Amy Havens, Studio Owner and DirectorPMA Certified Pilates Teacher™
Amy was first introduced to Pilates in 1990 while attending Colorado State University on scholarship for dance. The department brought a Pilates program in as a means of conditioning, technique enhancement and injury prevention. She also studied locally at The Pilates Center of Ft. Collins whose teachers were graduates of the internationally recognized Pilates Center of Boulder.™ Amy received her B.A. in 1991 and spent the next five years teaching dance, performing and choreographing for festivals thru ought Colorado. Amy moved to San Francisco in 1996 to pursue a performing career and like many dancers, was hit with an injury. She contacted St. Francis Memorial Hospital for dance rehabilitation and was directed to A Body of Work San Francisco for treatment. It was in this journey that Amy shifted her focus from performing to teaching again, this time of the Pilates Method®. She studied under the tutelage of Madelyn Black and Jean Sullivan of whose expertise was in the treatment and rehabilitation of injuries utilizing the Pilates Method®. Amy received her certification from The PhysicalMind Institute® in 1999. She moved to Santa Barbara in 2001 and opened CenterPoint Pilates.
Always striving to know more, her steadfast belief in continuing education has led her to take courses by Rael Isacowitz, Kathy Grant, Mary Bowen, Sheri Betz, Elizabeth Larkham, Michelle Larsen, Mari Winsor, Diane Diefenderfer, Karen Clippinger, Brent Anderson and Ron Fletcher, to name a few, all whom are leaders in the field. Amy was introduced to the Ron Fletcher Program of Study™ in 2004 and in 2005 received her license to teach the Spine Corrector Work from program directors Pay Guyton and Kyria Sabin. Amy's skills enable her to work with a broad spectrum of clientele anywhere from children both healthy and in need of corrective applications to athletes and dancers, those living with scoliosis, seniors and those diagnosed with Osteopenea and Osteoporosis. Amy's deep understanding and appreciation of anatomy, versatility and expertise of the Pilates work enable her to teach with detail, mastery and inspiration. She dedicates herself to the success of each client and approaches her teaching with passion. Amy has been richly influenced by Pat Guyton and continues to develop her alliance with Pat Guyton Pilates and Pilates Conservatory™.
Sabrina Bell-Bonadao, LPTA
Sabrina's most important professional goal is to teach all patients and clients that integrating conscious consistent breathing with balanced active movement and relaxation is the foundation for healing and achieving higher fitness performance.
At San Francisco State University, Sabrina received her education in Dance-Physical Education and Holistic Health. Sciatica and shoulder weakness led her to St. Francis Hospital's Dance and Sport Orthopedic Clinic where Dr. Garrett prescribed Pilates rehabilitation. She continued training with Elizabeth Larkham for an additional two years.
In 1989, Sabrina studied the Simonson modern-jazz dance technique at NYC's Evolving Arts studio and Zina Rommet's floor barre technique for dancers. She struggled with a past severe ankle sprain and rehabilitated with Marika Molnar's Upper East Side Physical Therapy team. She swam for her cardio and discovered that she could give herself ballet barre in the water using slow deliberate motions. Within two months, her stamina, jumping and spinning speed and strength significantly improved.
Upon returning to California in 1991, Sabrina certified with International Aquatic Exercise Association, Arthritis Foundation, and Multiple Sclerosis Society to teach aquatic exercise to persons struggling with land based exercise. She worked as an aquatic specialist at Easter Seals Timpany Center guiding post stroke patients, arthritis students, and persons with back pain under the guidance of physical therapists.
In 1992 she started an aquatic fitness program at Los Gatos Swim & Racquet Club incorporating musical movement in water, post rehabilitation, water running for athletes and taught swimming to adults fearful of the water. Her dance training included hatha yoga from the teachings of Eric Shiffman. Together with her Pilates training she taught both Vinyasa and yoga based Pilates classes.
