What do you love about teaching Pilates and owning a studio? Where did you take your training and who was the educator?
HB: I love teaching others a method/way to move that feels balanced and achievable. I love how I feel and how clients tell me they feel when moving throughout the day after a Pilates session. I love the subtle differences; changes and awareness in posture immediately and effortless movement.
I enjoy owning a studio where I can give my community services that are unique to our location. I love being able to have 1-1 time with each PT and client and allowing that time to integrate movement. With more personal care I can see/hear the Pilates movement principles carry over into everyday life – something that is very difficult to achieve in a busy multiple-patient PT setting.
I get inspired by the Pilates wellness classes that we offer. We keep our classes small, 6 or less in class, to best cue and assist our clients. It’s great to be able to integrate more advanced movements with smaller classes as well.
I took my Pilates training from Polestar Pilates Education in 2002 and my instructor was Lise Stoltz. She has since been a wonderful friend, inspiration, and mentor!
What are your current inspirations? What do you love about them?
HB: My current inspirations have always been there. Slowly in recent years, I have been able to work on them more actively. It’s difficult owning a business; I try to work on the business as much as possible, but somehow along the years I get a gentle pull back to working full time and in the clinic. So with that said, as much as I love working with all clients, I LOVE working with dancers. Having a history of competitive dance growing up and then being a professional dancer for a short period of time, I am drawn to helping dancers understand their bodies and to help them to take care of their bodies and joints.
I love being able to teach a young dancer or a more seasoned dancer more about how their body works, how to feel their joints differently, and then move in a more intentional, efficient, and graceful way. I love when they have their ah-ha moment – it gives me goosebumps!
Why Pilates? How did you find the practice?
HB: I love Pilates because it is choreography on machines. I feel like I’m dancing with the machine. I don’t get the time to take dance classes as much as I did when I was in my teens and 20s, so it is a way to embrace movement in a different way.
I found the Pilates practice when I was taking classes in LA after high school. I moved from Phoenix, AZ to LA to dance professionally. Once there, I heard of a lady teaching Pilates in Hollywood. Back in 1991, I drove over Laurel Canyon Blvd from North Hollywood to Hollywood, climbed up some ladders/scaffolding to a small building structure at the side of this bigger building to take a Pilates Reformer class. Years later at a PMA conference in 2007, I found out that it was Mari Winsor who was my first Pilates teacher.
From my first class, I knew I wanted to do something with Pilates. While dancing I suffered a significant ankle injury and had to see a PT. This, coupled with anatomy and physiology classes at a community college in LA, sparked my interest in PT. Just after graduating from PT school in 2001, I took a course from Brent Anderson, teaching Pilates in rehabilitation. I then signed up for the Polestar Pilates Comprehensive Course and continued to take more and more courses from the awesome teachers in the Polestar family.
What do you hope to convey in your teaching?
HB: I hope to convey that every movement that we make has an intention… the more we embrace the practice of Pilates, the more we live with intention with all that we do. It’s definitely a journey!
Where would you love to vacation?
HB: I would love to visit the countries around the Mediterranean Sea.
What is your favorite quote?
HB: There are many that have inspired me along the way, but recently I like this quote: When Thomas Edison failed over 1,000 times inventing the light bulb, he responded…
“I didn’t fail 1,000 times, I learned 1,000 ways that it wouldn’t work.”
Describe your movement style?
HB: Fun question! I am not sure…I tend to move mechanically yet gracefully. So I like to always feel a push-pull feeling to ground myself and my joints and then spice it up with a lyrical flowing style.
What is your favorite apparatus or favorite way to move? What do you love about it?
HB: I love feet in straps on the reformer. I love to make up new choreography with double and single strap use. I love the reformer for the constant feedback from the springs to push and pull against.
What are you reading or learning about?
HB: I love reading the Dance Medicine journals and dance imagery from Eric Franklin, but there are so many books on fascia that I enjoy reviewing as well… I wish there was more time in the day!
How does Pilates inform your profession?
HB: Pilates is an integral part of physical therapy in my clinic. In Arizona, Pilates is slowly growing and being integrated more in PT. Through presentations at state meetings and informal in-services, I hope I am helping to better educate our local profession on alternatives to traditional PT.
You can find Heather on instagram at HBDancemedicine
We love Heather’s commitment to Pilates and growing the Pilates family. She is passionate about building a positive community where people can come together and support one another. That was part of her purpose in establishing https://www.pilatespal.com. That site was designed to serve the Pilates community. Heather felt something was missing and bridged the gap by way of creating a central focal point where Pilates providers could directly connect with Pilates enthusiasts as well as network with other providers.
Heather is passing along Joe’s legacy by sharing her love of movement and passion for Pilates!
Thank you for the Feedback! We love Heather!