We built this space for the people who share your obsession.
Our members are in more than 70 countries. Some of you are three weeks into Foundations Mat, some of you have been with us since the week the app launched, and some of you teach Pilates yourselves. What connects you is the method, and that gives you plenty to talk about.
Here you can ask a question about an exercise, tell people you finally got through week four, or cheer someone else on. Sara and the team are in here too.
These guidelines explain what we expect from everyone, so the space stays worth being in. They apply everywhere in the community: cohort discussions, comments, reactions, profiles, display names and photos, and any direct connection between members.
The short version
Be generous. Be kind. Share what has worked for you, instead of what you think someone else should do with their body. Keep other people’s information private. Leave the selling outside.
If something here makes you uncomfortable, report it. We read every report.
1. Look after each other
This community works because members show up for people they have never met.
Yes, please: Ask questions at any level. Nobody here started out knowing what a neutral spine was. Answer generously, from your own experience. Celebrate other people’s milestones, including the small ones. Disagree if you want to. People teach and practise differently and that is worth talking about.
Not here: Personal attacks, name-calling, mockery, or pile-ons. Harassment of any member, including following someone across the community to keep having a go at them. Hate speech, sexual harassment, unwanted sexual attention, or continued contact after someone has asked you to stop.
Disagreeing with someone is fine. Being contemptuous of them is not.
2. Share your experience, not medical advice
This is the one we ask you to take most seriously. Many of our members are working around something that affects how they move. You are very welcome here, and you are welcome to talk about how you adapt your practice.
What you should not do is tell another member what might be wrong with them, or what they should do about it.
Fine: “I modify that one by keeping my head down, my neck complains otherwise.” “I asked my physio about that exercise before I started the program.” “That cue never made sense to me either until week three.”
Not fine: Diagnosing anybody, including guessing at what an injury or pain sounds like. Prescribing exercises, rehab protocols, stretches or loading for someone else’s injury or condition. Telling someone to push through pain, or that pain is normal. Recommending supplements, medications, weight-loss drugs, or any other treatment.
If you have a medical question, ask a health practitioner who can actually see you. If you have a question about the programs or an exercise, ask Sara or the team and we will answer it.
Members who are qualified instructors or clinicians: we are glad you are here, and these rules still apply to you. You are not this person’s practitioner, you cannot see them move, and the rest of the room cannot tell your credentials from anyone else’s.
3. Respect everyone’s privacy
Do not share another member’s personal information: full name, location, workplace, contact details, or anything else they have not chosen to share themselves. Do not post photos or video of anyone who has not agreed to it.
4. No selling, no promoting
This space is not a marketplace. That means no promoting your own business, studio, classes, app, program, product or affiliate links. No recruiting members into anything, including other fitness programs, MLMs, coaching offers, or challenges. No promoting competing Pilates apps or programs.
This applies to our instructor members too. You are here as a member, the same as everyone else. If you want to work with us, email hello@pilatesobsession.com rather than posting.
5. What is never allowed
Some things we act on straight away, without a warning first: threats of violence, content that encourages violence, sexual content or nudity involving a minor, and content that encourages self-harm, suicide, disordered eating, or extreme restriction. We report child safety matters to the relevant authorities.
Also prohibited: sale or promotion of illegal or regulated goods, including drugs, weight-loss medication, and prescription items; impersonating Sara, the Pilates Obsession team, or another member; scams, phishing, spam, bots, or attempts to get money or account details; and sharing or reselling Pilates Obsession content, including workout videos, program files, or your login.
6. Reporting, hiding and blocking
You do not have to put up with anything in here, and you do not have to wait for us before you act. Tap the three dots on any post or comment and choose to report it. You can choose from spam, hate speech, inappropriate, misleading or harmful information, or other.
Reports are private. The person you report is not told who reported them.
If the problem is the person rather than one comment, report the member instead. When you do, we hide their content from you and block them at the same time, so you do not have to keep seeing them while we look into it. Blocked members cannot see your activity or contact you, and you will not see theirs.
Everyone you have blocked, and everything you have hidden, sits in your app settings. You can look at that list whenever you like and unblock someone if you change your mind. You can leave any group from the group screen, and rejoin later if you want to. Leaving is a perfectly reasonable thing to do and nobody is notified.
7. What we do with reports
A real person on the Pilates Obsession team reads every report. Moderators are marked with a badge in the app, so you can always tell who is staff. We aim to review reports within one business day, and we deal with anything involving safety, threats or child protection as fast as we possibly can.
Depending on what we find, we may leave the content up, remove it, talk to the member privately, or remove their access. We take context into account: someone asking a clumsy question in good faith is not the same as someone being deliberately cruel. We will not always be able to tell you the outcome of a report about another member, because of their privacy. That does not mean nothing happened.
8. If you break these guidelines
Most of the time a quiet word is the end of it. Where it is not, this is roughly how we escalate: we remove the content and let you know why; issue a formal warning; temporarily suspend community access; or permanently remove access.
For anything in section 5 we go straight to permanent removal, and where it is warranted we contact the authorities. Losing community access does not cancel your membership or access to the workouts and programs, and does not entitle you to a refund. Your subscription continues under our usual Terms of Service.
9. Talk to us
If something is not covered here, or you are unsure, ask us at hello@pilatesobsession.com. These guidelines will change as the community grows. We will let you know when they do.