10/02/2026
Watching the Winter Olympics from Italy has been extraordinary โท๏ธ
The bravery, skill and commitment of these athletes is genuinely breath-robbing.
But for me, it also stirs reflection.
I was in Livigno in 1986, just 18 years old, on my very first ski holiday. I loved it - the exhilaration, the speed, the beauty of the mountains. It felt expansive and alive in every sense. Sadly, it was a poor snow year. The neighbouring resort had already closed, and Livigno itself shut shortly after we left.
Too late for me ๐ซ
On the final run of my final day, I hit a patch of grass. My bindings didnโt release. My knee rotated completely, causing devastating damage. I was skied down the mountain by mountain rescue, taken back to the hotel, and almost immediately put on a plane home โ๏ธ
That journey was hard.
What followed was harder.
Years of pain. Multiple surgeries. Long periods of immobility. A slow, often frustrating relationship with my own body, learning what it could no longer do, and what it might still be capable of.
But hereโs the part that matters most.
That injury changed my life - because it brought Pilates into it.
Pilates became the way I rebuilt strength, learned control, restored movement and regained confidence in my body. It gave me tools, understanding and ultimately a vocation that has shaped the last four decades of my life.
So while I watch these athletes fly down mountains with awe, thereโs also gratitude. For the path I didnโt choose, but ended up on. For the work I now get to do. And for the reminder that sometimes, life-changing moments arrive wrapped in hardship, and quietly redirect us to where weโre meant to be.
