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Your first session, start to finish

Nobody enjoys walking into something new without knowing the shape of it. Here is exactly how a first session runs, so you can decide before you book rather than after.

Before you arrive

Two forms, both quick. The PAR-Q+ health questionnaire is seven questions and tells Ruqayyah whether anything needs care. The release is signed on paper when you arrive. Both are here if you would rather read them at home first — and reading them beforehand is the point.

The first ten minutes

Not exercise. Ruqayyah will ask what brought you, what hurts, what you do all day, what you have tried, and what you actually want. Someone who sits at a desk for nine hours needs a different first session from someone training for a marathon, and she cannot tell which you are by looking.

Watching you move

A few simple movements — standing, breathing, rolling down through the spine. This is the assessment, and it is why a private first session is worth more than a class. She is looking for which side you favour, where you hold tension, and what your ribs and pelvis do when you breathe.

The work itself

Fundamentals: breathing, pelvic placement, rib cage, shoulder blades, head and neck. They sound unglamorous and they are the whole method. On the reformer the springs will often make an exercise easier rather than harder, which surprises most people.

How you will feel afterwards

Usually taller, and aware of muscles you had forgotten. Some people feel it the next day in the deep abdominals or the inner thighs. Sharp pain is not part of it — say so immediately if you feel any, during or after.

What happens next

Ruqayyah will tell you what she saw and what she would work on over the coming weeks. There is no obligation to book a block. If you want to come back, the calendar shows the times she actually teaches.