Private Sessions with Be Beautiful Pilates

When someone mentions Pilates, you may picture a room of lean, fit bodies on Reformer machines doing all sorts of complicated movements.  It can be a bit intimidating to those who don’t spend every day devoted to fitness or are beginners who want to avoid injuries.

A few years ago, I was feeling clumsy and out of shape from sitting at a desk all day.  My chiropractor recommended that I look into Pilates classes to help strengthen my core and improve posture. While doing some online research, I found 5 star reviews about Be Beautiful Pilates, run by Flavia Bruni.  In addition to the glowing reviews, her lessons had had been named “Best Pilates for Women” by New York Magazine and she happened to be up the block from my office in SoHo.  

I soon met with Flavia, a native of Italy, and immediately took to her warm, nurturing, and down to earth personality. As a professional dancer, she is very concerned with body awareness and the prevention of injuries.  Flavia assessed where I was in my fitness and slowly introduced different exercises.  In our weekly one-on-one sessions, we discovered that using the reformer aggravated my lower back so she instead taught me movements on the mat. 

Flavia Bruni

As I got more comfortable with the exercises, the Reformer was incorporated a bit more.  Yet, most of my session is done on the mat using therabands, balls of all sizes and the Pilates springboard on the wall for arm and leg strengthening.  

An hour with Flavia feels more like a great physical therapy session than an exercise class.  Working with her enables me to do movements that loosen up my body from sitting at a desk.  Her lessons are not only designed to make you feel better and stronger in the present, but also to keep the body moving in a  healthy way as it ages.

Flavia introduces more complex exercises when she thinks I am ready for them and offers encouragement to try them.  If anything causes pain or feels wrong, she will never insist that you need to complete the exercise.  She is also continuously learning about different exercise techniques to help her clients.  She incorporates movements from Feldenkrais, dance, yoga and other modalities that complement the Pilates exercises.   

Although private sessions are more expensive, if you have injuries, are out of shape, or just want some personalized time with a trainer who will design an exercise program just for you, don’t hesitate to contact Flavia. If you mention this blog post, you will get 10% off your first lesson.  You won’t regret it!  

Andrea Goldstein is a digital marketing
professional with a passion for pop culture.
@nydigitalmarket on Twitter