Celebrating 11 years of bringing pilates to Rarotonga, instructor Brynn Acheson-Nooroa shared the benefits of the foundational exercise and how she aims to further its reach to benefit more people around the island.

After finishing another one of her Thursday morning classes with her team of just over 10 pilates students, the group headed over to The Cafe to have a celebratory morning tea end of year wrap up and to celebrate the 11 years of pilates classes.

The celebration was attended by some of the ladies who had been coming to the class since the beginning. 

The guests seated at a table decked with Christmas baubles, cake and tea were interrupted by a gust of sudden wind and rain, but the party swiftly moved into the cozy couch area in the cafe where the ladies continued to enjoy their morning together.

Acheson-Nooroa first began holding her pilates classes 11 years ago when she first moved to Rarotonga in 2010.

A lot of people had come and gone over the years, but a few had stuck with her since the very beginning, with four of these ladies present at the celebratory morning tea on Thursday.

She shares that when she first came to Rarotonga, pilates was something new that the island had never seen before.

“For me it’s my passion so it was easy for me to share it with people because I love it,” she says.

The people who did know about pilates appreciated and valued what it did for the body and the type of exercises offered in her classes which are held every Tuesdays and Thursdays on the Trader Jacks decking area from 8.40am.

Acheson-Nooroa owns KiteSup Cook Islands with her husband Ina and leads a number of other fitness classes.

With a passion for fitness and a degree in exercise science, she shares that she would like to take more time to step back and invest more into her pilates classes for the people of Rarotonga as it is a highly beneficial form of exercise.

To start with, pilates is a system of exercises using special apparatus, designed to improve physical strength, flexibility, and posture, and enhance mental awareness. Acheson-Nooroa describes it as a “foundational training that makes every other form of exercise you want to do that much stronger and better”.

It is designed to help you work your body from the inside out, engaging one’s core, and truly helping you to learn to use your core muscles that will make you stronger, reduce your risk of injury and make you feel better overall.

“It’s a great way to get into exercise. If you are brand new to exercise it could be good to start with it to teach you how to use your body properly and focus on your form and be mindful,” says Acheson-Nooroa.

With all the many different fitness classes and programmes around the island which each have their own benefits, she explains that if someone is a first-time exerciser trying to get into fitness, beginning to train their body with pilates as a foundation may save them from getting injured.

She adds if a person goes straight into a hardcore fitness class and become injured, they will not only be stopped from exercising and working out but will have an injury to deal with.

Acheson-Nooroa has only been offering group pilates classes twice a week, but plans to offer more classes as well as one on one sessions.

“I think there are a lot of people who could benefit from one on one, from people who have knee surgeries that are cleared from their doctor to work out but still need specific exercises that help strengthen muscles around their joints, to elite athletes who need to cross train and diversify their workouts to prevent injuries and things like that.”

She has recently invested in setting up a private pilates studio at her house as well as a pilates reformer machine – a traditional piece of pilates equipment which can provide a gentler resistance depending on the exercise and the muscle being worked.

Acheson-Nooroa hopes to share with more people the benefits of pilates and how as a foundational form of exercise it can enhance one’s experience with their fitness journey as well as keep their body and muscles safe from injury.