Today is Shrove Tuesday in the UK, when Christians confess their sins, cleanse their souls and ask God for help in making changes to their lives. Then eat lots of pancakes. Guess which part of the tradition is most popular.
It's the same idea as Mardi Gras (aka Fat Tuesday), in that people make the most of the last day before Lent's 40 days of fasting and self-denial.
I'm not really an over-indulger. I like to steer a nice, steady, even course, with not too many ups and downs. Flat, one might say. Like a pancake. Which I do. Well, at least in theory.
The pancakes of my childhood had a certain austerity about them. Yes, we sprinkled sugar on them (white and granulated, of course - this was the 1970s after all), but we offset that with a squeeze of lemon that we perhaps subconsciously believed counteracted the effect of the sugar.
In my mind, that's still the sort of pancake I think of when I imagine people celebrating today. However, while searching for an image with which to decorate this newsletter, the vast majority were of the American variety, stacked in teetering towers, drenched in maple syrup and chocolate sauce.
While I wouldn't suggest that Pilates is akin to fasting and self-denial, if you do fancy a metaphorical squeeze of lemon to offset Fat Tuesday, you've only got to wait until Thursday.
For more details of my online Pilates classes, or to book, click here to go to my website.
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