The Support of the Pilates Community

I’m part of several Pilates communities, some of which overlap, and I love them all. I have found community with my clients, in my business coaching group, and even in international forums and groups. Recently, I gathered in person with the Pilates Teachers Collective here in Vancouver at The Pilates Collective. My friend started holding the events early this summer and plans to keep them going. We meet to talk about a topic or theme in Pilates, and how we may approach things differently. 

At the last Collective gathering, I got to chat with two women who got me thinking about how the Pilates community offers support and can be a safe, familiar place when other things aren’t feeling that way. 

Refuge From the Unknown

One of the women was a Pilates teacher who came to Canada to escape the war happening in Ukraine. I first saw her on social media in March, when she posted an emotional and impactful photo of herself on day one of March Matness. She was doing the hundred in a shelter or basement where she and other women were trying to stay safe from the bombing above. 

I was so excited to find out that she was able to come to Canada and get a job teaching Pilates right away. Speaking with her in person, however, I learned that she had left her husband, mother, and friends behind. A friend of hers lost their child in a missile strike. And she doesn’t know what is next for her; will her family come here? Will she go back to Ukraine eventually? She’s experienced trauma that I can’t understand, and she struggles to sleep at night. 

I learned a lot from her in the few hours that we explored FUN in Pilates and at dinner after. She said that she tries to be mindful that she’s experienced trauma, but so have many others in one way or another. She’s being careful to limit how much she works because she’s mentally exhausted and needs to take care of herself. 

As a Pilates instructor, I’ve had many clients open up to me. I have seen people that are restricted in their movement or are feeling pain due to a trauma they’ve experienced. Some movements can also cause a client to break down because they may feel a freedom that they haven’t felt in years. It’s not my job to be a counsellor and I don’t take that role on, but it is an amazing thing to see Pilates become a safe place for those on a healing journey. 

My new Pilates friend said that her recent past has made her so much more grateful for life, health, good movement, and community – and Pilates is one of them. 

A Familiar Place to Land

During the event, I also got to meet an online Pilates friend in person. She was visiting from Edinburgh, Scotland, and asked me where to do Pilates while visiting. I invited her to The Collective, and she came! For some, joining a group event in a strange city with people you don’t know could be intimidating. Yet when you enter a Pilates studio almost anywhere in the world, it will feel familiar. 

It’s kind of funny, because when you enter a Pilates studio for the first time it can feel like a very weird space. The apparatus is foreign and looks somewhat Medieval! As the group got to discussing the topic of FUN and the exercises that we find fun (or not), we could all communicate and connect. This was the common ground we all had, no matter where we came from. 

I love these community gatherings and continue to want to share similar experiences with you. It could be at a retreat, an in-studio class, in the online community in Sweat with Melissa, or a challenge or program

 Gathering for good movement and healthy fun is what I love to do, and I hope you do too.