Tattoos: Marked by Movement. Exploring Body Art, Identity and Transformation.

You’ll notice in every Hackney fitness studio that tattoos are everywhere. It’s more unusual if somebody doesn’t have one these days!  As a movement teacher working in one of London’s most expressive and creative boroughs, I have come to see tattoos not just for fashion or art, but as another way people inhabit their bodies. 

A Brief History

Tattoos have always been more than decoration. Across cultures over the centuries they have marked warriors, healers, sailors and outcasts. They were about belonging, ink links to tribes, clans, bloodlines and brotherhoods. They were prayers and charms and proof you’d walked through the fire and survived it. 

In Polynesia, tattooing (‘tatau’, meaning ‘to mark’) was sacred lineage art carrying ancestral stories, spiritual protection and a persons role in the community. In ancient Egypt, inks were seen as powerful talismans for meaning and protection, especially for women in sacred roles like priestesses, dancers or seers. In the Americas, many indigenous nations used tattooing as a rite of passage and a shield. They believed they guarded the soul during shamanic journeys and signalled a persons spiritual rank. 

Even today in modern parlours with their sterile tools, there’s still something dusk till dawn like, tribal, primal, pagan and ‘outlawish’ about them. I always come out feeling I need to get on a Harley, not the 149! 

The Psychology of Tattoos

Psychologists have long studied why people get tattoos. For many they are about taking ownership of the body (especially after trauma, illness or major life changes). They preserve memories of a person or place or an older or new version of the self. 

For others its identity and a visual declaration of who they are and where they belong. And sometimes it’s about control in a world that feels controlling. 

For people navigating gender identity, tattoos can express who they really are and create a sense of belonging in your own skin.

For those living with body dysmorphia or recovering from disordered eating, they can reshape and rewrite the body’s narrative. 

In fitness it can be the same. We come back to the body after disconnection. We build trust in our own strength after shame, invisibility or loss. 

A Conversation with Ana, Owner Room 13 Tattoo, The Factory Dalston

My neighbour at The Factory, Ana, has done two of my tattoos. She’s got the finest line work and I love her no-nonsense, brutally honest approach to tattoos and life (especially compared to me, who’s typically over-deeping everything, ha ha). I asked her some questions…

When did you start tattooing and why?

I started tattooing in London in 2013. I was trained in product design, which meant hours in front of a screen, and I hated that. Tattooing was one of the few drawing skills that didn’t require a computer, just hands, ink and focus. At first, I didn’t like drawing the same thing twice (once on paper, then on skin), but it actually became the best part, like a practice run before something permanent. Tattooing leaves no space for mistakes. I liked that.

Do you see tattooing as a ritual or spiritual act?

Honestly, for me, tattooing is just a lot of fun. There’s no rush, no stress. Most people come in on their day off, in a good mood, doing something for themselves. The meaning behind the tattoo is often secondary. The experience is what matters most.

It’s also strangely intimate. You’ve never met me before, and now I’m about to cause you pain, keep you in an awkward position for hours, and leave a permanent mark on your body. It’s like a blind date with a needle. You have to find common ground, talk, laugh or annoy each other until its done!

Have you seen tattoos help people reclaim their bodies?

People often get tattooed to move on. To forget, but not forget. It becomes a visible reminder and something they don’t have to carry mentally, because it’s already there on their skin. A message to stay strong. You see it every day, whether you’re thinking about it or not.

Is there a tattoo you’ll never forget?

Yes. I once tattooed DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) in big black lettering across the chest of an 89 year-old woman. She didn’t want anything delicate or pretty, just very clear and visible. She was partially deaf, drove herself from Lancaster Gate to Dalston and had the best stories. I had a wonderful day with her.

What’s popular right now and what does it say about people?

What’s popular now is what everyone else has, which is kind of funny, considering tattooing used to be about standing out. Lots of delicate, small designs, often repeated. It’s like in fashion: trends come and go, and sometimes (hopefully) don’t come back.

Any trends you secretly wish would disappear?

Not really. There’s a customer for everything.

What’s the creative process like when designing a custom piece?

I usually understand what a customer wants pretty quickly — but once they see it on paper, that’s when the creativity really starts. Suddenly they have ideas. As long as it’s technically doable, I don’t question it. It’s their tattoo, their story. They’re the ones wearing it, not me.

