(Photo caption: Members of Pilates boutique staff at the opening of the new reformer Pilates studio on Harbour Rd: Back Row (L-R): Rachel Donohue, Melissa Crofty, Chloe Finnerty and Deirdre Walsh. Middle row: Anna Gallagher. Front Row (L-R): Clementine Keane, Nichola Ryan, owner of Pilates boutique, and Andrea Lynam.)
Nichola Ryan, the highly-experienced owner and founder of the Pilates Boutique reformer Pilates studio in Athlone, has recently opened a second studio on Harbour Rd. Originally from Kiltoom in Athlone, she has strong connections to the town through her family and friends. She adds: “I’ve wanted to open a studio in Ballinasloe for quite a while; I was just waiting for the right location and the right opportunity to come along.”
Nichola said that she’s “always” had a passion for fitness. She studied Commerce in NUI Galway and worked in Human Resources for many years. She then retrained as a fitness instructor and personal trainer, and it was following a car accident and a bad back injury that she became interested in Pilates. “As part of my rehabilitation, I spent a year working with a Pilates instructor in Athlone,” she says. “I absolutely loved what Pilates did for me physically. It helped me recover, rebuild my strength and eventually get me back doing duathlons etc.”
She decided to train as a Pilates instructor and studied the STOTT method, one of the most popular forms of modern Pilates. It combines the exercises founded by Joseph Pilates with findings from modern exercise science and spinal rehabilitation, making it an extremely safe and effective form of practice.
Nichola taught mat Pilates for over a decade before she started teaching reformer Pilates. (Reformer Pilates is a form of the exercise in which the body’s movements are supported by a machine, allowing both for rehabilitation, and for more intensive exercise.) “I fell in love with it from that very first session and immediately thought, ‘I’m going to open a Reformer Pilates studio someday.’” During her second maternity leave, she made that ambition a reality.
Nichola has been teaching Pilates for many years, offering classes from beginner to advanced. She also teaches pre- and post-natal Pilates, and has trained in Spinal Pathologies. She’s currently adding to her knowledge by studying peri-menopause and menopause coaching.
She says that the reaction from people in the town to the new studio “has been fantastic. Everyone has been incredibly welcoming… Our initial focus is simply on giving people the opportunity to experience reformer Pilates…once people experience it for themselves, we find they tend to fall in love with it.” To this end, the studio is currently offering an introductory offer of two sessions for €30. (There are also pay as you go and bundle offers available online.)
For those who are already familiar with reformer Pilates and would like to consider a career as an instructor, Nichola has opened a Pilates teaching academy where she trains up and coming Pilates instructors. For more information, please visit her website at the address given below.
The studio is currently open five days a week in Ballinasloe, offering morning, evening, and weekend classes. (Hours may change in the coming months depending on demand.). Nichola eventually hopes to offer 1:1 sessions, too. She says the studio aims “to make people feel comfortable and welcome, regardless of their age, fitness level or previous experience.” All exercises can be modified to suit a person’s ability.
To find out more about Pilates boutique, visit the website, www. pilatesboutique.ie You can email Nichola with any queries at nicolaryanpilates@gmail.com.
