|
|
|
Santa Cruz Pilates Studio | 128-A Pearl Alley, Santa Cruz, CA | 831-458-4125 |
 Services
|
About Our Santa Cruz Pilates StudioThe Agile Monkey Pilates Studio is located on Pearl Alley in downtown Santa Cruz. We offer private sessions, semi-private group Pilates classes and comprehensive Pilates instructor education programs. The studio is both serene and revitalizing, reflecting the beautiful area in which we live. With bamboo floors, lots of natural light, the full range of Balanced Body Pilates equipment, and quality instructors, it is truly a wonderful place to work out, re-focus on health and, of course, find your inner monkey! The Agile Monkey Approach...Private sessions are always focused on the individual needs of the client and tend to include work on the mat and equipment. Workouts can be fast paced and vigorous or slow and gentle based on the needs and mood of the client. Understanding that everyone has imbalances, instructors use their knowledge of Pilates and rehabilitation techniques to help each client work more effectively and efficiently in their own body, regardless of their current fitness level. By helping clients understand their postural tendencies and correcting their imbalances, Lisa and the Agile Monkey Pilates instructors have had great success significantly improving their clients physical condition and reducing the likelihood of future injury. In order to facilitate understanding and improvement of the work, instructors can design individualized home routines for clients. Not everyone has the will and interest to work out at home, but at Agile Monkey, it is a goal to educate clients about their bodies and empower them to learn how to fix themselves. About Our Pilates Instructors
| |||||||||||||||
 Lisa |
 Arwen |
 Ky |
 Karen |
 Avra |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lisa is a senior certified Pilates instructor and educator, certified massage therapist and published author. Lisa was first introduced to Pilates at UCLA and received her formal training from Ellie Herman, at EHS Pilates in San Francisco. Pilates was the perfect way for Lisa to combine her training in dance with her passion for Kinesiology. Always eager to learn more, she has continued her education by working with remarkable instructors such as Lizz Roman, Nora St John, Lolita San Miguel, Brent Anderson, Elizabeth Larkham and many more.
As an educator for Balanced Body and the EHS Pilates Institute, Lisa has trained instructors locally, across the United States and internationally. Her students have gone on to great success and now teach all over the US as well as in Greece, Ireland, Italy, France, China and Korea.
Lisa’s book credits include co-authoring Ellie Herman’s Pilates Mat and Ellie Herman’s Pilates Cadillac, as well as collaborating with Ellie on the three other books in that series. She has also worked with Nora St. John on the instructor training materials for Balanced Body.
Lisa opened Agile Monkey in its current location in September of 2007 and is thrilled to be part of the Santa Cruz health and wellness community.
Arwen fell in love with Pilates in 2002. As with many people, too much time spent commuting to a cubicle lead her to try Pilates as a form of stress relief; the positive benefits of Pilates on her body and mind exceeded her expectations and transformed her life.
In 2004 she moved to Hawaii to begin her certification process with the PhysicalMind Institute. She completed her training back in California with Tom McCook at Center of Balance, where she later worked and continued to study. There she was also introduced to Yoga & Meditation in movement, which greatly influence her teaching. In 2008 Arwen began working with Lisa Graham, owner of Agile Monkey and Faculty member for Balanced Body. She since has assisted Lisa with countless instructor training courses and in the spring of 2011, Arwen became a Balanced Body Faculty member.
As an instructor, Arwen is dedicated to the Pilates Method but is always adapting her teaching to her clients’ needs. Her teaching style is one of empowerment, encouraging students to learn their way into better fitness & an overall better life experience. Arwen has had an active life from childhood (playing soccer, climbing mountains, snowboarding, etc), so she is able to work and teach the fit in focused, dynamic, sports specific ways. In addition she had great success with training post-rehab clients and has developed a passion for the healing process. Arwen enjoys motivating and encouraging confidence in all of her clients by helping them to develop efficient, healthy movement patterns. Being a part of a person’s journey from pain to pain-free is an amazing and wonderful thing, and to Arwen, that is what teaching Pilates is all about.
To read more about Arwen, please visit her website.
