Accessibility and Representation in the Wellness Industry

This is a call for people with disabilities to participate and work in the health and wellness industry. We need disability represented in the fitness space. 

Why aren’t people with disabilities participating in yoga, Zumba, Pilates, and personal training? 

They might not believe that it’s within their capability. 

They don’t see other instructors with disabilities on YouTube, on Instagram, or in Pilates studios. 

They don’t believe that they can do it.

If you take a look at most wellness websites, you’ll see stock photos of slender and strong, non-disabled instructors doing intermediate exercises, reinforcing the idea that Pilates is only for people who are flexible and fit. Many people believe yoga, Pilates, Zumba and other forms of exercise are for people who are already flexible, strong, and athletic. This is a common assumption: many people believe that they’ll be unable to do Pilates because they’re inflexible or injured.

My Pilates Practice 

I started practising Pilates in 2008 at the recommendation of my massage therapist, who told me that massages were a waste of money if I didn’t exercise regularly. I didn’t like going to the gym, so Pilates became my primary form of exercise. 

My first career was as a books journalist and social media manager. I worked in Winnipeg, Toronto, and London, England for magazines and book publishers. The career was demanding and stressful. I was the first person to get into the office in the morning and the last one to leave. I was chained to the social media accounts every minute of the day. After a year in London, when my work visa expired, I moved home to Winnipeg, starting and losing a new job within six weeks. The day that I lost that job, I made the decision to close that chapter of my life and start a new career. I wasn’t sure what I would do, but I knew that I no longer wanted to work in an industry where I felt I could never measure up. 

The next day, I went to my Pilates class. My instructor asked me, ‘How’s work?’ I said, ‘Oh, they dumped me. I don’t know what I’m going to do.’ She asked, ‘Do you want to be a Pilates instructor?’ Without hesitation, and jumping at the chance, I replied, ‘Yes!’ 

I knew right away that I wanted to work with people with disabilities, to help people the way my instructors had helped me.

Accessibility Factors 

My doctor had recommended Pilates as a form of disability management over a decade ago, and now, I have the distinction of being the only person worldwide certified by Merrithew (a company that trains Pilates instructors) to have cerebral palsy. I would like that to change.  

We need more people with cerebral palsy, limb loss, traumatic brain injuries, and other visible disabilities working as Pilates instructors, personal trainers, yoga teachers, Zumba teachers, and spin class instructors. Disability shouldn’t be the thing that prevents someone from working or participating in the wellness industry. It should be the reason why they enter the industry, especially to help people who are in similar situations that they’ve been in. Many of my clients started their Pilates classes with me and have told me that they wouldn’t work with a non-disabled instructor because they’d be too intimidated. They stay with me because my disability makes me less intimidating to them. They have more faith that because I can do Pilates and teach Pilates, that they’d be able to as well. 

I’ve been working with a client for over two years who came to me after she’d had a stroke and been in several car accidents. She needed help with her balance. She progressed quickly and has better balance and stronger muscles than ever before, and carries herself with more confidence and assuredness than she used to. She credits Pilates with much faster recovery following pain, injury, or setbacks from previous health concerns. 

A client came in with whiplash from a boating accident. She also had a knee injury six years prior. She’d fallen off her bike and broken her knee. After six months of near-daily Pilates classes - in the studio and over Zoom - the pain from the whiplash resolved and, for the first time since her accident, she could sit cross-legged comfortably. This hadn’t happened with any other form of exercise. She’d been very skeptical about Pilates, thinking that, because she was a runner, she didn’t need anything else. Pilates helped her rehabilitate herself and regain function in her body in a way she never anticipated that it would. 

I have also progressed hugely in my own Pilates practice in the last two years. I have resolved chronic back pain by developing stronger ab and bum muscles, and I have better balance than I’ve ever had. I’m able to catch myself if I slip or stumble and, in the last two years, I’ve only had one fall outside in the wintertime. My whole life, as soon as it snowed, I would fall every day, often more than once. 

Pilates is not difficult, time-consuming, painful, or prohibitively expensive. Start with one class per week and build up to two or three over time, complementing the work with other exercise, like walking, cycling, swimming, or yoga. One group Pilates class per week costs $20, and you can use Pilates to prevent injuries that could be far more expensive to treat down the line. If an exercise hurts, an instructor will offer modifications to make it more comfortable - that’s their job. 

The Importance Of Representation 

A few months ago, a client contacted me, sharing that she wanted to do Pilates but was afraid that, because of her size and arthritic pain, studios would reject her. I realized that, if she believed that a studio would turn her down, other people believed the same.

 She showed me all the Pilates websites of the studios in her hometown, and nowhere was there any mention of rehab Pilates, disability access, size inclusivity, or modifications for beginners. I immediately hopped onto Facebook live and chatted about the need for all bodies to be represented in the industry, especially on websites and social media when people don’t know anything about Pilates and want to learn more about it. 

One service that does this brilliantly is Pilates On Demand, a streaming service where anyone interested can take classes online. They are passionate about all forms of representation, and their clients represent all bodies types and abilities. They reached out to me last year to have me teach both disability-adaptive classes and prenatal classes, and they’re committed to making a difference in the wellness space. 

My disability affects my movement, posture, and balance. After a year of consistent Pilates classes, my pelvis untwisted, my foot stopped clunking when I moved, the huge curve in my spine diminished, and I carried myself differently. I was more confident and surer of myself than I had ever been. I found something I loved to do, and I looked forward to my classes. I always say that my tombstone will read, ‘She Died Alone On Her Reformer, With Her Feet In The Straps, Surrounded By Her Props, Books, and Dyson HairDryer, While Blaring Billie Eilish.’ 

Now, as an instructor, I get to see and experience similar successes with my clients.

Pilates is adaptable for any fitness level, ability, or size. 

My own progress and my clients’ progress is proof of that. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Norah Myers is the only person worldwide certified by STOTT PILATES to have cerebral palsy. That needs to change. She is passionate about disability representation and wellness. 

Learn more about Pilates and how it may help you at wellnessbynorah.com

Explore Possible

This blog post is part of Explore Possible, an initiative by Manitoba Possible to amplify stories, perspectives about disability, accessibility, and inclusion.

Read more at manitobapossible.ca/explore-possible or continue on to our latest posts by clicking the titles and arrows in the bottom corners!