Sarah Pritchard Pilates & Somatic Movement: Franklin Method

Sarah Pritchard Pilates & Somatic Movement: Franklin Method Master Somatic Movement Therapist /Educator MSME MSMT (ISMETA Reg) & Buff Bones® Faculty. Somatic Therapist & Franklin Method Expert Level 4.

Comprehensive Remedial Pilates for Women’s Health & Dance in Shrewsbury, Birmingham, across the UK & Virtual I am a Professionally Regulated Somatic Movement Educator / Therapist, Regulated Comprehensive & Remedial Pilates Specialist Teacher and a Dance UK Healthcare Practitioner. That means that I can help you restore and optimise your movement using my very specialist Pilates and Somatic mind body training which is different to what you may have experienced in a standard movement class. What I teach is restorative, in terms of regaining function, lessening or eliminating aches and pains, re-patterning and reprogramming faulty movement patterns as well as restoring your mind body connection, producing greater states of calm and ease in every sense. I have particular expertise working with women going through menopause and beyond, using one or a combination of the different programmes I teach. I advocate for healthy dance and am a Dance UK Healthcare practitioner. I work with dancers from many different genres of every ability within a safe and non judgemental environment. All of my work is regulated, giving you external verification of the depth of my training and professional development from my governing bodies. Within my professions, I value and adhere to strict Codes of Ethics and Conduct (find out more about my associations at the bottom of my page). Explore what I offer and get in touch so I can support you further,

In health and wellbeing,

Sarah

If the week has started rough, too fast, the weather has left you cold or you are feeling you need to take some space an...
03/02/2026

If the week has started rough, too fast, the weather has left you cold or you are feeling you need to take some space and find some ground, my reminder is to slow down and come back to the heart, breathe, find space, find softness.
Return home and have space to reset.

My practice of today after a busy week and weekend! My work is my practice because I can only teach in alignment from that place ☺️

My retreat is about self nurture and self care in their truest forms.
Listening inward.
Moving gently.
Working with your body.
Letting your nervous system settle and feel supported.
Developing practices to support yourself.

Across the day we will share somatic movement of the Franklin Method, breath, sounding, embodied journalling, rest, warmth, and simple human connection. No performance. No fixing.

This is a place to feel the power in softness, and if you are needing a rest or some self care practices, you are welcome to land in this space. You are welcome here. 💝

I’d love to see you,

Sarah xx

The link can be found in my bio ☺️

Spaces are limited on purpose to give you some space.

Sunday morning is for coming home to yourself. ☕️As I sit here after my practice this morning, I am thinking about the i...
25/01/2026

Sunday morning is for coming home to yourself. ☕️

As I sit here after my practice this morning, I am thinking about the incredible benefits working intimately with our body has and about how rarely we give ourselves permission to drop completely into ourselves without all of the guarding and armour we carry in everyday life. We spend so much time in human doing mode - managing, planning and at times holding it all together, we have little space for ourselves.
My upcoming Day Retreat, 'Returning Home: The Felt Heart' (Feb 15th), is a biological and emotional invitation to find a different way of being.
Combining the biomechanical precision of the Franklin Method with the deep, trauma-informed safety of wellbeing work from the Leven Institute and movement for the midlife using Buff Bones. So, slightly different from a day of Pilates, something much richer - a nervous system reset and a reset back to feeling more like yourself working in the somatic way.

During our day together, you will:
* Learn how to soften the physical tension around your heart and lungs and melt tension globally away from your body
* Experience the internal space that can come when we use tools to develop self regulation, to give us a calmer, more clear approach to living and to impact female health, wellbeing and physiology in a hugely positive, science based way.
* Leave feeling grounded, resilient, and truly seen.
The Details:
📍 The Garden Rooms at Newton Meadows, Shropshire.
🗓️ Sunday, February 15th.
👥 An intimate group of 6.

There are only a couple of spots left in the circle.

Ready to claim one of the final spots? Go to

https://sarahpritchardpilatessomaticmovement.com/retreatsmasterclasses/returning-home-heart-retreat-franklin-method-somatic-women

Or comment 'HEART' below if you have any questions and I’ll reply to you personally.
I’d love to see you and help you discover you,

Sarah xx

Today working with our dancers at Fabric CAT working on felt sense and embodiment of our ribs and dynamic movement as we...
24/01/2026

Today working with our dancers at Fabric CAT working on felt sense and embodiment of our ribs and dynamic movement as well as stability. This is such an important tool for dancers to have - their repetitive movements result in overuse of many areas of their bodies, as well as issues relating to technique. So what can embodiment do for them? A little bit of anatomical knowledge and understanding coupled with dynamic imagery goes a long way. Dancers stop copying and start to get a greater felt sense for their body in movement.
We had worked in a felt way and experienced our ribs as flexible mobile and free, and shifted in and out of that felt sense and into one where we need stability, but in a way that still allows us to move without bracing or tension strategies.
We also had a lot at how that translated from being on the mat to being upright and working through our dance specific movements where control and stability is needed for balances and turns. Lots to understand, feel in our bodies and develop felt understanding of. But I was so proud of our dancers today - their focus and dedication demonstrated incredible results. So many smiles all around.
Our bodies are places of joy to live in and experience what they can do, and for dancers understanding this is so important so they learn how to manage their body and translate communication from their dance teachers into an anatomical understanding and felt sense to allow them to keep moving with ease and joy. And the end result is more ocnfidence on what they do. It makes me smile to see them smile too, well done everyone ☺️✨

