Evolving to help other teachers grow

I think I always knew I’d end up teaching others. Every job I have ever had has centred around teaching movement to children and adults. I’ve been a mover and surrounded by movement my entire life. Teaching was a natural evolution for me. I love teaching my clients, but there is something much more enriching about teaching teachers. About making sure there are pilates practitioners out there who truly help change people’s lives.

Often, we talk about the moments that changed us. For me, it was my first knee surgery at age 16 that forever changed the trajectory of my life. All I wanted at that time was to dance, and physical therapy could only do so much for my recovery. I pursued my Bachelor's in dance at Goucher College in Maryland, USA, specifically because of its intertwined Pilates department. I knew that if I wanted to keep dancing, I would have to be able to take care of my body, and Pilates was the magic.

I had the option to stay at Goucher to pursue a Romana Kryzanowska-based classical teacher training program, but I chose another path. Four years was enough, and I needed the challenge of something new. I also knew I only had so much dance life left in my knees. I decided to go straight to grad school at the University of Colorado (CU), Boulder, once again for dance and Pilates. I completed my advanced teaching certificate in 2005, and I’ve been teaching Pilates ever since.

I began teacher training when I moved my home studio to a studio storefront. I had a very clear mission with Pilates 804 as a restorative studio, and I didn't have comprehensively trained teachers alongside me. It was my husband who said, “Why don’t you just start training teachers?”. He said it as a solution, but as soon as the idea was sparked, I got to work. Applicants were either under-certified or completely stunned by how different their training was from the traditional approach. This was around 2014, before the Pilates fitness boom, but I could see it on the horizon. Then COVID changed everything, and I saw a way to make classical training more accessible.

Read the full article here

________________________

Ready to teach with more clarity and confidence? The Pro Mentorship trains you in the full Somaphyx® Pilates Method—across all apparatus, from fundamentals to advanced. Learn to see patterns, cue with purpose, and connect more deeply with every body you teach. Join the Pro Mentorship today—transform your teaching.