My JOURNEY TO BECOMING A MOVEMENT INSTRUCTOR

When I think about my experiences as a kid participating in sports the words awkward and avoidant come to mind. I just struggled, and what felt like play and release for my peers left me feeling shame and alienation around my abilities. Between all that inner-turmoil and being compared to my naturally athletic older brother I remember mentally writing myself off at 7 as hopelessly uncoordinated.

Fortunately, life kept nudging me toward movement in unexpected ways— college friends in New Orleans encouraging me to join a Samba troupe, a employer inviting me to train at a martial arts dojo in NYC in my 20s, and a revelatory Pilates session with a rehab specialist in San Francisco over 20 years ago that relieved a stubborn back strain no doctor could fix. Since then, Pilates has been a constant in my life, helping me navigate everyday aches and pains as well as more complex health challenges following postpartum surgery.

Following the examples set by all the kind and talented teaching mentors I've had over the years, I especially appreciate getting the opportunity to support people who feel self-conscious or fearful in their practice. I love to facilitate moving through that feeling.

On the other side of that first pilates-rehab session I began formal study at EHS Pilates (formally Ellie Herman Studio) in San Francisco 22 years ago. Since then I've completed comprehensive Pilates instructor training through both master trainer Ellie Herman and Balanced Body programs and I have taught group and private clients for almost a decade.

My life outside of teaching pilates includes being a documentarian, parent to a teenager, and a proud member of surf-therapy programs Groundswell Community Project and Waves of Grief Collective.