An on demand membership to go from burnt out on wellness to one of those freaks who actually looks forward to unrolling their mat every morning.
10 days free then $299.99/year
BEST DEAL (2 MONTHS FREE)
Returning after a break? Restart your annual membership here!
10 days free then $29.99/month
MOST POPULAR
Returning after a break? Restart your monthly membership here!
If you were conscious during the 90s and 2000s, you probably grew up thinking exercise was necessary (grueling) penance for eating a mall food court meal or the only way to get Britney’s famous ab lines.
But here’s what you might not know: No amount of willpower will help you stay consistent with exercise when you do it to punish and control your body…or when you do it because you think “If I just had (insert just-out-of-reach beauty standard) then I’d finally be able to appreciate my body.”
Planks don’t suck as much when your inner Regina George shuts tf up.
Working out doesn’t have to be all sunshine and rainbows — it literally has to be uncomfy at times to push us forward and progress, that’s called “muscle failure” and it’s importante — but it needn’t be LES MISERABLES.
In fact, working out isn’t about punishing your body into submission. It’s more like physical hygiene, à la brushing your teeth—a necessary daily practice that keeps you healthy and confident for a long time.
The best, longest lasting form of body confidence comes from impressing yourself with your new skills and strength…not from fitting into your high school jeans.
To every “7 Day To Flat Abs” challenge I see on the internet, I say: TO WHAT END??!?
Trying to achieve the “perfect body” is a lot like a game of whack-a-mole. Even if you manage to sculpt arms that would make Madonna jealous, there is always something else to edit and control.
Waiting to appreciate your body until you check every item on an infinite list is a recipe for a vicious cycle of incurable body dissatisfaction and frustration.
In contrast, the sense of pride and accomplishment you’ll feel when you realize you can rearrange your living room furniture in an ADHD fugue state without assistance, wear your dangerous, 1x a year heels on horrendously uneven sidewalks sans fear of rolling your ankle, or even carry your cowardly 80lb pit bull with a fear of shiny floors up to your 3rd floor walk up no problemo— will make you realize that your body is enough, just as it is.
Wellness is supposed to help you live your best life…not BE your whole life.
You can take your wellness routine seriously, as a pilates instructor, I certainly think you should!
But by placing so much pressure on yourself to adhere to an extremely rigid routine that you feel stressed or guilty about veering off course…it ceases to be healthy.
Your body doesn’t really care how you look in that dress…it does care if your stress levels shoot up because you’re being too hard on yourself.
It might sound counterintuitive…but cutting yourself some slack to be a full human being might be the thing that moves the needle towards progress, whatever that looks like for you, the most.
Multitasking by calming the mind & challenging the body means a stronger you, both mentally and physically.
Mindful movement doesn’t necessarily mean gentle stretching to tune of soulful sound baths. Don’t get me wrong — I get down with a good sound bath — but mindful exercise can also be rigorous and cathartic and make you sweat places you didn’t know you could sweat. (Without the side of self-flagellation we grew up with)
The combination of slow, intentional movements coupled with creative choreography keeps you engaged (both mentally in the space and in your abs 🥁 ba dum dum 🥁). Conscious cueing helps you get more out of every movement, improve your technique, and feel the strongest you’ve ever been …without all the diet-y noise.
The truth is, most busy women who rely on frustration with their appearance to get themselves to work out don’t feel any more confident even if they meet their aesthetic goals.
This isn’t their fault, the beauty industrial complex and it’s bestie diet culture have things set up for us in such a way that even if you DO manage to radically change your body (and btw — controlling our size outside of our natural weight set range is SO much harder than we were led to believe growing up, I’m sorry to say, the whole “calories in, calories out” thing was a farce)…the bar is continually raised.
As a certified pilates instructor of 10 years, I’m not gonna stand here and act like working out can’t change how we look, or wag my finger at you if that’s something that’s important to you. ( 🎶 I’ve been there too a few times…)
To be perfectly frank, I entered the fitness industry because I was in The Bad Place with my body image. In my life as a dancer, my whole identity was wrapped up in the way I looked. Working out was for the sole purpose of “sculpting” my body, and food was merely fuel that I tried to consume as little of as possible. I couldn’t have felt worse both mentally and physically, yet the dance and wellness industries praised this rigidity as virtuous “discipline”.
While my militant devotion to these habits may have appeared healthy from the outside, it actually heightened my anxiety, zapped my energy, and even prompted an over-exercising injury that forced me out of my dancing shoes.
