When we work hard in the studio, life gets a whole lot lighter outside of it. ✨
Maybe you thought you could never stand on top of the machine backwards in a lunge… and definitely not while pulling a heavy red spring.
But then you do it.
And suddenly everything else feels easier.
That’s the magic of Pilates — strength, capacity, and resilience you carry long after class is over. 💪💛
Saying goodbye to our friend PohLing as she heads off to Hanoi 💛
She’s been training with us in private sessions for 2.5 years, and it’s been incredible to witness her journey, strength, and transformation.
One tough chick with an even tougher core — Hanoi is lucky to have you.
We’ll miss you in the studio, PohLing! ✨
13/11/2025
We’re rebuilding, reimagining, and reopening — one detail at a time.
Classes are up and running in our new home. Come move with us and witness the transformation — yours and ours. 💕
09/11/2025
We’re Back and Ready to Rebuild 💪
After two weeks of closure, Hoi An Pilates will soft-open tomorrow at our new standalone home: 55 Phan Dinh Phung. 😇
This is really hard to say out loud, but the financial loss from the flood and forced closure of Front Porch Cafe has been devastating. We’re doing everything we can to keep going. 😭
If you’ve been affected by the storm and need support in the form of an extension on your package, please reach out privately, and we’ll make it work.
Otherwise, the best way to help us recover is to...
🫶 Buy a new package.
🫶 Come often.
🫶 Pay by cash or transfer (soon we will have a front desk to make this easier).
🫶 Recommend the studio to friends.
🫶 Leave us a review on Google and Tripadvisor.
Movement heals and we know we always feel better after we do Pilates. Show up for us, the community, and yourself.
Thank you and see you tomorrow. ❤️
03/11/2025
It was supposed to be a grand reveal... but sometimes life has other plans. 💔
We’ve had a new studio location in the works for a little while, and though it’s not quite ready for its big debut, we’re incredibly grateful that it’s dry, safe, and ready enough to become our new home.
The studio is above our café, Front Porch, which was completely destroyed by the flood — but thankfully, the water didn’t reach the second floor. We’ve moved everything out thanks to Front Porch staff, and are now setting up the studio.
To our wonderful members: thank you for the words of encouragement, for checking in, and especially to those who showed up — in boots and gloves — to help clean. 🫶
We hope to reopen for classes very soon. Until then, thank you for sticking with us, for your kindness, and for believing in this little community we’ve built together.
27/10/2025
🚨 Closed Until Further Notice 🚨
Hoi An is underwater 💔 — due to severe flooding in Old Town, both Front Porch Café and Hoi An Pilates are temporarily closed.
Stay safe and take care of each other — we’ll reopen as soon as it’s possible. 💛🌧️
18/10/2025
You don’t just move here, you learn here. We help you discover your imbalances, build strength, and understand how your body works. Because knowledge is the foundation of strength.
Move Better. Feel Better. Find Your Strength.
📲 Book now: www.bookwhen.com/hoianpilates
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My fitness journey started later in life. I was not an athletic child (I played soccer for one season, and mostly for the snacks, because, of course I did), and not until University did I start to run a bit with friends, lift weights, and participate in group fitness classes, like cardio kickboxing and step aerobics; it was the late 1990’s after all. The group atmosphere and music was something that kept me coming back for more. At that time I also started to dabble in Power Yoga with Bryan Kest VHS tapes, from the comfort of my living room. I could never even do a split as a child, and so I struggled with keeping up with the asanas, and the flexibility I was seeing on the screen felt so out of reach. But I kept doing it.
After graduating from University I was planning my wedding and thought that it would be a great idea to join a big box gym and hire a personal trainer. Unfortunately, I quickly found myself with a bulging disc in my lumbar spine, and at 22, I was in physical therapy, taking Vioxx (now banned), and getting steroid shots into my spine to help me cope with the debilitating sciatic pain. I couldn’t believe that I was so young, and yet already suffering with chronic back pain. Was I destined to a future of chronic pain?
