The end of an era for LHP Studio
After 7 wonderful years, I’ve decided to close the door of Lauren Hilton Pilates studio.
I opened Shrewsbury’s first Pilates studio in 2019, with a vision to create a beautiful space dedicated to the Pilates method. I wanted it to feel like home. A place where you could move, to learn, laugh and to feel seen and cared for. As I reflect on this, I feel a sense of fulfilment in what I have created.
Since sharing the news, so many of you have written to me with messages of support, memories and stories about what the studio has meant to you. I’ve loved reading them and am genuinely grateful to each of you for taking the time to write.
The studio became about so much more than Pilates too. Lifelong friendships have been made within these walls, between clients who may never otherwise have met, and I’ve been lucky to make some lifelong friends of my own. There have been countless conversations, plenty of laughter, and so many moments that had very little to do with Pilates at all! (Maybe one day I’ll write my ‘conversations from a Pilates studio’ memoirs ). That sense of community is something I will always be proud of.
Like so many small independent businesses, the landscape in which the studio operates has changed enormously over the years. And the truth is, I have changed too.
Seven years is a long time. My life looks different now, my priorities have shifted, and I find myself in a different season of my life from the one I was in when I first opened these doors.
Sometimes the things we build with so much love and energy can be exactly right for a particular chapter, without needing to be ours forever.
Being honest with myself about this hasn’t been easy, but it also feels like the right time to make space for whatever comes next.
I know that I’m likely to cry a lot in the final week, so in this message I want to say a heartfelt thank you to every person who has walked through our doors, and especially to those of you who have moved with me for more than a decade. Some of you have been part of this journey since long before the studio had a front door, and it has been a privilege to teach you through so many different seasons of life. I have never taken for granted the loyalty, trust and support you have shown me over the years.
Running a small business is bloody hard and is never something you do entirely alone. Big love and thanks to Sarah, who has been my creative, confidante, and friend and has supported me with grace, patience and in my vision and to the wonderful teachers who have been part of the studio along the way and have helped make it what it became. I’d especially like to mention Hannah, whose care and commitment have meant so much to me.
My love of teaching and learning hasn’t changed, and I know it will continue to be part of whatever comes next.
I don’t know exactly what this next chapter looks like yet and, for once, I’m ok not having the answers.
For now, I’m taking with me everything this space and all of you have taught me.
