In Movement Pilates: Gyrotonic and Pilates in Los Angeles
Last Updated on 21 July, 2026
How two Founding Directors with 40 combined years of experience are expanding a Los Angeles rental studio into a community-centered movement space — and chose WellnessLiving to run it.
Not About How Your Body Looks
Devon Dionne and Gina Chai founded In Movement Pilates around a single conviction that separates them from most fitness studios in Los Angeles.
“Most fitness is about what your body looks like. We’re interested in how it feels, how it heals, and how long it carries you.”
That orientation — toward longevity, function, and what the body can sustain over a lifetime — runs through every decision at the studio. The discipline is Pilates and the GYROTONIC® Method, two distinct practices united by the belief that the body is the home the mind and soul live in. When you tend to it with intention, everything inside has room to thrive.
Devon and Gina are both Founding Directors with more than 20 years of experience each. Devon holds a BFA from SUNY Purchase and is certified in Balanced Body Pilates, the GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM®, and holistic health counseling. She specializes in a collaborative mind-body approach and works alongside medical professionals with clients ranging from high-profile individuals to those in injury rehabilitation. Gina combines a professional background in dance and biomechanics with comprehensive certifications in both Pilates and the GYROTONIC® Method.
Having navigated scoliosis herself, she has developed what she calls an “anatomically intelligent” approach to movement — one built on the conviction that every body, from elite athletes to those in recovery, can build sustainable strength and agility.
From a Rental Room to a Community Hub
In Movement Pilates began as a rental model. Independent instructors and renters booked time in a 360-square-foot space, paid rent, and taught their own clients. It worked as a starting point. It was not built to hold what Devon and Gina wanted to build.
The studio is moving into a 1,016-square-foot space. That additional room is not just physical capacity — it is the operational foundation for a fuller vision. Group Pilates classes. Private sessions. Gyrotonic equipment rentals running alongside structured programming. And just next door, complementary businesses in yoga and fitness training are forming what Gina describes as “a real community” — a neighborhood wellness hub where clients can find multiple ways to move and connect under one roof.
The studio runs a Move with Purpose outreach program that extends the practice beyond its walls, bringing meaningful movement to the surrounding community. That dimension of the studio’s identity is part of what makes In Movement Pilates something other than a boutique fitness business.
Why Devon and Gina Chose WellnessLiving Over SimplyBook
In Movement Pilates had been running on SimplyBook. As the studio grew toward group classes, private appointments, and a more structured operating model, the platform’s limitations became harder to work around. “I hate that software anyway,” Gina said.
The first requirement was flexibility across service types. Private appointments, group classes, special events, and equipment rentals all have different booking rules, different pricing, and different operational logic. WellnessLiving holds all of them in one back end without forcing separate tools.
The second requirement was specific to California. The studio operates with independent contractor renters alongside its own programming. California has strict rules governing contractor and employee relationships, and the booking flow matters. Gina needed a rental booking that reads as a rental — a space or equipment reservation with a rental fee attached — rather than a session with a named instructor that implies an employment relationship. WellnessLiving’s asset-based booking supports exactly that distinction.
A branded client app gives the studio its own presence in the App Store. For a studio with a distinct identity — Modern Zen, community-rooted, anatomically intelligent — a generic booking portal is a missed opportunity. The app carries In Movement Pilates’ name, not a third-party platform’s.
What Devon and Gina Are Building
In Movement Pilates is not a studio in transition. It is a studio in expansion — two founders who have spent 20 years each developing their approach to movement, building a space that can finally hold the full scope of what they want to offer.
The 1,016 square feet are filling with reformers, Gyrotonic equipment, and a schedule that is beginning to reflect the community Devon and Gina have always been building toward. The renters who made the original model work are still here. The group classes are new. The outreach program is already running.
What changed is the infrastructure. And the conviction that built the studio in the first place — that movement should be about how your body feels, heals, and carries you through life — has not changed at all.
Want to see how WellnessLiving can help your Pilates studio grow? Book a free, no-commitment demo today!
