Health at Every Size® Healthcare Provider Listing

I strongly believe that chronic dieting was a huge contributor to my own chronic pain symptoms, which began at the age of 13. Since becoming a Pilates instructor I have been using a care approach rooted in my core values: empathy, authenticity, safe spaces, evidence-based, anti-diet, continuous self-improvement, and client empowerment. My philosophy is that Pilates is a tool to find strength, mobility and autonomy in our bodies and not the end in itself. I want my clients to take what they learn from our sessions out into the world so they can live their best lives, doing the things they love without pain as an obstacle. My client agreement includes language requiring that participants refrain from using negative language about their own bodies or the bodies of others. I believe this is a toxic and ingrained instinct we need to be vigilant about uprooting from our way of relating to each other in a "fitness" context. I don't have any prescription or predefined goals for my clients. When they come to me, I want to know how they would envision a happy and healthy future for themselves and then we design a movement program around helping them reach those goals. My screening information does not include anything about weight, BMI, etc. I actively encourage my clients to remove weight loss from their movement vocabulary and to advocate for themselves when health care practitioners suggest weight loss as a prescription for chronic pain. I provide research in my weekly newsletter.