In 1999 she earned her Physical Therapy Assistantship License and in 2002 she finalized her Pilates certification with the Integrated Teacher Training Program under the tutelage of Madalene Black, Leah Putnam, and Jean Sullivan. Today, at Santa Barbara's Hayashida and Associates Physical Therapy Orthopedic Clinic, Sabrina guides patients in aquatic therapy and is a trainer of Pilates post rehabilitation.
Her loves are her fiance, family, gardening, dancing, and the Italian language and culture.
Kathy Bresslin
From the suggestion of a PT, Kathy discovered the work of Joseph Pilates in 2001 while exploring different modes of recovery for rehabilitation for two total hip replacements. One mat class started the process that has led her to teach, Body Arts and Sciences International Certified, and pursue a life of study. What began as extended physical therapy became a study and focus. Kathy pursues knowledge and understanding of the work and the craft of teaching as she participates in workshops, seminars, conferences and private study with teachers. Her primary movement interests are swimming and yoga. In addition to her certification to teach Pilates, Kathy is an Integral Yoga Certified Hatha Yoga 1 Teacher through the Integral Yoga Institute at the Satchindananda Ashram and was certified by Swami Satchindananda himself. She has been influenced by numerous excellent and inspiring yoga teachers such as Eric Shiffman, Rodney Yee and Judith Lasater to name a few, this spanning almost 40 years. Similarly to yoga, Kathy finds that a Pilates practice has a profound positive effect on the physical and mental aspects of being. "Continuity of practice is key."
Other interests include the Garden and horticulture. Kathy has been a self-employed garden designer for over 20 years. She has a passion for the plant world, and is an activist in Ocean Conservation, a Volunteer Naturalist for the Channel Islands Marine Mammal Sanctuary, and is presently in training for certification to lead Island Hikes (Volunteer in Training for the U.S. Park Service). She and her husband Scott share their lives with Annie and Foster (a Border Collie and Australian Cattle Dog, respectively - both Agility-titled with Scott, their Handler) and Lord Monty, Kathy's beloved feline.
Kathy's gifts as a teacher include good, sound communication skills, understanding and relating well to others, her background - both personal and professional, and personal life experiences, discovering and practicing the way to physical and mental improvement, and understanding the importance in our daily lives of becoming an efficient, 'feeling good and moving well' system.
Ken Gilbert
Ken Gilbert, MA, is a Nia Black Belt and Nia Education Trainer; a Movement and Creative Integration Professional who applies the practice of Nia to develop and evolve the conditioning of body, mind and spirit. Ken holds a Standard Secondary Teaching Credential in California and received his MA in Dramatic Art at the University of California, Davis in 1983.
Ken began his movement and fitness career in 1988 teaching Hi/Lo Impact. In 1989 with the invention and development of equipment in Group Fitness he taught and developed his teaching skills in Step, Slide, Resistance Training and Spinning. Curious about Pilates, he began studying, practicing and training to teach the work in 1994. He met Ron Fletcher in 1996 and committed his Pilates teaching focus to The Ron Fletcher Work. Over the past 18 years at the Santa Barbara Athletic Club Ken taught Group Fitness classes and worked one-on-one with individuals on the Pilates equipment in the studio.
In 1997, wanting to work intimately with body/mind connections, Ken chose to study and work with Debbie Rosas and Carlos Rosas, Co-creators of Nia, a fusion fitness and transformational program of movement. Teaching his first class in 1999, Ken generated a community of committed students and practitioners of Nia and became a Nia Black Belt in 2003.
In 2005 he became a Nia Education Trainer facilitating Workshops, Master Classes and White Belt Intensives in North America, South Africa, and the Pacific. For more information regarding The Body's Way - the Nia practice of Body, Mind and Spirit visit www.nianow.com. As one of the Nia's 16 International Trainers Ken works to inspire, educate and motivate everyone to become healthier; more integrated and balanced in their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual lives, inviting his students to make the connections of the mindful body to connect breath with sensation, feeling, and imagination.
Currently in Santa Barbara, Ken founder and owner of EmBODYment,
A Studio for Movement and Creative Integration: www.embodyment.com.
