Smart Pilates

Smart Pilates 1:1 Postnatal Pilates in your home, SE London. When your body feels unfamiliar after birth. www.smartpilates.life

Calm, specialist support to understand and rebuild
At your own pace, no guesswork.

24/08/2026

If I had to pick three exercises to start rebuilding pelvic floor connection, these would be them 👇🏾

They won’t make you sweat. They won’t rock your world. And it definitely won’t be trending on Instagram 🙃 But these are the foundations that everything else is built on.

1. Breath-led connection. Before any strength work, you need to feel the lift. Exhale, visualise lifting from p***c bone to tailbone, inhale to fully release. Nothing else moves, no gripping the bum, no holding the breath.
2. Clam shells, breath-led. Inhale to open the knee (this lengthens the pelvic floor, it should feel like a stretch, not a squeeze). Exhale to close (this is your lift). Slow and controlled beats fast and forgotten.
3. Squats, with intention. Inhale down into the squat, letting the pelvic floor lengthen and soften. Exhale as you stand, lifting through the pelvic floor. This is where we take the connection into real, everyday movement.

These are the foundations. Done properly, with the right cueing and breath, these three beat a thousand disconnected squeezes hands down. Boom 👊🏾💥

Want me to walk you through these properly and show you what they should actually feel like in your body? Drop me a message

Should you be squeezing your pelvic floor all day, every day, just in case?Short answer: no.This is one of the biggest m...
17/08/2026

Should you be squeezing your pelvic floor all day, every day, just in case?

Short answer: no.

This is one of the biggest myths out there, that more is always better when it comes to your pelvic floor.

Your pelvic floor needs to do two jobs: hold on, and let go. A muscle that’s clenched all day can’t do either of those properly when it actually matters, like lifting the car seat, sneezing, or running for the bus.

Constant low-level gripping (often totally unconscious) is incredibly common postnatally. You might notice it in your jaw too, or your bum, or your shoulders creeping up around your ears.

What you actually need is a pelvic floor that can switch on when you need it, and properly switch off the rest of the time.

So the rule isn’t “squeeze constantly.”

The rule is: learn what “on” and “off” actually feel like, and practise both.

If you’ve spent months clenching “just in case”, that’s something we can unpick together 💛

“I’ve been doing my kegels every day, so why does it still feel the same?”I hear this a lot. And sometimes the issue isn...
10/08/2026

“I’ve been doing my kegels every day, so why does it still feel the same?”

I hear this a lot. And sometimes the issue isn’t a lack of squeezing, it’s the opposite.

Your pelvic floor can go wrong in two directions.

Hypotonic (too lax): weaker, harder to feel, more prone to leaking and heaviness. This is the one most people picture when they think “weak pelvic floor.”

Hypertonic (too tight): gripping, overactive, often can’t fully relax. This one can also cause leaking, plus pain, urgency, and a pelvic floor that’s permanently switched on and exhausted.

A tight pelvic floor isn’t a strong one. It’s often a tired one that’s forgotten how to let go.

If you’ve been doing endless pelvic floor exercises and nothing’s improving, or it’s actually got worse, that’s not you failing at the exercise. That’s a sign you might need a different approach entirely.

What does your pelvic floor feel like - tight, lax, or somewhere in between? Drop it below, I’ll pick a few to talk through 👇🏾

03/08/2026

Everyone says “engage your pelvic floor.” Almost nobody tells you how. Here’s a way in 👇

Sit or lie comfortably. Relax everything first, jaw, shoulders, the lot.

Find the muscles around your back passage, the ones you’d use to stop yourself farting in public. Switch them on, then let them go.

Now the muscles around your va**na, imagine stopping a wee mid-flow (don’t actually practise this on the loo). Switch on, let go.

Now bring both together. Lift, then fully release.

Notice: is it stronger at the front or the back? Does it feel smooth, or a bit shaky? What number out of 10 would you give that lift?

This isn’t a test you can fail. It’s information, a starting point.

If you found it easily: great, that’s step one. If you couldn’t feel much at all, or it felt like everything else jumped in to help instead (hello, bum and inner thighs), that’s useful to know too.

Had a go? Let me know how it felt, or if you’d like me to take a proper look, a free 15-minute consultation is the place to start 💛

How do you know if your pelvic floor needs some work?It’s not always a leak when you sneeze. Sometimes it’s much quieter...
27/07/2026

How do you know if your pelvic floor needs some work?

It’s not always a leak when you sneeze. Sometimes it’s much quieter than that.

Things to look out for:

• Leaking when you cough, sneeze, jump, or quite literally p**s yourself laughing 😭
• A feeling of heaviness or pressure, like something’s about to fall out
• Needing the loo all the time, or never quite feeling “finished”
• Lower back ache with no obvious reason
• A general sense that something’s not quite connecting
• Pain or discomfort that wasn’t there before birth

If any of this sounds like you, first off, you’re not the only one. And we’re definitely not gonna put it down to “just getting older,” nope, we ain’t doing that 🙅🏾‍♀️

This is so common, but it doesn’t mean you have to live with it.

Next week, I’ll show you a proper way to check your connection. Look out for the video 👀

Your pelvic floor.Probably the most-mentioned, least-understood muscle group after having a baby 😬 So what is it, and wh...
20/07/2026

Your pelvic floor.

Probably the most-mentioned, least-understood muscle group after having a baby 😬 So what is it, and what does it actually do?

Midwife asks: “Are you doing your kegels?”

You: “Mm-hm.” (Secretly googles it later.)

Here’s what’s actually going on. Your pelvic floor is a sling of muscles running from your p***c bone to your tailbone. It supports your bladder, bowel and uterus. It works with your breath. It works with your deep core. And during pregnancy and birth, it goes through an enormous amount of change.

It’s not just “the squeezing muscle.”

It’s not something you either “have” or “don’t have.”

And doing more kegels isn’t automatically the answer, sometimes it’s the opposite of what your body needs.

It’s a normal part of you that can be properly understood, assessed, and rebuilt, once you know what’s actually going on.

Did anyone explain your pelvic floor to you postnatally, or was it just left unsaid? Let me know in the comments 👇🏾

NewMumSupport

If you’ve read along with the diastasis posts over the last few weeks, I want to talk to you directly for a minute.Diast...
19/06/2026

If you’ve read along with the diastasis posts over the last few weeks, I want to talk to you directly for a minute.

Diastasis freaks a lot of women out.

It’s one of the most common postnatal issues. And it’s one of the most fixable when you understand what’s actually going on and you’ve got the right support.

You don’t have to live with a tummy that feels disconnected. You don’t have to avoid lifting your kids, or carrying the shopping, or wondering why your core just isn’t doing what it used to do. You don’t have to wait for it to magically get better on its own.

I work with postnatal women across SE London, in person, in your home.

We start with a free 15-minute consultation. Then a free taster session, if it feels right. Then The First Phase, 4 weeks of 1:1 postnatal Pilates, tailored to you and where you actually are right now.

No pressure. No bounce-back. No telling you to ‘just do your Kegels.’

If any of the last few weeks have felt like I’ve been talking directly to you, I probably have been.

Link in bio to book your consultation 💛

Min

So excited for this ❤️I’m popping along to The Parent & Baby Haven this Wednesday 17th June as their special guest, chat...
15/06/2026

So excited for this ❤️

I’m popping along to The Parent & Baby Haven this Wednesday 17th June as their special guest, chatting all things postnatal Pilates, pelvic floor, diastasis recti and and rebuilding strength from the inside out after baby.

If you’re local and fancy coming along to meet me and have a chat, I’d love to see you there.

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