The Unity Pilates Studio
Unique to the area, our fully equipped Pilates Studio in the tradition of Joseph Pilates himself
SUMMER BREEZE
Look out for fabulous summer savings on private Pilates, with
20% off the price of solo classes, classes for two and 4-class blocks.
Available in July and August 2025.
Read on for details
“Physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness.” – Joseph Pilates
The Unity Pilates Studio
Welcome to the Unity Pilates Studio, our dedicated studio equipped according to the original New York designs of the pioneering Joseph Pilates, and the only classical Pilates Studio in Lewes. We offer private and open classes taught in the classic Pilates tradition.
This is not just a Reformer studio. The Unity Pilates Studio is equipped with the hugely popular Reformer, together with Joseph Pilates’ trapeze table (or cadillac), ladder barrel and step chair, offering more than 150 different exercise variations.
Classes in the Unity Pilates Studio are taught and guided by Patrick Morrison, our much-respected, comprehensive Pilates teacher who also offers popular mat-based Pilates classes in our main studio.
The Unity Pilates Studio is a partnership between The Unity Centre and Patrick Morrison’s I Feel Good Pilates.
Read on to see our class options.
THE REFORMER
One of four pieces of authentic Joseph Pilates equipment installed in the Unity Pilates Studio
“If your spine is inflexibly stiff at 30, you are old. If it is completely flexible at 60, you are young.” – Joseph Pilates
TRAPEZE TABLE
Wonderfully flexible equipment, often known as a Cadillac
Benefits of the Pilates Studio
The Pilates Studio experience is very different to mat Pilates. It’s said that 60 minutes on classic Studio equipment like ours is equivalent to 180-240 minutes of Pilates mat work. It’s around four times more intense than mat work because of the resistance of the equipment’s springs: each movement you make has the extra load of the Pilates springs.
The studio method
Joseph Pilates developed his method in New York during the 1920s, creating a precise system of controlled movements that targets core strength, flexibility, and body awareness. Studio Pilates offers numerous benefits that distinguish it from other exercise forms.
The controlled, low-impact movements improve posture by strengthening deep stabilising muscles, particularly around the spine and pelvis. This focus on alignment helps alleviate back pain and reduces injury risk. The emphasis on breath coordination enhances mind-body connection while promoting relaxation and stress reduction.
Studio Pilates builds lean muscle tone without bulk, creating long, strong muscles that support daily activities. The method’s precision develops better balance, coordination, and proprioception. Regular practice increases flexibility and joint mobility while maintaining strength.
The individualized attention possible in our studio setting allows for proper form correction and personalized modifications. This makes Pilates accessible for rehabilitation, athletic performance enhancement or general fitness. The mental concentration required develops focus and body awareness that extend beyond the studio into daily life.
The teaching
Patrick says:
“I programme a challenge in every class to get progression with Feel Good movements as well as the ones which often aren’t so enjoyable but which produce huge benefits.
“I give clients a movement improvement within the class, which I confirm and ask them to self-prove by observing a change by the end of the session.
“My objective is that the Feel Good factor builds in the class and is lasting.”
What’s in the studio
The Unity Pilates Studio is a studio room dedicated just to studio Pilates. Classes revolve around four pieces of substantial equipment, unique to a traditional Pilates Studio and to Lewes:
Invented and used by Joseph Pilates in the 1940s, the ‘universal reformer’ is the most well-known piece of Pilates equipment, consisting of a sliding platform on wheels that moves back and forth, adjustable springs, pulleys, straps and a footbar....
Sometimes called a Cadillac, this was first piece of apparatus designed by Joseph Pilates and is the biggest. It’s a full-frame table with a rectangular, adjustable trapeze bar above a mat platform....
Reputedly starting life as a beer barrel cut in half and covered in upholstery, Joseph Pilates invented this primarily for spinal flexibility and extension. It can also be used for ab exercises and oblique movements....
Sometimes just called a Pilates chair (and for Joseph Pilates it was originally the ‘Wunda chair’), this can be used for seated and standing work, from various positions....
TRAPEZE TABLE AND (foreground) REFORMER
seen in a private one-to-one class with Patrick Morrison
“In 10 sessions you’ll feel the difference, in 20 you’ll see the difference, and in 30 you’ll have a new body” – Joseph Pilates
Reserve your class
Week at-a-glance
Open six days a week. Private class slots are for solo classes, two-person classes and Intro classes. All classes are 55 minutes.
9am
Open class
9am
Open class
9am
Open class
8.45am
Open class
9.15am
Open class
10am
Open class
10am
Open class
10am
Open class
11am
Private class
11am
Private class
11am
Private class
11.15am
Private class
11.45am
Private class
12pm
Open class
12pm
Open class
12pm
Open class
2pm
Private class
2pm
Private class
2pm
Private class
1pm
Private class
3pm
Open class
3pm
Open class
3pm
Open class
4pm
Private class
4pm
Private class
4pm
Private class
5pm
Open class
5pm
Private class
6pm
Open class
How to buy online
You have choice:
- when you choose a time for your class using the live timetable here, you’ll be invited to pay as part of the checkout process
or - you can buy without booking, using one of the class options below, and then return to the timetable whenever you’re ready to choose your class(es)
You can also book classes and pay for them with one of our friendly receptionists in The Unity Centre.
Live timetable for bookings
To book a class, choose your class type, day and time, then select ‘Book’. If you’ve already paid, you just confirm your booking. If not, you’ll be offered the choice of buying a block of classes or a single class. If this is your first booking, the system will offer you the special intro class pricing as an option. For an Intro class please choose a Private class slot.
When booking, allow 2-3 days between each session to allow your body to assimilate the progression.
