Opening next week in Kearny Mesa, The Burns Collective makes its debut as San Diego's first faith-based Pilates studio. We sat down with co-founder Noelia Burns to discuss how she’s merging the fundamentals of Pilates with a mission to build a community rooted in Christ."
Co-founders / husband and wife team Noelia + Elijah Burns
For Noelia Burns, the road to her faith-based Pilates studio began with a series of prayers and a radical surrender. Fresh out of college with a degree in dance, a job opportunity fell through. At the same time, she found herself leaving an abusive relationship and moving back home to San Diego, unsure of what came next.
“I remember crying out to God for the first time and just saying, ‘I surrender. I’ll do anything.’”
What followed, she says, felt anything but coincidental. Old friends began reaching out, inviting her to church. A sense of community re-emerged. And then, just a month after returning home, she went on a date with the man who would become her husband.
“The first thing we talked about was God,” she says. “We bumped into people from his church, and I was like—there’s no way this is a coincidence. Everything was pointing me back to Jesus.”
Through that relationship, Burns began to rebuild not only her sense of self, but her faith. “God knew I was seeking validation in relationships,” she says. “He was like, ‘This is how I’m going to get to you.’”
At the same time, Burns was deep into her Pilates training, having completed a comprehensive 500-hour certification through the Pilates Method Alliance after years as a dancer. Initially, her goal was pursuing a clinical career and began working with patients with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s through movement therapy. She also supplemented her income through teaching at Pilates studios across San Diego but something felt off.
“I loved Pilates, but I felt like I was living a double life,” she says. “I was so on fire for God, but I couldn’t talk about Him in the spaces I was working in. I couldn’t play the music that filled me up. And I would leave class feeling fulfilled physically but disconnected spiritually.”
That tension planted the seed for something new.
“I felt like the Lord was putting it on my heart: ‘you’re going to bring faith into fitness somehow,’” she says. “I just didn’t know what that looked like yet. I thought I heard the Lord loud and clear to open a studio,” she says. “But I was rushing.”
It was a sermon that shifted her perspective.
“They were talking about how Jesus walked—He didn’t run,” she says. “He was never in a rush. And I remember thinking, if Jesus didn’t run, why am I? I knew then that it would happen, but in divine timing.”
Instead of forcing a studio open, Burns pivoted. She began hosting faith-based Pilates events around San Diego under what would become The Burns Collective. Each one sold out organically, without paid marketing.
“I didn’t even understand how it was happening,” she says. “But what I realized is that God was asking me to build the community first.”
That foundation is now at the core of The Burns Collective’s physical studio in Kearny Mesa, a semi-private Pilates space designed to feel intimate, intentional, and spiritually grounded. The studio features four reformers and a fully equipped mat room, with class sizes capped to maintain a more personal experience.
“I want people to feel known,” Burns says. “I want it to be really intimate.”
The programming itself is rooted in both Pilates principles and scripture. Each class format is inspired by a specific Bible verse, blending physical movement with spiritual intention.
“It was so important that everything tied back to our faith,” she says. “That’s truly the reason we started this studio.”
The studio's central mat Pilates class, Firm Foundation, draws from Matthew 7:24, emphasizing both physical and spiritual stability. “When I think about classical mat Pilates, I think about how it is the foundation,” she says. “And a firm foundation in the Bible is being rooted in His word.”
Holy Spirit Flow, the studio's contemporary, beat-driven class, leans into Burns' dance background and is set entirely to worship music. “I was going to classes and just not feeling filled up by the music I was consuming,” she says. “So that was really important to me.”
Armor of God, inspired by Ephesians 6:10, is the studio’s most strength-focused offering, incorporating heavier equipment and slower, time-under-tension movement. “I want people to leave that class feeling equipped,” she says. “Strong, resilient, and ready to take on their day with the Lord by their side.”
Every class also begins and ends with prayer. “It’s super important to us that we invite God into the space, and then thank Him after,” she shares. Scripture may be woven throughout class organically, depending on the instructor and the energy in the room. But the goal, she emphasizes, is to create an environment where people feel safe, supported, and open.
“The most important thing here is we want to build community,” she says. “We want this to be a space where someone can walk in and feel safe—even if they don’t know where they’re at in their walk with the Lord.”
That sense of openness extends beyond the workout itself. The studio plans to host Bible studies as well as larger faith-based events that combine teaching, movement, and community gathering.
Now, as The Burns Collective prepares to open its doors with a sold-out grand opening, Burns finds herself in a familiar place to trust the process.
“I’m definitely nervous,” she admits. “ We just have full faith that the Lord's going to provide, no matter what that means.”
And this time, she’s not rushing.
“It’s going to happen in His timing,” she says.
The Burns Collective, 7370 Opportunity Rd Suite J, San Diego, CA 92111
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