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All of our instructors are Polestar Pilates licensed instructors specialized in many fields.

Miwa Wada

Miwa came to know Pilates when she was working in NYC at a medical advertisement company, but at the time, it wasn’t something she felt effective or attractive. About a decade later, she moved to Tokyo to settle and had a child. Exercising became a thing of the past in the frenzy of parenting, and it severely aggravated her lower back pain, triggering the onset of frozen shoulder syndrome. Needless to say, her body was flabby and she was reliant on antibiotics due to her lowered immune system. However, as she started taking Pilates sessions, gradually but surely, her posture improved dramatically, along with her lower back and shoulder problems. Using her medical knowledge and going through childbirth, she continues to study hard to better serve her clients.

Misa Kamata

Misa started to learn jazz dance when she was 19. Through her practice she has suffered from constant injuries, and also because of her constant shoulder pain, taking medical treatment became a pattern in her life.
Coming to know Pilates has made a major change to her point of view. Getting to understand her own body and knowing how to control her body to move in e better way, has not just led her to have a good posture and got over her shoulder pain, but now she can enjoy dance without any pain.
Making use of her experience as an English teacher and a nursery teacher, she loves to help clients understand Pilates easily and to move better.

Erin Reagan

Born and raised in the United States. Danced professionally in Las Vegas performances in Classical Ballet, Modern dance, Ballroom, and Jazz. An injury from dancing led her to Pilates rehabilitation. Her love of anatomy got her hooked on Pilates, and she has taught clients in the US and Japan, primarily professional athletes, dancers, and those recovering from injuries and surgeries.

Can I become thin doing Pilates?: Pilates’ exercises stimulate the inner muscles that exist deep in the core and hence, are not often used in our daily lives. By bringing attention to these muscles and using them effectively, our metabolic rate goes up, and we can thus expect our bodies to burn fat. Because muscle weighs more than fat, even if you don’t see a big decrease in your weight, you may appear thinner as your muscles get toned, and you become more fit.

Is Pilates effective in having smaller waist,hips,and thighs?: Absolutely. You will understand once you start doing Pilates, that you are constantly working your abs, hips and glutes (which stimulates the pelvic floor.) Many of our clients feel their waist and hips getting tighter after taking Pilates sessions.

Can Pilates alleviate my shoulder stiffness and/or back pain?: In general, massages can only temporarily alleviate shoulder stiffness and back pain. The actual cause lies in the weakened muscles that can’t provide enough support, and bad posture that increases unwanted load. By working those weakened muscles, especially the inner muscles, your posture improves and you can be relieved from the aforementioned discomforts.

What improvements can I expect from doing Pilates?: Our clients see improvements not only in stiff shoulders and lower back pain, but also in posture, pelvic correction, easier childbirth, headache, eyestrain, chronic fatigue, frail health, autonomic nervous system imbalance, edema, excessive sensitivity to cold, menstrual problems and more. Pilates is also effective in improving and preventing disc hernia, spinal canal stenosis and osteoarthritis. At our clinic, clients with these problems often receive chiropractic care with Pilates for a faster and better recovery

How often should I take the sessions?: It all depends on what goals you have set out for yourself, but most of our clients take one session per week. However, if you want to quickly achieve your goals, be it getting in shape, relieving pain, or other reasons, we recommend taking two or more sessions a week. Once you have achieved your goals, once a week, or every other week may suffice. However, the most important thing is to continue exercising.

How soon do I see the results?: This depends on the goals and individuals’ constitution, but in general, our patients see and feel a difference within three months (after about 15 sessions). They feel the difference in their muscle, posture, movement, bowel movement, skin, and many other forms. Hence, we recommend practicing Pilates for at least three months in order to feel the improvements and changes.

I am 80 years old. Can I still do Pilates?: Most of Pilates’ exercises are slow, moving with your breath, not going over your range of motion. This allows people over 80 to safely take Pilates sessions, granted, of course, with a knowledgeable instructor. The special machines reduce the load on the joints, which is great for knee or hip joint pain often seen in senior persons. Pilates is helpful to prevent locomotive syndrome, osteoarthritis, cerebral dysfunctions such as dementia, and other deteriorating situations.

In general, how old are your clients?: The majority of our clients are women in their 40s and 50s, but there also are clients in their teens up to their 80s as well.

What should I wear?: Comfortable clothes that are form-fitting but not restrictive. Very loose fitting clothing should not be worn, as it can become caught in the machine. In case you forget your workout clothes, we do have some clothes you can wear at the studio.

What is the difference between Yoga and Pilates?: Both focus on the breath, using the core muscles, and most of the exercises are slow in pace. Pilates does have a few moves derived from Yoga. However, their history and goals are quite different. Yoga is said to have started about 3,000 years ago in India as part of meditational practice aiming to achieve enlightenment. By taking certain poses, one can increase in muscle flexibility and also learn to focus on controlling his/her mind. However, Pilates was created by a German named Joseph Pilates, as part of a rehabilitation exercise, systematized based on the human anatomy, for the wounded soldiers of WWI. It might be easier to understand to think of Pilates as the training to move your body correctly in your daily life. Yoga and Pilates both are beneficial to your body and mind balance, so it is best to ask your body what suits you the best.

Can anyone become an instructor?: Since there are no laws or regulations on becoming a Pilates instructor, anyone can claim to be a professional Pilates instructor. However, the instructors at our studio are all Polestar Pilates certified. Polestar Pilates program is known to be very in-depth, and it far exceeds the Pilates Method Alliance (PMA) requirements for Pilates Instructor Programmes as set out by the PMA.

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Active-Ageing Pilates Futako-Tamagawa: 4 min. walk away from Futako-Tamagawa Sta.
8 min. walk away from Kaminoge Sta.
Convenient to visit before or after work!; Address: 〒158-0094 2f 2-7-3, Tamagawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo
Studio Hours: 9:00~21:00
Open all year round

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