Prices and ‘buy now’
Private solo classes from £55 £48
Just you and your teacher, Patrick, and the whole Pilates Studio.
This is your personal, exclusive, solo Pilates Studio session. The time is yours and you’ll have Patrick’s undivided attention to your needs, your goals and developing your Pilates practice. And if you’re recovering from injury or dealing with a specific physical issue, this session is particularly suitable. Duration: 55 minutes.
Single class
To get the Summer Breeze price, just use the promo code PPSclass20 at the online checkout or Unity reception
Maximum 4 purchases per person. Sale ends 30 August 2025. Not transferable and no partial refunds.
Block purchases
Block of 4
Summer Breeze price: £192 (that works out at £48 a class)
To get the Summer Breeze price, just use the promo code PPS4pck20 at the online checkout or Unity reception
Maximum 2 purchases per person. Sale ends 30 August 2025. Not transferable and no partial refunds.
Block of 8
Private classes for 2 from £32.50 £28 per person
Share with one friend or family member: enjoy Pilates together and save money
This is ideal for two friends, two family members or a couple, enjoying Patrick’s complete attention on your needs, your goals and developing your Pilates practice. You may both work together in partnership or, if you have different goals, needs or levels of experience, Patrick can work separately with each of you. Duration: 55 minutes.
Single class
(share the cost: that’s
To get the Summer Breeze price, just use the promo code PPSclass20 at the online checkout or Unity reception
Maximum 4 purchases per person. Sale ends 30 August 2025. Not transferable and no partial refunds.
Block purchases
Block of 4
(share the cost: it’s equivalent to
To get the Summer Breeze price, just use the promo code PPS4pck20 at the online checkout or Unity reception
Maximum 2 purchases per person. Sale ends 30 August 2025. Not transferable and no partial refunds.
Block of 8
(share the cost: it’s equivalent to £32.50 per person per class)
Open classes from £22 per person
Book yourself a place in a class. You’ll share it with up to two other students.
Book a single place for yourself in a small, intimate, shared class. Open Classes are kept small so that Patrick can work personally with each student: you will still experience the benefit of Patrick’s attention to your needs, goals and Pilates development and Patrick can accommodate your individual requirements, including different levels of experience. Maximum class size: 3. Duration: 55 minutes.
Single class places
Block of 6
Buy six classes at once and save
(that’s equivalent to £25 a class)
Block of 8
Buy 8 classes at once for maximum savings
(that’s equivalent to just £22 a class)
Introductory class
If you haven’t used the Unity Pilates Studio before, we ask you to begin with an Intro Class with consultation to familiarise yourself with the specialised Pilates Studio equipment and get you started. The class will incude a personal consultation with your teacher, Patrick, to explore your needs and goals, and develop a programme that’s personal and exclusive to you.
An Intro Class may only be taken once and is only available if you haven’t already had a Unity Pilates Studio session.
“Above all, learn to breathe correctly.” – Joseph Pilates
Benefits of I Feel Good Pilates
Take Control! Change your body: rebel against gravity and time.
Joseph Pilates believed that health and happiness comes from movement. He thought you couldn’t have one without the other and that movement unlocks the potential.
We wholeheartedly agree and, recognising how he put that into practice, we’ve created a studio he would recognise and use authentic movement as close as possible to his original choreography.
We all fight gravity
Unfold : unfurl : extend – we will identify, develop and progress your movement potential. We’ll help you move away from the forces of gravity by decompressing the spine, lengthening and strengthening your muscles and fascia, increasing your joint mobility and joint health and improving your core strength.
People walk into the studio ‘small’ … and walk back out tall.
We also welcome people with mobility issues and neurological conditions because Pilates movements can often benefit them. People who come into the studio with mobility issues may be able to challenge and expand their movement possibility and range.
In Pilates we constantly remind the body of our movement potential. By doing so we open up neurological plasticity which improves everybody’s movement possibility.
We all challenge time
Pilates is a longevity practice available to anybody … whether you’re 15 or 95+.
Help yourself to achieve the optimal movement available to you at this moment and to turn back the clock to realise your potential.
Throw away your calender timeline age and work to the rhythm of your biological clock.
We will move every day !
“Movement heals and change happens through movement” – Josef Pilates
Pilates movement can change your life: to move away from pain or limitations by taking control of the body instead of being controlled by it.
We all need to move more. Our bodies are built for outdoor activity, working in fields, physically labouring. Joseph Pilates complained about the effects modern life in his 1936 book “Return to Life”! and, since then, exercise levels and physical exertion have dropped even more. We have become sedentary, with not much movement and shallow breathing, while ultra-processed food and takeaways, delivered to the home without effort, outsell raw and natural ingredients.
An hour of Pilates will reset all that and some of our physical human potential can be restored effectively. And with the improved physical wellbeing comes mental wellbeing.
REFORMER SPRINGS
The number of springs used is adjusted class by class, to fit your individual needs
The secret’s in the springs …
What makes a session on the Pilates Studio equipment so powerful is the combination of Pilates choregraphy working with springs. The core to Joseph Pilates’ designs for all four pieces of studio equipment is their arrays of springs. The springs activate your energies and fascia, creating a feeling that lasts into the evening, facilitating improved sleep, and into the next day when you can still feel their power.
Over time, your movement patterns become realigned, centred, more effective and with the optimal range of movement.
And patterns picked up from injury, perhaps from avoiding pain (in your foot, ankle, knee, hip, spine, shoulder , neck … creating a particular walking or running gait, or postural patterns) and stuck fascia can be addressed and progressed.
above, top-right) or the Unity Centre app: ensure you're logged in, select the appointment or class and press 'Cancel'.