Women In Wellness: Brynne Billingsley Of Progressive Pilates Williamsburg On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing
“I truly believe when we radically care for ourselves and each other we change the world, we bring more compassion into our relationships, we spread love and kindness, and we meet every challenge with an inner resilience that equips us for the imperfect world we live in.”
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As part of this series, we had the pleasure to interview Brynne Billingsley.
Brynne Billingsley is a Pilates expert, movement artist, and somatic educator, and the founder of Progressive Pilates Williamsburg, the acclaimed Brooklyn studio she established in 2011, now celebrating 15 years. Fully self-funded, the studio stands apart in today’s corporate fitness landscape, reflecting Billingsley’s commitment to individualized, intentional movement and whole-body well-being. Her work has been featured in outlets including Brooklyn Based, Refinery29, ZenCare, and Culture Trip. Billingsley’s foundation in movement began at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, where she trained as a young dancer among a legacy of renowned artists.
With a career spanning dance, film, and television, Billingsley has collaborated with Björk and supported productions such as Girls, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Saturday Night Live, and Succession, as well as coaching actress and producer Christina Ricci. Through Progressive Pilates Williamsburg, she continues to specialize in private and semi-private instruction rooted in deeply personalized care. In addition to her work as a fitness practitioner, Billingsley is a movement and well-being coach, supporting clients globally through a blend of personal development, intentional movement, and transformative, embodied practices designed to foster healing, authenticity, and a more meaningful way of living.
Website: https://progressivepilateswilliamsburg.com/ IG: https://www.instagram.com/progressivepilateswilliamsburg
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?
Sure! From a very early age, I wanted to be a dancer and a doctor. I grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana, and I didn’t have any role models for this but I imagined it. At my kindergarten graduation I wore a ballerina’s tutu and a stethoscope. The parents in the audience found this very humorous but in a certain way it ended up happening. Although I’m not a medical doctor, I have spent the last couple of decades helping people heal from pain and injury in my New York City Pilates studio while centering my artistic practices. I still dance and choreograph and will be performing this weekend in New York City. And Pilates has really become the go-to advice from physicians when treating patients with chronic pain, especially back pain, but also for patients in recovery from orthopaedic surguries and for prenatal and postpartum care. So there you go!
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?
Yes, I think the most interesting story that comes to my mind is actually a series of circumstances that at the time seemed unrelated but now that I’ve had the time and space can see these as moments when life was presenting me with unique, seemingly synchronistic opportunities. To back up a bit, when I was 19 years old, my dad passed away. He had been sick with heart disease most of my life and was on disability and unable to work. Fast forward about 12 years, and I’m living in New York City, working with a modern dance company and at a boutique Pilates studio on the Upper East Side. Someone I barely knew through the creative community in Williamsburg reached out to me to see if I knew anyone who would be interested in purchasing her Pilates equipment as she just found out she was pregnant and decided she was going to close her small practice. I told her I would contact some people in my network, and then about a week later I remember feeling this hunch in my gut, like hmmm…..maybe I would be interested in starting something. It turns out the small studio space she worked out of was also available. Seed planted. Then, out of nowhere, I received a call from the US social security office that they had been trying to find me and my sisters for many years — this was after Hurricane Katrina when many records in New Orleans were lost — and that my dad’s social security earnings were to be given to his daughters. So I received this sum of money, about 5K, which I then was able to invest in the Pilates equipment and start my business. And so, in a way, even though my dad had not been able to provide for me much in his life, he played a significant role in launching my business from the afterlife. I’ve continued to try to live my life in this way, to live in collaboration with the universe, with my ancestors, and with my intuition. I strive to see serendipities as gifts and to live in gratitude for these unique opportunities. And so, the main lesson is to say yes when you can, even when you’re uncertain and afraid of the outcome. When I take risks like this, I feel less afraid, because ultimately I am not alone, and although this is a little wu sounding, I am co-creating with forces and energy beyond my knowing, conscious mind. There’s comfort and excitement in that.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about a mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I think my biggest mistake in the beginning was not trusting myself and my voice when building a team. I had no experience with business and so I would imitate my former boss a bit, who I had learned a lot from, but it wasn’t coming from me in an authentic way. This got me somewhere, the “fake it till you make it” but it felt like performing a role and caused me some anxiety, especially about whether or not people were the right fit for me and the studio. Eventually, after I had to let a couple of people go who were not in alignment with my values, I saw the studio grow and become a better and safer space for me and for our community. I began trusting myself. I learned to lead with kindness and to create a culture of care and connection. And I began attracting the right people then. One of my mentors taught me that everything we do in life is equal parts strategy and energy. Sometimes I lean more into the law of attraction, and other times I make efficient, strategic choices.
Let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?
I love this question. I would say this question has guided me and my work more than anything else. So I mentioned already how we’ve gotten to help so many people with pain and injury recovery over the years in my studio. We also help people feel more confident in their bodies, we help people discover a physical strength they didn’t know they had, and that is major. People walk out of the studio and feel more aligned. They sit better at work and as a result they feel better when they leave the office. They learn healthy physical habits and move with better alignment and breathe with more efficiency which helps so much with managing stress, so they sleep better, they feel happier. Just this morning I worked with an 82 year old woman whose goal is to continue hiking for as long as she can. I’ve seen her gain so much strength and confidence in herself since we began working together.