Ky Carnell-Russell is a senior certified Pilates instructor with advanced training and years of experience in Pilates-based rehabilitation. She worked as a Pilates-based rehabilitation specialist at the world-renowned St. Francis Hospital’s Center for Sports and Dance Medicine for several years. Ky co-owned and directed a thriving Pilates studio in San Francisco for four years, and is excited to have relocated to beautiful Santa Cruz, and to be teaching at Agile Monkey.
Ky is devoted to helping her clients experience ease and joy in movement, as well as feeling the personal satisfaction that arises from progressing and excelling in a challenging physical activity. She loves teaching Pilates to clients in all stages of life and well-being, and includes elements from her background in rehab, fitness, anatomy, and dance into her sessions. Ky has had successful experiences working with clients with practically any injury or chronic pain condition and truly believes that Pilates has something to offer everyone.
Ky is a faculty member of Balanced Body and co-teaches the instructor training program at Agile Monkey, as well as teaching Anatomy in Three Dimensions locally and across the US. Ky is also pursuing her Master’s degree in Kinesiology at San Jose State University. To read more about Ky, please visit her website.
Karen is a teacher, healer, and lifelong learner. She uses a holistic approach to her teaching addressing the body, mind, and spirit. She was certified in Pilates by the Physical Mind Institute in 2003. Since then she has continued to learn from all the top Pilates instructors. Karen is also certified as a Breema massage practitioner; Breema means the essence of harmonious life.
Karen taught dance for 10 years in NY and Santa Cruz. Injuries resulting from her dance background created opportunities to learn from western and eastern doctors, and healers. As a result, Karen is equally comfortable teaching a full range of fitness levels from athletic to rehab oriented. She has been able to help her clients with back, neck, shoulder, knee, hip and foot issues, and is experienced working with clients who have Osteoporosis, MS, Parkinson's disease, and Spinal Stenosis.
Her greatest joy comes from showing people how Pilates relates to their daily life helping to eliminate pain, and create strong flexible bodies. To read more about Karen, please visit her website.
Avra discovered Pilates as a means to strengthen her body for ballroom dancing. From her training with Lisa Graham, she was able to strengthen her core, address and correct the specific imbalances of her musculature, and experience tremendous breakthroughs in her dancing. Pilates also rehabilitated a persisting hip injury, and Avra was inspired to become an instructor. Now when an occasional hip flare-up occurs, she has the knowledge to heal her body in a very short time, sometimes within minutes. Avra is devoted to teaching all of her clients the same techniques and exercises she uses for prevention of injuries.
Avra is dedicated to developing a unique training program for each client, keeping the sessions interesting, challenging, energetic and fun while being very supportive and patient. As a dancer, she has an additional awareness of movement, and as a professional artist, she has trained her eye to see asymmetries and imbalances in posture and movement. She has worked with people of all ages, sizes, and levels of fitness. She has a special interest in working with dancers, pre/post-natal women, and people with osteoporosis. Her focus is keeping her clients strong, flexible and pain free, and she loves Pilates for the unique well-being that it brings to people. Avra is certified through Balanced Body and Pilates Method Alliance and has a Masters Degree in Continuing Education from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she used to teach.
Dixie FunLee Shulman has been teaching Pilates for nearly twenty years. In 1993 Dixie became certified through the Pilates Center of Boulder, while pursuing an MFA in Dance Performance & Choreography from the University of Colorado. After graduating from both CU and The Pilates Center, Dixie got a chance to teach some of the healthiest and most athletic people in the country. The following year she moved to Seattle where she got a chance to stretch her rehab skills teaching at a studio near Microsoft. Dixie also worked with many teenagers in the Seattle area on building strength and coordination to support their sports or dancing pursuits (how wonderful to have the alignment, strength, flexibility, and connectedness that Pilates brings when you are young—please consider sessions for your teenager or college student!).
After 5 years of teaching clients, Dixie relocated to New York City, where she developed several continuing education workshops for Pilates teachers. She has since taught in Connecticut, New Jersey, Long Island, Philadelphia, Seattle, Virginia and Hawaii. Known as a teacher’s teacher, Dixie has great eyes for seeing the body’s quirks, and great hands and words for explaining how to reach your best potential.