I realized that obsession with being healthy is unhealthy. I had to find a way to reconcile my love of movement with my disinterest in participating in toxic wellness, and the Helen Phelan Studio was born. I now know after working with thousands of clients that if you want to maintain motivation to build a consistent movement practice and ultimately reap myriad health benefits, focusing on something other than changing the way you look is way to do it.
Hyperfixating on perceived imperfections begets more perceived imperfections, gets you stuck in the frustrated with your body→ unrealistic 0-60 approach to fitness → burnout → back to frustration cycle all over again.
A non-aesthetic approach makes exercise more effective and more enjoyable.
4 REASONS BUSY WOMEN FAIL TO MAINTAIN A REGULAR MOVEMENT PRACTICE
1) “It’s not possible to divest from diet culture while still wanting to work out, hard.”
Intuitive exercise is not simply luxurious stretching any more than intuitive eating is all donuts, all day. Not only is athletic movement not inherently representative of diet culture, I’d go so far as to say that high sensation exercise (you know the feeling like you’re walking on wet noodles after a slider lunge sequence) enhances body awareness, teaches you to listen to your body, and is an investment in both your mental health and your physical longevity.
Athletic and mindful movement, esp when paired with a teacher who gets it, is actually an invaluable tool to help you improve your relationship with your body— and that includes the hard stuff.
2) “If I let go of diet culture, I won’t have any motivation to turn off Netflix and actually move my body.”
There’s a reason 99% of the fitness industry uses shamey, fear mongering about bikini bodies and long, lean lines in their marketing: it sells!
But only to a point, before it inevitably fizzles. When you focus on performance, skill progression, and non-aesthetic benchmarks, you’re able to rely on yourself for lasting intrinsic motivation that doesn’t sway with your mood. More sustained motivation = more consistency = more results
3) “Exercise has to be 60 minutes of excruciating punishment, 7 days a week to be effective.”
Yes, your workout should definitely challenge you, but it turns out, viewing exercise as punishment makes it feel like…punishment. Finding a workout that challenges you physically without encouraging a transactional relationship with food makes you much more likely to stick with it even through majorly uncomfy abs series. People who show up regularly experience progress regularly.
4) “Body neutrality sounds nice…for other people. I can’t help but have weight loss and body change goals in mind for myself.”
Uncoupling movement from diet culture is a long process. The good news is, even if you’re still hesitantly keeping a toe dipped in diet culture land (which is totally human and normal btw), by participating in a body neutral training program that still delivers on athleticism and intensity, you get all the good stuff out of fitness with none of the bad. Over time, you’ll be able to see all the ways movement enhances your well-being that will make the long, lean lines of it all fade to the background.
If you’re looking for a 7 Day quick fix that promises a brand new body…HPS is not it.
If you want to transform your strength, mobility, balance, endurance, manage stress, up your energy, shift your relationship with fitness for the positive, and feel creative and engaged while doing it…
HPS is exactly what you’ve been looking for.
HELEN PHELAN STUDIO
Quick, fun daily practices to take you from resentful of your drawer of unworn Lululemons to eager to sweat any chance you get.
I’ve taken everything I learned in my years of professional dance training, my 10 years of experience teaching in the New York City’s most prestigious studios (and training a few celebs along the way), my numerous advanced movement and anatomy certifications, and my Institute of Integrative Nutrition Health Coach and Intuitive Eating Coach training to build the best virtual pilates membership to help women go from frustrated and dreading exercise to genuinely viewing it as one of the best parts of their day, even when it involves planks.
HOW HPS IS DIFFERENT
HPS classes are HARD, but not for the sake of being hard without rhyme or reason.
As a former professional dancer and daughter of a US Marine Corps officer, athleticism is in my blood, but the “no pain, no gain” is not. There’s always a why behind every movement we do. Sometimes the why is to get to muscle failure, and sometimes it’s “because it’s fun and interesting!”. Classes are for all levels, as I believe beginners should get the same benefits from a a tough workout as more experienced movers, even if it needs to be simpler choreographically to really click. All classes have progressions built in so you can push yourself or pull back as needed—and the platform helps you filter class by intensity to help you further personalize your practice.
HPS classes are cued using anatomical terms, body neutral language, and utilize super specific visuals to help you activate your muscles more effectively.
Highly descriptive cueing help make challenging exercise make sense in your body, and help you get work smarter, not harder. Learning the muscular terms for what you’re working, and why it’s important to your health to work it, also helps you integrate a functional, performance based mindset that moves you away from diet culture and an overly exaggerated focus on your appearance.
HPS classes range in length from 15-55 minutes, so you can make movement work for your life.
