Certification
Level I | PAI Proprietary Modality
Overview
SilkSuspension™ is Pilates Academy International's signature proprietary modality — a dynamic training system that uses bungee cords and suspension apparatus to create a movement experience that is part Pilates, part aerial arts, and entirely transformative. Participants experience a sense of weightlessness, a freedom of movement, and a muscular challenge that no ground-based training can replicate.
The SilkSuspension™ method draws directly on PAI's foundational principles: the five-tiered progression system, the primacy of modification, the WHY behind every exercise. What it adds is a third dimension — the vertical plane — and with it, a set of benefits that are both functional and deeply enjoyable. Decompression of the spine, neuromuscular activation in novel movement planes, and an element of play that keeps clients coming back are all part of the SilkSuspension™ experience.
SilkSuspension™ has developed a devoted and growing following across PAI's global network. It is particularly popular in Japan, where PAI operates more than 10 centers offering this work. Instructors who certify in SilkSuspension™ gain both a unique teaching skill and a genuinely differentiated studio offering.
What You'll Learn
- Safely rig, set up, and manage the SilkSuspension™ apparatus for clients across the size and fitness spectrum
- Teach the foundational SilkSuspension™ repertoire including ground-supported and partially suspended sequences
- Execute and instruct fully suspended sequences and more advanced aerial progressions
- Understand the physiological benefits of suspension-based training — decompressive, neuromuscular, and cardiovascular
- Design group and private SilkSuspension™ sessions with clear progressive programming logic
- Market and position SilkSuspension™ as a distinctive offering within your studio or teaching practice
- Curriculum Modules
- Rigging systems, weight ratings, bungee cord mechanics, fall protocols, client screening, and safety management for group environments.
- Ground-based and partially suspended exercises — the first two tiers of the SilkSuspension™ progression, appropriate for all new participants.
- Fully suspended sequences, inversions, and advanced aerial choreography — upper-tier SilkSuspension™ work for experienced participants.
- Group class format and flow, music and atmosphere, client development, pricing strategies, and marketing your SilkSuspension™ offering.
Who This Course Is For
SilkSuspension™ certification is designed for PAI-certified instructors — or instructors certified by another accredited organization — who want to add a distinctive, high-demand modality to their teaching offering. It is ideal for instructors in studio environments with ceiling rigging capacity, and for those working in markets where novelty and experiential fitness offerings command strong client interest.
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