I'd love to share with you how the name aniko came about and why it's so important to me. 

When I first started my Pilates teacher training I felt so out of place. I felt like I didn't have the 'Pilates body' like the other students and teacher trainers around me.

I couldn't bend or move in the same ways they could. I still remember one of the trainers putting her hands on my hips and literally forcing me into neutral pelvis. It was so painful and clearly not a position my pelvis wanted to be in. I felt like there was something wrong with me and I had to fix it. Spoiler alert - there was nothing wrong with me and I didn't have to fix anything.

All of that aside, I fell in love with the Pilates method and how great my body started to feel.

Fast forward to when I decided to start a business and began brainstorming business names. I had a sheet of paper on the dining table and over the course of about a week I kept adding ideas as they came to me. There were about 20 names but I kept coming back to the first one, aniko - a Greek word for belong.

It made me think back to how I felt when I first walked into a studio...

• the exterior windows were plastered in branding and silhouettes of body shapes that looked nothing like mine

• I didn't have the expensive activewear, matching sets and tight tank tops

• the classes seemed so fast-paced because I was still an absolute beginner

• there were 15 - 20 people in each class so you just had to kind of roll with it

• I kept hearing about how Pilates would make me toned and lean if I just practiced more

• the cueing used made me feel like I needed to shrink my body because it was taking up too much space on the mat

With all of that in mind I knew I wanted to create something that was the complete opposite. Somewhere people could feel like they belong before even walking into a class. 

This is why we...

• have actual members are featured on our website and social media posts

• have classes that are small in size

• never mention the words tone, sculpt or lean. (Seriously, don't get me started on this!)

• invest in learning about working with a diverse range of body shapes and sizes

• discourage discussing weight and diet in the studio

• focus on building strength

• focus so much on how an exercise feels rather than what it looks like 

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This is why we're Aniko Pilates.