Walk into a Core Restore: Red Light Pilates session at Kinetic and the first thing you'll notice is the light — or rather, the lack of it. The room runs low and red, and from Saturday 10 October, our official launch, handheld red lights join the mix. It's not a mood-lighting gimmick. It's a deliberate choice about what this session is for.
Why train in the red?
Core Restore is the third element of The Movement Method — the session that sits alongside the work you do in Strong and Shred. It's classical matwork Pilates: deep core (TVA) activation, control, rotation with intent, breath. Precise and unhurried, by design.
That kind of work asks something specific of you: a down-shift. You can't find deep, subtle core control while you're braced and buzzing. That's what the room is for:
The environment does half the work. Low red lighting is the opposite of a bright, mirrored gym. It softens everything, signals "this is the slow hour," and makes it far easier to turn your attention inward — which is exactly what quality Pilates asks for. It's designed to be the calmest 40 minutes of your week.
It's the quiet counterweight to the hard sessions. Strong and Shred are loud, loaded and fast. This is the opposite: controlled movement, long exhales, nothing to prove. It's the hour in the week where you slow down on purpose.
What a session feels like
A Red Light Pilates session runs 40 minutes, mat-based, in a small group. You'll move through deep core activation work, classical Pilates sequences, rotation and control drills, and low-impact elastic work — under the red lights, with handheld red lights woven in. It's also where the clinical education lives: what abdominal separation really involves, how to condition your pelvic floor properly — the things so many women have heard matter, but have rarely had properly explained.
Red Light Pilates launches on Saturday 10 October with Dr Naomi (Osteopath), and runs on Saturday and Thursday mornings — classical matwork with Coach Adrian, Pilates with Dr Naomi (Osteopath), and a Saturday stretch session. Thursday sessions start from 15 October. Those are the deep-red sessions: blockout curtains drawn, the room glowing. Check the live timetable for this week's times.
Core Restore is bigger than the red room, though. Our core-focus sessions are conditioning-driven rather than classical Pilates, and run a touch brighter, with the white light above the mirrors lifting the space. Same precision, same purpose, different energy.
It is not the easy class. It's the one that makes the hard ones work.
Do I need eye protection? (You can leave the sunglasses at home)
We've already had a member arrive in sunglasses, which we adored — but no eyewear is needed to train in the red room. Just move, breathe, enjoy it.
When the handheld lights join the session, they're used on the body rather than aimed at your face, and we'll always have proper goggles on hand for anyone who'd like them. If you're sensitive to bright light, just let us know before class.
Curious to feel it for yourself?
Core Restore is included in every Movement Method membership, and it's a beautiful place to start if you're new to us. Your first session is free — book any class on the timetable that has space.
