How The Reformery pilates studio came to Forest Gate
The Reformery owner, Rachel Stephenson takes us on a journey from Pilates instructor rearranging furniture for home-based classes to launching the studio just before lockdown.
Pilates changed my life, and I’ve had first hand experience of seeing its benefits in so many of my clients over the years.
After over 14 years of teaching, I am still amazed at how Pilates constantly challenges you both mentally and physically and I just love how good it makes you feel.
There are so many benefits of Pilates, it’s low impact and works the stabilising muscles of the spine and joints so it’s perfect for recovery or rehab. At the same time the tiny, controlled movements are deceivingly challenging and are a great workout for even the toughest athletes.
Discovering Forest Gate
When I moved to Forest Gate over a decade ago, I was teaching Pilates in classes and private 121s in gyms and physio clinics around London.
I soon realised that Forest Gate was a special place to live, and decided that I wanted to focus on teaching Pilates here rather than cycling across London every day.
It started simply. For 5 days a week, I pushed my sofa and the dining room table into the kitchen to create enough space to teach from my home. Before long, classes were consistently full and after a year of furniture rearranging, I began to think about opening a dedicated space.
During this time, I met some amazing people, many of whom are now really good friends and they encouraged me to spread my wings. In partnership, with a local yoga teacher, we found an empty railway arch which was perfect. The Space East Yoga and Pilates Studio was born.
The Space East
When we first opened the studio a decade ago, the arches were mainly mechanics garages. Mickey at Mbox had opened the week before but there wasn’t the vibrant scene we have today.
We worked hard to make our arches and the surrounding area a welcoming wellness hub for the local community, running classes 7 days a week.
After 5 years, I opened a second arch, The Reformery, a studio dedicated to Reformer Pilates. Within a week of signing contracts we went into Lockdown. Completely ruining my plans for the studio.
Lockdown was very hard, as it was for all small businesses and there were times when I wasn’t sure how I would continue. Something had to give and I made the difficult decision to shut The Space East. Over the years it had become a fantastic community space offering classes for every-body and when we were forced to close I felt huge sadness that this was all lost in an instant.
The Reformery is allowed to open & flourish.
To keep my focus, I was determined to create a space with the same community energy at The Reformery. 15 months after we had got the keys the Government allowed us to re-open. I can’t tell you how grateful I am for the amazing team I now have working at the studio as well as the continuing support from the local community who continue to return after all these years..
At The Reformery, we have curated a timetable of over 50 classes every week, which aim to meet every-body’s needs. From strength and conditioning, to rehab and mindful movement, dynamic and strong, as well as specialist classes for our pre-natal and over 65’s clients
We welcome every-body, no matter your experience, fitness level or age. From beginners to advanced, there will always be a class for you to attend. And if you would like to have the more personalised approach, our teachers also offer single or duet private sessions so you can work in a bespoke way with your favourite teacher.
After the birth of my twins two years ago, I was acutely reminded of the power of pilates. Pregnancy has a massive impact on our bodies, and carrying two increases the postural demands exponentially. My body is so much stronger for my pilates practice, something with additional pay off when constantly running around after two toddlers.
If you are new to pilates and reading this, then we’d love you to come and try out our classes.. Head to our offers pages for our intro offers for classes and private 121s .
If you have come to class with us before, there are a range of class bundles and no-commitment monthly subscriptions. Our aim is to make our classes accessible and reasonably priced. Our unlimited monthly subs, are properly unlimited, you can take as many classes as you would like in a day / week / month.
If you don’t know what to bring to the studio for the first time, then head to our guide to your first visit to the Reformery which gives you all the info you need on what to bring to your first class.
I look forward to welcoming you to the studio soon.
Rachel x
Rachel teaches at The Reformery every week on Fridays and Saturdays.
Head over to our timetable to see what classes fit your schedule.
This article originally appeared in Forest Magazine in 2021.