I don’t certify Pilates instructors
Words are everything in my work.
As a Pilates teacher, the right ones can guide someone through a complex, nuanced movement series with confidence and ease — chosen poorly, they can leave that same person injured, defeated, or simply confused.
Since I decided to bring the EYT™ Pilates Teacher Training curriculum to upstate New York, I’ve been paying close attention to the language we use around training in the industry. Specifically, the choice of words between “certification” and “teacher training” when it comes to qualifying new teachers.
Photo courtesy of EYT™
Instructor Certification vs. Teacher Training
When aspiring teachers first mention an interest in learning to teach Pilates they often say they are looking into “getting certified.”
I get why. They know they need a certification (usually) before they can start teaching. So the focus becomes on getting that certification — often as quickly and cheaply as possible.
I had an intro call recently with a young college student interested in my upcoming Pilates mat teacher training course. After following a few Pilates influencer/instructors on TikTok, she decided it sounded like a fun job.
She’d never taken Pilates before. Not a single class. After a little more digging, I realized she thought getting a Pilates qualification was akin to a Zumba certification: Take a quick seminar, learn a few pre-choreographed routines, start instructing the next day.
This student’s mind was focused (by her own admission) on cute athleisure sets, fire playlists, sculpted arms, and post-class matchas. That is, after all, what some corners of social media would have you believe being a Pilates instructor is all about.
Photo courtesy of EYT™
I don’t require auditions for my teacher training program (that’s a topic for another blog post). I don’t officially have a pre-requisite for enrolling in my mat-only course. I welcome anyone who genuinely wants to learn.
But ethically, I will never encourage someone to invest in teacher training they don’t understand what they’re committing to. If I don’t think it’s the right fit for them, I will be totally honest and say so.
So, I walked my prospective Trainee through the process of becoming a certified EYT™ Pilates Mat teacher.
Four In-person seminars: Your journey begins with four full days together. We’ll learn, move, laugh, and work through the “why” behind every exercise.
Practice teaching: After those seminars, you immediately start practice teaching on your fellow trainees, friends, and family members. Accumulating enough practice hours can take months, depending on your schedule. You can’t rush this process. It’s essential for sharpening your skills and confidence.
Self-practice: You “teach” yourself all the exercises. Memorize their set ups, notice how they feel in your body, familiarize yourself with the orders used for various levels.
Observation: Watch other teachers’ classes. Learn from their mistakes and their wins. Ask them questions. Steal their cues.
Final Test: Only once you’ve done all of the above do you take your final test out which involves a written and practical exam to show your new knowledge in action. Once you meet the rigorous standards set by EYT, you pass and get that certificate.
Altogether, the program is 100 hours of work. And that’s only for the Mat module. If you want to continue to the comprehensive training you do all that again for the equipment modules (reformer, chair etc.).
Why?
Because I don’t want to just “certify” instructors.
I want to train teachers. Good ones.
My commitment as a Pilates educator
If you pay me to train you to teach Pilates: I’m going to teach you to the best of my knowledge and ability. I’ll support you so you graduate prepared to lead effective classes that keep people coming back because Pilates, well taught, works.
You’ll look at that framed certification on the wall with a whole new level of pride knowing it means something. You earned it.
That prospective trainee did end up signing up for the course, but only after she came to a few of my Pilates classes. She started to familiarize herself with the original Pilates mat work online and discovered it’s actually even more fun and challenging than she expected.
She could have chosen a quicker, easier program that was happy to take her money in a heartbeat. She could have just paid for a Pilates certification.
Instead, she’s getting a full rigorous Pilates teaching education. It just happens to involve getting a certification credential along the way.
There's a difference between getting certified and becoming a great teacher. If you want the latter, I'd love to work with you.
Apply here to join my fall 2026 cohort in Geneseo, NY.