Nick Watson Physiotherapy

28/12/2025

PHYSIO LED PILATES AND MOVEMENT ESPECIALLY FOR THE 60+ BODY New classes starting January 2026

Unique weekly classes that combine Pilates with expert knowledge of body and brain to help you reclaim your freedom of movement, restore balance, relieve discomfort and enhance everyday function.

Led by a Chartered Physiotherapist with 18+ years of experience you will be guided through safe and effective movement and exercise in a friendly, supportive setting so that you can learn how to move well to live well.

Click on the link to see timetable and available spaces
https://nickwatsonphysiotherapy.co.uk/pilates-and-movement/

02/01/2024

New terms of Painless Pilates beginning next week in Darlington.
Helping to reduce pain, improve posture, increase flexibility and function.
Classes open to all abilities, each class tailored to who is in the room on the mats.

Timetable:
Wednesday at 6pm at the Quaker Meeting House, Skinnergate

Thursday at 10am in The Garden Room, All Saints Church, Ravensdale Road

Friday at 4pm in the Main Hall, All Saints Church, Ravensdale Road

Friday at 5pm in the Main Hall, All Saints Church, Ravensdale Road

Limited spaces available so booking essential.
Contact me at info@nickwatsonphysiotherapy.co.uk

20/06/2023

Fascinating clinical session yesterday, helping a very high flying team leader learn how to regain control of a spinal problem.

Beside her as a co-pilot, we reviewed her physical flight path to help her understand how she had become stuck at her current location.

Key coordinates:
☀️ A very physically active childhood
⛅️ Recovery from 4 pregnancies in the 2000's when 'zip and hollow' was a thing
⛅️ A cruciate ligament reconstruction and extensive rehab
☁️ Returning to the physical demands of her childhood activities as an adult
🌦 Maintaing very high standards in a very stressful role
🌩 MRI scans and the suggestion that spinal surgery was the only option

We had already scouted ahead with breath work and she reported finding value in fitting her own oxygen mask first to tackle stressful situations at work.

To explore spine and pelvis, we actively disengaged autopilot and questioned conventional health space dogma.

Giving her thinking brain permission to pilot her body, her eyes lit up as she began to evaluate the physical cost of holding herself in controlled flight for all of this time.

With this new understanding, she was able to discern the difference and let go of the throttle to gleefully glide and deviate away from her current fixed beliefs, pain and discomfort.

If you’d like to find out how I can help you on your physical journey, drop me a message or visit my website
https://nickwatsonphysiotherapy.co.uk/

images courtesy of Bergadder (Pixabay) and Nghanvu (Pixabay)

20/05/2023

ACHILLES AND THE SMOKING ELEPHANT

Somebody contacted me for advice about a stubborn Achilles tendon pain.

They reported that there had been various 'sprains and pulls' in the past from football, but this Achilles pain was not clearing.

Massage, heel raises, calf stretches and orthotic innersoles had all been tried but had not helped.

I suggested that pain in a tendonitis/tendinopathy is actually a legitimate cry for help.

Tissues come under excessive load demand when there is a problem elsewhere. I.e. the muscles that should be propelling you forward when you walk, run, go upstairs etc are all out the back ‘having a smoke’.

Meanwhile poor old Achilles is doing all of the heavy lifting and being pushed beyond current capability and tolerance.

Massage may ‘lengthen’ structures, but will only give short term pain relief as the calf muscles will still remain under excessive load.

Orthotics could 'shorten' the length of the tendon, reducing loading, but only when worn in shoes.

Heel raises could be helpful (in the right dosage to increase load tolerance) but could also increase overload if done to excess at the wrong time.

Perhaps there would be less Achilles tendon pain if the Achilles tendon was not continuously overloaded…

And the elephant in the room: why that particular leg and why now?

Pretty much everything in the body happens for a reason.

Could Achilles bearing the brunt of the load be a learned adaptation to a historical problem?

The previous sprains and pulls will have been prompted physical and behavioural changes appropriate for the time of those injuries.
Perhaps these strategies could still be lurking and contributing to the current problem.

My role is to focus on a patient's problems and find out what they don’t already know. That way I can deliver specific knowledge and skills to help them understand and therefore solve their own problems.

In this case, it would be helping them to identify the skiving structures and get them ‘back to work’ in propulsion to assist and offload the Achilles Tendon.

Interested and want to learn more?
Drop me a message or visit my website www.nickwatsonphysiotherapy.co.uk

Photo: Unsplash - Steve Barker
Illustration: Me and Canva

21/09/2022

Want to play a G.A.M.E.?
A flavour of how I teach Painless Pilates, click on the link below.

The link will take you to a 3 minute video of a G.A.M.E. (or Generating Awareness through Movement Exploration) video on You Tube.
If you enjoy it, sign up for a space in a Painless Pilates class.

Explore hip and pelvis movement in less than 3 minutes. All you need is a mat, a folded towel and a curious mind. Visit www.nickwatsonphysiotherapy.co.uk for...

21/09/2022

Spaces available in the Wednesday 6pm and Friday 5pm classes of Painless Pilates in Darlington!

The next 6 week term begins:
Wednesday 28th September at the Quaker Friend’s Meeting house, Skinnergate, Darlington
Friday 30th September at All Saints Church, Ravensdale Road, Darlington

I deliberately keep the class low key so that I can attend to the needs of the existing small classes, members of which have all been attending for many years.

However, if you’d like to enjoy the benefits of working with your nervous system and explore finding new ways to move, click on the link to contact me below. Remaining spaces are limited and will be on a first come, first served basis.

To book a space: info@nickwatsonphysiotherapy.co.uk