Polestar Graduate Highlight: Amy Foster Berntsen

Dance, Yoga, Gyrotonic, Pilates…she does it all!  We interviewed Polestar graduate and practitioner Amy Foster Berntsen in Miami, FL.  Her unique perspective of movement informs her teaching and lifestyle -read more to learn about Amy! Catch her on instagram @amynamaste Polestar: What do you love about teaching? AFB: Teaching for me, is a service of giving back the wonderful gifts that were given to me by my teachers. I’m passionate about my work. Being a professional dancer in premier ballet companies around the world, I had to cultivate an awareness of how to care for my own body. Having battled many different types of injuries with the mindset “the show must go on!” I couldn’t let an injury hold me back from dancing. I first discovered Pilates and GYROTONIC® in my youth while training to become a ballet dancer. My teachers were strict and I was dedicated. I loved finding new ways to strengthen my physic and I absolutely fell in love with these two practices. With all the different modalities I’ve picked-up along the way, Pilates and GYROTONIC® methods contributed to faster recovery time when injured. Through my ballet career I developed a broader understanding of alternative movement modalities. Being a teacher of movement has been in my wheelhouse for about 20 years now. It’s very fulfilling and I believe it’s my dharma, my life’s purpose. I also teach yoga which deepens my spiritual practice and I meditate everyday to help me relax and connect within. I meet a lot of incredible people in my field and I’ve been fortunate enough to train with some great minds en route my movement journey. I’m always grateful and love to incorporate little tidbits of my favorite teachers style into my classes. That’s what keeps me growing. We learn from each other. We are all teachers and we never stop learning. To me that’s magic! Polestar: What are your current inspirations?​ AFB: I’m inspired by my students. How they show up to class. Ready to learn and take care of their bodies. It is a pleasure to see that and feel like my teachings makes a difference in their life. Polestar: Why Pilates? AFB: Pilates is a vehicle for everyday movement. It creates structure in the body, resets the nervous system and reeducates the tissues. Pilates keeps the body in-check with less aches and pains. As we get older it is important to find a movement practice if we want to stay healthy and rejuvenated. This is what I find to be true in my own body. I always tell my students “consistency is key”. Polestar: What do you hope to convey in your teaching? AFB: Knowledge and new skills through an experience of movement. I hope people leave my class happy and feel good about themselves. Polestar: Where would you love to Vacation to? AFB: Hawaii is the next place I’d love to visit or Italy, but Hawaii first. Polestar: What is your favorite Quote? AFB: This is hard because I have so many favs but here’s a potent one that I resonate with. “We may act sophisticated and worldly but I believe we feel safest when we go inside ourselves and find home, a place where we belong and maybe the only place we really do.” -Maya Angelou Polestar: Describe your movement style? AFB: Dynamic, poised, strong, challenging, flexible, mindful, graceful and chill Polestar: What is your favorite apparatus? AFB: Ladder Barrel. I love doing back bends on it every morning before teaching. And the reformer of coarse. Polestar: What are you reading? AFB: Currently listening to audio book: Mindfulness In Action by Chogyam Trungpa

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