🏖️ More lounging, less varied movement


Your body is not “tight” or “broken.”
It has simply adapted to a different rhythm.


This is my 2-minute reset when I want to feel like myself again (or prep for a workout):
✨ wake up the feet
✨ open the chest
✨ mobilise the spine
✨ support the wrists


No fancy equipment.
Just a tennis ball, a few intentional movements, and a reminder that your body deserves to be included in the holiday plans too.


❤️🎾 Share this with your fellow traveling mamas.

The older I get, the more I measure life by people.


Some of these friendships began when I was a teenager.
Some arrived after I became a mother.
Some found me in Dubai, far from home.
Some met me in primary school.


Many of them have witnessed versions of me that no longer exist. Yet, they showed up ☀️


Looking around the table, dance floor, and beyond the sea, I realise how many years of laughter, distance, growth, grief, and ordinary days have been shared.


And I am left with one thought:
I am such a lucky woman.


The year I met each of them tells a small part of my story.
They truly are the rest of it.


40 years.
1 sea.
Countless stories.

Consider this your permission slip.
Or your foam roller prescription ☀️


We’ve overcomplicated postpartum recovery.
Lengthy exercises to do at home...
Pelvic floor cues you won’t remember once you leave the physio’s.


What truly matters in the early months isn’t doing more.
It’s giving your body small, gentle, effective movement snacks that reconnect you to your breath, your core, your pelvis.


Movements that free up your tired shoulders.


These are the 5 foam roller movements I’d choose if I only had five minutes:


✨Single leg push & pull for deep abdominal connection and load transfer through the pelvis.

✨Controlled cervical flexion to reconnect to the deep abdominals.


✨Pelvic bridge with arm circles to release shoulder and neck tension + strengthen the glutes.

✨Double leg extension -head down- to challenge abdominal support without overload.

✨Supine side bend to create space through the ribs and waist.

When I had Adam, I didn’t have much help, and a few uninterrupted minutes were often all I could find.


That’s why I love sharing these.


Share with a mum whose shoulders, abs and hips need the love 🤍

Flights don’t make your hips and shoulders “tight.”
They make your body adapt to one position.


These movements help it adapt back.


Today’s gift: 5 band movements I used this weekend to free up my joints and restore movement where it has become restricted.
They feel DIVINE.

The goal isn’t to stretch everything aggressively.
It’s to remind your body that it has more options than the position it has been holding for the last 8 hours.


Save this for your next ✈️
Especially if you’re looking after small humans.


Your body is not tight.
It just needs to flow again.
With some assistance from the band, of course!


Hope you’re all taking some well-deserved time off 🫶🏽

One son wanted art camp 🎨
The other just wanted to spend the week with Mum.


So between clients, meetings with new instructors, and Summer programme planning, the Pilates Chair became Adam’s playground.
Once again.


Running a small business doesn’t stop for summer.
Sometimes that means your children become part of the rhythm.


This year, with the war, they’ve been at the studio more than they were meant to.
And though some days, like today, it means that someone ate my lunch, lost a ball -and I almost lose it- I can’t quite stop thinking that this is how full of life spaces should be.


Because life is the real school.


My boys have always been my expanders.
Their birth and growth made me grow as an instructor.
Their presence is the soil that keeps fueling me and nurtures this community, too, indirectly.


A big thank you to my wonderful clients for welcoming Adam and Julian into their classes this year!
How lucky we are to have found each other ❤️


Happy Summer to all.
Thank you for a crazy (CRAAAAAAZY) but beautiful year.





❤️