W H A T i do

ADAPTABLE: Truly, for every human body. A healthy body is adaptable, resilient, responsive. Pilates as a method is the same: It is extremely modifiable to meet — and challenge — you, wherever you may be.

GOAL-LED & PROGRESS-FOCUSED: Your personal goals are the compass, & progress — not perfection — is the benchmark of success. A good training program should take both into account; ours does just that.

INDIVIDUALIZED: Sessions can be geared toward strength training + fitness, correctives/therapeutics, functional movement, flexibility + release work, & everything in between. Collaborate with your practitioner to find the blend that works for you to help you feel your best, & know that blend will likely change over time as you progress.

ANATOMY-BASED: The foundation of our Pilates work lies in the anatomical underpinnings of the human body, the “map” of what’s below the surface. A strong understanding of — and respect for — the majestic + intricate design of the human body guides our choices as teachers in helping you explore and create new, healthy, useful, exciting movement patterns + opportunities.

BIOMECHANICALLY SOUND: Safe & effective, Pilates looks at movement both globally and locally, through the lenses of alignment, functionality, joint neutrality/stability/mobility, & muscular strength + flexibility. Recommendations as well as contraindications for a broad spectrum of special conditions are well-studied by our practitioners + mindfully practiced.

A FRONT-LINE ALLIED HEALTH PROFESSION: As with health coaching, movement education offers sustainable, consistent, first-line care for your body. You can expect to participate in a collaborative, whole-body movement experience with a practitioner who genuinely cares about you, your health, & your progress, & who is excited to ask questions, get to know you, & discuss all aspects of your journey. Note: Medical clearance is recommended before starting any new exercise program, & referrals to medical specialists will always be made when appropriate.

A BALANCED WORKOUT: Enjoy a complete, whole-bodied movement experience at every session, moving all joints safely + with increasing challenge + mastery through all planes of motion. Human beings are designed to move in all of these ways, & we want to hang on to that “agility ability” as we age.

FITNESS- &/or RECOVERY-MINDED: In addition to being a fantastic option for those looking to kick it up a notch in the fitness department, Pilates is also an invaluable modality with which to aid in prevention, prep, &/or recovery from injury, surgery, & chronic pain conditions. It is a uniquely well-suited partner to physical, occupational, & other therapies.

BREATH-INCORPORATIVE: Breathing is our most vital, primal function & a powerful support to our movement, our mental/emotional landscape, & our daily life. Pilates encourages breath awareness and utilizes it to mobilize, support, invigorate, & heal.

APPROPRIATE: For an extremely broad spectrum of populations, Pilates is an appropriate movement modality choice, as it is highly personalizable. These populations include those with musculoskeletal disorders, neurological disorders, spinal conditions, pre- & post-operative patients, pre- & postnatal women, athletes in training, the older adult, and many more.

INFINITELY VARIABLE: Pilates is a rich method with boundless room for creativity. Sessions build on mastery of concepts + skills while incorporating novel exercises, sensations, & challenges. During your sessions you will experience a diverse array of equipment, including the Cadillac, the Reformer, the Ladder Barrel, the Chair, the Bodhi Suspension System, the MOTR, and a vast assortment of props, all of which can be utilized in different ways to either offer additional support & assistance, or to increase the level of challenge, resistance, load, or instability.

ABOUT EXPRESSION + VITALITY: By honoring the body as a communication device + expressive tool, we train not just “exercises,” but graceful aging, self-expression + -actualization, & increased healthfulness through all stages of life.

USEFUL: Pilates is a valuable means of building your own body-health toolbox and filling it with sound tools enabling you to take better care of your own body over time. Experience how adept the body is at healing itself through movement — and gain tools you can safely use at home to help it do just that through the different seasons + circumstances of your life.

FUN: Creative Pilates movement work is truly a laboratory, a playground, a supportive environment in which you can try things out, gain new skills + strengths, heal injuries + imbalances, feel GOOD, & move your body both proudly + healthfully… at any + every point in your life.

BIO-INDIVIDUALITY: One person’s food is another person’s poison. We are each unique, & so are our nutritional needs. The journey of health is about listening more closely to your body; it will guide you if you let it.

PRIMARY FOODS & BALANCE: In addition to the foods we eat (secondary foods), there are several “big areas” of life that are even more important when it comes to our health + well-being. We call these primary foods. Primary foods nourish us off of our plate, & they tend to override the secondary foods we eat in terms of impact on how we feel. We will look at twelve areas of primary food in our time together, but the big four are relationships, career, spirituality, & physical activity. Identifying areas of primary food where you may feel less satisfied & working to amp those areas up can go a long way toward improving your health.

