Aileen May

Aileen May

Qualifications: Balanced Body Comprehensive Pilates Certified

Hi, I’m Aileen, a recent transplant to London from Chicago. After working in various office environments and discovering what effect being seated in front of a computer all day had the mind and body, I decided to radically shift careers and I began my comprehensive Pilates training in 2009. With sixteen years of professional teaching experience, I have worked with a wide range of clients — including those navigating scoliosis, post-surgical recovery, multiple sclerosis, and complex injury rehabilitation. My approach blends classical and contemporary Pilates, honouring tradition not as fixed doctrine but as a living system that invites inquiry, adaptation, and responsibility.

In 2018 I opened my own Pilates studio in Chicago, with accessibility in teaching at the forefront of its mission. I believe that rigor and accessibility are not opposites- thoughtful progressions and intelligent challenge allow Pilates to be both demanding and inclusive, with accessibility emerging as an outcome of precision rather than a dilution of it. There is no right body or singular way of moving, and I find it a genuine privilege to help each person develop a deeper understanding of their own body, so they can move with greater clarity and feel more at home in themselves.

Recently relocated to London, I bring a background that extends beyond the studio: I trained in classical ballet and have a deep love of theatre, dance, and music that informs how I think about movement, presence, and the body in space. When not in the studio, I can be found attending the theater and other live performances, always on a quest for consumption of the arts.