This sponsored content is presented by Glow Pilates Reformer.
When longtime Coral Gables resident Beatriz Suarez wanted to give back to her community and open Glow Pilates Reformer, she didn’t hesitate. Drawing on an extensive background in finance and business, Suarez is now hands-on in every aspect of the studio from hiring to sales to customer service — all of which are equally important in her mind.
In addition to her experience in running a business, Suarez understands the science of Pilates. She’s been a client since she was diagnosed in 2009 with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and, following the suggestion of her physicians, started practicing Pilates on a reformer.
What is Pilates?
Named after Joseph Pilates, who invented it, Pilates is a collection of exercises that emphasize bodily awareness. Focusing on the core muscles, breath, and proper form, Pilates improves flexibility, balance, and posture, among other things. The movements are typically performed on a spring-based machine called the reformer, but are also suitable for mats and often use props such as balls, weights, bands, and specially-designed equipment like the magic circle.
Doing Pilates consistently, Suarez found, helped her maintain and even improve her strength and balance, two physiological factors that MS impacts. This is true for every practitioner, regardless of what motives clients have for coming to Pilates.
Glow Pilates Reformer Opens in Coral Gables
With her daughter going to college, Suarez decided to utilize her past to do something present “for myself and my community, so that we can move together,” she says. On January 2, she debuted Glow Pilates Reformer in Coral Gables, which has the calm appeal of a spa and features 10 reformers — enough to form a community but not so many that it turns the experience impersonal.
“Around here,” Suarez says, “we have studios that offer different kinds of Pilates that aren’t really Pilates. They incorporate cardio and other things.”
While those hybrid programs are the perfect fit for some practitioners, Suarez was more interested in establishing a classical Pilates-based studio with some increased attention to heart health where the clients could decide for themselves how rigorous they wanted their sessions.
“Go as hard as you want to challenge yourself, or modify the movements and strength for your conditions,” she says.
The ten instructors Suarez employs are all aware that clients — whether they attend for private sessions or group classes — come with different wants and needs, ranging from improving fitness levels to dealing with chronic illnesses. Suarez counts on those instructors, lauding them for their awareness.
“They really gauge the room noting first-timers and beginners,” she says, as well as those who might have a hidden or invisible condition. “You need to have a good product. You could have a spot that’s aesthetically pleasing but if you don’t have the right instructors, it doesn’t work. It would be like a restaurant without a good chef.”
To that end, Suarez offers loyalty back to her instructors, with plans to give additional Pilates training on site. “They invest in me and I invest in them,” she says.
Named a Top 10 Best Pilates Studio in Miami
The rewards are also already piling up for the clients, who appreciate focusing on wellness and mind-body wholeness. Earlier this month, Miami New Times named Glow Pilates Reformer one of the Best Pilates Studios in Miami. Now followers are coming in not just from the Gables-area neighborhoods, but from all over Miami-Dade County.Considering the thriving fitness scene in this city, that’s quite a coup.
Glow Pilates Reformer is located at 349 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables, 305-934-1154. It offers classes seven days per week from 7:30 am-12:15 pm and again at 4:30-7:30 pm. From 12:30-4:30 pm, instructors offer individual sessions.
