I first came to LightSpace when I was training for my second marathon. My entire body felt beat up after only several weeks into my training schedule. Before coming to LightSpace, I tried yoga and massages which never fundamentally made me feel better. Then I tried a private session at LightSpace with Allison and came out feeling like a new person. I was instantly hooked. The first session was almost magical – I lied on the cadillac, tried to activate muscles (think pelvic and ‘core’) that I never noticed, barely sweated and almost all the tension I felt in my body was gone after 55 mins.

Now I have been a client at LightSpace for almost three years. I primarily did weekly private sessions, first with Allison, then Annie, who are both excellent instructors with a wealth of knowledge on body mechanics. In these sessions, we talk about where I felt discomfort/pain/tension in my body and do some movements to work through those kinks first, then we move on to move general movements that enhances my body alignment and strengths. I also participated occasional small-group workshop called Re-Charge that combined Qi Gong, Pilates and HIIT. In this workshop led by Allison and Annie, the main emphasis is not how high your heart rate went but which muscles one should activate to initiate movements like push-ups and planks. These are valuable lessons that are rarely discussed in regular gym classes.

My biggest takeaway from Pilates is body awareness – knowing which postures are terrible for my neck while working at a desk, knowing which simple movements on a mat can help me recover quickly from a lower back pain and knowing where tension in my body tends to build up. Since I first started, I completed three more marathons, several half-marathons and many more 5k-10k races with several new PRs. My time with LightSpace helped me to work out better and live better.

I highly recommend LightSpace to anyone who’s experiencing injury and pain, or anyone who wants to better deal with tensions brought by daily routines in work and life.

The entire team at LightSpace is absolutely lovely. The studio is also a beautiful and peaceful space that makes me feel relaxed the second I walk in. I am always looking forward to my weekly private session with Annie, especially on those long runs!

– Wenbo F.