My journey from pain that stole my life to power.

I remember feeling so small sitting in that doctor’s office. I remember not having the words to try and make him understand. I remember the look in his eyes, and I knew that I was stuck. I was so afraid that I would never find my way out of pain.

A perfect storm of events caused my health to spiral downward and changed my world as I knew it. I suffered from a neurological disorder and severe chronic pain that left me mostly bed-bound for the next 5 years. My fascination with movement and the body’s healing power began after the joy and freedom of moving without pain was taken away. 

Those 5 years were significant in shaping who I am today. I experienced the darkness and hopelessness that people in pain experience every day. I know firsthand where Western medicine fails to look at the whole person.  I know the experience of suffering in hospital beds with no answers and only medications as solutions. After years of searching for a diagnosis and pain relief from every doctor and alternative therapy, I could find things looked bleak. A family friend referred me to an OT that specializes in Myofascial Therapy. I knew after the first session that this was different. I walked out of that session feeling less pain, but also more aware of my body. For the first time in 5 years, I had hope and my body and life started to change.

As I regained function, and pain was not in control anymore, it became clear that I needed to relearn how to move! That is when Pilates came into my life. I worked with a Physical Therapist who used Pilates as a tool to teach movement. That allowed me to begin to break free from the ties that bound my body and the fear that had restricted my movement for so many years. I began to experience joy and freedom in moving again. That is where my passion and fascination with the resilient human body and its power to heal was forged. 

I pursued an education in both John Barnes Myofascial Release (MFR) and Pilates. These two modalities complement each other in the most powerful way: MFR provides deep, authentic healing with hands-on release work, and Pilates makes functional movement accessible and fun! Pilates is so much more than an exercise regimen, it is a way to address dysfunctional movement patterns that may lead to injury down the road, or retrain muscles due to an old injury or chronic pain. I love using Pilates as a tool to help people tune into their bodies and find efficient movement that feels good!