R1SE Brook Place · Saturday 24 October 2026

Menopausein Motion

When Sat 24 Oct, 3pm to 6pm

Where Brook Place, Napier Street

Places 17

Led by Gaynor Hague

Three hours built around what is actually happening in the body, and what actually helps. Not a stage to get through. A stage to train for.

Book your place £65 for members and early bookings until 30 September

Why this exists

Nobody explains the joint pain

Most conversations about menopause stop at the symptoms everyone has heard of. The ones that arrive quietly are the ones that change how you move.

Falling oestrogen accelerates the loss of muscle mass and bone density, and the deep core and pelvic floor are usually first to go. It also strips collagen, and collagen is not just skin. It is tendon, ligament and fascia, the connective tissue holding every joint in position.

30% Approximate fall in skin collagen during the first five years after menopause. The connective tissue around your joints goes the same way.

Which is why the stiffness that turns up in your forties and fifties feels like it came from nowhere. It did not. And it is why stretching harder does not fix it, because muscle responds to short holds and connective tissue responds to long ones.

Oestrogen decline does not hit one system. It hits muscle and bone, it hits connective tissue, and it hits the nervous system's ability to settle. No single session addresses all three, which is why this afternoon is three of them.

The afternoon

Three systems, three tools, one afternoon

Each session does something the other two cannot, and each one leaves the body better prepared for the next.

Gaynor teaches all three, so you are not handed between strangers, you are with one person who knows where you started and where you got to. Jen assists on the reformer, so nobody is left guessing.

Gaynor HagueLeading all three sessions

Gaynor Hague, who leads all three sessions at Menopause in Motion

3pmStudio 1

Reformer Pilates

Rebuild the core

Falling oestrogen accelerates loss of muscle mass and bone density, and the deep core and pelvic floor are usually first to go. Reformer is the right tool because spring resistance gives controlled, progressive load without pounding the joints. Strength and stability rebuilt from the centre out.

4pmStudio 2

Gaynor Hague in a supported Yin posture with bolster and block

Yin

Release the fascia

Oestrogen decline also hits collagen, which is why joint stiffness and aching are such common and under-discussed symptoms. Long passive holds work into connective tissue rather than muscle, restoring range of motion, and the sustained stillness starts the nervous system's downshift.

5pmStudio 2

Sound bath

Settle the system

Closes the arc. Sustained tone and low cognitive demand pull the nervous system into a parasympathetic state, the deep rest that is often hardest to reach when sleep and stress regulation are already disrupted.

Tea and a proper break between the first two. Bolsters and blankets set before the last. We finish around 6pm, and nobody is rushed out.

Before you book

What you need to know

No experience needed

On any of it. Plenty of people come to this having never been near a reformer, and the whole point of two instructors in Studio 1 is that first-timers get looked after properly. If you have never lain down for a sound bath either, that is fine. There is nothing to learn and nothing to get right.

What to bring

Comfortable clothing you can move in, grip socks for the reformer if you have them, and a water bottle. Everything else is here, including bolsters and blankets for the second half.

If something hurts

Tell Gaynor at the start. Every exercise has a version that works around an injury, a replacement joint or a pelvic floor that is not behaving. Nothing about this afternoon requires you to push through pain.

DateSaturday 24 October 2026
Time3pm to 6pm
ArriveFrom 2.45pm
LocationR1SE Brook Place, Napier Street
Led byGaynor Hague
AssistingJen
Places17
IncludedAll three sessions, tea, equipment

Payment received. We are adding your place to WellnessLiving now. Your Square receipt will arrive immediately, and R1SE will contact you if anything needs attention.

Book

Seventeen places

£65 Members and
early bookings

£75 Standard
from 1 October

Early bird closes Tuesday 30 September. After that every place is £75. The room holds seventeen and we are not adding more.

Book your place

Questions before you commit? Call Brook Place on 07782 688421 or ask at reception.

Questions

The ones people ask

Do I need to be in menopause to come?: No. Perimenopause often starts years before anyone names it, and everything in this afternoon is worth doing before you need it. Come if the subject is on your mind.
I have never used a reformer. Is that a problem?: Not at all. Gaynor sets everyone up individually and Jen is in the room specifically so that first-timers get hands-on attention. The machine looks more intimidating than it is. The same goes for the sound bath at the end. If you have never been in one, there is nothing to learn and nothing to do. You lie down and let it happen.
Do I have to do all three sessions?: They are designed as one arc, so we would encourage it. That said, this is a relaxed afternoon and nobody is watching the room for who is keeping up. Rest whenever you want to, sit a section out, step into reception for a few minutes and come back. It makes no difference to anyone.
Can I bring a friend?: Yes, and most people do. Nothing is allocated in advance, so you simply pick a reformer next to each other on the day, and a mat next to each other after that.
What is your cancellation policy?: Full refund up to 14 days before. After that we will move your place to someone on the waiting list if we can, and refund you if we manage it.