What is Open Studio?

With the onset of the pandemic came a wave of change in the fitness industry.  People were starting to look at their health patterns and many were either beginning to add exercise, purchasing in-home equipment and/or searching out online options or small specialty studios.  Acknowledging this shift, many in the Pilates industry also responded by embracing the way Joseph Pilates taught his Method in the 1900’s. 

~~~~~~~Teach your clients to be autonomous in their practice! ~~~~~~~

Joseph Pilates thought of himself as a teacher, not an instructor.  He felt everyone could benefit from Pilates and created a system to foster that practice.  For Joe, Contrology (what Pilates was originally called) was a skill-set and he expected his students to practice 3x per week.  However, this didn’t have to be done in the studio nor in hour long increments.  He expected you to learn his mat system.  If you wanted a piece of apparatus, well he invented the Wunda Chair (because he was located in NY and not many people had space for a reformer or Cadillac).  The additional apparatus was created to assist different body types/needs to help master movement within his Method.

Joseph Pilates has always been thought to be ahead of his time.  Now look at 2022 when COVID-19 along with other viruses still exist and the medical community continues to encourage individuals to make health a priority, very similar to the flu pandemic of 1918.

So to begin, we need to approach Pilates as a skill-set, like Joe once did.  By learning this skill-set, you can practice elements of it, or the full order at home, while driving, shopping, playing tennis, golfing, gardening, you name it.  The applications are endless.  To simplify things, think of Pilates like playing the piano.  You shouldn’t have to be with your teacher in order for you to play – you just need a piano and your music.  But someone – your teacher (unless you are extremely gifted) taught you how to play and helped you become the expert pianist that you are today.  He/she is no longer telling you where to place your fingers or helping you read the music.  That teacher is now in the stands applauding as you perform on stage.  

This approach may not appeal to everyone.  But it is how we want Perfect Form Pilates to influence the community so that years from now, when the studio is closed, our students/clients are still practicing.

“Pilates is designed to give you suppleness, natural grace, and skill that will be unmistakably reflected in the way you walk, in the way you play, and in the way you work.” ~ Joseph Pilates.