From Cancer to Mountain Climbing - A Pilates Journey
Sep 24, 2018
Allana started Pilates with me in April 2010 knowing that she needed to improve her core stability and improve her overall general health and well-being.Having been diagnosed with cancer almost 5 years earlier and gone through treatment, she had successfully beaten it and was now ready to take charge of her body and move forward. She had several goals she wanted to pursue including preparing for an upcoming trek she had planned in Central Australia and she wanted to be in peak physical condition for maximum enjoyment.She worked hard and applied herself to Pilates and soon she was beginning to see some great results. One of the most challenging aspects for her was improving her body awareness and her ability to sense, feel and connect with different parts of her body. Having dealt with the trauma of cancer it can be understandably quite challenging sometimes to be able to re-acquaint yourself with your body and view it in a positive light.However, Allana’s body awareness was steadily improving and her ability to connect with and control different parts of her body was increasing her confidence and joy in movement.Everything was coming together for her like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. The trek to Central Australia was a success and this led to longer and more challenging treks up mountains to locations like Bhutan and Nepal with the added challenge of dealing with altitude sickness. In the months leading up to the trek I would adjust her exercises accordingly to improve her strength, endurance, balance and control for example so she could could competently deal with whatever came her way. She was going from strength to strength and today as she is looking forward to celebrating her 60th birthday next year, she is an inspiration to others. Many people don’t realise that with Pilates you can keep strengthening and striving to reach your full potential at any age.In 2016, Allana’s now finely tuned body awareness was put to the test and contributed towards saving her life. Having taken some medication as she had several times in the past, she went into acute anaphylactic shock and she was alone. Allana knew instantly something was wrong due her increased sense of awareness and she was able to call an ambulance and get help before she became unconscious. It was nothing short of a miracle that she survived, but had she hesitated or doubted herself in what she was feeling, things may have been different.Allana has been steadily strengthening through Pilates and enjoying walking and trekking during her 50s and there are no limits for her. She is getting stronger all the time and for the past year enjoys a double session (2 hours) of Pilates each week as she needs the extra challenge and it’s great for endurance too. Recently she trekked for 4 hours and then kayaked for another2 hours in one day and despite not having kayaked regularly took it in her stride and wasn’t even sore the next day. She is so strong now and does so much upper body strengthening that she was well more than well prepared for the task. It’s been so rewarding for me to see her incredible progress over the years and I look forward to assisting her with her future goals.Her only regret? That she didn’t discover Pilates sooner. But I think she has more than made up for lost time!Allana pictured doing one of her favourite exercises Hanging on the Caddie
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