What’s In a Name? – Waveforms Pilates

Starting a Pilates business five years ago under my name, “Courtney Anne,” I felt ready to develop a brand. I wanted it to represent the way holistic wellness feels doing Pilates work.  It’s not about me, and it never was about me, so I didn’t want to have my name representative of the business.

Spring of 2016, I began the process of brainstorming what represents Pilates, my voice in the industry, and how I wanted my students to feel after a session.  Through this journey, I solidified key aspects of my to-be brand and what I wanted to accomplish to further Pilates education.

Identifying a Brand

I took a Spring trip to Denver, Colorado, for a Pilates continuing education. I treated it like a sabbatical to take time to think about my business.  I collaborated with my creative-guru, engineering friend Eileen, and began the process of identifying “the brand.”

This was a scary process for me.  Though I’d been in the field for over five years, sitting down to identify what I did, why I did it, and what represented the business best, all felt like huge questions to answer.  Where do you even begin?  

My prescription: The classic brainstorming list. 

Eileen and I wrote down all the words we could think of that relate to Pilates.  GO!  We looked for connections, what were the underlying themes in words that keep coming up?  What stood out as most important?    

Finding Underlying Themes

After making the lists, we decided to go for a hike.  Fresh air to clear the mind and talk.  Maybe as two minds, we could better identify that string holding it all together.  We talked through the ideas that came up during our brainstorm and I shared with her my excitement about working in Pilates.

In my movement instruction, we identified a focus on form.  The movements are not random or performed without a clear intention.  They require thoughtfulness, and mindfulness.  I also love that Pilates is truly for any body, and for anyone, no matter what stage of life they are in.  I’ve worked with ages eight to eighty-six years old, with all various health considerations and fitness goals.  That is the beauty of Pilates.  I also firmly believe that Pilates helps you stay healthy and active through your entire life.  Helping you find freedom and ease in your movement.  

Claiming an LLC

Feeling refueled after my trip, I returned with many ideas I loved for a name. I started searching online only to discover many of them were already claimed or too similar to existing businesses. I was frustrated and felt back at square one. My husband, Estin, decided we needed to just pick a name we liked to file for an LLC. He realized that once we file, we could name a studio under that LLC as anything we wanted. This gave us more time to think about what we wanted our outward-facing brand to be.

When I was out for the day, he sent in a request for Waveforms, LLC.  Being a musician of synthesizers, he deals with waveforms all day: sawtooth-waves, square-waves, sine-waves, triangle-waves.  Waveforms…he thought it sounded cool.

Coming home, he told me that he filed as Waveforms, LLC.  I was initially irritated.  We had not discussed a name of anything close this beforehand.  I felt like something I had spent so much time thinking about was simplified into something I didn’t feel related to the business I wanted.

For the next few days, I tried to come up with unrelated names to our new LLC name for the studio.  I was at a stand-still.  But, the more and more I sat with the name Waveforms, underlying connections started to come together.

Running with Waveforms – Form and Intention

Doug Lowe, in his article about Measuring Electronic Waves describes waveforms as this:

“Waveforms are the characteristic patterns—These patterns indicate how the voltage in the signal changes over time — does it rise and fall slow or fast, is the voltage change steady or irregular, and so on.”

Suddenly, the connections was clear to me.  My husband’s music world and my movement world collided.  The body does just what this definition describes, patterns of movement.  Some efficient, some irregular and imbalanced.  This is what Pilates helps solve, bringing form and intention to our movement patterns.

Viewing a waveform on an oscilloscope, the device used for viewing an electronic wave, you can see that a wave is in constant motion.  Just as a wave in the ocean.  These patterns are capable of change over time.

Waveforms Pilates, it’s about movement and change. Constant movement and change, that can be charted overtime.  This is what Pilates is about.

Constant and Easeful Motion

I love the water.  Being a Scorpio, water is my natural element.  Being near the water always makes me feel calm, pensive, focused, strong, and connected to something greater.  I love watching the waves and seeing the repetitive, effortless, circular movement.  

Waves are created by sending energy through the water.  In Pilates, we send motion through our body by sending energy through it.  We keep the body in constant motion, much like a wave.

Some definitions of a wave include: to move freely; to bend or sway; to be moved, especially in opposite directions; a mass movement; a swell, surge, or rush, as a feeling or condition; any surging or progressing movement.

Yes! Pilates is all of these things.  Pilates offers all of these things.  Waveforms Pilates identifies with all of these things.  

Pilates is about finding effortless movement. Discovering inner peace and relaxation. Creating and passing energy through the body and feeling connected.

Pilates through All Stages of Life

Our body desires to move even when we don’t feel like it. It craves it.  Pilates helps us bring form to the movements of life.  We have peaks and valleys, just like a triangle waveform.  You may be coming off of an injury, you may have just lost a loved-one, you may have gained weight, you may be training for an upcoming race, you may be experiencing depression, Pilates can help move you.  

And when you move, you will be energized. You will feel more connected in your body and mind.  You will make measurable changes overtime.  You will experience ease in the body.  You will find better form and function.  You will feel more confident in you.  We believe this.    

We Are Waveforms Pilates

This is what we stand for:

Using Pilates to bring form and intention to movement, to allow you to stay in constant and easeful motion through all the stages of life.  

See what Pilates feels like in your body. Send us an email to schedule your first session today.