CRAB LEGS 🦀 & CHATURANGAS 🧘🏽:
THE PEARL blog
BRAVE ENOUGH TO TRY
"You'll never do a whole lot unless you're brave enough to try."
- Dolly Parton
We try to live by that mantra here at The Pearl. And this month, we're doing a whole lot. Two patron saints of womankind, Dolly Parton and Gloria Steinem, left us recently. Opposite sides of the same coin, both spent their lives being unmistakably, bravely themselves, and taught generations of women the same lesson in a way that was uniquely their own.
A BuzzFeed quiz predicted this...
Before social media scrolling was a thing, in the golden age of BuzzFeed quizzes, when we were invested in finding out "Which Sex and the City Character Are You" or "Which Hogwarts House Do You Actually Belong In," I remember taking one called something like "Which Bronx Neighborhood Should You Live In?" At the time, I wasn't living in the Bronx. I had no plans to move to the Bronx. I don't remember why I clicked it, but I do remember the result:
WE SPEND A LOT OF TIME TOGETHER
One of the best things about my job is that I get a front-row seat to some pretty incredible people.
Some of you have been with us since opening day. Some of you joined yesterday. Some of you have hit your 400th class! Some of you have run marathons, made art, climbed mountains, raised kids, started businesses, switched careers, or have hobbies that deserve their own documentary.
SCHEDULE TETRIS
It's still summer, no question about it - the beaches are packed, the skunks are partying under our porches, and if you're lucky you've got one more trip left on the calendar. But right behind that, everyone's already prepping for fall. Teachers are setting up classrooms. Parents are buying out Target's back-to-school department. Broadway's gearing up for a new season. And over here at The Pearl, we're doing the exact same thing.
LEARNING TO FLOAT
My suitcases sat open on the living room for two full days, half unpacked, half being actively ignored, the way you ignore a problem you know is going to take twenty minutes but somehow still don't have twenty minutes for. This morning I finally hit a wall - not because anything was actually wrong, just the low-grade chaos of being back, partially still in Greece-brain but also needing to immediately function like an adult again.
We took The Pearl to Amorgos 🇬🇷
I'm writing to you from Amorgos, Greece, where somehow we're already reaching the final days of our very first retreat. I'm sitting on my hotel balcony, overlooking little bright white buildings against a mountain backdrop, the clear sparkling sea in front of them, and the expansive blue sky above.
HI FROM GREECE 🇬🇷
Our very first international retreat is about to get underway - an incredible group of people who decided to press pause on regular life for a week, to move and swim and eat well and pay attention to themselves for longer than a lunch break allows.
THE PLACES THAT REARRANGE US
Yesterday, my daughter officially learned to ride a bike.
One second she's wobbling, yelling "don't let go" over her shoulder, the next she's twenty feet ahead of us, laughing, flying on her own.
It happened on Martha's Vineyard, which feels like a Spielbergian dream location to reach a childhood milestone.
EFFORTLESS IS A LIE SOMEONE WORKED VERY HARD TO TELL YOU
I’ve sunk deeep into my couch at 11pm, wearing the same leggings I taught in seventeen hours earlier, watching a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader talk about a panic attack she had in the locker room - full hair and makeup, sequins catching the light, telling a camera crew things she might not even tell her own mother - and I have not moved in forty minutes. This is America's Sweethearts. This show is one of the most personally riveting things I've watched about female ambition in years.
MOVING TOGETHER FOR VENEZUELA 💛💙❤️
There are days when we move to get stronger. Or unstuck. Or to finally touch our toes.
And there are days when we move to show up for each other and be together.
One of the things I love most about The Pearl is that we're a community made up of people from all over the world. From the Far East to the East River and everywhere in between, every teacher, every front desk staff member, every client brings a piece of somewhere else with them.
