RIBBON CUTTING WITH MAYOR KRISEMAN & CHAMBER PRESIDENT SET FOR MAY 20
PUBLIC INVITED TO FREE PILATES DAY: MAY 22nd FROM 10 AM TO 2 PM
St. Petersburg, FL – (May 12, 2021) – The public is invited to celebrate the launch of The Pilates School, and the reveal of a new James Hartzell mural honoring Joseph Pilates. The Pilates School is located at 2907 4th Street North in downtown St. Petersburg. St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman and St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce CEO and President Chris Steinocher are the guests of honor for the ribbon cutting and champagne toast set for Thursday, May 20th from 4:00 to 6:00 pm. Entrance and parking in rear.
Saturday, May 22nd will be the studio’s Free Pilates Day from 10 am to 2 pm. The public is invited to sign up for a free, 30-minute solo Pilates lesson. Beginners are encouraged to attend. Sign-up is online; limited slots available, a max of four students per time slot and guests must wear masks inside the studio.
Information about St. Pete’s newest fitness center is available at www.thepilatesschool.com or by calling 727-329-6930. The studio hours will be seven days a week, from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm. All lessons are offered by appointment only. Group classes, limited to four people, begin June 1st.
Studio owner Lyn Wilkinson describes Pilates as full-body conditioning with every lesson. “Joe Pilates believed his work was the ‘antidote to modern life,’ and he wrote that in 1945. We teach the whole Pilates/Contrology Method, using all the equipment and the order that grows with the student,” says Wilkinson. “As you get stronger, we add to your challenges; not with more resistance or reps, but by adding exercises to the order. It is our mission to help you consistently progress in strength, flexibility, and knowledge of Joe’s Pilates’ amazing method,” she adds.
The Pilates School currently has four experienced instructors with a combined total of 25,000 hours of teaching experience between them. “We are all comprehensively certified (and vaccinated). We have all of Joe’s tools and we love to use them,” says Wilkinson.
Group classes are offered to make Pilates accessible to more students. At The Pilates School, that means four students learn in their own personal Pilates Pod, 12 feet from their neighbor. This small class allows for personal attention, while still providing progress and flow for all students. Classes are balanced by ability and require a monthly and same-class time commitment. Drop-in classes are not offered in-studio; a free, virtual mat drop-in class is offered three days a week.
OWNER LYN WILKINSON
Originally from New Jersey, Lyn has lived in St. Pete for two and a half years and moved here Massachusetts. “I worked in the corporate world and then spent 20 years owning a remodeling company before finding my passion with Pilates. It has changed my life.” She confesses Oprah’s Pilates body on an O magazine cover motivated her to take her first lesson in 2004. One year, and 650 training hours later, Lyn was comprehensively certified.
She opened her first Pilates studio on Cape Cod in Harwich Center, Massachusetts in 2009 but always wanted to live in St. Petersburg. How will her studio be different? “We teach Classical Pilates/Contrology using equipment and techniques designed by Joe Pilates. We are currently the only studio that offers the Guillotine apparatus and regularly teach the often overlooked smaller apparatus and regularly teach the often overlooked smaller apparatus, such as the Breath-a-cizer and Hand Tensomter. the multiple pieces of equipment required in studying the art of Pilates.
“Each student moves uniquely and represents an opportunity for me to watch and learn as both student and teacher. I often research their concerns or challenges and am blessed with a deep and caring Pilates teacher community, eager to share their experiences. I am committed to further education, continue my own lessons and I am grateful that the human body can improve at any age.”