Independent Study - program

For you who understands that the work built over time is not an achievement or a level to stay at. It is a practice to be maintained.

Independent Study - program starts in January 2027.

Independent Study – 2 year program:

For you who understands that Pilates isn’t a performance, and it can’t be learned in a few weekend trainings. You show up even when it isn’t easy or convenient, and that’s exactly why you develop something that can’t be gained quickly: an honest understanding of what you’re doing and why.

Pilates is not just sequences of movements or random exercises. It is a system with a specific standard, and that standard has existed from the very beginning. Joe Pilates did not design the work to be adapted or modified without a clear reason why. He created a method where every exercise exists for a purpose, and where the whole system only truly works when it is practiced as it was intended.

When practice becomes your most important tool for learning, you realize that maintaining it requires consistency and ongoing commitment, whether you’re a Pilates instructor or a student. That’s when it starts to open up in a new way, not just as an idea, but inside you. You’re no longer just doing the movements. You begin to understand what they are actually building.

After Pilates’ death, in the 1970s and 80s, something inevitable happened: his students each continued in their own way. Some stayed faithful to the method and to what they had learned. Others began to build something of their own on top of it. In the 1990s, Pilates spread into wider awareness and training programs were created that changed, and even diluted, the work.

Knowing this history is not a value in itself, but it helps you understand the method better: what (classical) Pilates really is, where it is now, and why that matters. That’s why, during this program, you will learn how Joe’s students continued the work after his passing and how, through their practice, they trained the studio teachers. You will also see how Clara Pilates, Jay Grimes, John Winters, Romana Kryzanowska and others carried the work forward.

The classical method fits perfectly into modern life when it’s practiced as it was intended:

 

as a complete system where the work builds the body rather than just moves it. This means every session has a structure. The exercises follow an order with its own logic and purpose. The body is loaded in a way that develops it, not just activates, warms up, or stretches it.

 

 This is the standard Classical Pilates aims for - not something you reach once, but something you practice towards continuously. 

 

Meet Kati: Finland's only Pilates professional to graduate Jay Grimes’ “The Work” program.

 

I am the founder of Aitopilates Studio and the only Pilates teacher in Finland to have graduated from Jay Grimes’ demanding “The Work” program. This means a direct line back to Joseph Pilates himself.

I have been teaching Pilates for over 20 years and running my studio for almost 16. I’ve worked with both dedicated practitioners and athletes, and I’ve trained dozens of teachers in classical Pilates. I’ve had a front-row seat to what happens when a teacher or student encounters the original system for the very first time.

Ongoing study of the method is important to me, which is why I have continued my own training with teachers who learned directly from Romana Kryzanowska: people who worked with her already in the 1970s, as well as those who studied with her in the 1990s. It’s interesting that clear changes also took place over the years, but what really matters is understanding why that happened.

The Independent Study program is built for you if you want to take this level of knowledge into your own body.

  As an Independent Study student, you understand the importance of guided practice and you commit to the following training volume:

 

  • Minimum 2x/week (about 8 hours/month) in classes of your choice.

    (Amount of training takes into account studio and student holidays, as well as unavoidable absences such as illness).

    If a student cannot maintain regular practice, they may be removed from the group. Training amount is reviewed quarterly.

  • In addition to regular practice, you will participate in at least two 2‑day workshops, held three times per year. To gain the full benefit, it is recommended that you attend all three. Coming to Aitopilates Studio in person is recommended, but online participation is also possible. If you attend online, please note that you will not receive the same level of feedback, support, and attention as you would on site in the studio.

  • Open Studio Days are for practice and teaching in the way it was done “in the good old days”. As a student, you will attend at least two of these days. Open Studio Days are held four times a year. Coming to Aitopilates Studio in person is recommended, but online participation is also possible. If you attend online, please note that you will not receive the same level of feedback, support, and attention as you would on site in the studio.

 

This is how the program progresses:

 

Instructed practice begins in January 2027 with a rhythm of 2x/week.
The student is responsible for booking their own classes through the Aitopilates Studio booking system.

 

Workshops:

  1. STUDY DAYS: 5.-6.2.27

Fri 13.30–18.00 and Sat 8–13.30

  1. STUDY DAYS: 3.-4.6.27.

Thu 13.30–18.00 and Fri 8–13.30

  1. STUDY DAY: 1.-2.10.27.

Fri  13.30–18.00 and Sat 8–13.30

You will attend at least two of these 2‑day workshops.
Price per individual workshop: €850 + VAT.

 

OPEN STUDIO DAYS:

  1. Fri  15.3. at 8.30–12.00.
  2. Fri 16.4. at 8.30–12.00.
  3. Fri 20.8. at 8.30–12.00.
  4. Fri 12.11. at 8.30–12.00.

You will attend at least two Open Studio Days.
Price per individual day: €260 + VAT.

* Dates for 2028 will be announced by September–October 2027 at the latest.

  

What this program gives you

Peace.

You no longer need to go looking for “that something”. The extra noise around you is just that: things you no longer need to give your attention to. You realize that Pilates is not choreography and endless variations, but purposeful and sensible work.

Trust. 

The more practice experience you accumulate in your own body, the more confidence you have in Pilates and its effectiveness. Through your own experience, you begin to receive answers to questions that recently felt challenging and like a mountain to climb.

Stability. 

Pilates brings a sense of permanence. There is no need to rush or speed up to achieve something. And if you are an instructor, you are able to offer this same sense of steadiness to others.  

This program is not for you if:

  • You have very little experience with regular, guided practice.
  • You are looking for a Pilates teacher training program. This is not that.
  • You only want tips and tricks for teaching and being a teacher.
  • You do not see practice as your primary source of learning.
  • You believe Pilates Instructors and dedicated practitioners do not belong in the same group.
  • You expect the program to give you instant answers to your questions.. 
  • You believe the Pilates method is meant to be changed freely and the exercises can be varied anywhere and anyhow.
  • You consider yourself already “good enough” in your Pilates skills.
  • You see this as just one more certificate to add to your collection.

This program is for you:

  • Guided practice is already familiar to you, you have solid basic skills, and experience with the Pilates system and its apparatus.
  • You want to slow down and study Pilates without rush.
  • You want to invest in yourself, your own development, and your learning.
  • You understand that you’ll take something home step by step, each time richer and stronger.
  • You keep returning to the work again and again, especially when you’re invited to.
  • You are ready to challenge your physical capability.
  • You understand that your questions will be answered in time, when you are ready to receive the answers.

Independent Study Program

The Independent Study program is for you if you want to go a level deeper in practicing the Pilates method and, through that, in truly understanding it.

If you have not trained at Aitopilates Studio before, please contact me at [email protected] before paying the registration fee so we can talk about whether the program is a good fit for you.

Registration fee

200 €

+ vat 25,5%

 

Once you have paid the registration fee, we will schedule a personal Zoom meeting for November–December. In this call, we will go through your thoughts about the upcoming training, what you want to achieve with it, and create a preliminary practice plan that supports your goals. After the program begins, we will schedule a second 30‑minute meeting for March–April.

Join here