SWANBPilates

Dear All,

I hope you are all keeping well.

Carole asked me on Friday about the prospects of restarting the classes in Swanbourne village hall.  I sensed my answer wasn’t what you were hoping to hear and so I think it is probably a good idea to explain my thinking.

Although I will produce a more general note that applies to all the Pilates classes, in this note I shall address the specifics of the Swanbourne Village hall classes.

As you know, my Pilates classes very quickly moved on-line at the start of the first lockdown.  Although it was strange at first, it has become a very workable format.  My Wednesday morning on-line class is one of the busiest in the weekly schedule.

The convenience of joining an on-line class has made class attendance easier for many and enabled quite a significant number of people to attend more than one session a week, something that would not have been possible before.  Feedback has shown me that this continued access to classes has helped many physically and mentally during these difficult times. It has helped me too.

I am appreciative of those who have supported me doing the Zoom sessions – if it were not for those sessions, my Pilates would have surely ended.  Many have sought my assurance that the Zoom classes will continue beyond the restrictions.  I cannot therefore abandon the loyal on-line users.

On-line sessions have their advantages for me too.  Broadcasting classes from home has significantly reduced the time taken to provide those sessions – no longer do I have travel time to and from venues nor do I have to factor-in time for the unloading and reloading of my car nor do I need contingency to sort potentially dirty or cold village halls. There are no longer rental costs or costs of fuel.  It has also done away with my need to teach two classes at each venue ‘back-to-back’ as everyone can fit-in to a single Zoom session on each of the teaching days.  This extra time I have gained has allowed me to relax, get to the gym or in some cases take-on extra hands-on treatments.

The biggest downside of on-line classes is that of course I cannot clearly watch technique nor gauge adequately where modifications might be needed for particular individuals in the session.  It also makes the sessions less of a social occasion which I appreciate was a significant benefit for many of you.

Whilst many have participated in the on-line sessions, I also am aware that many  of my Pilates cohort have not been able or willing to engage with the Zoom technology, or the logistics of exercising from home has just not worked for them.

Many of those I have not seen since March 2020 might be ‘holding-out’ for the return of face-to-face classes in halls.  But there has also to be the realisation that with fourteen months’ absence, some may have decided that Pilates is no longer a necessary or appropriate form of exercise for them. We should not therefore make an assumption that when in-hall classes can restart, sufficient attendees will automatically and instantly reappear to make the session viable once more.

Should I restart in-hall classes I now also realise that I need to attach a premium to those sessions because of the extra effort and costs involved.  It has been a useful lesson for me in valuing my time and effort.  No longer would I be able to charge a concessionary rate for block bookings; I would have to insist everyone pays for every week regardless of attendance.  I would continue to offer the on-line sessions as pay as you go but not in-hall classes.

In summary, I need to manage your expectation that going forward is not just simply a matter of picking up where we left off over a year ago.

In order to appease both my loyal on-line supporters and those who want to return to in-hall classes, I hope to use venues that have a good Internet connection.  Using such connectivity, I would be able to broadcast the classes at the same time as teaching them in-hall.  Sadly Swanbourne Village hall does not have an Internet connection. Even without the need for Internet, Swanbourne Village hall is also quite a small hall and so any sessions held in there would not be economically viable while so ever we need to socially distance ourselves.

I am also very aware that I now work people a lot harder on-line than ever we did in the halls and so the cohort who have kept me going will want classes to continue at that level. People who have not done Pilates for 14 months will need something much less intense.  This is an issue.

I am toying with making the Tuesday evening class in Botolph Claydon the first session that is both in-hall and on-line and design it to be a less intense session for beginners and ‘re-starters’.  I would probably use this as a barometer of how to proceed.

As I mentioned at the start of this, I know my reply was not what you were hoping for but as you can see, there is (hopefully) good reasoning behind it.

I am sure you will share your thoughts.

Px