We’re all living different lives in different bodies with different schedules. HPS classes are clear, concise, and focused with most classes hitting around the 30 min mark, so you can get in, get out, and get on with your life. When your workouts are as packed with challenging, technical, creative sequences as HPS classes are, you don’t need to spend your whole life working out.
Slow and steady wins the race…and makes your muscles work even harder.
When I first started practicing intuitive eating and exercise, I often felt like “Great, here’s another thing I can’t be perfect at”. Unlearning a lifetime of diet culture messaging does not happen in a 7 day challenge. Choosing a fitness program that prioritizes health, function, and performance, over appearance, however, is a powerful way of making this unlearning a daily practice and investment that will ultimately help you rewire your brain for the positive in terms of self trust and body appreciation. Not to mention, countless studies have shown that an internal focus and a slow, intentional pace not only strengthens your mind/body connection, but increases the amount you can recruit muscle fibers. Fancy words for: you get stronger with less time and effort.
If you’re a pilates bébé who is mildly petrified of the sex dungeon looking contraptions at your local studio…
you’ll appreciate the Beginner Friendly classes that still make you sweat, but aren’t unnecessarily complicated and use minimal equipment.
If you’re an experienced boutique fitness connoisseur with zero time for workouts that don’t actually make you feel something…
you’ll be obsessed with the advanced sequences that make your muscle tremble so much even your neighbor’s chihuahua will be like…”Girl, r u ok??”
If you’re a bicoastal gal on the go…
the Travel Friendly collection of small space, zero equipment classes that make your own bodyweight feel like the heaviest spring on the reformer will become non-negotiable for you.
If you’re a tired mom without any time for yourself and complete confusion about what core workouts you should be doing to restore your core and pelvic floor…
you’ll love the Minis that take under 20 minutes to complete and the safe but challenging Prenatal/Postpartum collection I put together using my training as a Certified Prenatal & Postpartum Corrective Exercise Specialist.
If you are a fellow ADHD adult who needs a dopamine reward to accomplish anything…
you’ll find gamified, curated collections and challenges to help you stay consistent that don’t reek of false promises and diet talk.
STRESS FREE 10-DAY TRIAL
STRESS FREE 10-DAY TRIAL
If you’re still on the fence, you get 10 days of free workouts to see if HPS is right for you, so you can sign up and set a calendar alert to cancel in 10 days if you hate it…but I have a feeling you’ll be so obsessed with how strong you already feel, you won’t want to!
Here’s what an HPS membership gets you…
Brand new workouts every. single. week.
Unlimited access to an always growing library 400+ on demand pilates, cardio, stretch, and mindfulness classes
Curated challenges and class collections to take the guesswork out of fitness and gamify your practice
A bespoke class filter system to help you intuitively choose workouts based on duration, equipment, intensity, and anatomical focus
20% discount on virtual private sessions and workshops
Here’s what happens the moment you hit subscribe…
10 days free then $29.99/month
MOST POPULAR
Returning after a break? Restart your monthly membership here!
10 days free then $299.99/year
BEST DEAL (2 MONTHS FREE)
Returning after a break? Restart your annual membership here!
FAQs
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The good news is you’re already on the ground! The beauty of on demand workouts, IMO is since you’re home alone in your living room, no one cares!
This is a treat opp to separate performing fitness from doing fitness. And btw classes are structured as progressions which means I’ll always offer multiple options, so you can build confidence in movements that feel more familiar, and progress at your own pace.
Personally, I feel that listening to your body and choosing to modify is the sign of a truly advanced mover and nothing makes me giddier than hearing about how you tailor each class to work for YOUR body.
A client of mine recently posted “I really appreciate how attentive Helen is, as she always has multiple versions of a move, which makes classes feel like a safe space and she gives the best cues.”
BRB CRYING!!!
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TBH, I’m literally that person and I watch my own videos for my personal workouts. 🤷♀️
Even if you’re already super into your workouts, there’s nothing like being able to dedicate your brain powers to feeling the movement and not deciding what comes next.
In fact, I have a client who is a fellow pilates instructor who recently said ”I can't say enough about HPS. I’d recommend Helen to anyone, regardless of where they are in their fitness journey. She has a unique ability to make you feel comfortable, empowered, and capable and I'm grateful to have her as my Pilates instructor.”
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I hate that too. UGH.
And for that reason, I always cue using anatomical terminology. Talking about muscles from an anatomical, not aesthetic standpoint to help you cultivate a more neutral relationship with your bod and movement and bonus, helps you understand your own body better!
