5 Minutes with Equilibrium Studio | Your Cancer Services

15 November 2020 — david-allen

Physical wellbeing when living with cancer is so very important and with social distancing and lockdown restrictions in place, the availability of exercise can be difficult. Founded in 2019, Equilibrium Studio is a London-based Pilates studio with a physical space in North West London but since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, they have been offering classes online. We spoke to founder Laura Porro to find out more…

What services do you offer people living with cancer?

Equilibrium Studio offers group and 1-1 Pilates classes, run by a qualified Cancer Exercise Specialist. For the 1-1 sessions, we develop tailored exercise programmes that address your specific goals and challenges. We start with a comprehensive assessment, which includes understanding your treatment, side effects, posture and focuses on what you hope to achieve.

Do you have a target demographic who use your services

Our classes are open to everybody, so all ages and fitness levels are welcome, whether you are looking for a general balanced workout, or want to address a specific issue. We hold specialist qualifications to support special populations, such as pre / post surgery, post-rehabilitation, arthritis, osteoporosis / osteopenia, pre / postnatal and a broad range of joint injuries.

What’s the most rewarding thing about the work you do?

We love to see a positive difference in the people who attend our classes. When someone tells us ‘I felt better after your session’, it makes all our hard work worthwhile. We especially enjoy the skeptics, who come to us through a recommendation or because they think they should… when they start feeling better and have a change of heart: that gives us a lot of satisfaction!

What would you say to those who are considering getting in touch with you but are nervous or apprehensive?

There are many reasons why some of our clients are apprehensive at the beginning: some are worried about their level of fitness, or have an injury which they do not want to make worse; others think they ‘cannot do it’ and fear failing; and some have tried many types of workout and do not believe Pilates will work for them.

Our recommendation is to share this with your teacher: explain what worries you, what you tried in the past, what tends to make you feel better and what a good workout looks like for you. One of the great things about Pilates is that there are countless variations of the exercises: your teacher will find what works best for you.

Every body can do Pilates, we guarantee you this!

Do you have testimonials from people that have used your services?

Our regular client Hannah said: ‘I really look forward to Laura’s classes. She is the most creative and talented Pilates teacher I have ever had – her deep understanding of how bodies work enables her to give really tailored guidance. This has helped me build strength and stamina so that over time I have stopped getting back pain and started really enjoying Pilates. Somehow even during video sessions she manages to give perfect cues so I get a really worthwhile workout. 

And finally, can you describe your organisation in 3 words?

Caring, passionate and specialised