As a competitive swimmer in Australia, Lucy was suffering lower back pain and sciatica from a bulging lumbar disc. Under the advisement of a Physical Therapist, Lucy began practicing Pilates in Sydney in 1998 to alleviate these symptoms. She was absolutely amazed that after only a short time she was mostly pain free and was an immediate convert to the method! Pilates has been a significant part of her life ever since. She moved to California in 2001 to complete her PhD in Infectious Diseases at Stanford where she continued to practice Pilates at Center of Balance in Mountain View.
At Stanford she became a regular member of the Masters Swimming program and when she moved to Santa Cruz two years ago she joined the UCSC Masters Swim team. She has discovered that an added happy benefit to regular Pilates practice is a significant improvement in her swimming and other athletic pursuits. Lucy is also a dedicated mother of two wonderful children who constantly inspire her with their flexibility and freedom of movement! She has decided to make Pilates an even more integral part of her life by becoming an instructor. She very much enjoys imparting her enthusiasm and excitement about the benefits of Pilates to others and helping people to move more freely and enjoy their own treasured activities in life.
Alexandra discovered Pilates in 2003 when she decided to expand her fitness regiment; she has been a devoted practitioner ever since. Her dedication to Pilates was so steadfast because of how good it made her feel throughout her body and soul. She felt stronger, more flexible, and more balanced and integrated in her body. Alexandra continued training in Pilates throughout and after her second and third pregnancies. A year and a half after the birth of her third child, Alexandra embarked on her Pilates instructor training program under Lisa Graham through Balanced Body. Alexandra completed her training in December of 2010 and is accumulating hours towards her certification.
Alexandra has been a licensed massage therapist since 1994 and graduated from UCSC with a degree in Psychology in 2000. Alexandra hopes to help her clients feel the same overall improvement in body, mind and spirit that she experiences through her work in Pilates.
Sussi's family is native to the Monterey Bay Area, but she has lived and traveled far and wide. She received her BS in Geography from the University of Utah, but her entrepreneurial and creative spirit led her to spend most of her career as a graphic designer and printmaker in Washington State. Returning to Santa Cruz recently in search of change and growth, she discovered the Agile Monkey Pilates Studio and knew she had found her home. Sussi has always been active, and has spent her life skiing, climbing, mountaineering, running, hiking, biking, sailing, and kayaking. Her active lifestyle along with some old injuries and a car accident left her with chronic back pain and a list of other maladies. Pilates was like a silver bullet - six years later she is pain free, and enjoying participating in all the activities she loves.
Sussi remembers well the first time she saw an advanced practitioner on Pilates equipment and was in awe at the strength and grace expressed. That practitioner eventually became her instructor and with her help, Sussi started down a path of healing that has changed her life. Once Sussi tried Pilates, she was hooked; and when she saw people of different ages, shapes, and genders benefiting from their practice, she knew she was committed for life. Her enthusiasm for her practice was contagious and soon everyone in her family was also doing Pilates. The desire for both a change in career toward something that could truly help others and a deeper commitment to Pilates in her own life are now happily being fulfilled.
Ka has been a dedicated Pilates practitioner since 2008. She discovered the positive benefits of Pilates while recovering from the birth of her first baby. She has a sensitive eye for alignment issues, and is a caring person that wants to help her clients feel comfortable and confident in their own bodies. She is passionate about learning and becoming the best instructor she can be for her clients.
Born and raised in Brazil, Ka is a fun friendly spirit. She has a degree in Inter-Cultural Communication from San Jose State University. Her teaching style is based on respecting ones physical needs and limitations through open communication. She is devoted to teaching a solid foundation of Pilates principles in order to establish the mind and body connection that Pilates requires.
Ka has completed the Balance Body instructor training program at Agile Monkey. She is deeply inspired and empowered by Lisa Graham, Summer Doty, Arwen Brooke, and Ky Carnell-Russell, and is happy to be part of the Pilates community in Santa Cruz.
