\n Last month, EYRA Pilates opened its third site at the Leisure Exchange, adding to existing studios in Wakefield and Shipley.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Bradford venue serves as the company’s headquarters and features two reformer studios alongside heated mat classes.\n<\/p>\n
\n Emma Hyndman, one of the founders of EYRA Pilates, said the response from women across the district had exceeded expectations.\n<\/p>\n
\n “We have experienced such a demand from the ladies of Bradford,” she said.\n<\/p>\n
\n “When we opened, we actually had a huge presale and the ladies made the most of it, so we’ve had a lot of ladies come through the doors, which has been really good.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Reformer machines inside the EYRA Pilates studio at the Leisure Exchange in Bradford. (Image: T&A)\n<\/p>\n
Building a community for women<\/p>\n
\n Rather than simply offering exercise classes, EYRA Pilates says it wants to create a welcoming community where women can build friendships and support networks.\n<\/p>\n
\n Ms Hyndman said the Bradford site had been designed to encourage people to spend time together before and after sessions, with social events already being planned.\n<\/p>\n
\n She said: “We really want to create a community for women where they can come in, get to know each other and build friendships,”\n<\/p>\n
\n Ms Hyndman said: “Our goal is to have ladies come in, stop and chat after class, sit down together and then continue those friendships outside these doors as well.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Visitors at the reception area of EYRA Pilates’ Bradford headquarters. (Image: T&A)\n<\/p>\n
From professional dance to Pilates<\/p>\n
\n Ms Hyndman’s journey into Pilates began during her training as a professional ballet and contemporary dancer.\n<\/p>\n
\n “The fundamentals of Pilates come from ballet, so it’s always been a huge part of my movement,” she said.\n<\/p>\n
\n After moving into the wider fitness industry, she returned to Pilates around two years ago before qualifying as an instructor.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Teaching is part of my DNA,” she said.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I’ve been coaching and teaching people for around 20 years and I enjoy helping people understand how their bodies move.”\n<\/p>\n
\n A motivational sign inside EYRA Pilates’ Bradford headquarters. (Image: T&A)\n<\/p>\n
\n The EYRA Pilates branding displayed inside the company’s Bradford headquarters. (Image: T&A)\n<\/p>\n
Why Pilates continues to grow<\/p>\n
\n Ms Hyndman believes Pilates has become increasingly popular because it offers a different approach to exercise from traditional gym workouts.\n<\/p>\n
\n “It’s really easy for women to think they have to lift heavy weights all the time,” she said.\n<\/p>\n
\n Ms Hyndman added: “We can strengthen, stretch and stabilise the body in different ways.\n<\/p>\n
\n “We need that core control because all the fundamentals of Pilates support us now and in the future.”\n<\/p>\n
\n She said the connection between physical movement and mental wellbeing is one of the reasons so many women continue to embrace Pilates.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I think ladies come in and feel connected with their body,” she said.\n<\/p>\n
\n “”Body and mind are connected. They come in and feel like, ‘I can do this’.\n<\/p>\n
\n “It’s challenging but it’s achievable, and it teaches people how their bodies should be moving.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last month, EYRA Pilates opened its third site at the Leisure Exchange, adding to existing studios in Wakefield…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":823992,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[337,97],"class_list":["post-823991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-fitness","tag-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=823991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/823992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=823991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=823991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=823991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}