Story and photos by Anne Higuera
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Thanks for the tip about activity in the Fauntleroy retail space that was most recently Bel Gatto after many decades as The Original Bakery. We’ve learned it will open this summer as an expansion of a Pilates studio in the same building. Along with the same programming already happening around the corner at Lagom Studios, there will be new saunas and classes, all by appointment.
“Community building is the whole purpose,” says owner Melina Moore. She bought the studio in 2022, when it was called Innate Vitality. At 435sf, the studio, tucked into the north side of the Endolyne building, can only accommodate 4 clients at a time, so Moore had started to look for a larger space. Poised to sign a lease in the Admiral District earlier this year, she found the bakery space suddenly available. “It felt very kismet,” she says, and allowed her to keep the business in the Fauntleroy neighborhood, which she came to love a number of years ago while teaching at the Cottage School at Gatewood Elementary.
With 2,000 additional square feet, Moore says there is enough space to have private sessions and group classes, including Yin yoga, at the same time. She envisions a “community wellness space,” with saunas and shower in the back and a “cozy corner” with tea where the bakery had its pastry case.
She plans to keep the current studio for community events, including sound baths, women’s circles, reiki and breath work, and astrology workshops.
Clients at a Pilates class Tuesday morning were thrilled about the larger space. “I’m super excited that she is expanding,” said one. Another described the Lagom space as a sanctuary in the city — “a neighborhood healing space.”
Moore says the Swedish word Lagom is about moving your body in balance and appreciation, something that is a guiding principle of her studio, along with a requirement that clients practice kindness in the space, where, “everyone is welcome.” Moore has 5 instructors working out of the current studio and will be hiring more for the expansion. Likely hours when she expands in July will be 7 am to 7:30 pm, depending on appointments.
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