Room 13 Tattoo Instagram

My Own Tattoo Haul  

The Butterfly (Age 16)

Underage (I even brought my 9 year old sister with me wtf), impulsive and just, as always, trying to rebel. I didn’t know what I wanted, I just chose from the books. It was done in Kingston by a guy called Mark, who actually had a bit of a name in the tattoo world. I went with a cartoon-style butterfly on my lower back. Not quite a tramp stamp, but close enough! Still, I love that it’s survived, bright and unapologetic, even now, decades later. A symbol of transformation, although I wasn’t thinking that deeply at the time,

The Stars (2004)

The next was in the early 2000s, Valentine’s Day, single, and wanting something to honour my independence. I chose 3 stars by my bikini line (‘star’way to heaven, lol). Classic early 2000s! 

The Heart (and the Cover-Up) 2008 

Another Valentine’s Day and another spontaneous move. I’ve always loved Adam Ant.  My first crush, Prince Charming, my first album (and one I still listen to weekly, damn, its sexy). I was obsessed with the red heart he painted on his face, and I wanted it tattooed on my wrist.

Bad move. I didn’t research the studio, and what I got looked more like a wart than a heart. 

So I went for a cover-up. I wanted something that spoke to light and the shadow. Something messy, chaotic, emotional and dark, yet spiritual and transformative. The artist designed a watercolour lotus, with splodgy edges that blurred over the failed heart. It’s definitely not perfect and there’s even some mistakes, but that’s what I love. And lotus flowers grow from mud. 

“I Feel Love” 2020 (Ana’’s Work)

Later, I got a fine-line typewriter font tattoo from Ana. It reads: “I Feel Love”, in tribute to the Donna Summer hit produced by legend, Giorgio Moroder (which is often considered the first electronic dance track). But this was more than just a nod to disco and house music, but a reminder of resilience and always coming back to the frequency of love, no matter what. My daughter always winds me up saying I have ‘Ring my Bell' instead!

The Snake (2023)

Then came a hand-poked snake, done in Brighton. I placed it behind me, where the past lives. Snakes shed skin and don’t look back. The snake has always been so misunderstood. In the story of Eve, the snake becomes a symbol of shame, sin, seduction. But in older mystery lineages the snake is sacred and a sign of wisdom, awakening, radical transformation and the dark feminine. The snake isn’t evil. It is ancient and carries truths older than scripture.

The Sword (Archangel Michael) 2024

My most recent piece and my favourite is a fine-line sword, also designed by Ana, inspired by a tomb I love at Abney Park cemetery.  It’s a tribute to Archangel Michael, the spiritual warrior and my own personal protector. He slays demons and fights for the light.  What blew my mind here is it lines up perfectly with the ‘I feel love’ text, even though we didn’t intend it to. It’s like some Leonardo De Vinci, geometric wizardry. Destined.  

For me, tattoos are not about chasing perfection. They are stories on the body, like scars and stretch marks. And a reminder that, just like movement, we are shaped by what we live through. 

The Power and Joy of Dance: How Freedom and Technique Created Disco Barre

There’s something about dancing that nothing else touches. When I created Disco Barre, it wasn’t just about fitness - it was about reclaiming a feeling. That euphoria you get when the music hits and you’re fully in your body.

Dance Was Always in Me

My Mum used to take me to watch the local ballet class before I was old enough to join. I was so completely mesmerised that the teacher saw how much I loved it and let me start a little early.

Some of my earliest memories are spinning around in circles in my living room, completely in my own world playing Swan Lake and The Nutcracker Suite on the record player. I used to exhaust myself and then lie down and look up at the ceiling, imagining the world was upside down.

Later, I studied dance at college and was lucky enough to be taught by Henrietta Bannerman, who trained under the incredible Merce Cunningham. I loved the discipline and also freedom of those classes. The grounded floor work, the repetition, the way the body learnt through the rhythm of the body. It really stuck with me and became the foundation for how and what I teach now.

But I’m Not a ‘Dancer’

I love to dance, always have, but I’m not a ‘dancer’. Dancers are something else entirely. Athletes and artists and beyond disciplined beings whose bodies are their instruments. I’m not that. But like Lotte Berk, a contemporary dancer who wanted women to feel what it was like to move with that kind of freedom, I want you to feel the joy of dance. The rush of pleasure when music meets movement.

Disco Barre: The Dancier Side of Barre

On the technique side, Disco Barre draws on the precision and repetition of The Lotte Berk Method, which was developed to give women the strength, grace and alignment of a dancers body. I chose the elements that build deep muscular endurance, improve posture and facilitate an understanding of body mechanics.

