The Price of Pilates

I was recently reading through a thread on a local Facebook forum where someone was asking where to find a Pilates class in our city. One comment suggested that a $25 class was an "outrageous" price. As a 22-year teacher of Pilates, this kind of hit me in the gut.

A highly-trained Pilates teacher is worth that and more. I'm talking about teachers who spend thousands of dollars and hours to learn as much as they can to teach safely and effectively so that our students can live their best, healthiest lives. Not all places that offer Pilates classes have those teachers. Not all places that offer Pilates classes care about the quality of instruction. And honestly, not every person looking for a Pilates class cares about quality, either. But some do. A lot do.

Maybe there are assumptions that Pilates teachers teach as a hobby. That is the case for many. But there are a lot of us who do this as our career; our bread and butter. As much as we would love to give what we do away for free or cheap, we can't. We have bills, too. We also have limitations on how many hours we can teach. Most of us agree that 20-25/hours per week is full-time work. Teaching Pilates is physically and mentally taxing, and we need time to care for our own bodies in order to be focused and attentive and offer the best. And we really want to offer you the best. Because Pilates, when done consistently and effectively, is magical. It's life-changing. It's transformative. It really is like no other and is worth every penny with the right teacher.

A $25 class is actually a bargain. I paid $25 for a mat class in the 90's. You read that right. Everything costs more now than it did three decades ago. I understand that money is tight for most us, and we all make our purchase choices based on budget and values. I made the choice 20+ years ago to spend more on quality Pilates and it was worth it (still is). Though I love a good bargain on a purse or sandwich bags, etc., I don't seek out the cheapest when it comes to my spine.

Not all Pilates classes are the same. And good Pilates is worth it. The proof is in how I took that punch to my gut. I have an amazingly strong core. ;-)

Me now, with a stronger back in my 50's than in my 20's, thanks to Pilates