SUMMER’S LOOKIN PRETTY GOOD AROUND HERE ☀️
Every time I think we've settled into a routine, someone comes along with an exciting new idea. A new class. A new teacher. A workshop. A meditation series. An outdoor event. Suddenly the calendar starts growing again.
Summer is starting to look like one of those seasons.
So here's what's new around the studios...
THE PILATES POLICE 🚔
Spend enough time on social media and you'll eventually conclude that every exercise is dangerous, every cue is problematic, every variation is wrong, and every teacher besides the person making the video should probably have their certification revoked immediately. Yes, it’s possible to get injured in Pilates, yoga, and other low-impact mobilities. But I’ve also hurt myself trying to fight my way out of a sports bra.
THE LEAST QUALIFIED PERSON IN THE ROOM
After four cohorts of teacher training, I've noticed a pattern. At some point during the program, almost everyone becomes convinced that they are the least qualified person in the room, and that everyone else belongs there more than they do.
But if I could collect their worries on little folded up scraps of paper and mix them up in a Yankees cap, nobody would know whose was whose when I read them out loud.
I don't know enough. I've never done anything like this before. Everyone else seems more prepared. What if I suck?
I FORGOT THAT I REMEMBERED
Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, wondering if I can still pull off eyeliner, I realized I'd morphed into full-on Sporty Spice.
Somewhere between opening two studios, teaching classes, answering emails, moving reformers, and chasing around a small child, I've fully committed to a lifestyle in which 95% of my wardrobe contains lycra
THE VOLUME KNOB
A few days ago, I guess I threw my back out. I wish I had a cooler story. 🫠
I wasn’t carrying anyone out of a burning building or lifting a car off a child. I wasn't attempting any Herculean feat that would at least make for a good cautionary tale. I was demonstrating something in class.
SUMMER ROUTINES
This time of year, routines tend to get a bit wobbly. The weather is finally nice, the days stretch longer, we start traveling more, making plans after work, eating dinner outside at 9pm, generally remembering that we have lives beyond our inboxes.
LONGER DAYS, LIGHTER LAYERS
These are some of my favorite few days of the year - when the temps climb high for the first time, and New Yorkers collectively remember how hot they are 🔥🔥🔥 The short shorts and the sundresses and the tank tops and sandals and pedicures come out to PLAY. The energy in the city shifts completely. The evenings stretch longer, people linger outside instead of rushing straight home, and suddenly everyone is sitting on stoops and carrying giant iced coffees around like the Olsen twins.
FINDING YOUR FLOW 🌊
I was first introduced to yoga in high school through the 90s sitcom Dharma & Greg. Dharma, the free-spirited, quirky yoga teacher, embodied the 'yoga person' stereotype - zen, laid-back, and a bit unconventional. Back then, yoga seemed like something only hippies or eccentric types did, but I was intrigued. As a budding theatre geek and aspiring New Yorker, I was psyched the day my gym teacher turned out the lights and popped in a yoga video and I got to be like Dharma. I remember watching and clumsily following the moves of a group of women in sky-blue leotards as they practiced on sand dunes. I think we need to start bringing those French-cut leotards back 🤔
WHEN THE FAMILIAR BECOMES FOREIGN: Perinatal Yoga in a New Body
At The Pearl, we’re proud to offer the only weekly perinatal yoga classes in The Bronx. Offering perinatal is so important to us because we know how essential it is for expectant and new moms to have a space where they feel supported and connected during a life-changing time. Perinatal yoga teaches more than just movement - it’s about connection, about acknowledging the fullness of this stage of life. We’re here to help you find your strength, not just in your muscles, but in your spirit, because motherhood doesn’t ask for perfection, only presence.
MASTERING THE MOMENT: six “core” principals of pilates
If there’s one workout that seems tailor-made for type-A personalities, it’s Pilates. The drive for perfection, the pursuit of precision, the obsession with getting every detail exactly right. In a practice where quality trumps quantity every time, Pilates offers an endless opportunity to refine, adjust, and focus on the minutiae of each movement.