Pilates Soulful Sunday Making Time not Finding Time

A simple wall clock reminds us that time is made, not found, for self-care.

One of the hardest things I have found both for myself and from talking with other Pilates teachers is this ongoing idea of finding time. Whether it is taking care of ourselves, planning a new programme, or working on our own personal practice, the phrase I hear again and again is I just need to find the time.

The truth is none of us have time. It does not matter whether you are just starting out or have been teaching for decades, life seems to fill up every spare moment with things that are urgent, important or simply distracting. The idea of finding time suggests that there is hidden time somewhere in our day waiting for us to discover it. In reality that time simply does not exist. If we want to grow personally or professionally, we have to make time.

Making time is about prioritising rather than searching. It means putting yourself, your growth and your creativity at the top of your list rather than somewhere at the bottom. It means scheduling it in like you would an appointment with a client, a meeting or a family event. You would not casually miss a session you are teaching because you forgot to find time. In the same way, we have to treat our own needs with the same level of commitment.

Here are some ideas to help make time rather than search for it:

1. Block your time like you block a class: Put it in your diary. Protect it. Tell others you are unavailable. Even if it is just thirty minutes, treat it as sacred. This might be your own movement practice, your time to create content or simply time to rest.

2. Create a non negotiable daily habit: Instead of trying to find time once or twice a week, create small daily rituals. Ten minutes of writing ideas. Fifteen minutes of focused breathing. Twenty minutes on your own Reformer. Small regular actions are much easier to protect than large chunks of time.

3. Say no more often: Often our lack of time is not because we are doing too few things but because we are doing too many. It is okay to say no to opportunities, invitations or distractions that do not serve your bigger goals. Every yes to something is a no to something else.

4. Recognise when you are procrastinating: Sometimes it feels easier to be busy with low priority tasks rather than face the important ones. Catch yourself in the act and gently remind yourself why you wanted to make time in the first place.

5. Choose progress over perfection: Perfectionism often delays action. Waiting for the perfect time or perfect conditions usually means nothing ever happens. Start messy if you have to. The important thing is to start.

On this Pilates Soulful Sunday I invite you to think not about how you can find time but about what you are willing to make time for. What matters enough that it becomes a real part of your life not just an idea waiting in the wings.

You deserve to be on your own priority list. Your creativity, your practice and your wellbeing deserve to be scheduled not squeezed in.

After all we are not just Pilates teachers. We are movers, thinkers, creators and lifelong students of the body and the mind.

Make time for what matters most.