Pilates Thoughtful Tuesday: Has the Method Lost Its Way?

When your “creative” Pilates class turns into an escape room challenge on the reformer.

This past weekend, as I scrolled through social media, I was struck by the sheer volume of “inventions” I saw on the reformer. Ropes crisscrossing in every direction, yoga blocks stacked precariously, mini balls wedged into spaces they were never designed for, all forming part of elaborate new ways of “working” on the equipment.

The creativity is undeniable. I have always believed there is room for play and exploration. Coming from a dance background, I understand the joy of choreography and invention. But as I watched clip after clip, one question kept coming back to me. What does this have to do with Pilates?

At its core, Pilates is a method. It is a system. A carefully considered progression of movements that build strength, control, alignment, and breath awareness. Joseph Pilates did not design the reformer to be a playground for circus acts or for random fitness experiments. It was and is a piece of apparatus created to support and challenge the body through specific intelligent movement patterns.

The worrying trend I see now is that many of these “creative” uses of the reformer seem to bypass learning the actual method altogether. People are buying reformers, often very expensive ones, then doing short workshops, sometimes only a few hours, and calling themselves trained. I have even seen footage of students on day three of a course attempting advanced standing work on the reformer, wobbling dangerously because they have not yet built the movement sense or foundation to handle such complexity.

This is not creativity. It is skipping steps.

True creativity in Pilates comes after you have mastered the method, when you understand the principles so deeply that you can layer new ideas onto a solid base without losing the essence of what Pilates is. Without this grounding, what is left is just a collection of random exercises on a piece of equipment, and the integrity of the work begins to erode.

Have we lost the movement altogether? Has the Pilates method been reduced to an aesthetic for social media where the goal is more about likes than learning?

I am not against evolution. The method has always evolved and Joseph himself evolved his work. But there is a difference between evolution and abandonment.

As teachers, we have a responsibility to bring people back to the method. To remind them why it works. To teach the actual exercises with clarity and purpose. Only then can the method thrive. Otherwise, we risk losing what makes Pilates Pilates and that would be a loss for every body.