Luma Pilates
Move well, live well.
Nestled in the heart of Edinburgh's New Town, Luma Pilates was founded by Lucia Poulter and Max Howarth.
They‘ve created a space built around one belief: that mindful movement should be accessible, welcoming and transformative for everyone.
Where we are
Luma Pilates is at 15 Northumberland Street NE Lane, just off Northumberland Street. Close enough to the city centre to be genuinely convenient, far enough from it to feel like a proper destination.
The space is airy, light-filled, and purposefully designed around the practice rather than around fitting in as many machines as possible.
Two studios
Studio A houses the Reformer & Tower machines and Studio B is home to our Mat, Barre, and Yoga classes. Both get more sunlight than you would expect from a New Town lane.
We keep class sizes small. That's not a constraint, it's the whole point. In a small class, your instructor can see you, adjust you, and teach you rather than simply manage the room. Read more about how we teach.
If you’ve been to a larger studio and felt lost in the crowd, Luma will feel different from the moment you walk in.
Why Luma?
Edinburgh has no shortage of places to exercise. Gyms, physio clinics, wellness centres. Most of them offer Pilates as one option among many.
Luma is different. This is a dedicated movement studio, built around Pilates, Barre and Yoga. Every class is taught by instructors for whom their discipline is their primary focus: rigorously trained, continuously developed, and genuinely invested in the method. The space was designed around the practice, not the other way round.
If you want somewhere that takes the work seriously, that's what we're here for.
View our class schedule or browse all classes to find your starting point.
The Luma Team
Studio Owner & Lead Instructor
Lucia Poulter
Lucia has spent 26 years as a fully certified Comprehensive BASI Pilates instructor and internationally certified Ashtanga yoga teacher, practising and teaching worldwide before bringing that standard to Edinburgh.
Lucia’s path began with a curiosity that grew into a lifelong calling. She has trained and taught around the world; starting in Bermuda and the US, then returning to South Africa to launch her first studio, Re:form. In Cape Town, she deepened her practice, certified in Ashtanga yoga and collaborated with Body Technology.
Five years ago, Edinburgh became her home. Here, Lucia found joy teaching Pilates to a wonderfully diverse community of private clients and groups alike. In 2024, she and her partner Max began shaping a new dream: a studio that would hold space for movement, connection, and wellbeing.
That dream is Luma, a home for all. Here, Lucia puts a craft built up over the past quarter century to its fullest purpose – experience, knowledge, and above all, love for what mindful movement can bring to everyday life.
Lucia teaches Reformer Pilates at Luma.
Studio Owner & Pilates Instructor
Max Howarth
Max co-founded Luma Pilates out of a near-obsessive love for Reformer Pilates and a belief that more men should experience its benefits. With over four years of intensive practice and 6 months teaching experience at Luma, he brings genuine passion, precision and energy to every session. He is currently completing his formal instructor certification – and brings fresh eyes, rigorous attention to form, and infectious enthusiasm to every class he teaches.
At 60, Max is in better shape than he was at 30, something he credits fundamentally to Pilates. What began as a way to move better has become life changing. Beyond the physical benefits, Pilates has had a profoundly positive effect on his mental health. The focus, discipline and sense of connection it brings have supported his wellbeing and given him a deeper appreciation for moving with intention.
As an instructor, Max is passionate about sharing this experience and helping others discover just how transformative Pilates can be, at any stage of life.
Anna Marchington
Pilates Instructor
Anna's foundation in Pilates is as thorough as it gets. She trained through the Advanced Teacher Training at The Pilates Center in Boulder, Colorado, one of the most rigorous and respected programs in the world, and has spent over 20 years refining that knowledge in the studio.
What sets Anna apart is how lightly she wears that expertise. Her teaching is technically precise, but never clinical. She has a grounded, empowering presence that puts people at ease, and a genuine ability to meet each client exactly where they are: whether that's recovering from injury, returning to movement after a break, or looking to refine and deepen an existing practice.
Her approach is thoughtful and methodical, building the kind of strong, resilient foundation that supports everything else. Sessions with Anna tend to leave people feeling centred and connected, more aware of how their body moves and more confident in its capabilities.
