What I Learned and Loved at Forward and Up NYC, and What Broke My Heart

I love the classical Pilates method. I like that there's structure, purpose, focus on alignment, meaningful transitions, and a multitude of benefits. When I got invited to Forward and Up NYC 2025's media day, I was thrilled - to the point where I confirmed with the publicist three times that I was all set. I haven't taken any continuing education classes in a while, let alone attended a Pilates-specific conference.

My training manual from 2016!

And, my lineage from my CORE Pilates NYC training is Romana's. Serendipitous? I had thought so.

A few morning hiccups aside - I had to toss my coffee, and no food or drinks were being offered all day, neither of which was communicated beforehand (not ideal for an endurance athlete training for multiple distance races). The check-in staff wasn't friendly and had no idea who the PR person was or why I was there, so I was being tossed around until someone friendly came to grab me.

In recent years, Pilates has been getting thrown around like a buzzword to encompass everything from the classical method to sculpt and barre to even Lagree. Despite my efforts to explain classical Pilates to those who claim they take Pilates classes (ie. Solidcore) falling on deaf ears, I'm always trying to protect the method that Joseph Pilates created and am very proud of what I've done in the space in the past nine years.

What I didn't anticipate was the shade I would receive for my own teaching after expressing how excited and honored I was to attend.

I was fortunate to be granted access to the VIP demo area, which included master instructors and Romana's daughter and granddaughter, Sari Mejia Santo and Daria Pace.

After spending time observing, I was introduced to Sara Hrapovic to give me my own mini session. Sara is from Vienna, Austria, and is very talented, charismatic, knowledgeable, and most of all, adapts to how her students learn and their personalities. She knew immediately that she could be sassy and tough with me! My lesson lasted around 30 minutes, but I had pages of takeaways.

Once my session was completed, I spent time observing instructors working with other teachers on the mat, reformer, and Cadillac. Eventually, I grabbed some lunch, and it was time for all attendees to go to the main room for the afternoon panel sessions.

Each of the about seven speakers gave mini talks and group lessons on different topics. Again, I gained so much information that I can't wait to put it to use in my own teaching.

Here's a recap of just a few things I learned, what I loved, and the stuff that broke my Pilates-loving heart.

What I Learned:

• Neutral pelvis isn't always necessary if you can't maintain proper form for exercises

• Anchoring your lower back helps you focus more on engaging your core if neutral doesn't work for you

• Same with pointed or flexed toes - get the heels together and work within your joints' limitations

• If you think you're engaging your core, you're probably not engaging deep enough (my abs hurt for days after my mini session of working through just three exercises!)

• Many instructors prefer long-term private clients vs group classes

• New cues and hands-on adjustments

• New ways to work around/with joints

• How to use a rubber band toe corrector

• Face exercises

• How to separate the focus on lower/upper abs in Rolling Like a Ball

+so much more of course!

What I Loved:

• The amount of different teaching styles really shows you how personal choosing an instructor is

• Everyone had opportunities to try exercises at the group panel sessions

• The community and love that everyone had for each other were abundant

• After multiple hours of being dismissed, people were so willing to chat with me and guide me with things I was new to

• How excited everyone was to be there

• The number of opportunities to learn new things in the varying observation rooms and panels

What Absolutely Broke My Heart:

This part pains me to share, but after posting an Instagram story, I had more people than I'd have preferred message me that they actually did know how mean and cliquey the deep Pilates industry is, and that they never pursued their teaching further because of it.

After my session with Sara, Daria was doing a media presentation with one of her students, who is a runner. Naturally, this caught my attention for a multitude of reasons, including that I am a runner. I'm also pivoting my teaching to focus more on endurance athletes, specifically runners and triathletes, so it gave me an opening for conversation surrounding the topic! This felt like such a good way to authentically connect with Daria when it was time to speak with her and her mom.

A side note: I've been in the PR industry for over 15 years, have worked with many fitness studios and professionals, and have a knack for asking solid editorial questions. I was READY for this conversation. I was looking forward to sharing that I was a teacher, I had a local series, and asking questions relevant to those topics, along with discussing what I had just observed.

For reference, a common media article you may see on SHAPE is the best Pilates exercises for runners, or three Pilates exercises to help you climb better on your bike.

After introducing myself, I started asking questions, including what exercises they'd recommend for runners, assuming I'd get an editorial response.

Instead, I was told they don’t generalize recommendations, which I can respect. However, the tone and delivery made it clear that my role as a mat instructor didn’t qualify me to discuss their level of “real Pilates.”

I had also just shared that I teach group mat classes and was pivoting to work with endurance athletes. I was hoping for applicable guidance from those who are more experienced on how to utilize the classical method best for a specific population, and to also share that information in an informational blog post.

To sum up my interview, I was told, in a nutshell, that without teaching (or being certified in) reformer or Cadillac, I wasn't a "real" Pilates instructor. And they wouldn't be sharing their thoughts on exercises with me.

To be blunt, that interview was painful and upset me. It was not conversational and lively like I had envisioned and was looking forward to. I expected connection and shared passion.

I was ironically asking how to best bring classical Pilates to more people who might never step foot in a reformer studio, but could benefit greatly from mat work.

I have always been very proud to teach the classical method. Proud of where I got my certification. And proud to have been invited to a conference of like-minded individuals.

Final Thoughts:

​If the classical Pilates method is to be preserved and respected, then the gatekeeping and rudeness need to be eliminated. Full stop.

The conference itself proved to be incredibly valuable, and I'm SO grateful to have had the opportunity to attend the media day. I gained so much knowledge for both my teaching and my own practice.

If you are a classical Pilates instructor or a Romana International Pilates certified instructor, I highly recommend attending Forward and Up.

Stay tuned for a few Hellgate Pilates winter pop-ups - virtually and in-studio!

XO,

Lynette