K

Hi, my name is Karen, I like helping people and being part of the community and have been involved in supporting the clubs and schools my kids have attended over the years as well as my church. My son has a disability and so I am familiar with some of the ways that families who have special needs can benefit from an organisation like Home Care Heroes. I was made redundant earlier in the year and have been studying and teaching Pilates and have extra time available for doing something worthwhile. Over the years with my son, now a teenager, I have gained better understanding of anxieties, behaviours and ways of communicating and have skills that would help as a Hero e.g. recognising that a situation is becoming stressful and diffusing it before it escalates. Of course, everyone is an individual and I have learnt a lot from the many parents and carers I have met through my son. As he gets older, I recognise the importance of him meeting and mixing with more people and participating in society. I am grateful for every person and organisation that interacts with him, encourages and celebrates with him and am spurred on to give extra time to anyone I meet who is in need or is a little different. I would have to say I am most proud of raising four amazing children though that is more to do with them and less to do with me! Studying whilst working is hard work but it has had the effect of being able to relate to some of the challenges my kids have. In the last two years, I have taken my enjoyment of doing Pilates to the next level and done a Mat Instructor’s Course and am just completing my Studio Diploma. Learning the exercises and about the human body and movement in theory, and then in relation to my own body and practice, and then in relation to teaching other people, has been challenging. Further challenge has been learning to identify postural and muscle imbalances and working out how to adapt exercises accordingly and program them at the right level of difficulty, making adjustments for injuries. Overcoming nervousness standing in front of a group of strangers who are expecting you to know what you are doing, is an achievement. Each week I try to make the classes I teach varied and enjoyable. When people give positive feedback and make an effort to come, I feel I have achieved something worthwhile. Being able to do harder exercises myself with better form and feeling the benefit has also been rewarding. A favourite quote of mine is: Today I choose life. Every morning when I wake up I can choose joy, happiness, negativity, pain... To feel the freedom that comes from being able to continue to make mistakes and choices - today I choose to feel life, not to deny my humanity but embrace it. Kevyn Aucoin