And the structure really matters. But what keeps you coming back is that addictive burn that you struggle to find at other classes, because yes, it’s rooted in dance, but we train HARD.

Transporting You to the Club or Field

The best kind of dancing ? For me, it’s always about day 3 of a festival, when the thinking mind has quietened and you’re floating in a dream like state of bliss. You are fully riding the sound waves. That’s where I feel most myself. Jane Fitz’s Houghton sets never disappoint. Hypnotic, grounding and otherworldly - High Priestess shiz.

Or in the club at a Raresh all night DJ set with his high energy, genre bending, roller coaster ride that keeps the crowd charged from start to finish.

Or being at that naughty afters that hits that wild, raw electricity that feels special - like you’re part of a secret moment so rare and unexplainable, you know you’re lucky to be there.

It’s those magic moments I remember why I dance and why I built Disco Barre.

It’s the duality between a real technique and hedonistic freedom.

Not everyone connects to gyms and reps.

Dance on Screen: Early Inspirations

That iconic club scene in Madonna’s “Get Into the Groove” - the outfit! the attitude! - has lived rent-free in my head ever since. It’s totally inspired the feel of my warm-up: that 80s synth-laced pulse, the bounce, the joy.

Films like A Chorus Line had that raw “I need this” energy that stays with you. Dancers sweating it out under harsh lighting, auditioning with their whole being. It was gritty, emotional and electric. Even unexpected scenes, like the ballet class in Carlito’s Way (we’ll ignore that Al Pacino is stalking her), showed the discipline and grace of movement in contrast to the rainy New York night. That scene deeply moved me and I feel it in our studio. Our own little urban sanctuary.

I think dance scenes like these imprint on us. They stir a memory and a longing.

Ecstatic Dance at Akasa

Last week I danced into ecstasy at a gorgeous event space near the studio called Akasa run now by the amazing Olivia.

I have been to a few other bigger ecstatic dance events before and struggled with the music. A track would build you to a frenzy only to be followed by something generic that would break the flow. I understand it’s a journey, not a club set, but for me the sonic landscape really matters. But this DJ - Queen of Hearts - was amazing. Her set had a raw underground London edge with Afro beats, Middle Eastern textures and big dubby grooves. It was a yes from me.

I am trying to gain more confidence dancing sober. And in public this becomes not just movement, but medicine.

At the beginning you feel painfully awkward and you are trapped in your own mind. Can I even dance? Why do they look so free? Am I just moving like I’m in da club? Is there a difference? It’s a tug of war between wanting to let go and wanting to stay hidden behind the speaker.

Then you roll around on the floor for a bit, letting the carpet press into all the right bits, almost hitting that full body O, jump up again with new life force, massaging yourself with movement.

You move through negative blocks and leave more alive. It really is ecstatic.

“If you can walk, you can dance” - Zimbabwean proverb.

However, Disco Barre IS a Fitness Class

Just to be clear, you don’t need to have ever danced to enjoy Disco Barre. It isn’t a dance class, but a fitness class where you work very hard with heavyweights , ankle weights AND wrist weights (which has been a game changer). But it is rooted in rhythm and designed to make you feel strong, present and alive in your body. The choreography is simple and you don’t need much coordination, just a willingness to move and have fun.

Disco Barre isn’t about being a dancer, it’s about remembering that you already are one.

Notes from the Threshold of Perimenopause & The Female Archetypes

“There are only two people you have to answer to - your 6 year old self and your 80 year old self”

- Viola Davis -

I had planned to post another version of this yesterday, but I have just entered the luteal stage of my cycle and I felt different, so I rewrote it from today me! Ha ha.

Writing is literally saving me right now, but as my mood changed, I start questioning myself and wondered whether it was totally self indulgent to want to write all the time and then share it, but I can’t stop - for now anyway! Last weekend I wrote two poems. One was kinda terrifying. Two different subject matters and two core wounds being healed. Art therapy at its finest. Starting a blog (apart from the goal to send more peeps to my site) is part of this release and also, related to what I do and the people I teach, so I hope it’s of interest to some of you.

The Shadow Drop Before My Period

I’d never had PMDD or anything like that before. But now, about a week before my period, I’m experiencing a very real drop. It’s negative self-talk, unwanted thoughts, and a wave of consciousness like something trying to convince me I’m not who I am. Like something trying to take me off path. Which is a new thing because I cured myself of that voice years ago when I started journaling after doing an in-person course on The Artist’s Way (which I recommend to literally everyone). It really quietened the self criticism and untangled the negative thought loops.