Ken is committed to developing and evolving the study and practice
of personal empowerment through the conditioning and expressivity
of physical movement stimulating body/mind integration, emotional
agility, and spiritual awakening.
Michelle Kimball
Michelle Kimball is a native of Santa Barbara and received her Pilates certification through Core Conditioning.
Growing up, she ice skated competitively throughout California and
Arizona. She began studying ballet with Ellen Schipper to enhance
her skating, and soon chose
to study ballet full-time. She performed at many events, including
Santa Barbara's annual festival, Fiesta, where she soloed at the S.B.
Courthouse for the evening show " Noches de Ronda."
She attended the University of California, Santa Barbara, and later transferred to the University of Southern California where she graduated with a degree in Business, emphasis in Entrepreneurship.
After returning to Santa Barbara in 1994, Michelle began an active yoga practice that she sustained through the births of her two children.
Wanting to revisit her ballet roots and to become more toned, she started taking Pilates. The benefits of the work were immediately evident. So impressed was she with Pilates and it's effect, she became certified and began teaching here at Center Point. Her background in movement and dance as well as her own personal experience with the practice has given her a deep appreciation of the benefits of Pilates.
She lives with her husband Brent, as well as her daughter Sadie, and her son Cole.
Emily Draws
Emily's interest in the health of bodies began with massage therapy school in 1998, where she and fellow students would watch passersby and guess where they were tight in their musculature based on the way they walked. Little did she know how that gait analysis would come into play years later.
Emily's first experience with Pilates came as reformer sessions with her brother-in-law as her teacher in 2003. She continued her informal study of Pilates as a group participant preparing for an infomercial advertising a home version of a Cadillac. She attended class three times a week for three months. She did not miss one class, and by the end of it she was in love with Pilates.
In the fall of 2004 Emily went through the CORE Conditioning Comprehensive Teacher Training Course at Centerpoint Pilates in Santa Barbara. The CORE syllabus follows both the traditional exercises and Physical Therapy adapted protocols.
Emily attends as many workshops as she can in order to continually gain more knowledge, inspiration, and increase her skills as a teacher. She finds teaching inspiration in other exercise styles as well, such as aerobics, yoga, and dance.
Emily is also a licensed massage therapist and a part-time web designer. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a BFA in 1991.
Erin Wilson
Erin Wilson is a licensed Physical Therapist Assistant. She graduated
from the Professional Skills Institute in Santa Barbara in 2000 with
an Associate of Applied Science Degree. She was introduced to the
Pilates Method in 2003 with completion of training and certification
through Core Conditioning in 2005. Combining her PTA experience with
the Pilates Method she has specialities in orthopedic rehabilitation
and spinal injuries/dysfunctions. She supplements her training by
attending workshops and seminars in both the Physical Therapy profession
and the Pilates Method Alliance.
Lea Longley
Lea Longley was born and raised in Santa Barbara. She spent her early years in the foothills playing in the dirt with her imaginary friends. From ages 5-13 she was immersed in the sport of gymnastics, competing from ages 7-13 and later going on to coach both recreationally and competitively for 5 years. After the birth of her son, she began to search for a career that would provide more flexibility and incorporate fitness into her daily life. Lea found CenterPoint Pilates and was guided towards a teacher training program. In 2006, she completed her course of study through CORE Conditioning in Studio City, CA. The program focused on both the traditional repertoire as well as the adaptive approach to work with clients with special conditions.
Lea enjoys guiding people through the process of discovering how to use their bodies and how to improve their well-being through whole body commitment. Her goal is to encourage each client to find the parallel between how Pilates translates to everyday activities such as sitting at the computer, standing at line at the grocery store or just walking down the street. She is eager to continue her education and looks forward to conferences, workshops and seminars. Her years in gymnastics as a student and a coach have helped give her an understanding of body mechanics and the psychology behind encouraging people to move better.
When Lea is not chasing her son Jack around, she loves to cook, craft, hike, camp and search for the balance of life.
