Pilates DNA

10/19/2026

I see the move. Fully equipped studios showcasing the Cadillac, the Chairs, the small apparatus as a means of setting themselves apart from the reformer-only shops and haphazardly choreographed mat classes. Fair enough. Building knowledge around the equipment takes serious training to learn.

But the apparatus itself is not the method. Good equipment is a powerful teacher, and Pilates DNA has all of it down to traditional specifications. What makes the difference is the teaching. It is the expertise that helps you build a solid practice to last a lifetime.

And that teaching doesn’t need the room. Equipment preferred, of course! But take it all away and I can still show you Pilates.

10/14/2026

A reminder: we’re opening the studio on Saturday, October 24th, 5–8 PM. Part open house, part art show, featuring my daughter Nola’s drawing and animation.

You are invited to come see the studio, spend time with us, and enjoy the artwork! Please come by and RSVP through the link in bio so I have enough snacks and beverages for everyone.

10/08/2026

I change the program, not the exercise.

New on Substack: “To Modify or Not to Modify: Why Is This Even a Question?” — in case you missed it in last week’s newsletter.

The better a teacher understands the system, the less they reach for modifications. The question becomes: where else within the method can I go? If an exercise is wrong for a body, I don’t give it to that body. I choose a different exercise, a different apparatus, a different place in the workout. The program changes. The exercise stays intact.

Alter an exercise’s structure until the movement is materially different from the original, and something else is happening. Not personalization. Distortion. Repeated often enough, it unravels the method.

Full essay at Substack link in bio.

10/07/2026

Order is information. One exercise prepares the conditions for the next. A movement may open something, organize something, test something, or expose what the previous exercise did not resolve. Treating the repertoire like a menu compromises the intelligent design. The order gives the body context for progress. It also informs the teacher and asks them to consider: where did the rhythm change, where did control disappear, what connection failed to carry forward? Personalization matters, and choices stay in conversation with the system. Next time you practice on the Reformer or Mat, take notice of what each exercise prepares for the one that follows.

10/05/2026

You stepped into a Pilates studio where the method comes first.

Here, we teach Contrology as a complete practice: personalized, rigorous, and built to make you more capable in your own body. The apparatus has a purpose. The order has a purpose. The teacher’s attention has a purpose. Every addition earns its place.

Whether you are beginning, returning, or preparing to teach, the work starts with a foundation and develops through consistency. Pilates DNA is in North Hollywood: available for private lessons, small Contrology classes, and select hybrid learning opportunities. Start with the link in our bio.

PilatesDNA

10/02/2026

https://www.pilatesdna.com/campaigns/view-campaign/aGAK_W7dQKojOeBa3tGpKwD51_ff41hMGCp3r3Un_N0Hr7SheJQxsoQ9GfjOU58OkvPLbq5prkye1NhXsbJfqnun61b3I6Y6

Jeane and I just returned from Paris, where we attended workshops at Etoile Pilates. I was able to reconnect with some dear friends, make a few new ones, and do a little guest-teaching. Now we're in full-swing fall season at the studio and there’s a lot to be excited about! Read on for the October...

09/25/2026

It’s impossible to fully capture what was special about my Paris adventure in an Instagram reel, but the essence of joy is certainly coming through because I’m smiling the entire time. Thank you and the rest of my Pilates family.

09/10/2026

Our latest newsletter went out recently, and one of the things we touched on was the availability of private lessons with our apprentices.

Now seems like a good time to properly introduce one of them.

I met Kerrynton a little over a year ago, when she first came to Pilates DNA looking to deepen her own practice and learn more about Contrology. Since then, she has kept showing up.

She has practiced. She has observed. She has asked questions. She has worked on her teaching. And, perhaps most importantly, she has continued developing her own understanding of the method in her body.

That kind of consistency is essential.

Both Kerrynton and Jeane have put a tremendous amount of time, attention, and effort into their apprenticeships, and I’m glad that our clients have the opportunity to work with them in private lessons at the apprentice rate of $60.

Today, though, I want to put a little of the spotlight on Kerrynton.

I recently asked her about how she found Pilates DNA, what drew her toward Contrology, what she is learning about teaching, and what she hopes to give students through her work.

You can get to know Kerrynton a little better in her Q&A on the Pilates DNA blog. Link in bio.

06/04/2026

The June newsletter just went out, and with it, details on this month’s Contrology Lab: Put Your Back Into It!

Yes, the title is loosely inspired by a late 90s hip-hop song that is absolutely not newsletter-appropriate. But the phrase made me laugh, and it also happens to point us toward something very important in the Pilates method.

In Pilates, the “back connection” goes beyond working the muscles of the back toward an understanding about how the whole body organizes itself through support, reach, connection, and control.

When the back body participates, the work becomes stronger, more lifted, and more integrated. This Lab will explore how the back connection shows up throughout the system and helps the whole body work together.

As always, Contrology Lab is part workout, part workshop. It is designed for teachers and approved practitioners who want to deepen their understanding of the Pilates method through practice, observation, and discussion.

Join us Saturday June 20, from noon-1:30 pm (pacific time), in person or online. Let’s get our backs working!

05/21/2026

Scenes from this morning’s practice. Nothing spectacular, but that’s also my point.

Great teaching requires continuous self-practice. Pilates is movement, and if we are going to teach movement with depth, clarity, and integrity, we need to maintain a real relationship with the work in our own bodies.

Not as a performance. Not just for content. But rather, the practice itself continues to teach the practitioner.

There is no final arrival point, here. And, certainly, no complete mastery. The method reveals itself through repetition, effort, attention, and time.