Social Workout

New Year's Edition Prizes

Double Your Pleasure With Pilates Duets

← Go to main page for Mongoose Bodyworks

Mongoose (via mongoosebodyworks)

SoHo office buildings are fascinating. Social Workout HQ is located on the 12th floor of one such building, and our neighbors in the warrens of halls include design firms, PR companies, modeling agencies, and who-knows-what-they-do businesses with intriguing names like Gigantic, Inc. And that's just on our floor. Down on the 9th floor, around a few bends in the maze, is a Pilates studio called Mongoose Bodyworks. One lucky New Year's Edition Challenge completer will be winning a free private session at MB, and to preview the prize, Katie and I went downstairs last Friday for a Pilates duet session. 

Mongoose Bodyworks is small, and everything about it feels like a refuge, from the easy lighting to the soft scent. Our instructor was Caitlyn Petty, a former dancer. She had that Pilates grace thing that makes me want to become a devotee every time I enter a Pilates studio, but she also had an easy smile and a slightly goofy and endearing sing-song voice she used when things got tough: "Hold it," she'd sing, as Katie and I winced in Pilates V-sit position. During the hour, we moved from mats to side-by-side Reformers, then finally to standing work with a Pilates Ring in front of the mirror. With a good teacher, Pilates always feels intense and focused, sort of purifying. But every once in a while it also feels a little clinical. But not with Caitlyn. And not with Katie — having a friend there made it so I could laugh as I squeezed the bejeezus out of that Pilates Ring. Having a friend there made it so I could walk out at the end and say, "Wasn't that awesome?" and have someone who could nod in total agreement. It amplified the fun and the after-workout glow. 

Also, I should mention, duet sessions are $57/person, so roughly half the cost of a private session. If you've never done a duet before, you really should du et. (Groan. Sorry, couldn't help it). And if you check out Mongoose Bodyworks (which I obviously recommend) take the stairs up to 12 and say hi! 

← Go to main page for Mongoose Bodyworks