October 2018

The Flex Pilates studio wasn’t difficult to find in downtown Chicago. Located in the River North neighbourhood it offers great views of the Chitown. The space is well lit with natural light and since I went on a sunny Sunday morning, the room was welcoming. Flex has roughly ten reformers available for the group classes they offer. They also have a nice shop in the front of the studio.

I had been following Seesophieshape for about a year and a half. We shared a love/hate relationship with the teaser. Since I was planning a weekend visit to a friend’s house, I thought it was a perfect opportunity to meet her in real life. I was nervous going into this group class because I didn’t know what to expect. I also wasn’t sure I’d be able to keep up.

As the class began, it started with a gentle warmup using the magic circle. Then we moved to straps. It flowed very well and was set to a nice playlist that Sophie created. This class was crazy good and hard at the same time, really challenging the participants. As I worked through the planks and lunges, Sophie’s energy and encouragement was difficult to ignore.

One on one conversation

After class she was kind enough to talk with me about her pilates journey. We all have one and it’s very cool to hear how we got to where we are, and none of us know where we may end up. We discussed Momentum Fest, work/life balance, strengths and weaknesses. She is an inspiring mover and I wanted to let her know that I enjoy her Instagram posts and many of them I have saved to try. She has a good flow in her practice so I highly recommend following her on IG.