Pilates is a way of training how you move, rather than how much you can lift or how long you can go. You work through a set of controlled movements, paying attention to alignment and breath, and over time your body gets better at organising itself.
That is the short answer. Below are the questions I am asked most often, after thirty years of teaching it.
Is Pilates just stretching, or exercise?
Neither, quite. Most of what you do in a class is strength work, but it is strength built through range and control rather than load. You will finish feeling longer and steadier rather than wrung out.
Some sessions leave you noticeably tired. Some leave you feeling like you have barely done anything, and then you notice three days later that your back has stopped complaining.
What is the difference between Pilates and yoga?
They overlap and they are not the same. Yoga holds positions and has a contemplative tradition behind it. Pilates moves through positions, usually with more repetitions, and came out of rehabilitation and physical training rather than philosophy.
If you like one you will often like the other. They are not in competition.
Do I need to be fit or flexible to start?
No. That is what the classes are for.
There is no wrong way to move, and it does not have to look pretty. If you can get to the floor and back up, or if you cannot and we work on a chair instead, there is a version of this for you.
What happens in a class?
You will be asked to notice where you are before you start — how you are standing, how you are breathing. Then a sequence of movements, with cues about where to feel it and where not to.
I teach to the people in front of me rather than to a routine, so if something is not working for your body on the day, we change it rather than push through it.
Mat or equipment — what is the Reformer?
Mat work uses your own body weight, sometimes with small props: a ball, a band, a roller.
The Reformer is a sliding carriage on springs. The springs can make a movement easier or harder, and they give feedback that a mat cannot. Neither is more advanced than the other — they teach different things.
Can Pilates help with back pain?
Many people come to Pilates because their back has started complaining, and many of them find that learning to move differently helps.
That is education and movement, though, not treatment. If you are in pain, see your GP or physiotherapist first, and tell your teacher what they said.
Who was Joseph Pilates?
A German-born physical trainer who developed the method in the first half of the twentieth century, refined it while interned in Britain during the First World War, and brought it to New York in the 1920s, where it was taken up first by dancers.
He called it Contrology. The name Pilates came later, from the people who carried on his work.
How often should I do it?
Once a week will teach you the work. Twice a week is where most people notice their body changing.
What matters more than frequency is what happens between classes — whether any of it comes with you into how you sit, stand and carry things.
This page is general information about Pilates, not medical advice. If you have pain, an injury or a health condition, speak to your GP or physiotherapist before starting.
Where to start
I teach online and on the Mornington Peninsula — private sessions, small classes, and ninety-minute workshops on one part of the body at a time.