By Javacia Harris Bowser | For The Birmingham Times
When I heard about The Pilates Dwelling, I was eager to check out a Black woman-owned studio. I attended my first class at TPD on a frigid December morning, but about halfway through the session, I’d started to sweat.
TPD is owned by Kennedi Spurling, who opened the boutique Pilates studio in downtown Birmingham in October of 2025. While Pilates is a practice that’s about being mindful of your form – your core, your spine, and more – Spurling wanted a place that fostered something deeper.
Though I’ve been practicing Pilates for a couple of years now, I opted for the beginner level Foundations class just in case TPD style was different from what I was used to. Smart choice. The first thing I noticed was that the Reformers at TPD looked different from the ones at my home studio. (A Pilates Reformer is a multi-functional, bed-style piece of equipment with a sliding carriage, springs, straps, and a footbar, that’s used for strengthening, stretching, and balancing and provides adjustable resistance and support for total body workouts.)
Though both the Reformer and the sequences of the moves of the Foundations class were different from what I’ve grown accustomed to, Spurling and the other women in the class made sure I always knew what to do. When needed, Spurling gently corrected my form. The woman to my left showed me how to adjust the springs on the Reformer. The woman to my right made me feel welcome with smiles and casual conversation before class started.
“I think that people come into this space and they feel so much love for me from the time that they walk in the door that they just want to give it to other people,” Spurling said when asked about the warm and welcoming atmosphere of the studio.
In TPD Foundations class, we performed the exercises with slow intention, and Spurling offered modifications for nearly every move. While the slow pace helps with mindfulness, it doesn’t make the moves easy. Slowing down an exercise brings a greater test of balance and strength. But the playlist kept me going. When Beyonce’s Coachella performance of “Diva” came through the speakers, my muscles got the energy boost they needed to press on!
The thing I love most about Pilates is that it forces me to be where my feet are. This is the case no matter what studio I visit. When I’m practicing Pilates, I’m fully focused on the moves my body is making, so there’s no room for worrying about work, family matters, or anything else.
“With the way that lives are just so busy these days for each and every person, I feel like having that moment for presence, for just you, is super important,” Spurling said, adding that she believes the mind-to-muscle connection encouraged in Pilates can be useful beyond the studio.
“I think that as people take that principle of intentionality from here and really learn what intentionality means, they can leave and apply it in different areas,” she said.
For years, there has been conversation online and beyond about a lack of diversity within Pilates, even though Kathleen Stanford Grant, a Black dancer and choreographer, studied directly under Joseph Pilates and taught the Pilates method for more than 50 years. She also created Before the Hundred, a technique designed to prepare the body for the Pilates exercises. In the Pilates world, Grant is not only considered a first-generation Pilates teacher but is also revered as a pioneer and innovator.
At The Pilates Dwelling, I found myself in a class of all Black women for the first time. But Spurling stressed that The Pilates Dwelling is a place for all.
“My focus was really more so on creating a community that would make each and every person that walks through these doors feel loved and feel seen and feel valued,” she said. “When you come here, you can be Black, Brown, blue, white, gray, purple, red and we’re going to love on you. We’re going to make you feel heard, and you can leave here with that sense that you belong no matter where it is that you go.”
The Pilates Dwelling is located at 212 20th St N Suite 203, Birmingham, AL 35203. Learn more at www.thepilatesdwelling.com.
Javacia Harris Bowser is an award-winning freelance journalist and essayist and the founder of See Jane Write.
