Pilates, presence, and power in the park: Where women gather to breathe

On a quiet Sunday afternoon at the Nairobi Arboretum, a group of women rolls out their mats on the grass. There is laughter, a few nervous giggles, and a quiet kind of excitement that hums beneath the trees. Not your typical workout class, it is something gentler, stronger, and far more urgent.

They are not here for spectacle, there is no big signage, no blasting music. Just nature, the low murmur of greetings, and the slow beginning of movement.

The women stretch, breathe, and fold into themselves, then rise again. It is a Pilates class, but not the kind found in high-end studios or sculpted Instagram posts. This is gentler, earthier, and more of a safe space created for women.

It is also something else: a kind of quiet resistance.

“You feel it as soon as you arrive,” says Wanjiku, 22, who started attending the sessions a few months ago. “This space isn’t about perfection, it is about presence.”

For many of the women here, fitness is not the whole story. It is more of reconnecting to their bodies after long weeks of work, caretaking, navigating city life and in some cases, healing from deeper wounds.

There’s power in repetition, the power in being together.

“At first, I thought it was just exercise,” shares Aisha, 29. “Now, it feels like therapy. I’m not just moving, I’m slowly finding myself.”

There is no uniform in this group, some women come in full active-wear, others in casual tees. Some are first-timers, others familiar faces who now greet each other like friends. They may not speak much during the class, but a shared rhythm emerges as their bodies move in sync.

Their upcoming session will integrate self-defense techniques alongside Pilates; a gentle but deliberate way to acknowledge the shadow of femicide that looms over women across Kenya. The choice to create this space is intentional: to stay ahead of harm, to empower before there’s a need to survive.

Joy, 22, a university student mentioned that this she is new to this. “I am used to the internet telling us to ‘love ourselves,’ but this felt different,” she says. “I wasn’t performing for anyone. I was just here, breathing and it felt radical.”

There will be no grand speeches, no slogans, what matters is the presence and the community.

This kind of activity might seem simple, but it is deeply significant,” explains Musyoka Esther, a psychologist.

“When women are given consistent, safe spaces to reconnect with their bodies, without pressure, without performance, it becomes a form of healing.”

She explains that so many women move through life in survival mode, carrying not just daily responsibilities, but layers of inherited fear, tension, and unprocessed trauma.

“Gentle movement practices like Pilates, especially in nature and among other women, can help regulate the nervous system, ease anxiety, and rebuild a sense of safety within the body,” she says.

The session will close in stillness, palms open, eyes closed. Some will linger, soaking in the sun or sitting in quiet conversation. Others will gather their things and walk back into the pulse of the city, holding onto something a little softer, a little stronger.

Because in a world that so often demands women to shrink, Pilates in the Park offers room to breathe, to move, to simply exist.