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I think so! That’s honestly the main reason why I created HPS. I looked around and couldn’t seem to find a workout that did it all. There were plenty of feel good mindful movement classes that were pleasant but didn’t make me sweat— and there were endless hardcore gym bro vibe workouts that were so incredibly eye roll-y or toxic that I couldn’t deal.
HPS splits the difference and delivers athletic workouts without the diet culture narrative.
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All bodies respond differently to food and exercise. Without knowing about your specific genetic predisposition, access to healthy food, and socioeconomic standing, it’d be not only impossible for me to tell you that across the interwebs, but pretty skeezy, too. And if you’re looking for someone to lie to you and promise something that’s just not physically possible for some people (and also not really correlated with health at all— appearance is not a behavior), then, well, bonne chance out there! 🫡
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It’s an unsexy answer, but an honest one: it depends.
The more practice you get taking care of yourself and the more regular dopamine hits you get FROM taking care of yourself, and the more restructuring of your previous thought patterns you do, the more you’ll be able to helps cultivate self trust and pride in your body.
It’s a process, but it absolutely does happen if you’re patient with yourself.
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Most HPS classes are under 30 minutes because we’ve got things to do and people to see!
I’m a big fan of fitness, obvi, but fitness should never be someone’s whole life. I make sure my classes take you to muscle failure quickly, so you can get on with your life.
The HPS method also beautifully supports other modalities and sports, so you’ll notice the difference in your tennis serve and your ski swerves right away.
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HPS is based on the fact that it’s a lot easier to get something done when you don’t hate it. The nicer you are to yourself when you workout will make you hate the whole thing less.
Extrinsic motivation (relying on being perceived) is powerful, but it’s intrinsic motivation (having your own legitimate reasons to keep you going) is where it’s at in terms of sustained, long term consistency.
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Hey, I get it. I love studios!
But life does not always make it possible to hit a studio— it’s extra commute, it’s way more money, and it’s someone else’s schedule. IMO, done is better than perfect, so, even if a luxurious boutique studio with Kiehl’s soap and Diptyque candles is your idealized fitness experience, having HPS to help you maintain and upkeep without the fancy accoutrement is way more manageable and means you’ll see and feel more results.
And hey, with your extra $$$, you can buy yourself the damn Diptyque candle.
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Youtube is great. But you’re a lot more likely to waste 15 of your 30 minutes alotted to fitness scrolling through creators, and Xing out of videos that annoy you halfway through.
I am a highly specialized and highly trained certification collector, so you know my classes are safe, effective, and hard, plus the HPS platform offers curated challenges, and bespoke filters to help you zero in on the right class for you right away.
And not for nothing…even though HPS is super affordable, there’s a way different energy around something you’ve invested moolah in than something your consuming for free when it comes time to holding yourself accountable to actually DO the classes.
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I’m a comprehensively certified pilates instructor with over 600 hours of specialized pilates training and ten years of experience teaching in NYC.
I fell in love with pilates as the TA for the Somatic Theory courses while I was in college studying dance and psychology, and was hooked.
I’ve trained in prenatal/postpartum corrective exercise, pilates for the elderly, pilates for scoliosis, functional anatomy for movement injuries, pilates for back pain…the list goes on! You can check out more info on certifications I’ve done here.
More important that what a pilates nerd I am, I know how toxique working out for the sole purpose of “sculpting” can get. Back in my dancing days, I was the epitome of the “no days off” type that makes my eyes roll back in my head so much now.
The scariest thing about it was that my militant devotion to wellness may have appeared healthy from the outside, but it actually heightened my anxiety, zapped my energy, and even prompted an over-exercising injury that forced me to stop dancing.
I had to find a way to reconcile my love of movement with my disinterest in participating in toxic wellness, and Helen Phelan Studio was born.
10 days free then $29.99/month
MOST POPULAR
Returning after a break? Restart your monthly membership here!
10 days free then $299.99/year
BEST DEAL (2 MONTHS FREE)
Returning after a break? Restart your annual membership here!
HPS perfect for you if you…
love the feeling of working HARD in your workouts but don’t want to be hard on yourself
get bored easily with your workouts
need time for yourself to slow down without sacrificing results
feel apprehensive about doing pilates online because you’re unsure about technique
have need workouts that actually work and actually fit into your busy schedule
you’re a fitness expert who wants to pick and choose workouts when you feel like it
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’re ready to join Helen Phelan Studio!
10 days free then $29.99/month
MOST POPULAR
Returning after a break? Restart your monthly membership here!
10 days free then $299.99/year
BEST DEAL (2 MONTHS FREE)
Returning after a break? Restart your annual membership here!