I would say my life’s greatest work has been all of this plus my ability to support my clients holistically, to offer care for their well-being, for their hearts. In 2020, during the pandemic years, when everything went online, I began seeing my clients with even more awareness. What was happening in society was really impacting their health and well-being. I provided a safe space for them to share authentically, to cry if they needed to, to share their deepest struggles. Because of this, I decided I wanted to learn more about how I could support people in all aspects of their lives. And so I enrolled in two different coaching programs where I learned many incredible tools to support people through major transitions. I also became a certified Ayurvedic teacher as well as a yoga and meditation teacher so I could support people with this ancient wisdom and lifestyle medicine. I combine all of these modalities to offer something really comprehensive and healing. I am able to work with people physically, mentally, emotionally, somatically, and spiritually. I truly believe when we radically care for ourselves and each other we change the world, we bring more compassion into our relationships, we spread love and kindness, and we meet every challenge with an inner resilience that equips us for the imperfect world we live in.
Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing? Please give an example or story for each.
1. Breathe
Practice breathing deeply. Breathe consciously every day, even for 1 minute. Learning to breathe well first healed the back pain I had as a young dancer and later led me on a spiritual journey by experiencing transformative, meditative states. I fully believe that our breath holds the key to our well-being.
2. Sleep
Do everything you can to get a good night’s sleep most nights. Rest and nap when you feel tired. It sounds so simple but so often we push ourselves and just drink more coffee to get through our days. Try not to override your body’s signals, instead learn to listen and trust your body. If you’re tired all the time, examine why that might be. Work with a coach or therapist. Sleep is sacred medicine.
3. Seek
Take yourself out once a week on an adventure. It should be for at least 2 hours and be peaceful, fun, educational, inspirational, or all of the above. It could be an hour at an art museum and an hour at a cafe following with your journal or a book. It could be a hike or a walk through a city, a dance or cooking class, a visit to an art supply store. It should be something that ignites your creative spark, or something that makes you feel alive. Challenge yourself to leave your phone behind or turn it off. Commit to this practice. This is not the same as exercise as that has a different goal. This should feel like intentional time for your spirit.
4. Silence
Get quiet, whether that is in nature or with noise-canceling headphones, but try to minimize sound pollution regularly. Research demonstrates the negative health impacts of constant noise. If you can’t get into a quiet space, then add some relaxing sounds like binaural beats or relaxing soundscapes. I really like the youtube channel Meditative Mind for this, especially the Heart-Chakra Healing Music. Sometimes I use Apple Music and just search for relaxing spa music. Run a bath and put on this music and you’ll feel like you’re at a spa. My advice, don’t doom scroll while in the tub! Just close your eyes, listen to the music, breathe, and let your body and mind truly rest.
5. Passion
I believe everyone has a passion, even if they haven’t discovered it yet. Some people have multiple passions and this can feel like a conflict so I recommend letting your passions become more highlighted in different seasons of your life which will create focus. Being passionate about art, nature, music, video games, travel, sport, language learning — whatever it is, will also connect you to community, friendship, purpose, belonging, self-actualization — all of the things that to me, truly make life joyful and fulfilling.
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?
That would definitely be free and compassionate healthcare for all. True wellness is only achievable when society takes care of people — mental, physical, emotional, and preventive medicine for all.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
That I would be really good at this! I had several voices telling me how hard running a business would be and how I’d lose my freedom. If anything, I found so much freedom inside running a small business.
The importance of outsourcing. I went from thinking I had to not only do every single thing but that I had to be good at it. At some point, I learned that there were certain things that I just didn’t need to do.
Understanding financial cycles. I wish I knew ahead of time that there would be financial trends and dips in revenue that had nothing to do with my actual business, that sometimes people will spend less because of geopolitical financial uncertainty. There is a benefit to zooming out.
Leadership looks different for everyone. I wish I would have known from the beginning that leadership looks different for different businesses. I wanted to lead with kindness and authenticity, but in the beginning, I did not have a model for this.
How fulfilling small business ownership is. Finally, I wish someone would have told me how fulfilling having a small business is. Because business mirrors life and we can co-create our ideal business, one that offers truly impactful services, driven by our core values.
Sustainability, veganism, mental health, emotional health, and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Other important issues include women’s health, food security, affordable housing, and inclusion. Which of these causes is closest to your heart, and why?
While each of these is incredibly important, the issue that feels closest to my heart now and the one I feel I can have the most impact on is mental and emotional health, which are intrinsically linked and influence our physical health, our relationships, our social structures, our policies, and the environment we live in. When we care for ourselves we can then spread that care into all parts of our lives, including our closest relationships. Have you ever walked down the street and had someone genuinely smile at you? That can feel so profound and shift your entire day. Kindness and care have become radical acts in our world. I believe self-compassion and the ripple effect of kindness is our greatest gift to ourselves and the world.
What is the best way for our readers to further follow your work online?
I write a periodic blog for my studio on well-being and things I am learning and interested in. They can sign up for that through our website ProgressivePilatesWilliamsburg.com. I’m also on Instagram @BrynneBillingsley and @ProgressivePilatesWilliamsburg and respond to all emails about my services including coaching and somatic work.
Thank you for these fantastic insights! We wish you continued success and good health. Thank you for this wonderful opportunity to dive into these important topics.