Mixed Method Pilates Certification
For nine years, I was a Pilates Instructor Trainer working with students from this area, across the US, and was even lucky enough to travel to Brazil and South Korea to share my passion for teaching others Pilates. Then, for the next eight years The Bodysmith became a destination in the MidWest for students to come learn and earn their Pilates certification. In December of 2019, after 17 years of teaching, I was busy with a new studio and a growing daughter, so I decided to hang up my education hat for good. With the pandemic looming, and the studio closed for 6 weeks in March of 2020, I thought to myself what good timing it was to have hung up that hat!
While stuck at home during the shut down, I heard from my friend and former student, Danyal Timmermann (originally from Springfield), who was also at home in St. Louis with a darkened Pilates studio. She pitched the idea of developing a Pilates education program and going into business together. I thought she was crazy. We were in a middle of a shut down and who knew what the future would bring. But Danyal was very convincing. I had the knowledge, she and her husband own a digital marketing firm and had the ability to make it look good and market it. She had a studio where she could teach courses in St. Louis, me in Springfield. I realized if it worked, it would be a way for me to continue to share Pilates and hand pick instructors for The Bodysmith.
What we saw missing from the Pilates education market was this: a straightforward, affordable, and approachable system that welcomed trainees from all walks of life and allowed them to learn in an inclusive, creative, and diverse setting. We saw a lack of systems that were open to learning both contemporary and classical techniques and disciplines. We wanted to provide a mix of the two while updating the technique even further with the most up-to-date information on the body and brain. Thus the foundation for The Mixed Method was born.
After many meetings, writing and editing seven manuals, weekends of shooting photos keeping 6 feet of distance with an unmasked model, this year we are about to graduate our first class and have started our next round of TMM trainees.
2022 should prove to be even more exciting as we launch trainings in Gilbert, Arizona and Tulsa, Oklahoma, release our first workshops for continuing education, and establish a bridge program for instructors wanting to “mix up” their current education.
If you or anyone you know is contemplating a career as a Pilates instructor by way of an affordable, approachable, and quality program, contact us for more information and watch for upcoming trainings.