“I really wanted to create and cultivate a space that people could come in and take care of themselves,” Sowyrda said. “We are a Pilates studio, but we are trying to really bring the community together to have more of a wellness sanctuary.”
Sowyrda’s experience as a mother is built right into the studio, with a space for children to play while their parent works out, to a range of small-group fitness classes. The center is also home to a boutique stocked with clothing, home products, locally sourced juice and elderberry syrup.
While the studio normally offers Pilates, rebound and align, barre, yoga and suspension training classes, stay-at-home orders due to the coronavirus brought in-person sessions to a halt in mid-March. Instead, the studio began offering live classes every day via Zoom, a videoconferencing app, during the outbreak.
“I think [the virus] is really going to change people’s mindsets on how they view health and wellness and getting their movement in,” she said. “We just want to keep them moving whether they’re in the studio or not.”
Sowyrda also launched an on- demand video program, where people can subscribe and access prerecorded workout videos that clients can follow in the comfort of their homes. Although the videos came from needing to keep her business operating during the virus, Sowyrda said the programs will continue after the studio reopens.
Since the studio opened in May 2019, Sowyrda said the sense of community the studio has created has been amazing, with members supporting one another along their journey. Sowyrda said she now feels her studio’s mission to become a one-stop shop for health and wellness services in Kingwood is as important as ever.
“It’s been really fun ... seeing everyone let go for even an hour of what’s been going on,” she said. “It’s almost like you’re back in the studio.”
Vessel Pilates
21 N. Main St., Kingwood
281-913-5385
www.vesselpilates.com
Class hours: Mon.-Fri. 8:30 a.m.-1:30p.m., Sat. 9 a.m.-noon, closed Sun.*
*Business hours are not applicable during the coronavirus outbreak.