Fed up with Western medicine’s approach of just treating symptoms, I was eager to heal and figure out a way prevent this from happening again. In 2004 I joined a boutique gym and discovered Pilates with Beth. She introduced me to a low-impact, full-body practice that not only strengthened my core, but also fostered body awareness, breath connection, and stabilization. I felt energized, centered, and carried myself in a new way. With a regular practice I was standing taller, and most importantly, moving without pain. Not only that, a few times I was mistaken for the teacher, and that was when that seed was planted: Could I teach?
The addition of Gentle Yoga to my week not only enhanced my recovery and strength building over the years, but I really started to feel the flow when I joined a Baron Baptiste studio in 2009. I signed up for a summer challenge and attended class 84 out of 90 days; it was completely life-changing! I found myself on a true journey into power with a supportive, sweaty community, and I started to believe that yes, even stiff Meg, could be “a yogi.”
In the years following, I continued on my fitness journey by adding in booty-kicking Pilates Reformer classes, TRX, kettle bells, dance and more, and I felt that focusing on my body was a great counter and distraction to the daily damage being caused by my hours sitting behind a computer; tight hip flexors, rolled in shoulders, and carpal tunnel, oh my! Like many office workers, my professional life became too much of a focus, and international work trips stretched out to up to 7 weeks at a time. As a result, my stress my fitness suffered, and so did my back. My physical and mental capacity to commit to what my body was desperately craving, and at times screaming for, ebbed and flowed over the peak of my career. I knew that in order to not have painful flare-ups, I needed to constantly commit my energy to my health.
In 2017 it was time to commit the time and effort to myself, dive deeper into the practices and fulfill my dream of officially helping others on their own journey. I had coached and encouraged lots of friends and young girls over the years, especially with running, but nothing was ever formal; that was about to change. I received my first certification for Pop Pilates, followed by Mat Pilates, and then attended a yoga retreat in India to round out my year. Living on a Ayurvedic farm in Tamil Nadu for a few weeks turned the tide on my relationship to the ancient practice of Yoga, and set me up for the ultimate adventure soon to come.
Needing a complete lifestyle change, my husband and I quit our corporate jobs in the high-tech city of Seattle, sold and donated almost everything we owned for the second time in our marriage (except the old hound Grace), and set out in our car in early 2018 for a world tour. Many months, heartaches, and joyful moments later, and after completing a dedicated month of healing through Yoga asana and meditation at the infamous Yoga Barn in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia, Mama India was calling to me again.
It is said that “Rishikesh chooses you.” After a year of exploring, my heart was open and listening, and in early 2019 I found myself on a plane by myself headed to a 7-week intensive Ashtanga and Hatha Yoga Teacher Training in Northern India. I wasn’t going to dabble in a 3-week 200 hour training, I was going all in for the full 500 hours, and the rest they say, is history.
I have been so fortunate to have had a series of fantastic teachers and coaches who have taught me the importance of and skills for safe, functional, holistic training. I find that I am the healthiest and happiest when I combine Yoga and Pilates, along with whatever cardio and strength training I am into at the moment, into my weekly routine. Pilates and Yoga have became a fantastic foundation to other athletic endeavors, like running a full marathon, a series of trail runs, about 20 half marathons, and a few relay races including the 200-mile (323K) Northwest Passage Ragnar. I am currently training for my first triathlon here in Viet Nam in May 2020, and Yoga and Pilates are playing a major role in getting me across that finish line... with a smile on my face.
The long-term travel chapter is now complete and I am now living in beautiful Hoi An, Viet Nam, thrilled to be sharing my experiences with residents and travelers. The crazy journey we call life may take us all over the world, but we only have one precious body, and only we can do the necessary work to care for it as best as we can. We will inevitably fall off the wagon, but the important thing is that we get back on. Self-awareness, silencing our inner critic, and fostering an intention to live our best lives is a powerful motivator.
My mission is to share my experience to help you find your flow and foster a life-long practice of conscious breath and mindful movement through through Pilates and Yoga. I have personally experienced the power that both practices can have on my body, mind, and spirit, and I am excited to share what I have learned with you.
I currently offer Private Sessions and Group Classes in Vinyasa, Hatha, Pranayama (Breath work), Relaxation, Meditation, and Mat Pilates. Please contact me directly for more information, schedule and pricing. I can’t wait to meet you, wherever you are in your journey.
