What if the painful part isn’t actually the problem?

If aches, stiffness or an old injury are starting to change what you do, it’s natural to focus on the place that hurts.

But bodies adapt.

When one part stops moving as well as it once did, another part often finds a way to help out. That can be incredibly useful at the time, particularly after an injury, but years later those same compensations may no longer be serving you quite so well. You might notice walking has changed, getting up from the floor takes more effort, stairs feel harder, or you’re gradually saying no to things you used to enjoy.

My classes help you explore what your body has stopped doing, where it has learnt to compensate and how to give it more movement options again.

Ultimate Pilates is no longer simply a Pilates class. I use the principles of Pilates alongside more than 25 years of studying human movement to create whole-body classes for modern bodies, and the lives we live, or still want to live.

The aim isn’t to make you good at exercises.

It’s to help your body become more capable for your life.

All you need is a mat, comfortable clothes and a willingness to explore what your body can do.

Classes use a mix of standing and floor-based movement, with adaptations where needed. Some things will feel easy, others may be more challenging, and that’s completely normal. You are never expected to arrive already able to do everything.

The atmosphere is friendly, relaxed and curious rather than competitive. If something feels difficult, we simply use that information to work out what your body might need.

Join in person, on Zoom, or mix the two

You can attend in person, join live from home on Zoom, or switch between the two from week to week. If you join online, you’ll be able to see me clearly and I have a dedicated monitor in the studio so I can see you too. However you choose to join, you’ll be made to feel part of the class.

Pilates is where much of my movement education began, and its principles still shape the way I teach. But over more than 25 years, my work has evolved far beyond the traditional Pilates repertoire.

The more I studied the human body, the more interested I became in why one person can perform a movement easily while another body has to find a completely different way of doing it. That curiosity changed the way I teach.

Today, Ultimate Pilates combines the principles of Pilates with whole-body movement informed by my continued study of human movement, gait and other movement disciplines. Rather than trying to make your body conform to an ideal shape, we explore the movements it needs for real life: bending, straightening, rotating, reaching, balancing, shifting weight, getting down and getting back up.

Sometimes we are strengthening, sometimes restoring movement, and sometimes simply reminding your body of a movement it once knew but has gradually stopped using.

I’m Gaile Dean, and I’ve spent more than 25 years teaching, studying and being fascinated by human movement.

My work began with Pilates, but over the years I’ve studied a range of approaches including MELT, Anatomy in Motion and Nutritious Movement. I’ve taken what works, combined it with my own observations and developed the way I now teach.

One of my particular interests is walking, because it shows so clearly how the whole body works together. When one part stops contributing, something else usually finds a way to compensate.

That idea sits at the heart of my teaching. I want you to understand your own body, recognise the habits it has developed and discover movements it may have forgotten.

I use these same principles myself. At 60, I have no physical issues and I’m stronger and more physically capable than I was in my 30s.

My role is to help you become more capable too, with knowledge, careful observation and a friendly, supportive approach that never expects you to arrive already able to do everything.

Sometimes your body just needs the opportunity to remember what else it can do.