I am classical trained, recent graduate from “The Work” with Jay Grimes, one of three elders left in the world that trained with Joe Pilates himself.
I have been teaching Pilates for 13 years, and it is only since 2015 that I truly deepened my work to truly understand how Joe Pilates taught, along with his wife Clara.
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Unique to Lineage Pilates, I incorporate a variety of elements into my Classical Pilates Sessions.
WATER
Moving like water and feeling the flow of the practice with mat and reformer workouts. Here we will focus on flow, control and breath.
NATURE
Tune into your body awareness and listen to your breath. Feeling the mat beneath you while practicing the mat and reformer repertoire. Discovering where the support comes from and your anchors. * If weather permits these mat workouts will be in nature, feeling the ground & sun.
ANIMALS
Here you will be encouraged to tap into your natural grace and strength inspired by the movements of animals. This powerful practice will bring out the primal instinct in you. Joe Pilates spent hours watching cats move. Pilates is about moving freely with ease and control so that you can enjoy life to its fullest potential.
MIND
In this practice, you will use focus and concentration with how your body is moving on that day. We will use focus techniques in your practice without external distractions, to gain a sense of confidence on which exercises to choose for your personal program.
SPIRIT
In this practice, we focus on using your intuition to let go and trust the work to take care of your body.
A bit about my story…
In the summer of 2014, while working hands on with a client, I pulled my low back quite hard and ended up taking it easy for a few weeks. My body was feeling overstretched and I sensed I was missing something from my workouts that I was unconsciously looking for. Still teaching, but not able to do my own Pilates practice much, I started searching the web and came across Jay Grimes and instantly knew “I have to work with him!” Watching a video of Jay at one of the conferences where he was teaching, he spoke about the ‘body sculptor’ Joe Pilates. I felt Joe Pilates speaking through Jay, and that was powerful.
As they say, when the student is ready the teacher will appear… and it was.
READ MORE >I signed myself up for a week intensive at the Vintage Pilates studio in LA where Jay is the director and teacher. I wanted to know tow to get into ‘The Work’ program – so after having some homework, I went back home and worked very hard as I truly knew this was for me. I was successfully chosen to be among 40+ teachers across the world and the first Canadian.
In 2015, I embarked on a life-changing journey. I immersed myself in the work of Pilates. I was deeply inspired with Jay’s words of wisdom, his stories of his time with Joseph Pilates, and his eagle eyes where he didn’t miss a beat of what was going on in my body. He made me move and move and move my body – making me stronger and more flexible physically, along with becoming a stronger and more compassionate person and teacher.
Moving like an animal, like a cat, brought back childhood memories, having grown up in the Ivory Coast in Africa. As a child, I was literally amongst wild animals and had a pet chimpanzee. I moved freely as a child, and that changed when I grew up. I started training heavily with cardio workouts. Like most people, I thought this was moving, but it isn’t. It’s creating more chaos in the body and mind.
Today, I am proud to say that I am in the best shape of my life at age 50. I am in even better shape than when I was bodybuilding in my 20’s AND when I was a pro triathlete in my 30’s and early 40’s. I also have a history of lordosis, scoliosis, over tightness everywhere, rounded upper and middle back, over worked quads, and undeveloped hamstrings and gluteus. I wasn’t using my center, only my limbs so to speak. It is amazing to me that I was still able to perform at a high level. I wasn’t in my body at all, but I did have a heart of steel – training up to 30 hours a week.
It was not until a popliteal tear, meniscus problem, a very compressed spine, low back severe tightness and SI joints always going out on me that I finally took the advice of my coach Bev Manchester, and began a yoga and Pilates practice. I was driving down to Victoria from Ladysmith 3 times a week to get my SI back into place, and strengthen my spine and my neck. I had no core what-so-ever.
I also had a very bad riding accident where I was crushed by a horse falling on me. I almost stayed paralyzed from my waist down.
This classical work has turned everything around and now I find myself rising to the challenge of the hardest exercises on the reformer and mat. I also feel stronger in all other sports I love – biking, swimming, and hiking. This work allows you to get out there in the real world and do the things that you want to do without getting hurt.
Pilates is one of the best cross-training tools you will EVER invest in!
My races times became faster and my recovery was also faster… now I could tackle an Ironman and I know I could still be close to my best time.
The Pilates work creates real changes in your body inside and outside – results that carry on outside of the studio.
You will feel your body move again – and through movement healing happens. Moving, flowing with strength, flexibility, breath, rhythm and control – you become more aware of your body and your surroundings. Your digestive system will be happier, as your body regains balance. Listening to your heart and intuition, the 6 senses will become more acute everything!