As In Pilates, So In Business

As part of my midlife reinvention, I’ve gotten deep into Pilates. I go a LOT, and I’ve never been stronger or more fit than I am today. Like, not even when I was a teenager.

If you know me personally, you know what a big deal this is. I’ve always been heavy, except for the 3 months every decade when I’ve lost a lot of weight and haven’t started to gain it back yet. Core strength? That was for other people.

This is the first time in my life I’ve ever really exercised consistently, and I’ve now been doing Pilates regularly for 3 years, with increasing frequency and enthusiasm. Don’t be surprised if I tell you to go ahead and punch my abs. I’m pretty proud of myself.

I go to a tiny neighborhood Pilates studio. There are six reformers, so that means there’s only ever one teacher and six students in the class at any given time. At this point, we all know each other pretty well, at least as well as you know people who you work out with regularly and chitchat with before and after class. You pick up stuff about people over time.

The teachers all have distinctive personalities and teaching styles, and I know them well too - their stock phrases, their playlists, their strengths, whose classes are insanely hard and whose are just hard enough.

It’s cozy there, and it’s supportive. It’s a little bit competitive, but in a good way - you can’t really watch the person next to you when you’re on your back on the reformer, but you know when someone is giving it their all.

Here’s what I love the most: most of the women in my classes are in their forties and fifties, and we are taking excellent care of ourselves. We are looking and feeling really good. (And when I say women, it’s almost all women. There’s a random guy every once in a while and he is definitely outnumbered!)

We are pushing ourselves, and seeing other women push themselves gives us motivation. It’s inspiring to see other women working hard and being focused and dedicated to their own growth.

Pilates is all about the mind-body connection, and unlike in the frantic world around us, in Pilates, “slow is strong.” The teachers always remind us to take a break when we need to, and that “taking a break isn’t quitting.”

They tell us to listen to our bodies and give us the option to change the intensity of the springs or the length of the straps or the angle of our legs to match where we are that day. In Pilates, we tune into our own knowing and adapt accordingly.

It’s also intimate in a way that’s increasingly rare in our lives these days. Technology deprives us of actual community. It eliminates the need to be in these embodied, deeply human spaces and have the kind of casual connections and interactions that researchers say make up the fabric of a happy life.

The feeling I get in the Pilates studio surrounded by these strong, dedicated women - each of whom is on her own journey and there for her own reasons, but each of whom is showing up for herself at this powerful turning point in so many of our lives - that’s exactly what we’re building in Broad Collective. A place where we can be on the ride together, working in parallel, supporting each other, learning from each other, encouraging each other.

Professional women in our 40s, 50s and 60s who are building our own businesses are wired for mutual support and connection - and we need it more than ever in this age of disconnection and mediated reality, in our workouts and as entrepreneurs.

My favorite thing that one of my teachers always says is “don’t be afraid to take up space.” I love being in a room with other midlife women who are claiming their strength, becoming more agile, pushing through hard days and looking so damn good doing it.

Let’s take up space together.

Love,

Erin & Sarah

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