The Pilates Method Alliance (PMA) recently announced plans for its annual Pilates Day® activities, scheduled for May 2, 2009. Instead of focusing on a national event as it has in the past, this year the organization is providing more support and resources to help its members host their own grassroots Pilates Day events locally.

Held each year on the first Saturday in May, Pilates Day was created by the PMA to create awareness about Pilates, its health benefits and its history. It’s an opportunity for PMA members to educate their communities about Pilates and attract valuable local media attention to their businesses.

So, now is the time to get creative about your Pilates Day plans. You could hold a free workshop, host a day-long open house, teach a mat class in a park or community center, partner with other studios or health professionals for a bigger event, get kids involved—the sky’s the limit—as long as it’s accessible and fun.

To host a Pilates Day event, you must be a member of the PMA and submit an online application. The PMA will then send you an official event kit, a helpful electronic package which includes event ideas, planning tips and a sample time line and budget. To help members promote their events, the kit also includes advertising and PR tips, a sample media alert and press release, production-ready Pilates Day 2009 logos and customizable posters, postcards and business cards. Your event will also be listed on the Pilates Day website.

We can’t wait to see what kinds creative events people come up with. If you’re hosting a Pilates Day event, be sure to take pictures and email us a few. We’ll choose the best ones and post them on Pilates-Pro.com. You can also post them to the Pilates-Pro.com Flickr pool or our Facebook page.