Wild Wellbeing is a small, locally owned studio on Level 1 of 345 Kapiti Road in Paraparaumu Beach, covering yoga, Pilates, barre, yin yoga and meditation — as the team cheerfully puts it, 'we do the lot.' It was founded by two Kāpiti locals, Kelly Ruiterman and Kasia Wallis, who fell in love with movement and wanted to create a space for physical and mental health built on a balance of body, mind and community.
The studio's story is a personal one. Kelly was diagnosed with osteo-arthritis in her early forties and found Pilates through her rehabilitation, going on to train as a teacher so she could share what helped her own wellbeing journey. Kasia discovered yoga and Pilates twenty years ago and completed her Yoga, Pilates and Barre training with Essence of Living; her classes are known for being fun, fast and booty-burning.
There's a class for every body and every kind of day — whether you're brand new, easing back in, expecting, parenting, or just need an hour away from your phone. Beyond the weekly timetable, Wild Wellbeing runs a five-week Pilates Beginners Course, hosts workshops and events (from Kundalini afternoons with guest teachers to shamanic sound ceremonies), offers private, corporate and school classes, venue hire and a rewards programme. Locals can start with an introductory 14 days for $40 and experience everything the timetable has to offer.
Walk up to Level 1 at 345 Kapiti Road in Paraparaumu Beach and you'll find Wild Wellbeing — a little studio with a big remit. Yoga. Pilates. Barre. Yin. Meditation. As the team puts it: we do the lot.
The studio was started by two Kāpiti locals who, in their own words, fell in love with movement and never quite recovered. Their belief is simple: wellbeing is a balance of body, mind and community, and a local studio should serve all three. Everything about the place — the timetable, the events, the tone of the newsletters — is built around making movement feel welcoming rather than intimidating.
Co-founder Kelly Ruiterman was diagnosed with osteo-arthritis in her early forties and found Pilates through her rehabilitation. The benefits were convincing enough that she trained as a teacher, determined to bring to Kāpiti the thing that had helped her own journey. Co-founder Kasia Wallis discovered yoga and Pilates twenty years ago and was, by her own account, hooked — she went on to complete Yoga, Pilates and Barre training at Essence of Living, and loves creating fun, fast, booty-burning Pilates and Barre classes.
Together they've gathered a team of teachers the studio describes as world-class, enabling everyone — no matter their level of experience — to find a class they love.
The timetable covers five core practices, each with its own personality. Yoga is for finding a bit of space — in your hips, your shoulders, your overstuffed week. Whether you're brand new or twenty years in, there's a flow with your name on it. Pilates promises a stronger core, a kinder back and better posture for all that hunching over phones: mat-based, no-impact, surprisingly hard and oddly addictive.
Yin yoga is the slow one — long holds, soft light and deep release, where the body finally puts down everything it's been lugging around. Barre is fast, fun and a little bit cheeky: Pilates meets ballet meets cardio, pretty much guaranteeing a sweat and definitely guaranteeing you'll laugh halfway through. Meditation rounds out the five — the hour away from your phone.
The common thread is accessibility. There's a class for every body and every kind of day, whether you're brand new, easing back in, expecting, parenting, or just need an hour to yourself.
Wild Wellbeing treats movement as something you can grow into. Its five-week Pilates Beginners Course runs on Wednesday evenings, 7.15 to 8.15pm, and is aimed squarely at complete beginners and comebacks — bad backs included. One participant, Tracy, put it in a Google review: her teacher's energy, humour and encouragement made every class something to look forward to, and easier options for certain movements made all the difference for a bad back.
Events go further still. Recent highlights include a two-and-a-half-hour Kundalini afternoon with Helen Guissane — practice, mantra, deep rest and play, finished with refreshments and good company — and Xochipilli's Vision, a journey of shamanic sounds, sacred drumming and ceremony with Claudio Escutia, freshly returned from pilgrimage in Mexico City. That afternoon opened with a copal cleansing and a sacred pre-Hispanic ceremonial drink (vegan and gluten free), moved into call-and-response chants around a Pow Wow drum layered with flutes, rattles, rain sticks, ocarinas and shamanic drums, and closed with a shamanic sound relaxation — plus the chance to meet the instruments themselves. No musical experience needed; families welcome.
The studio also offers private, corporate and school classes, venue hire, a rewards programme for regulars and its Friends of Wild community.
For locals, the on-ramp is hard to beat: an introductory offer of 14 days for $40, available to locals only, gives you two weeks to try anything on the timetable. After that, a casual class is $26, and multi-class passes can be used across anything — the Saturday Barre, the Thursday Yin you keep meaning to try — at your own pace, with no term, no weekly payment and no commitment beyond turning up.
Booking happens online through the studio's timetable, and new events are announced via the newsletter and @wildwellbeingnz on Instagram and Facebook. Questions are answered at hello@wildwellbeing.co.nz or on 0273130104.
Whether you want to build strength, untangle a stiff back, or just spend sixty minutes being told exactly what to do so you don't have to make a single decision — there's a spot on the floor with your name on it. Pull up a mat. Welcome to the tribe.