And always a thank you 🙏☺️

2016 you say? My camera roll is eclectic!A gangly odd time, shedding old identities and journeying towards something so ...
23/01/2026

2016 you say? My camera roll is eclectic!
A gangly odd time, shedding old identities and journeying towards something so very different. Three years on after two complex reconstructive surgeries I think it’s safe to say I came out of those surgeries as someone very different. Very quiet, reserved, just watching and observing, that confident dancer gone. Not the 7 month journey I was told - one that went on for years through different stages, until I came out the other end in 2016 having fought for something so hard, only to realise having got there that it wasn’t me anymore. There’s a life lesson there.
So 2016 became a time of pivot - finding purpose and a real home in the studio - my home for all those years away from the dance studio but now my new teaching home. I could help others experience that their body could work again and they were not broken. I heard their stories and really identified with their words, and, I observed week after week them develop more confidence in their bodies. I watched how presence and imagery whilst moving could make them change how they moved. All whilst continuing my own journey - how could I get my body to speak and sing in a different way? What I loved about dance was the feeling and expression, and I wanted that back. Well a camera roll full of bones is the answer. So many photos of bones from different angles, trying to understand and feel what was going on without being told, without reading it in a book. The days before a zoom replay - there was no replay! You had what you had embodied! The images were my tools to learning, much more than the words, and from looking in, my imagination and felt sense started to grow. I was learning so much and had no idea.
So 2016, a year of trusting the process but not knowing what it meant in a felt way and not fully trusting it either!!
2016 me is trying to work things out - messy, unformed, not quite knowing how to pull all the different threads together, but in the garden of movement. Seeds planted here, but needing some nurture and time! Cheers 2016 🎉

Good things take time, trust your process, Sarah xx

#2016

Why bother listening to your body in movement? Well you change your relationship with your physical body - you become le...
19/01/2026

Why bother listening to your body in movement? Well you change your relationship with your physical body - you become less of an issue to fix and you develop a deeper relationship with you and much more!
If you are curious keep reading!

One of my beautiful clients recently shared how somatic Pilates has helped her let go of so much tension and patterns of bracing, and has eased her own pain, rebuilt trust in herself, and returned to a deeper sense of wholeness. She found grounding, clarity, confidence, and a renewed ability to listen to her body’s wisdom, even while navigating perimenopause and injury.

When we truly feel what we are doing, not just perform it, or putting the bodying into the right place. Instead we come home to ourselves. We move with less effort, less strain, more awareness. Pain eases, the nervous system settles, and trust grows. This is the heart of somatic work, and why it creates change far beyond the physical. And for women in the midlife experiencing such huge changes in their bodies it’s wonderful to just feel empowered and supported by your body once more.

Teaching in Shrewsbury, Birmingham, and online, I am grateful to support people in reconnecting with their bodies, their resilience and their sense of wholeness.

Is that how you want movement to feel?

Let me know below, and come and join me in class in Birmingham, Shrewsbury and Virtually. Looking after your body in a felt way is an act of deep caring not only for your physical structure but for you as a whole.

In wellness, Sarah xx

There is a certain kind of joy that comes when you stop feeling and experiencing your body as something “fragile” or a p...
13/01/2026

There is a certain kind of joy that comes when you stop feeling and experiencing your body as something “fragile” or a problem, and start feeling it as a whole, resilient and more like you again. ☺️
I smile because I’m in my happy place - exploring the beautiful science and felt sense of how we move. For me, bone and joint health is about being proactive and future-proofing our lives so we can keep doing what we love with ease.
In my sessions across Shropshire, Birmingham, and virtually, we use a somatic approach to help you reconnect back in with your body. It’s a powerful, subtle process of becoming whole again - one embodiment at a time. When you nourish your body we future proof ourselves to the best of our ability and rebuild our confidence and sense of self.
Did you know? You can join me on retreat this February to fully immerse yourself in this wonderful system and experience that somatic reconnection first hand. 🌿
And for my fellow movement professionals - I am so excited to work with and meet you, as well as work together with Rebekah and entire, fantastic Buff Bones® team virtually in just a couple of weeks! We are an association of strong women! So many reasons to smile!
This photo was taken at the end of our UK Buff Bones® training in November with my teacher, the wonderful Rebekah Rotstein at Polestar Pilates UK. It was a weekend of deep learning and a reminder that movement is the best medicine for the years ahead.

So much is possible when we are present and see what we can do in the moment!