A HOLISTIC APPROACH: Integrative Nutrition® considers the whole, beautiful you. Our work together is not only about the foods you are consuming, though that will be integral. We will also look at primary foods as mentioned above, sleep + stress management, & your past (health history) + the future you desire for yourself. All of these areas will inform our work together around diet + lifestyle changes.

CLIENT-LED SESSIONS: As a health coach, my role in your process is to act as a “guide on the side.” I will assist, facilitate, support your journey by encouraging deeper exploration, asking thought-provoking questions, & providing clear recommendations to you at the end of each session as well as illuminating tools (handouts, resources) along the way. You will steer much of our work together as we collaborate to address the areas that are most important to you. We will generate + agree upon your recommendations as a team, & you will experiment with them before the subsequent session, taking care to practice actively noticing how your body feels as you do.

YOUR GOALS as COMPASS: Your goals are our benchmark for evaluating the effectiveness of our work together; we will reference them often as we chart our path to get you where you want to be.

DEEP LISTENING: We will both practice this; I listening deeply + actively to you, and you listening deeply + actively to yourself + your body.

COLLABORATION: Health coaching is a collaborative process between coach + client, & between additional health care providers on your team when applicable.

INTUITION: Integrative Nutrition® recognizes + remembers that human beings are animals; we instinctively know how + what to eat when we tune in to our innate body awareness + knowledge. We will explore a return to a more intuitive — less cerebral — relationship with food, freeing you from food lists + calorie counts.

YOUR ABILITY TO HEAL YOURSELF: The body, when given the opportunity + healthy building blocks, is miraculously good at healing itself. As your coach, I will facilitate that process with knowledge, experience, + guidance. Ultimately, though, you are your own best healer + wellness center. And the discoveries you make along your journey will be eye-opening, empowering, & affirming.

THE PERSON OVER THE THEORY: With a dietary theory library totaling over a staggering 100 different theories, Integrative Nutrition® coaches are well versed in a multitude of approaches — including the latest fads + trends. The goal is to know about + understand these theories, to be able to discuss them & pick + choose parts of the ones that serve us, but to always remember that bio-individuality is Queen. Adhering to any extreme, food-restrictive diet longterm (except in cases of medical necessity) is ill-advised, often unhealthy/counterproductive, unsustainable, & unpleasant. Our goal is to expand the variety of whole, unprocessed foods that you are able to consume, & to remember that your needs are yours; they aren’t the same as anyone else’s, & they will change over time & need to be reassessed. To follow a “diet” that does not take any of that into account is not often ideal.

IMPACTFUL ELEMENTS: So just what are the things that color our individuality? They include things like our cultural background, gender, age, activity level, & even the season of the year in which we currently find ourselves. All of these elements — & more — color our unique individual needs with respect to diet + lifestyle.

SIX-MONTH PROGRAMMING: Our work together will most often take the form of a six-month program. This allows enough time for you to experience many different life situations + circumstances while under guidance, to experiment with implementing a variety of recommendations & give each long enough to know how it makes you feel, & to have the best chances of successfully examining your life balance + establishing habits that will last. Sessions occur once every two weeks. At the end of the six months, you will have the option to renew & continue further/deeper with your journey if you choose.

DIFFERENCES: Integrative Nutrition® work differs from working with other health care providers (nutritionists, therapists, doctors) in that it is not single-minded (you won’t be sent home with lists of YES foods and NO foods, unless medically necessary), it is results-oriented + occurs in a fixed time frame (your “therapy” is done in 6 months; at that time you are ready to continue on your own or renew to dig deeper), & it involves time, deep listening/connection, & consideration of all parts of your life (which unfortunately can be lacking in today’s medical practices). It’s a beautiful, beneficial blend, & the transformation you can experience as a result is huge. Health coaching can be a life-changing experience on its own, or a wonderful, complementary partner to your work with your medical team. Referrals to medical specialists will always be made when appropriate.

CURRENT RESEARCH: We will consider the latest research in impactful areas such as gluten sensitivities, autoimmune diseases, gut microbiome health + its implications, epigenetics, diseases of aging, food industry/food politics, & more.

CONCRETE TOOLS: You will leave with concrete tools you can use, including handouts, take-home resources, giveaways, & optional healthy pantry makeovers + health food store tours.

And most importantly…

THE WHY: As in functional medicine, our goal is to address the body as a whole and promote healing + disease prevention from within through whole, unprocessed foods. This is different from the medical model, which tends toward disease + symptom management through the use of medications (which are sometimes certainly necessary). Our food industry + government regulation have also drastically changed in the last several decades, & developing a clear sense of what “clean” eating means to you with these changes in mind is another valuable key toward your health, longevity, & happiness.