Are you new to Pilates?


In the midst of all the holiday hubbub, it’s time to start thinking about January 2022!   

We have a brand new semi-private group (in-studio) exclusively for beginners that starts on January 6. (4 people maximum) We know that these spots will fill up fast especially with the discount below! If you’re new to Rivercity Pilates, you’ll love the individualized attention that you get in a semi-private group class!

In our world, people always come first. Our mission as a business is to help people live their best life by using movement as a health tool. I created this business as a way to help others realize that no matter what your previous experience with fitness or exercise is, you can learn to take care of your body better using movement and you can enjoy the process along the way!

If you are brand new to Pilates you’ll love Rachel’s Thursday 4:30 pm Beginner’s group.  These sessions will be geared to those who are brand new to Pilates and will include utilizing the various pieces of Pilates equipment to help you get a great workout that is safe, effective and tailored to just what your body needs!

This 4 week Beginner session starts January 6th and runs through January 27th.


Save $20 on this 4 week session by purchasing now and reserving your spot!

Discounted price is only available this week or until the session fills (whichever comes first!)

What does movement do for you?

I’m guessing if you are reading this blog you are interested in growth.  You probably are part of our community because like me you enjoy learning and you enjoy the process of empowering yourself through knowledge and understanding. 

You enjoy learning techniques that help you feel better in your body and in your life. Have you ever specifically thought about your growth in your life when it comes to exercise and movement?

Growth when it comes to how you use movement in your life can come in a lot of different ways but here’s just a short list of ways I’ve seen growth in my own life and in the lives of so many of our community:

  • Just plain moving more daily,   This includes more steps, more stretches, more movement breaks throughout your day.
  • Exercise has become a habit that you don’t even question in your life, not a fad that you start and stop.
  • Exercise is not punishment or something you do because you feel like you ate too much of something or that you ate the wrong thing
  • Being mindful of your alignment and posture in your daily life
  • Increased mobility (things like tying your shoes and reaching for things on a high shelf are easier!)
  • Increased strength
  • Knowing how to use movement and even self massage techniques to help your body feel better when you have achiness or tightness
  • You actually miss your “exercise time” if you don’t do it

Challenge for you!

When you are done, look at the list and celebrate how far you’ve come!

Need help? One of our students shared her list!

One of my favorite things…

I wish a had a dollar for every time a client says to me…”you know you were in my head the other day ago!”

I love hearing stories from clients about how they were going about their life and suddenly they heard my words in their head encouraging them to do things like pay attention to their foot and leg alignment, notice their posture or even just to move more throughout their day!

I think I love it because when I hear them say things like that I know that not only am I helping these clients stay motivated to move their bodies regularly so they feel better, I’m also teaching them how to navigate life in a different way, in a way that helps them feel empowered about their health and inspired to continuing working on it, even if I’m not around.

I also love it because I know that most of us have way too many negative, non encouraging thoughts run through our mind on a regular basis and I do believe that adding people into your life who encourage you, who inspire you to be a better person and who really believe in you can be life changing.

Empower your body ~ Inspire your life

This is our studio mission and something that all of our instructors focus on.  At Rivercity Pilates we take time to get to know you, to learn your goals, and to tailor each of our semi private or private sessions to help you reach those goals!    I remember a client telling me that she didn’t like the “big box gym” down the road, because although the memberships were less expensive, she never knew if she was doing things right, or what she needed to do to help her reach her goals!   

If you are needing someone to help you set and reach movement goals, then you really should get to know Rachel and Shannon a little better and snag one of their open session spots.  

Our teachers are highly educated in teaching movement, but in my opinion that is not their biggest gift.  

Beyond being able to teach movement these women are the kindest, most encouraging people I know!   

If you’re thinking about starting a movement program, fill out this form, and let’s chat!

Inspirations of the Month: Sidney & Larry

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Sidney and Larry are activer agers who love Pilates!

From Sidney: My husband and I are active retired people who prefer outdoor activities like hiking, biking and golf. With gentle suggestions from the massage therapist at River City Pilates and enthusiastic encouragement from my younger sister, about 2 years ago we decided to try Pilates to help improve our overall fitness, reduce aching muscles and joints and for me primarily to improve my strength.

Although it is cliche, for me Pilates is a journey and not a destination.

I truly relish the notion that in Pilates there is no finish line, no required levels of testing for particular achievements or accomplishments, no trophy for Best in Show. Both the group and semi private sessions my husband and I have done together at RCP emphasize working at my own level. And I get to decide what that level is! I especially enjoy trying a particular movement taught in a very specific way.

Being able to do a movement I couldn’t fully do the week before is exciting and it gives me a true feeling of accomplishment. Instructors also provide a variety of teaching techniques for people whose optimal learning style may be visual, or auditory or even tactile often using metaphors and their own personal examples. The movement methods taught have allowed me to be more flexible and certainly stronger which is very satisfying. The outcome of this is reduced inflammation and less soreness.

I like to think my golf game has improved driving the ball further and straighter without pain or stiffness in my back afterwards, I like to think I am taller when I leave class than when I arrived and I am always looking forward to the next class because my body has so many parts I continue to focus on and improve and again, it’s all at my own level. My Pilates journey is intriguing, satisfying and has taught my body to move in helpful ways I never thought possible.

Now, some thoughts from my husband.