The saving grace is that this month I have named it, spoken about it and now I am writing about it. Knowledge is power and I am now seeing it as quite a magic portal. We can always flip it and reverse it. Alchemy, baby.

Hormones, Life or Both?

My doctor, so far, has been helpful and holistic and I am doing blood tests next week to look at hormone levels and other things to decide if HRT is right. Sometimes it’s hard to know what's hormones or just life as mine isn’t that easy and I’m so used to living in survival mode.

I’m noticing I’m A LOT sweatier in class! I never sweated before at all. But that could also be down to the fact I have really upped the cardio and gone BIG on the weights (big for barre, that is). Or the heatwave! But no, I know, it’s more.

I definitely thought I’d be more sorted entering this stage.

But actually I’m entering a whole new kind of initiation.

Maiden, Mother, Crone and The Archetypes We Don’t Always Talk About - Which One Are You?

I’ve been a mother for 19 years.

But the truth is, I entered motherhood whilst still deeply in maidenhood, not just in age but energetically and emotionally. And I stayed there a long time. The ‘mother’ archetype isn’t only about having children, either, but nurturing and creating and holding others, which can take countless forms.

I’ve done a lot of work on my inner teenage self (Lord bless me!). The wild, wild West. Icky AF and mine was particularly feral, fucking up ALL the time. Those old perceptions and the way we view ourselves back then, they can be so hard to shift, so they loop and repeat until we finally stop and deal with them.

But hang on, I’ve just dealt with them and now I’m meant to be a crone?

Don’t get me wrong, my visions of myself in proper cronehood are almost mythical, although I’m really pissed off I didn’t inherit my mothers wild, Irish beauty hair. But culturally, we go from maiden to mother to crone with very little space in between.

I’m trying to learn more about Celtic folklore, so I can work with the knowledge of my own ancestors and I came across Dr Sharon Blackie, a Celtic Mythologist and Psychologist. She works with land-based wisdom, myth and reclaiming older feminine narratives. She says the life stages are non linear and that midlife is not a decline, but a threshold to deeper power. She talks of other archetypes such as;

The Enchantress, The Queen, The Weaver, Wild Woman, The Seer , The Death Walker and The Hag (reclaiming the name though!).

The Enchantress

Midlife magic, transformation, sensuality.

She walks the edge between worlds, channeling story, art, and intuition. Think shapeshifters, witches, or seductresses of old, but wise and purposeful.

The Queen / Sovereign

Inner authority, clear-sighted leadership.

She rules herself first. Rooted, strategic, unshakable in her values. She holds both power and responsibility. Queen of Swords.

The Weaver / Spider Woman

The pattern-maker, myth-spinner, world-builder.

She weaves meaning from chaos and connects the threads of life. Deeply creative and visionary.

The Wild Woman

Instinctive, untamed, deeply rooted in nature.

She rejects control and returns to the body, the land, and primal knowing. Think forest witches and selkies. She cannot be owned.

The Seer / Oracle / Wise Woman

Clairvoyant, intuitive, archetypal Crone in waiting.

She sees the unseen, speaks truth, and holds silence when needed. Often misunderstood, but fiercely clear.

The Death-Walker / Threshold Guardian

Guide through endings, transitions, and grief.

She holds space for loss, death, and rebirth. Not just literal, but psychological.

The Hag (name reclaimed!)

Raw, ancient power. Beyond beauty, beyond care.

She is the truth-teller, the land-keeper, the world-ender and world-beginner. She can appear in a mid-life crisis, often before your reach the crone’s wisdom and full power.

Crown Incoming!

It’s so much fun studying archetypes. They invite us to reflect where we are in life, a bit like tarot can. It becomes self enquiry through symbol and story.

I haven’t had my roots and hair lightening done in 3 months - money’s been tight and life’s been busy! But whilst I’m def not quite ready to go fully grey yet, I do love seeing the silvery strands come in.

I heard someone say recently (ahem TikTok!), “That’s your crown coming in.”

And I loved that.

The Initial Denial When it Hit

The thing is still feel so young- in every way - and right now I am obviously very very grateful for that. My body is stronger than it has ever been in its life and I cannot imagine how I would feel if I didn’t have my techniques.

The strength training we do in Disco Barre (not forgetting the recent ‘scientific’ study that proved house music keeps you young!) and the connection to your inner spirit and femaleness in The Barre Lineage are life savers throughout this time.

