From Perfectionism to Peace: My Journey to True Wellness
Learning to Listen to My Body
I know what it feels like to lose yourself trying to do everything “right.”
For years, I chased what I thought wellness was supposed to look like — intense workouts, strict rules, and the belief that if I just tried harder, I’d finally feel good in my body. From the outside, things looked fine. Inside, I was tired, disconnected, and running on fumes.
As my body changed in midlife, it became clear that pushing harder and controlling more wasn’t the answer. The combination of stress, life demands, and physical changes forced me to slow down and pay attention in a different way.
What I Discovered
Wellness isn’t about perfection, punishment, or control. It’s about curiosity, compassion, and learning to work with your body instead of against it.
I had to unlearn the idea that discipline equals worth, that health has a certain look, or that harder is always better. I learned that constantly overriding your body — through intense exercise or rigid nutrition rules — often creates more stress, not better health.
Pilates showed me a different way. Through mindful, intelligent movement, I found strength without burnout, challenge without punishment, and progress without constant pressure. When I began approaching my body with curiosity instead of criticism, everything started to shift.
How I Discovered a Different Way
Pilates had always been part of my life, but my real growth came when I stopped looking for another plan to follow and started getting curious about the bigger picture of health.
I went back to school for nutritional therapy because I wanted to understand how food, stress, sleep, movement, and mindset actually work together. What I learned reinforced something important: wellness isn’t a collection of rules — it’s a holistic practice.
Through that training, and through my own experience, I began approaching health from a foundations-first mindset. I learned to slow down, meditate, practice yoga, sit with uncomfortable feelings, and move away from a constant sense of lack — always thinking I needed to fix or restrict something — toward a growth mindset rooted in awareness and self-trust.
Seeing health through a holistic lens changed how I teach and how I live. Movement isn’t separate from nutrition, stress, or mindset — it’s an essential part of the whole picture.
How I Teach Today
Today, I’m a Pilates instructor and educator who helps people move away from all-or-nothing thinking and toward a more supportive relationship with movement.
My classes are designed to build real strength and mobility while also creating space to notice breath, tension, and how your body feels — not how it looks. I believe Pilates is for every age and every stage, and I’m intentional about creating classes that feel welcoming, intelligent, and appropriately challenging.
My background in nutritional therapy informs how I think about energy, recovery, stress, and sustainability, but movement is always the foundation. Whether in the studio, online, or through workshops, my goal is to help you move with more confidence, care, and trust — without perfectionism or punishment.
I’d really love to connect with you on the mat or at the reformer.
Certifications and Trainings
Restorative Wellness Solutions Level 1 Practitioner
Pilates Bridge Training through Club Pilates 2023
Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (NTP) through Nutritional Therapy Association 2021
Fully Certified STOTT PILATES® Instructor 2011
Total Barre™ certificate 2014
Pilates Coursework: STOTT PILATES® Matwork, Reformer, Cadillac, Chairs and Barrels Levels 1 and 2 and Injuries and Special Populations, STOTT PILATES®HALO training, Peak Pilates® Empowerment Summit 2016, TRX Suspension Certification
Post Rehabilitative Breast Cancer Exercise Specialist through the Pink Ribbon Post-Operative Breast Cancer Recovery Program 2012
University of Connecticut, B.S. in Accounting
