My Body Care Routine: The Pilates Class co-founder Jacqui Kingswell on her day and night rituals

After a professional career as a dancer, Kingswell became a Pilates instructor and eventually co-founded The Pilates Class in May 2020. Now a leader of the multi-million-dollar company, Kingswell is working to destigmatize fitness and share the benefits of movements with thousands of people every day.

“I always had movement in my life, which was nourishing for my body and also for my mind and soul,” Kingswell told Glossy. “From a young age, I was taught that movement is enjoyable and it fuels you.”

For Kingswell, that has long included some form of Pilates. When she was introduced to Pilates by her dance instructor at 12 years old, it changed the way she viewed her body’s well-being, she said. She learned that, when you listen to your body and give it what it needs, whether it’s meditation or an intense workout, you will feel the difference from the inside out.

Pilates, a boutique fitness method, was created by Joseph Pilates in the early 1920s and focuses on three principles: breath, whole-body health and whole-body commitment. The whole-body element encompasses mind, body and spirit. According to health and wellness publication Healthline, the benefits of Pilates expand far beyond building strength, flexbility and mobility. The discipline, which includes intentional body movement and breathing, forces the brain to slow down, concentrate and be present, which can oftentimes encourage mindfulness. Pilates is quickly increasingly growing in popularity — in 2021, 9.75 million people participated in the activity.

And as Kingswell discovered during her Pilates journey, practicing Pilates regularly promotes internal benefits such as a boost in mood and confidence, an increase in energy, improvements in the immune system and an enhancement of body awareness.

“With Pilates, along with the movement, there’s also a lot of breath work within the class that helps with your mental clarity,” she said. “If you have any stress or anxiety, [Pilates] can bring down your nervous system. At the end of every [TPC] class, we always do a stretch and then some breath work to activate your parasympathetic system.”

Kingswell stressed the importance of using Pilates to connect with not only your body but also with your mind. Through physical activity, you can strengthen the connection between the two, she said. To help encourage that link, The Pilates Class offers members the opportunity to explore a variety of classes that improve the mind-body relationship. Some of the most popular classes include Mind and Body Reconnect, Releasing Anxiety and Breathing Class.

“Many people haven’t been able to enjoy their bodies and the movement because there was a stigma, which is changing now. [It used to be that] you had to go to the gym and almost punish your body to get endorphins and to see results. That just wasn’t something I had ever experienced before, and [The Pilates Class] is changing, that” Kingswell said.

Read on for more highlights from the conversation.

Kingswell’s daytime and nighttime body-care routine
“I love a morning routine and a nighttime routine. If it was the perfect day, and I’m ticking all the boxes, my morning routine is basically me waking up and having a big glass of water first thing. I’ll journal, which just takes five minutes — it’s a gratitude journal. I also make sure I get out and get sun exposure for vitamin D, and I swim in the ocean because I live close by. Then I make sure I do daily movement — I’ll do a TBC class or any sort of movement — and then I have breakfast, shower and get on with my day. That, to me, sets me up [for a good day], and that’s when I feel my best. My nighttime routine is almost more important than my morning routine, to be honest. It’s a lot of steps. Sometimes I’ll miss my morning routine, but I rarely miss my nighttime, routine because I want a good night’s sleep. My husband and I have blue light glasses that we put on at around 7 p.m., which block out any blue light. We have a sleepy tea before bed, and then we’ll do some breathwork while we’re in bed. We dim the lights down, read a book and then we try and go to bed at the same time. Sleep is so important, and it’s hard to turn off your brain at nighttime, so you need these tools to really assist you.”

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