Pilates Progress: Power of Personal Responsibility
At SOMA Movement Studio, we offer both private and group Pilates sessions because each plays a powerful role in your movement journey. No matter which setting you choose, one essential ingredient determines your long-term success: personal responsibility.
Pilates was never meant to be something you just do—it's something you learn, embody, and refine. Joseph Pilates called his method Contrology and described it as a practice that transforms the body, mind, and spirit. That kind of transformation doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when you show up not just with your body, but with your full attention.
Group Classes: Train with the Collective, Think for Yourself
Group sessions offer structure, rhythm, and shared energy. You get to move alongside others, feel inspired, and access the full Pilates method at an affordable price point. In a well-run class, you’ll receive targeted cues, intelligent sequencing, and consistent feedback, especially with only six people per class like we have at SOMA.
Group settings also require an active mind. When the instructor offers a cue—"lift from your center," "anchor your sacrum," or "lengthen through the crown"—you have to tune in, try it, and track what happens. If something doesn’t make sense, it’s your job to ask questions or request clarification. Otherwise, it’s easy to float through class without truly progressing.
Group classes are ideal for those who are engaged learners. You may not get individualized corrections every moment, but if you pay attention and apply what you hear, you'll build strong self-awareness and develop the independence that Joseph Pilates believed was the ultimate goal.
Private Sessions: Tailored Teaching, Deeper Dialogue
Private Pilates sessions provide focused, one-on-one attention. Your instructor customizes the workout to your needs, addresses imbalances in real time, and helps you refine mechanics that might get missed in a group setting. It’s an incredibly efficient way to learn and unlearn movement habits.
But here's the truth: even in a private session, you have to show up ready to engage. Progress doesn’t happen just because someone explains something to you—it happens when you absorb the teaching, try it, reflect on it, and integrate it into your next session. Passive learning won’t get you far, even in the best one-on-one environment.
Private sessions give you the advantage of personalized education, but the responsibility to retain and apply that knowledge still belongs to you.
From Doing to Transforming
Pilates is not about “doing exercises.” It’s about building a movement practice that transforms the way you inhabit your body. Whether you’re in a group or private session, the method asks you to listen, experiment, and commit to refining your own awareness. That’s how your spine changes. That’s how your posture shifts. That’s how your nervous system rewires for better movement, better breath, and more clarity.
In Return to Life Through Contrology, Joseph Pilates described his method as a path to "complete coordination of body, mind, and spirit." That doesn’t happen by being told what to do. It happens by stepping into your own learning process, one session at a time.
Group classes are powerful. Private sessions are invaluable. But neither will transform you unless you take ownership of your experience. Ask questions. Stay curious. Apply what you learn. And remember: the greatest teacher is the one you become to yourself.