Pilates works from the core outward focusing on abdominal hip and shoulder stabilizing muscle groups to support your skeleton with emphasis on precision concentration centering and breathing to make the body strong, lean, flexible and fluid.

The Pilates Method (pronounced puh-LAH-teez) was developed in the 1920s by the legendary physical trainer, Joseph H. Pilates, The Pilates Method is an exercise system focused on improving flexibility and strength for the total body without building bulk. Some of the first people to use the Pilates Method were dancers such as Martha Graham and George Balanchine and has been embraced by dancers for years.

Today it is a highly regarded conditioning method throughout the world. It is an exercise program that you look forward to, and that leaves you refreshed and alert with a feeling of physical and mental well-being.

The Pilates Method is a series of specific exercises coupled with focused breathing patterns, Pilates has proven itself invaluable not only as fitness but also as an important asset to professional sports training and physical rehabilitation of all kinds.

Performed on specifically designed exercise apparatus or in a group mat class and supervised by extensively trained instructors and practiced faithfully, Pilates yields numerous benefits.

Benefits:

Increased lung capacity

Circulation

Strength and flexibility, particularly of the abdomen and back muscles

Coordination-both muscular and mental

Resistance Stretching

Resistance Stretching is the revolutionary technique that utilizes a person's own resistance in the strengthening and elongating of muscles.The use of this system can not only increase flexibility and muscular performance, but it will also help heal old injuries and prevent future ones.The discovery behind Resistance Stretching is that to truly stretch a muscle, you must CONTRACT the muscle throughout the entire range.What this method does is COMBINE strength training and flexibility training.

To strength train a muscle, you start where the muscle is as long as possible, contract the muscle and take it to where it is as short as possible.

BUT, to resistance stretch this muscle you would do the opposite. Start where the muscle is as short as possible and contract the muscle while you take it to where it is as long as possible.

The trick here is that it takes TWICE as much force to stretch the muscle as to strengthen the muscle. So if you can do a bicep curl with 50 pounds, then it would actually take 100 pounds to stretch the bicep!

Increases in flexibility through Resistance Stretching also result in:

Resistance Stretching is the missing link in preventative medicine as it:

12-Time Olympic Medalist
Dara Torres calls
Resistance Stretching her "Secret Weapon"

The classical techniques of Yoga date back more than 5,000 years. In ancient times, the desire for greater personal freedom, health and long life, and heightened self-understanding gave birth to this system of physical and mental exercise which has since spread throughout the world. The word Yoga means “to join or yoke together,” and it brings the body and mind together into one harmonious experience.

The whole system of Yoga is built on three main structures: exercise, breathing, and meditation. The exercises of Yoga are designed to put pressure on the glandular systems of the body, thereby increasing its efficiency and total health. The body is looked upon as the primary instrument that enables us to work and evolve in the world, and so a Yoga student treats it with great care and respect. Breathing techniques are based on the concept that breath is the source of life in the body. The Yoga student gently increases breath control to improve the health and function of both body and mind. These two systems of exercise and breathing then prepare the body and mind for meditation, and the student finds an easy approach to a quiet mind that allows silence and healing from everyday stress. Regular daily practice of all three parts of this structure of Yoga produce a clear, bright mind and a strong, capable body.

Nia is a dynamic workout program, a lifestyle blueprint that offers personal and professional growth. It is a living system that grows and changes as students do, working with the natural wisdom and intelligence of the body, mind, spirit, and emotions.

A fitness and healing system, Nia uses practical and diverse movements, free expression and the senses to experientially create fitness and wellness. It is rejuvenation, celebration, recreation, play, meditation, rest. It is physical, mental, and spiritual.

The workout and lifestyle blueprint for Nia is practical, experiential, and focuses on internal guidance to get fit and healthy and develop personal awareness. Nia's flexible structure allows students the time and space to personally modify the workout to suit their own needs. Process oriented, the Nia format is user friendly, empowering students and teachers to make their own movement choices moment to moment.

Creativity is unlimited, offering students movements and choreographic choices with a diverse blend of Eastern and Western styles, concepts and philosophies. From the worlds of the healing arts Nia is infused with love and conscious care. From the work of the martial arts Nia is infused with power, focus and intent, mindfulness. From the world of dance, Nia is infused with craft and technique. From the world of psychology, Nia reaches into the world of emotions and expression, guiding people to fully express themselves from their hearts.

Nia motivates people to get fit and healthy by supporting their desire to explore their ongoing growth process and potential in a loving way. Fitness, health, well-being, potential, and improved self-esteem result from the magnetic experience of Nia.