Pilates classes in Kathmandu
Core, control and precise movement.
Pilates is a method of controlled, precise exercises built around your center: belly, back, hips and breath. Most classes happen on a mat, sometimes with small props like balls, rings or bands. It was developed by Joseph Pilates, a German-born trainer, in the early 20th century.
No classes scheduled in the next two weeks.
What Pilates does for you
You move slowly and with intent, so you feel exactly which muscles are working, often ones you did not know you had. Many people notice they stand a little taller and feel steadier through the middle after a few weeks. The breath is cued with each movement, which keeps your attention on the mat. It is hard in a quiet, shaking way rather than a sweaty, jumping one.
It suits you if
- you want to feel stronger through your middle
- you sit at a desk all day
- you like detail and precise cues
- you prefer low-impact strength to jumping around
- you run, dance or climb and want more control
Read the full guide to PilatesWhat a class is like, your first time, history and the words you will hear
What a class is like
A mat class usually runs 45 to 60 minutes. You spend most of it lying on your back, side or front, working through short sets of controlled movements with names like the Hundred, the Roll Up and the Swan. The facilitator cues breath, alignment and small adjustments constantly and asks you to keep your center engaged throughout. Props like a small ball, a Pilates ring or a resistance band add challenge. Music is optional, you sweat a little, and your abs will mention it the next day.
Your first time
- Wear close-fitting clothes so the facilitator can see your alignment; grip socks help on slippery floors.
- Arrive five to ten minutes early and mention any injuries.
- Go slower than you think: small, controlled movements count for more than big ones.
- Bring water, and check whether mats are provided.
Good to know
- If you are pregnant, recently postnatal, or managing a back, neck or pelvic floor issue, check with a doctor, midwife or physiotherapist first and tell the facilitator before class.
- Classical Pilates follows a set order of exercises while contemporary classes mix things up; both come with their own vocabulary, which takes a few classes to pick up.
Where it comes from
Joseph Hubertus Pilates was born in 1883 in Mönchengladbach. A sickly child, he threw himself into gymnastics, bodybuilding, boxing and jiu-jitsu, and by 1912 he was living in England as a boxer, circus performer and self-defense trainer.
When World War I began he was interned as a German national, first at Lancaster Castle and then at the Knockaloe camp on the Isle of Man, where he spent about three and a half years. He later said he developed his method there, drilling fellow internees through floor exercises. After the war he worked in Germany, including in Hamburg, and in the mid-1920s he emigrated to New York, meeting Clara Zeuner on the voyage; she became his wife and partner in the work.
Their Manhattan studio drew dancers and choreographers such as George Balanchine and Martha Graham. Pilates called his method Contrology and set out the mat sequence in Return to Life Through Contrology (1945). He died in 1967. His students, among them Romana Kryzanowska, Kathy Grant, Ron Fletcher and Eve Gentry, carried the method on and shaped both classical and contemporary schools.
Pilates spread widely from the 1990s, and a 2000 United States court ruling that the name was a generic term let anyone teach under it. In Berlin the method has, in a sense, come home: mat classes sit on the schedules of most yoga studios and many gyms, and dedicated Pilates studios, classical and contemporary, are spread across the city.
Words you will hear
- Powerhouse
- Joseph Pilates' word for your center: belly, lower back, hips and buttocks working together.
- Neutral spine
- Keeping the natural curves of your spine, neither flattened nor arched.
- Imprint
- Gently drawing your lower back toward the mat to stabilize your pelvis.
- The Hundred
- A pumping arm and breathing exercise on your back, usually the first in a classical mat sequence.
- Contrology
- Joseph Pilates' own name for his method.