Not All Pilates Is Pilates!

With Pilates being splashed all over social media these days, we are seeing some cringe-worthy, some ridiculous and some down right dangerous things!

With there being such a vast spectrum and variety of Pilates out there, it’s easy to get confused and misinformed about what Pilates really is.

At The Pilates Tree, we teach what Joseph Pilates created to the best of our knowledge. As a 3rd generation Pilates teacher, I make it my mission to consistently seek out other teachers who have trained as closed ‘up the line’ to Joe as possible to seek out the truths within his system.

This is NOT the case for so much of the Pilates out there. A Pilates studio (in my opinion) should have ALL the equipment if possible. There is no such thing as just Mat Pilates or just Reformer Pilates. It is just Pilates. Within the system of Pilates you use the mat, the reformer, but also a whole host of other pieces of equipment. At The Pilates Tree, we have Wunda chairs, the Trapeze Tower ie. Cadillacs, Wall Units, Ladder Barrel, Arm Chairs, Spine Correctors, Mini Barrels, Ped-o-Puls, Foot Correctors, Breath-a-cizer, Toe Gizmos, Magic Circles and more! These are all pieces that Joseph Pilates invented and our versions are the Classical versions. This means that the dimensions of them are as close as we can get to what was orginally created by Joe. This is IMPORTANT! As soon as dimensions change (which is what happens…A LOT), the work changes.

Having started my Pilates career with a contemporary certification, I didn’t know any of this mattered. Heck! I didn’t even know that some of what I was teaching wasn’t even Pilates!! Thank goodness I kept practising, kept learning and kept seeking out more until most of my questions were answered.

Of course, there will always be more and we never stop learning in our studio.