Consider what your body does all day: getting out of bed, carrying groceries, sitting at a desk, picking up a child, climbing stairs, playing golf or tennis, gardening or playing on the floor with your grandkids. Pilates trains the body to perform those movements with greater control, stability, and awareness.

"No matter your age or fitness level, you deserve a body that moves well and feels strong," Caty said. "Pilates can improve your strength, stability, mobility, flexibility, posture, and mind-body connection. And it's something people can continue doing through their lives."

Turning Up the Heat

Pilates Retreat also offers a dedicated infrared Hot Mat studio. Caty explained, "Traditional heated rooms can feel overwhelming. Infrared warmth feels different, gradually warming you as you move, listen to your body, and work at your own pace."

The 50-minute hot-mat classes combine Pilates-based movement with strength, sculpting, flexibility, and mindful movement in a warm studio environment. For Kristi, it was the missing piece. "We wanted the authenticity of Pilates, but we also wanted to create an experience that feels fresh, energetic, and relevant to how people want to work out today."

More Than a Workout – A Retreat

Kristi didn't want to build a place where members race through the door, endure a workout, and race back out again. She wanted somewhere people actually want to be. "We're all busy," she said. "We're all pulled in a hundred directions. But what if your workout could be the best part of your day? What if you could get stronger, take care of yourself, see people you enjoy, and leave feeling better than when you walked in?"

The studio plans to build community through walking clubs, Bible studies, special events, day trips and even travel retreats. While Kristi is largely behind the scenes, Caty will be a familiar face inside the studio — teaching, leading the instructional team, and helping shape the member experience. And the Allen studio may only be the beginning.

Kristi and Caty envision Pilates Retreat as the first location in a larger wellness company — one that could bring the concept and community to additional markets. But first, they're starting at home.

Your Daily Retreat

For Caty, Pilates is about more than fitness trends or Instagram-worthy exercises. It's about helping people live better in their own bodies. "Every person who walks through our doors is coming from a different place," Caty said. "Different ages, different careers, different fitness levels, and different reasons for being here. That's what I love about Pilates. Come as you are. We'll meet you there."

And that may be the real reason Pilates is having such a moment. After more than 100 years, people aren't simply discovering a new workout. They're rediscovering a remarkably enduring idea: Move well. Get strong. Feel better. And keep living your life.

Pilates Retreat is located at 1010 West Exchange Parkway in Allen and offers Joseph Pilates-based Reformer and Mat instruction, contemporary Pilates programming and Infrared Hot Mat Pilates.