I discovered Pilates while walking down Main Street in Northampton, MA. I tripped over a sidewalk sign for Great River Pilates and as I was stumbling forward, completely unable to stand straight up due to some very stiff hips, a new knee pain and a left shoulder that no longer liked to move on command.

I didn’t take the sign, but I got the message.

I was newly fifty years old, but my body felt decades older. I felt angry at myself for letting things get so bad and hopeless that I would ever find a way out of the constant pain I found myself in.

I spent my childhood like any other respectable GenX girl, in dance class and on horseback somewhere in the woods. I studied ballet seriously into my early twenties. I have tried all of the exercise fads and for long periods of time, I did no exercise at all. I was busy with life and kids and career and all of the things that we put in front of ourselves while trying to keep our heads above water.

I found myself at middle age and in constant pain. Pain from old injuries both physical and emotional had nestled themselves into the fibers of my being. I hated it. I felt like a quitter, like I had given up on myself right when the time was finally here to take a breath and enjoy all that I had worked so hard for.

My husband snapped a photo of Great River’s sign for me and I quickly began working with Risa Harris at her studio.

From that first introduction to The Method, something inside me clicked. It all made so much sense. It was all encompassing and for an hour, I didn’t think about anything other than the task at hand: to heal from the inside out.

I didn’t leave the studio aching and feeling like I’d just been in a car accident. I felt taller, which was weird I thought, but it's true. You will too. Every session we leave feeling better, stronger, more capable, and in a lot less pain. 

Pilates changed my life. I don’t know that it will change yours, but I do promise that you’ll feel a whole lot better while living it.