My mind and my weirdness, which I’m unmasking more of, still feel twenty something in spirit. I know we all feel this, but I have also heard this is AuDHD coded too. Eternal inner child vibes.

But I’m not mourning youth. Fuck that.

I’ve finally arrived.

The Vitamins, the Diet.

Right now, I take:

Cod liver oil - skin, joints, brain and mood support.

Creatine - not just for gym freaks. Helps with strength, energy and brain fog.

NMN - cellular repair, energy, longevity. Biohacking, basically!CoQ10 - energy and heart health and mood.

Lion’s Mane - brain, nervous system, ADHD symptoms.

Magnesium - sleep, hormones, stress - EVERYTHING!

If there’s anything else you swear by, Please send me your tips.

I’m also realising I need to start paying attention to food. I’ve never really done that in any kind of calculated way, so I’ve got to start eating hormonally.

More protein? More healthy fats? Bone broth? Again, any tips!

New Aunty at 47

I became a new aunty at 47 and the timing couldn’t be more magical. I am so proud of my sister for being such a natural and beautiful mother.

This little bundle of angelic perfection arriving now, just as I’m shedding one identity and opening up to another, feels like such a gift.

I always say to my daughter that I love her more and more as her amazing personality develops (she’s always been pretty epic), but holding this baby now brings such a nostalgia for her little years. Tinged with inevitable regrets that I didn’t know what I know now. Life’s cruel joke.

There’s such tenderness to all of it.

It’s definitely not the end.

It’s a crossing.

Barre To A Different Beat: Why I Still Teach the Lotte Berk Method (and Why I Created Disco Barre™)

In a barre world rich with interpretation - some inspired, some diluted - there’s a quiet power in returning to the original method. The one that heals from the inside out, restores your nervous system and awakens a deeper kind of embodied power. No matter what kind of day I’ve had, this practice saves my mind, body, spirit and soul and I plan to teach it until I can’t. This is the method devised by German dancer, Lotte Berk, which I call The Barre Lineage. It’s the foundation of my practice, where my fitness journey began and what gave me the confidence to open my studio 6 years ago.

My Barre Beginnings

My love affair with Lotte Berk began in my late teens, doing VHS tapes in my living room. But I formally trained in barre 12 years ago under Vicki Anstey, the founder of Barreworks — the UK’s first boutique barre studio in Richmond. Vicki had studied a modernised version of Lotte Berk and shared with us an inspiring blend of that and newer methods from the US, such as Physique 57 and The New York City Ballet Workout. That training planted the seed for my own path.

Not long after, I launched Disco Barre™ in East London - a hybrid concept blending barre with the spirit of club culture, grounded in deep musicality and dance. At the time, almost nobody knew what barre was. I built a loyal following and press coverage without any social media or PR, just raw word-of-mouth and the uniqueness of the practice.

Lotte Berk, As It Was Intended

Eight years ago, I trained under Esther Fairfax, Lotte Berk’s daughter, who passed on the original method in its most potent, provocative form. This technique isn’t watered down. It’s fierce, fun, feminine, and functional — designed to unlock core power, pelvic awareness, erotic embodiment and resilience rooted within.

It’s nothing like the watered-down versions of barre you’ll often find now. This method has teeth. It’s biomechanically brilliant and realigns your inner rhythms.

Disco Barre™ - A Different Beat

While I teach the Lotte Berk Method in its original form, Disco Barre™ is my own evolving concept inspired by my lifelong obsession with music, club culture, and deep embodiment. I’ve refined and restructured it over time, incorporating even tougher strength work and more cardio, as well as the healing modalities, somatic awareness and techniques I’ve studied through my own journey as a seer and seeker.

It’s the class for people who love movement but don’t necessarily vibe with gym culture. It’s intense, musical, transcendent and inclusive. And the playlists BANG!

Barre Is My Forever

I get bored easily, but I’ve never once tired of this. From day one, I knew I’d found my thing. I never had imposter syndrome with barre - it’s lived in my body too long for that. This work is an extension of who I am.

And when I teach, I’m not performing. I’m just being. Barre isn’t a job. It’s the joy of getting paid to be my whole self - music-obsessed, energetically tuned in and constantly curious.

If you’ve only experienced the commercialised versions of barre, I invite you to explore its roots with The Barre Lineage. If you’re curious about the way music and movement can shift your frequency, come to Disco Barre™. And if you’re a teacher who moves differently and feels deeply, you can now train in both.

Let’s bring realness back to the barre.