At the core of her teaching is a belief in movement as something intentional. Not just physical effort, but a practice of calm focus and presence that carries well beyond the studio.
Pilates Instructor
Agi Falenta
With over 30 years of teaching experience and more than 14 dedicated entirely to Pilates, Agi Falenta is one of the most qualified movement educators working in the UK today.
Her path into movement began early, teaching horse riding from the age of 15, before discovering Pilates and the purposeful, intelligent movement that would come to define her work.
That work took on new depth following her own hip replacement surgery in her early forties. The experience sharpened her focus on functional movement and rehabilitation, leading her to train as a Connective Tissue Therapy practitioner and complete the Pink Ribbon Program® certification as a Breast Cancer Exercise Specialist, a qualification that speaks directly to her commitment to movement as a tool for recovery and long-term wellbeing.
Agi holds a Comprehensive Pilates Teacher Training certification and a Balanced Body Reformer Instructor certification, and is the creator and author of internationally recognised Functional Pilates manuals and education programmes, used by teachers and movement professionals across the world.
Her mission, whether working with a client in the studio or mentoring another teacher, is the same: to simplify movement, build confidence, and help people move with purpose.
Agi teaches Reformer Pilates at Luma.
Pilates & Barre Instructor
Serena Crolla
Serena brings serious energy to everything she teaches. A Barre instructor and Reformer Pilates teacher with a background in professional dance, she has the kind of deep knowledge of form, alignment, and flow that only comes from years of moving with real intention. In her classes, that expertise translates into sessions that are precise, creative, and more than a little demanding.
Her Barre classes have earned something of a reputation. Expect carefully sequenced movement, curated playlists, and a signature burn that will have you shaking in the best possible way. On the Reformer, the same principles apply: technical rigour, creative sequencing, and a focus on building strength that's balanced and lasting. Either way, she has a talent for finding muscles you didn't know needed waking up.
But there's warmth underneath the challenge. As a mum herself, Serena knows exactly what it takes to carve out time for yourself, and why it matters. Her classes are as much about reconnecting with your own strength as they are about the physical work. She wants you to leave feeling like you've raised the bar, in every sense.
Yoga Instructor
Kat Aydin
Kat came to Yoga the way many do: through another discipline entirely. After years in dance and 15 years running a much-loved studio, she found in Yoga something that felt like a natural continuation, a practice rooted in healing, inclusivity, and a deep respect for what every body is capable of at every stage of life.
Her training spans an impressive range: Vinyasa, Yin, Restorative, Prenatal and Postnatal Yoga, Yoga for Perimenopause and Menopause, Qi Gong, Breathwork, and Sound Healing. That breadth isn't just a list of qualifications. It means she can genuinely meet people where they are, drawing on whichever tools best serve the person in front of her. Her sessions are warm, unhurried, and tailored carefully to individual needs.
What perhaps speaks loudest, though, is where Kat has chosen to take her practice. Kat has shared Yoga with the Teenage Cancer Unit, Edinburgh Women's Aid, Maggie's Centre, and Cherry Road Centre. It's a quietly powerful reflection of what she believes Yoga is for: not a luxury, but something that belongs to everyone.
Kat teaches Yoga at Luma.
Catrin Dawson
Pilates Instructor
Catrin grew up in New Zealand and has called the UK home for the past three years, bringing with her a warmth and straightforwardness that her students tend to notice immediately.
Her route into Pilates is one many will recognise: injury led her to the mat, and what started as rehabilitation became something she couldn't imagine life without. That personal experience shapes how she teaches. She understands what it feels like to come to Pilates out of necessity, and how it can quietly become a practice you look forward to.
Catrin’s classes centre on form, flow, and full-body movement, with a strong emphasis on control and alignment. She has a particular fondness for a plank series, something her clients know to expect and, eventually, to appreciate. It's that combination of precision and good humour that makes her classes feel both genuinely challenging and enjoyable.
Outside the studio, Catrin runs, reads, and makes the most of everything Edinburgh has to offer, from its food scene to its coffee shops to a well-chosen glass of wine. She also still gets on the mat herself regularly. For Catrin, Pilates has never just been something she teaches. It's something she lives.
