Hi friends!
Welcome to my online Movement & Pilates studio. I have so much to share with you and I’m excited that you’ve decided to join me here!
My Word for 2026: EMBRACE
Even though it’s mid-March now, I wrote this first blog post early 2026, and my word for the year is EMBRACE. I love that this word is resonant with a big warm HUG! That is how I’d like to interact and connect with people this year — either physically with a big squeeze or metaphorically in how I make you feel, even if some of you are just too far away to get my arms around! It is my intention to EMBRACE everything in 2026 — even the messy and imperfect parts — every last morsel. I am going in with eyes wide open to discover the deliciousness of life everywhere, and I will know it because I have tasted its opposite (as I’m sure you have also)! I am learning to find the light in everything. I promise it’s there if you really, really look 💗
From the Firehall to the Mat
I retired from firefighting 2.5 years ago at fifty-six, not because I had to, but because I was ready. The work no longer fed me energetically as it once did and I was now the “old girl” at the table in the firehall. My coworkers always respected and included me, but things began to feel different. I could feel the tide changing for me and I rarely worked with my peers because I was the Captain. My coworkers were junior in seniority and age… and let’s face it, majority young males. We could connect over coffee humour at the table and we worked well on the fire ground, but at the base level we were in different worlds.
On top of that, I was entering my menopausal era, and a firehall isn’t the most opportune place to blossom into the Crone stage of life. I was tired, foggy, and had little patience for some of the scenarios we experience in our calling as helpers. I liken it to being in the service industry where that day comes and you have just had enough of serving people. So I retired. And it gutted me.
Then right after that, I felt expansive, as if the whole world had just opened up to me. Nothing else had really changed, but it felt as though I were reborn into a world of possibility. Like I had felt at age nineteen moving four hours away from home to begin my “adult life.”
A Lifelong Love of Movement
My passion for movement has been a thread through life, beginning with ballet as a child, garage weights in my teens and twenties, and finally becoming a certified fitness and personal trainer in my late twenties. I worked part-time teaching and training while I progressed in my firefighting career. I discovered Pilates in my thirties and opened the first fully equipped studio in my area before anyone around me knew what Pilates was. I later sold the studio to raise children, but continued to teach.
Fast forward to the present era where I have managed studios, continued to teach Mat and Equipment Pilates — because I love the interaction and connection of an intimate class setting. Sharing the beauty of Pilates as a system is my joy, and I am so excited to share it with you in my online studio!
You Can Do Pilates — I Promise
Does the thought of doing Pilates make you nervous? Sometimes I see the “souped-up” version of Pilates on social media — advanced exercises — and I wonder if it scares people away. Do you look at those women performing beautifully executed Pilates movements and think to yourself, “I am too old, out of shape, slow, uncoordinated, menopausal, (insert your word), to ever try anything like this!”? Honestly, sometimes me too! But aren’t they fabulous? I find these videos very entertaining and often lovely to watch — like going to the ballet. However, that is not exercise for the average person! Not for a sister in menopause (unless you were a gymnast, prima ballerina, or long-time Pilates participant). There is so much more to Pilates and movement than what we are being shown on social media. Pilates is made to fit your body and abilities — not the other way around. You can do Pilates, I promise!! It’s a system and I will teach you the safe and effective way to do it!
Forget the Pilates Princesses
Let’s stop comparing ourselves to the perfect Pilates Princesses! Some are great, but I catch myself wanting to correct form on many of them because that’s truly what Pilates is about! Restoring the natural curves of the spine. Moving with proper form to achieve this, whether it’s Beginner Pilates or Acrobatic Pilates… but that part seems to be forgotten by many these days. As a seasoned Pilates instructor holding two of the most respected and recognized certifications, my eyes are trained to notice postural deficiencies. Sometimes I have to stop myself on the street from asking someone to “stabilize their shoulder girdle and lengthen their spine”… just kidding. Sort of.
Come for the Pilates, Stay for the Coffee
Anyway, I have so much to share with you when it comes to movement and your body! I also crave connection with other women and hope you will stay for a coffee chat after the live classes. I will always have a topic in mind, but it’s great for the conversation to free-flow as well.
Welcome and see you on the mat!
With Love, Beth