Anna Dadian
With a love of many kinds of physical movement both in and out of doors, Anna discovered Pilates in 2004 as a perfect compliment to her active life. Pilates was an excellent balance to her higher impact activities such as running and hiking, a perfect match to her love of cycling and an almost immediate fit with years of dance experience.
Anna is originally from California and returned to the area after graduating in 2003 with a BA in English and Communications from Linfield College, a liberal arts school located in a small town just outside of Portland, Oregon. Although she adores the Pacific Northwest and all of its seasonal beauty she was excited to return to the area and after a short time of exploring options, she began working in marketing for a local flower grower. This past year she recently made a career move within the floral industry and currently works in website design and marketing which is proving to be challenging, fun and creative in many new ways.
Her personal passion for Pilates, love of learning and teaching combined
with a desire to improve her overall strength and understanding of
bodies in movement led to completing the comprehensive teacher training
program through CORE Conditioning. Anna has a love for people and
a true desire to meet the individual needs of each client and to help
them maximize their sessions and personal successes. She wishes that
everyone, regardless of their fitness level, could experience and
practice Pilates-- an exercise she considers to be a truly healthy,
interesting and challenging mind body approach to fitness. Anna looks
forward to continue in her own growth and knowledge of Pilates and
practicing it for decades to come!
Gunilla "Neela" Hutton
Born in Sweden, Gunilla "Neela" Hutton discovered Pilates
when she was first beginning her career starring on television, in
stage musicals and headlining at numerous venues around the world
with her singing act. "As a performer, staying fit was not an
option if you wanted to work. I studied dance and took class whenever
time allowed, and also worked out with a personal strength trainer.
It was around this time that I began to hear the 'buzz' about this
'magical', beautiful form of exercise that top actors and performers
were doing. I was told to go to master teacher Ron Fletcher, who had
a studio in Beverly Hills. Ron himself gave me my first lessons, and
I became an immediate devotee! The shape and tone that Pilates gave
my body was the frosting on the cake, but I needed the strength and
endurance it gave me to bring up my three children and continue my
very busy career. Whenever possible, I was in that Pilates studio,
and when I was on location, I did my MAT work in my hotel room. It
was my therapy mentally, emotionally and physically. Pilates did it
all for me!" And it still does! Neela now has happily settled
in Santa Barbara with her husband. She was certified by Core Conditioning
in Studio City, CA and has been a teacher for several years. Working
with clients of all ages and fitness levels, she enjoys sharing how
to live a joyful and youthful way of life through Pilates.
Aliza Nizet
PMA Certified Pilates Teacher™
Aliza began practicing Pilates in her early twenties as a means of bringing balance to the stressful and often sedentary lifestyle of a graduate student. She was thrilled by the results from the start, reaping not only the physical benefits of increased strength and flexibility but also the mental benefits associated with the fundamental principles of Pilates such as breathing, centering and concentration.
After completing a master's degree in art history, Aliza moved to Santa Barbara and found CenterPoint Pilates as the ideal environment in which to turn her passion into a profession. While she continues to learn and grow as a student, she is also delighted to work with clients of all levels, helping them to achieve functional movement both in and out of the studio and encouraging them to reach new levels of mind-body commitment. She is a profound believer that Pilates is not simply a form of exercise but an avenue for lifelong discovery.
Aliza has completed a Pilates Matwork and Standing Pilates certification through the PhysicalMind Institute® as well as Comprehensive Pilates Teacher Training through Body Arts and Sciences International™. She is a member of the Pilates Method Alliance.
Rachael Douglas
Rachael Douglas, LMT is originally from Telluride, CO. An avid tennis player, downhill skier, scuba diver and outdoor enthusiast, she moved to Santa Barbara in 2005 and was trained at Santa Barbara Bodyworks School of Massage. Her techniques include: Swedish, Deep Tissue/NMT/PNF, Sports, and Cranio-sacral. She prefers to integrate the techniques according to her clients needs. She specializes in shoulder and neck pain. She currently has a full time massage practice located at Centerpoint Pilates and also teaches Level 1 Massage and Creative Marketing at Santa Barbara Bodyworks.