Catrin teaches Reformer Pilates and Mat Pilates at Luma.
Pilates Instructor
Alex Sandgren
Alex's route into Pilates is not the one you might expect. A former attorney in the United States, she found movement as a way to manage the pressures of a demanding legal career, and what began as a practical solution became a genuine calling.
Trained in STOTT Pilates on both the Reformer and Mat, she brings over seven years of teaching experience and an athletic, dynamic approach to her classes. She believes movement should feel enjoyable as much as it feels effective, and that energy comes through in every session.
Alex works across all levels, with a teaching style that is precise and challenging without ever taking itself too seriously. Her classes tend to leave people feeling stronger than they expected and more energised than when they walked in.
Outside the studio, she is usually somewhere in the city with her husband and two young boys, making the most of everything Edinburgh has to offer.
Alex teaches Reformer Pilates and Mat Pilates at Luma.
Liron Bleischer
Barre & Yoga Instructor
Liron's relationship with movement has never been simple, and that is precisely what makes her such a compelling teacher.
Nearly 20 years ago, an injury stopped her dancing career in its tracks. Rather than stepping away from movement, she moved toward it differently, discovering in Pilates and Yoga a way of becoming stronger and fitter while genuinely listening to her body. She qualified as an instructor soon after, driven by a need to share what she had found. During that same period, she completed a master's degree in clinical psychology and worked as a therapist, before returning to dance and continuing to perform until her retirement in 2019.
That retirement brought Liron to Edinburgh and the University of Edinburgh, where she pursued a degree in dance science and education. She fell in love with the city and stayed, now working towards a PhD whose subject feels like the natural culmination of everything she has lived: the links between mind and body, and the science of injury prevention.
All of that finds its way into her teaching. Her classes balance building strength with maintaining alignment, always moving with fluidity, and she brings both challenge and genuine support to every session. She meets each student exactly where they are, with the kind of understanding that only comes from someone who has navigated the relationship between movement, injury, and recovery from the inside.
Pilates, Barre & Yoga Instructor
Mylène Mackay
Mylène is a certified Mat Pilates, Barre, and Yin Yoga teacher with over a decade of international teaching experience behind her.
Trained across Asia and Europe, she brings a genuinely global perspective to her practice: one shaped by diverse movement traditions, a wide range of students, and a deep curiosity about how the body learns and adapts. That breadth shows in her teaching. Whether guiding a dynamic Barre sequence, exploring the slower, meditative rhythms of Yin, or working through Pilates fundamentals with real attention to detail, Mylène meets each student where they are.
Mylène’s classes blend precision, strength, and mindfulness in equal measure. The result is sessions that feel both grounding and genuinely transformative, held together by a calm, supportive presence that makes space for every level of experience.
At the heart of it all is a simple belief: that movement practised with awareness leads to ease, confidence, and a more connected relationship with your own body.
Mylène teaches Mat Pilates, Barre and Yoga at Luma.
Julia Govan
Mat Pilates Instructor
Julia's route to Pilates is one many will recognise. Working in a demanding marketing role in London, she spent long hours at a desk and found herself dealing with persistent back pain and the kind of postural problems that creep up slowly and then all at once. Reformer Pilates was the answer she hadn't been looking for, and quickly became something she couldn't imagine being without.
That was over 13 years ago. Since then, Pilates has woven itself into every chapter of her life: helping her build strength, address the postural issues that brought her to the mat in the first place, and supporting her mental health through the focus and body awareness the practice demands. Through two pregnancies it kept her active, and in the months that followed it helped her rebuild from the ground up.
Now based in Edinburgh and a mum of two, Julia has left marketing behind entirely. She is STOTT-trained on both the Reformer and Mat, and brings to her teaching the same precision and attention to form that shaped her own practice. But her classes are anything but clinical. Julia believes the studio should feel warm, welcoming and genuinely enjoyable, a place people look forward to coming back to, week after week.
Julia teaches Mat Pilates at Luma.
We're hiring
We're looking for talented, qualified instructors. Drop us a line.
The studio, the space, and the people who fill it