From Larry: I have participated in competitive sports all my life. In my younger years I would workout because I had to. Now I work out because I want to.

Initially in Pilates classes, I was surprised at my lack of balance and core strength. My awareness was brought to light by the gradual progression of Pilates routines. During semi private sessions I find that Pilates gives me a complete and challenging workout that is refreshing at the end of each class.

The instructors vary the routines and equipment to make each session unique and motivating. Also the instructors attention to the details of proper form and technique is what sets them apart. I enjoy all of the equipment pieces we use and the variety keeps the workout challenging and definitely keeps my interest and focus. However, I must say, the Oov rates pretty high on my “brutal meter!”

I appreciate that I have improved my range of motion in both shoulders and overall improved my strength and balance. I look forward to continued involvement in Pilates at River City Pilates.

Does your back pain keep you from exercising?

I recently surveyed a group of people I was going to be speaking with to get a feel for where they were at in their life with movement and exercise.  One of the questions I asked is: What are your biggest obstacles when it comes to exercise?

The 3 most common answers I got were: age, time, and different physical problems going on in the body.  Maybe you’ve had these obstacles in your life? (most of us have..). Want to know the secret in overcoming these obstacles and still staying healthy with exercise and movement?  It might be simpler than you think….simply change how you think about your obstacle!!

  1.  Age.   Are you feeling your age lately?  Maybe the things that at one time were easy and you didn’t even have to think about now seem like extra effort.  The fact is we are all aging!  Instead of noticing those aging changes and immediately using them as an excuse not to exercise, why not use them as motivation?  Take the time to invest in finding a movement or fitness program that you enjoy so that you can can feel your best as you age!!  One of my favorite sayings is ,”Move it or lose it!”.  By continuing to move your body in safe ways you can gain strength and mobility and actually slow down the feeling of an aging body! 
  2. Time.  It’s easy to say you are too busy to exercise, but the reality of it is we are all busy and most of us could make time if we wanted to  and if we made an effort and planned ahead.  Maybe your schedule doesn’t work for you to do a full hour of exercise at a time.  What about breaking your exercise up into smaller ten minute chunks throughout your day or getting up a little earlier in the morning to sneak in a mini workout?  There are lots of ways to add movement into your life, but you may need to look outside the box to find something that works for you! 
  3. Physical problems.  Low back pain, knee pain, shoulder injury, hip replacement, foot pain….many people immediately decide that they can’t exercise until their body is pain free with no issues.  Unfortunately not moving is rarely the path that gets our body to a place of feeling better.  The most successful people learn to adapt their movement and exercise time to whatever is going on in their body.  Movement and exercises can be used to keep the rest of the body healthy and can even help balance the body to reduce pain and facilitate healing depending on what’s going on.  If you are not comfortable adapting exercises in your body it is definitely worth checking in with an exercise professional to guide you or help set up a program for you.  You might just be surprised at all the things you can still do and how much better you’ll feel in your body if you keep moving! 

Ready to add some more movement and exercise time into you life but not sure where to start? Talking to an exercise professional is a great way to get some new ideas on what might work best for your body and your life! Schedule a complimentary session to learn more about exercise options at Rivercity Pilates and let us help you explore how you can add more movement time into your life!!  

Finally.. a piece of fitness equipment you will actually use!!

Do you have a treadmill that just sits and collects dust or maybe functions as a clothes hanger? We’ve all bought some home fitness equipment thinking we would use it only have it sit collecting dust.  My favorite home fitness equipment are things that are inexpensive, don’t take up a lot of room and can easily be used in lots of different ways!  

One of my absolute favorite pieces of at home fitness equipment was created by Pilates creator Joseph Pilates.  This inexpensive prop can usually be purchased for $20-$40 and can easily be used to help you build and maintain strength and fine tune your Pilates practice!  It also fits nicely in your suitcase when you travel!

Here’s how it works:

  • By placing the magic circle between the palms of your hands when your arms are straight you give your upper body something to press into helping the muscles in your arms, shoulders and back activate and engage.  When you keep this engagement throughout an exercise you are strengthening all of those muscles and building endurance in them.  I’ll warn you…this seems simple but when you do it you’ll feel feel your muscles working and tiring to keep the engagement( which is never a bad thing!) In the videos below we show how to do this for a variety of Pilates exercises.  As you could imagine, the possibilities are endless of where you could add this technique into exercises you are already doing.
  • To change the “work” and strengthen some of the opposing muscles in your shoulders, arms and back simply put your hands on the inside of the circle and gently press outward, a    s if you were trying to turn your circle into an oval!) 
  • Similar to placing the circle between the palms, we can place the magic circle between the lower legs to work on engagement, strength and endurance in the muscles of the legs and hips .
  • Just like we did with the arms we can take our legs inside the circle and press gently out which will take the focus to the muscles that open our legs ( abductors)  giving you a nice balanced strengthening routine!
  • Besides enhancing your Pilates exercises the Magic Circle can also be used for a variety of general strength training exercises (We are pretty sure Suzanne Summer’s Thigh Master got it’s inspiration from the Magic Circle!) 

Want to do strengthening and toning exercises at home but don’t want to have a bunch a free weights around and fitness equipment around?  The magic circle can be used to strengthen and tone arms, shoulders, inner thighs, outer thighs with some very simple exercises.  

Check out the videos below for some ideas on how to use your Magic Circle!!