JOSIE McKENLAYMost diseases can be avoided by making some lifestyle changesMost diseases can be avoided by making some lifestyle changesI consider myself very lucky to have found a career about which I am passionate and one that has lasted for over 25 years with the possibility of continuing for another 25! My family was always active which set a good example. I started running in my teens and at about the same time began following a set of exercises, similar to Pilates, taken from a book I found in the library at my boarding school. By the time I left university I was a devotee of aerobics which was just starting to become popular, here with Arlene Phillips and then with Jane Fonda, although it wasn’t really a career option at the time. I found a job in London and found a dance studio underneath The Body Shop in Victoria and attended classes every day. I gave up my job, got myself qualified and threw myself into teaching almost every type of studio based class, sometimes 6 classes a day, in West London. By the late ’90s, Pilates and yoga started to become popular in the clubs, so it was an obvious progression. When I wasn’t teaching I was practicing and trained with the Pilates Institute and the BSY. I have now been teaching both for about 12 years.
