Studio owner says Pilates ideal for relaxing, shaping up
Pilates Nature is open on Fifth Avenue in Marble Cliff
By: DONAVON CAMPBELL 
A single red orchid curves out of a clay pot in a small second-story window above the Cambridge Tea House at the corner of Cambridge Boulevard and West Fifth Avenue.
The flower, and the window, belong to Pilates Nature, a new Pilates studio at 1885 W. Fifth Ave. in Marble Cliff.
The studio, opened by master Pilates instructor Margaret Lane in September, offers private one-hour sessions with either Lane or fellow instructor Monica Mericle.
Lane, 36, charges $60 for a one-on-one session and $75 for a duet, or a session including a pair of clients.
Mericle charges $40 for a single and $60 for a duet.
There also are packages of five or 10 sessions available at slightly discounted rates.
The space itself is simple and clean. A pair of combination systems, the “Cadillac” and the “reformer,” are undoubtedly the highlights of the room.
Hidden away as it is, Pilates Nature is a private place — even the door, located between the tea house and an insurance office, is easily overlooked — where clients ranging from 9 to 75 years old come to stretch and strengthen their bodies both on the equipment and through workouts on floor mats.
Pilates is a physical fitness program designed to condition the entire body. It was created in the early 20th century by Joseph Pilates, a German-born gymnast and boxer, among other vocations, Lane said.
The exercises employ a focus on stretching, breathing and mental concentration to strengthen the body’s core.
The combination systems use springs and pulleys instead of weights to add resistance to the various exercises, Lane said.
She said a majority of her clients are people over the age of 50, many of whom have stressful careers.
“They come here to unwind,” Lane said. “They come here to relax.
“They come here to get worked out, but they come here to stretch and relax.”
She said while many people come to her to get fit, a large number of them also come because they suffer from ailments such as joint or back pain.
“You can really get pain free with Pilates,” Lane said.
Lane is a former ballet dancer who discovered Pilates while taking classes in New York City.
She said she had injured herself and was sent to a Pilates studio because she couldn’t participate in classes.
A few years later, she decided to pursue Pilates full-time and attended the Pilates Center in Boulder, Colo., in 1997.
She moved back to Columbus — she and her family had moved to Columbus from Evansville, Ind., in 1992 so she could pursue her dance career — from California in 2001 and began teaching Pilates.
She said she has seen interest in the workout style grow immensely in that time.
“When I first got here, nobody knew what Pilates was,” Lane said. “There were maybe two people teaching it and now it’s all over the place.”
Mericle, 40, grew up in Dublin and said she came to Pilates about four years ago after going through a hard time in her life.
She had gained some 60 pounds and had started running again to lose the weight when she got hurt.
It was her chiropractor who recommended Pilates.
“Something happened,” said Mericle, who said Pilates wasn’t quite her speed at first.
“I was starting to enjoy the quietness of it,” she said. “I was starting to enjoy the connection between my mind and my body.”
Mericle was in the restaurant business at the time, but said it wasn’t long before she decided she wanted to teach Pilates because of the positive effect it had on her life.
“This is what I wanted to do with my life,” Mericle said. “This is what I wanted to do for other people.”
Sessions at Pilates Nature are made by appointment only.
Additional information, can be obtained from the Web site pilatesnature.com.
(this article first appeared in the Jan. 26, 2010 issue of the Tri-Village News)
