What to expect in your first private Pilates session

What Actually Happens in Your First Private Pilates Session

If you’ve never had a private Pilates session before, you might not know what to expect. Group classes, whether at a gym or a studio, give you a general sense of the exercises. But a private session is a genuinely different experience, and it’s worth knowing what you’re walking into.

Here’s what a first session with me actually looks like.

Before we begin I’ll have asked you to complete a short intake form. This covers your health history, any injuries or conditions, your movement background, and what you’re hoping to get out of our work together. I read the form carefully before you arrive because it shapes everything about how I approach your first session. I want to already understand your situation before you walk through the door.

The session begins with a short conversation, not an interrogation, just a check-in. How are you feeling today? Any recent changes? Anything that felt relevant that you didn’t quite capture in the form? This takes maybe five minutes, and it matters. The body on a Wednesday morning is different to the body on a Friday afternoon, and I want to know which version I’m working with today.

Then we move. In a first session I’m observing as much as I’m instructing. How do you breathe? Where does your body naturally hold tension? What’s your relationship with your alignment? Are you aware of it or largely unconscious of it? What movements feel easy and which create hesitation or discomfort? This information is gold for building a programme that’s actually useful for you.

The exercises in a first session are typically foundational, not easy, but fundamental. The exercises typically focus on breathing mechanics, pelvic stability, spinal articulation, and hip and shoulder awareness. These aren’t boring; they’re genuinely revealing, and for most people they expose things about their movement patterns that they’ve never been aware of before.

By the end of the session I’ll have the beginning of a picture of what your body needs. I’ll share my observations with you, explain what I’m seeing, and outline how I’m thinking about your programme going forward.

You’ll leave the first session with more body awareness than you arrived with. That’s always the goal.

One thing I want to say to anyone who feels hesitant about starting: there is no fitness level required to begin Pilates with me. I work with women who haven’t exercised in years. Women who are recovering from birth. Women whose bodies are changing in ways they don’t fully understand yet. The only requirement is that you show up honestly and tell me what’s actually going on for you. Everything else I can work with.

Private Pilates sessions are available in Broadford and its surrounds. To get started, please complete the intake form on the Contact page.