Jane Hamilton Pilates

Jane Hamilton

Pilates Instructor in Edinburgh

Over the last 12 years, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed teaching Pilates to many people of all ages and abilities, and with varying muscle and joint problems, back issues and health conditions.

I started my complementary healthcare training 19 years ago, qualifying in 2002 with a diploma from the London School of Sports Massage. I returned to my home city of Edinburgh that year, successfully building up a client base and running the complementary healthcare clinic Happy Being for 12 years in the west end, until 2020.

Back in 2009, I decided to train as a Pilates teacher and qualified with a certificate in mat Pilates teaching Level 3 CYQ (Central YMCA Qualifications). This came from a desire to help my massage clients develop the tools to care for their own bodies rather than relying on regular massage treatments and doing their own exercises between sessions with varying results.

The two disciplines successfully ran side by side, with many people coming to the clinic for both massage treatments and Pilates classes. In 2016 I developed my physiological and anatomical knowledge and practical skills further by achieving an advanced remedial massage diploma from the Scottish School of Sports Massage. I apply the knowledge I gained through this training to my Pilates teaching, drawing on a deeper understanding of the human body and how it works.

I am constantly developing ideas, combining my vision with a structured modern approach. I’ve worked with many clients with varying levels of fitness and health conditions, from athletes to those with chronic fatigue syndrome CFS/ ME. I start with the 8 fundamental principles of the Pilates Method and the many Pilates movements to bring about new ideas. These are often from varying disciplines which I’ve studied and practised over the years such as Qigong, Tai Chi and even meditation with breath work. Many of the balance, warm-up stretches and cool-down movements in the classes are Qigong-based.

Jane Hamilton doing the pilates move "The Side Plank"
Jane Hamilton doing the pilates move "The Shell Stretch"
Jane Hamilton doing the pilates move "The Single Leg Stretch"

My intention as a teacher is to support, guide and help you to have confidence and feel good within your body, to ease out muscle tension and joint aches through regular Pilates practice to gain full movement and flexibility, building up strength and tone. I’m fully committed to encouraging everyone to help themselves through the knowledge and experience I’ve gained over the years as a Pilates teacher and sports remedial massage therapist.

Jane

Testimonials

Emily

I have been an avid fan and active participant of Jane’s Pilates classes for at least the last 9 years! Jane is a wonderful teacher, she explains the moves in detail, always checks that everyone is in the right position and offers different levels for the moves so her classes are perfect for beginners right through to those who are more advanced. Her classes are fun, small and we do different moves each week, so her classes offer a great deal of variety.  For obvious reasons Jane has moved her Pilates classes online over the last year and she has done this with great success.  Apart from not being physically together the experience is just the same and she has continued to motivate and push us to develop our Pilates practice. I really cannot recommend Jane’s Pilates classes highly enough in fact I have even got my husband doing the classes as a complete beginner!

    Kate

    I’ve recently re-joined Jane’s pilates classes online and they are excellent.  There’s a great balance between flexibility and strength moves and I feel like I’ve had a really good workout at the end of the class!  Jane keeps an eye on us all over the webcam and corrects our posture when necessary.  It’s a great thing to do at the end of a working day sitting in front of the computer.  I’ve really noticed the difference with better muscle tone and I feel like part of the class, even though we are all online.  I would highly recommend Jane’s classes – both physically and mentally they are great!

      Fiona

      I love Jane’s Pilates classes and have been a regular since January 2011. I particularly like her calm and focused approach. She regularly reminds us of the muscle group or area of improvement the exercises are designed to work on. Over the years I have noticed Pilates has improved my posture and relieved aggravation from old injuries. The focused breath technique taught in class has also been useful for other activities. Jane’s move to teaching online classes has made it even easier to attend regularly.