In wellness, Sarah xx

Discover more about my retreat

https://sarahpritchardpilatessomaticmovement.com/retreatsmasterclasses/returning-home-heart-retreat-franklin-method-somatic-women

And more about my Buff Bones® virtual and in person offerings in Birmingham, Shrewsbury and Shropshire.

https://sarahpritchardpilatessomaticmovement.com/about-buff-bones-pilates-shrewsbury-shropshire-birmingham-virtual

🌹Returning Home: The Felt Heart, My Somatic Day Retreat for Midlife Women🌹 Sunday 15 February | Shrewsbury, Shropshire. ...
11/01/2026

🌹Returning Home: The Felt Heart, My Somatic Day Retreat for Midlife Women🌹
Sunday 15 February | Shrewsbury, Shropshire.
At a time of life where you can feel disconnected from your body, stressed out and lacking the power or possibly even the energy as you may be struggling getting quality rest, my day retreat is an invitation for you to return back home and rediscover all of these things in you.

Join me for a beautiful day of movement that blends Buff Bones® for grounded strength and support for your bones and joints with deeply gentle somatic movement of the heart using Franklin Method that releases tension from your body - its a more intimate way of working with us. We have a healthy vegetarian lunch and time to explore the beautiful gardens at Newton Meadows and some views of the Shropshire Hills.
In the afternoon we explore deep rest connecting with our body first of all through sounding practices of the Leven Institute that makes feel whole, breathwork and vagal toning exercises from Franklin Method® that help us really clear our mind and embodied journalling, a practice of wellbeing from the toolbox of Somatic Therapy to help us work through our clutter thinking in a mindful and embodied way, to gain greater insight into our stressors of everyday life.
And have our afternoon tea and chocolate cake - because life is not about restriction but balance! 💓

Together, this is an intimate, restricted retreat to soften into space and quiet, tending to our physical and emotional body with compassion and work that has real depth and quality.

If this sounds like something your body needs then I’d love to help you using not only my expertise as a registered and internationally regulated somatic practitioner, but my lived experience.

I'd love to see you,

Sarah xx

See link for more detail and to book and forward this post on to a friend who may need some self care at the moment

https://sarahpritchardpilatessomaticmovement.com/retreatsmasterclasses/returning-home-heart-retreat-franklin-method-somatic-women

Experience Pilates taught in a somatic way where the focus is on sensation and exploring movement with nuance and detail...
10/01/2026

Experience Pilates taught in a somatic way where the focus is on sensation and exploring movement with nuance and detail to ensure that the movement you create is healthy, holsitic and embodied. Experience the embodiment of the world renowned Franklin Method®, combined with Polyvagal work and Pilates in a small-group setting. These sessions are specifically designed for those in Shropshire seeking a high-attention to detail alternative to large gym-based Pilates classes. Move by design in the tranquil Jenna Blair Yoga Studio, Belle Vue, Shrewsbury.

To take part in this class must be able to get up and down from the floor unaided.

I am an internationally regulated ISMETA Somatic Practitioner and Comprehensive Pilates and Remedial Specialist teacher, taught by Alan Herdman, who brought Pilates to the UK.

You can discover more about me and my approach to teaching Pilates in a way that is healthy, holistic and embodied as well as what my clients have to say using the link below:

https://sarahpritchardpilatessomaticmovement.com/group-classes

Come and join me for movement that is healthy, holistic, embodied and taught by an expert in Pilates and Somatic Movement,

In wellness,

Sarah xx

If you have an injury please email me before purchasing your classes.

Mondays 2.30pm - January 12, 19, 26, 2 and 9 February 2026

10/01/2026

☃️ Midlife often feels like a season of “always on” but nature has a different rhythm for us all at this time of year. ❄️
In winter, our nervous systems naturally want to slow down. Pushing harder at this time of year with huge to do lists and resolutions can heap stress into an already overloaded body. Instead, the secret is to focus on opening your Ventral pathways—the neurological “window” to safety, connection, and calm.
Try a tiny somatic shift today:
1. Go for a walk and really take time to feel and experience your environment - drink it all in!
2. Have slow, mindful cup of tea with the window open to feel and experience the freshness of winter and hear the sounds of nature ☕
3. Ease yourself into the weekend with gentle mobilisations of your body - no need to push or force a thing
👇 Which practice helps you shift into wellbeing?

And how does your body feel today?

You become what you practice ✨

In wellness,

Sarah xx


Wishing all of my clients and followers a very happy, healthy and embodied 2026.May you slide onto the New Year with sof...
01/01/2026

Wishing all of my clients and followers a very happy, healthy and embodied 2026.
May you slide onto the New Year with softness, ease, inner peace and strength 💓
My world is not about the hard push of beating up the body, but about listening carefully to its wisdom and discovering you can move with ease, peace and alignment. My work is about your holistic wellbeing. The whole person, not just the body.
Although the New Year is shouting at us to push through we are still in winter. There is no need for crash and burnout. That’s not what movement is about, that’s a different narrative that doesn’t belong here in my space.
Pace this year, enjoy it, savour it and be curious about your journey not the destination.
So much is possible when you are present and build strong foundations.
From a human being, not a human doing or AI.
All human beings are welcome here.

In holistic wellness, Sarah xx

My mailing list is due to go out tomorrow so please join from my website www.sarahpritchardpilatessomaticmovement.com to discover my offerings for early 2026!

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Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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