Pilates On Tour®, Scottsdale

In the evolving landscape of physical rehabilitation and wellness, the integration of artful movement and structured therapy offers a powerful pathway to healing and functional improvement. “Connecting Rehab to Wellness” is designed to bridge the gap between traditional physical therapy and Pilates. Join Kendell as he provides a comprehensive approach to treating common physical dysfunctions such as back pain and various orthopedic issues and explores the integration of Pilates based exercise protocols to support the healing process.

Ask your client to activate the pelvic floor and they will often raise their eyebrows both in confusion and hope that what they are feeling is what you are asking. While pelvic floor research is often confusing and contradictory, one thing is certain; movement and exercise are beneficial for maintaining pelvic floor health. In this course you will literally build the pelvic floor with our Anatomy in Three Dimensions pelvis. You will also learn practical and effective exercises designed to address pelvic floor issues and to maintain a healthy pelvic floor. Using the Reformer and Tower, we will explore the pelvic floor through movement and learn how to address many common pelvic floor issues and dysfunctions.

In the half century since Ken started building the Reformer, the Pilates industry has grown from a well-kept secret to worldwide phenom. What was just a handful of studios, today is in the tens of thousands. Join Ken as he shares the changes that he has witnessed, and had a hand in shaping, the secret sauce that is Pilates, and his hopes for the future.  

This workshop will teach you how to safely and effectively work with clients on the hypermobility spectrum. We will cover precautions and contraindications, as well as techniques and exercises to address proprioception, postural control, balance, and coordination for patients with hypermobility. This workshop is directed towards healthcare professionals who work with Pilates in a rehab setting and is also appropriate for experienced Pilates instructors working with a hypermobile population. 

As Pilates continues to be the fastest growing fitness modality, the reality is that 70% of our clients are dealing with medical challenges. This workshop prepares the Pilates teacher to assess and determine best applications of Pilates for each of your clients. Dr. Brent Anderson will teach the Polestar critical reasoning skills to ensure the safety and the outcome of your clients. 

This dynamic workshop explores muscular balance, coordination, strength, and flexibility of the shoulder. We will literally journey 360⁰ around the shoulder as we build the upper quadrant muscles on the Anatomy in Three Dimensions™ skeleton. In addition to the build, you will examine exercises in all positions to facilitate optimal functioning of the shoulder complex, experiencing the relationships of anatomy of the shoulder to function. In this hands-on workshop, you will come away with shoulder focused exercises that are safe, practical, and immediately applicable to practice in both private, semi-private and group settings. 

When a person practices a certain posture, the muscles and fascia will begin to mold to the length that they are resting in. This can create imbalance and lead to impairment if a normal posture is not assumed. A person’s posture and movement patterns can either be the result of a previous ailment, or a choice of how to hold one’s body based on comfort, muscle tone, or societal norms. It is important for Pilates professionals to understand how to work with clients suffering from a particular postural ailment. The program must be specific to the client’s deficiencies.

Drop Your Anchor is a dynamic Pilates workshop designed to help you get more out of every exercise. The secret? Focusing on what is not moving. By learning to stabilize and anchor key points, you will unlock deeper strength, sharper precision, and smoother flow—no matter what piece of equipment you’re on. From Reformer to Cadillac, Wunda Chair to Mat, we’ll break down how anchoring transforms your practice and makes every move feel stronger and more connected. Whether you’re a seasoned teacher or a dedicated student, this workshop will leave you feeling grounded, challenged, and inspired.

Good spinal “articulation” is essential for the performance of Pilates and requires equal parts freedom and control. This can be hard to achieve, and even harder to teach! The key is understanding and coaching the unique movements of the skull at the top of the spine and the pelvis at the bottom. In this course, we treat “the head as the first vertebra and the pelvis as the last” and we will see how this idea creates integrated, safe and full movement of the whole spine. You will learn preparatory exercises, cues and images to build this head-to-pelvis connection into the entire Pilates repertoire in ways that will immediately increase our success.

Learn how and why Pilates is the best form of low impact movement that will restore range of motion and complete function for your clients with a hip replacement. As a practitioner of Pilates, you could have up to 2 or 3 clients in your weekly schedule with a lower extremity joint replacement. A current review of the literature reveals the importance of pre-habilitation and the importance of continuing targeted movement to increase ROM, flexibility and strength beyond physical therapy, especially during the first-year post-operative. We will review the anatomy of a hip replacement compared to normal hip anatomy followed by applying best practices in utilizing the Pilates environment to work with the pre- and post-operative needs of the hip replacement client while staying within the scope of your practice.

Your hands are one of your most powerful teaching tools. Learn how to use tactile cueing to enhance body awareness, correct movement patterns, and deepen client connections. Through demonstration and practice, you will discover the “why” behind each touch — what you are aiming to achieve and what compensation you are preventing. This workshop will refine your ability to communicate through both hands and heart and keep you safe and clear on professional boundaries and Pilates teacher scope of practice.

The menopause transition brings profound changes in fascia, bone, muscle, and connective tissue that collectively define the Musculoskeletal Syndrome of Menopause (MSM) — a framework that connects common midlife challenges such as frozen shoulder, plantar fasciitis, tendinopathies, joint pain, postural changes, and loss of strength and balance. 
As estrogen declines, tissue elasticity decreases, bone remodeling slows, and collagen turnover weakens — leaving many women more vulnerable to pain, injury, and deconditioning. But these changes are not inevitable; movement is the most powerful intervention. You will explore how Pilates and functional movement principles can be used to mitigate the effects of MSM. Through research-informed teaching, experiential practice, and reflective discussion, you will learn to reframe strength as a hormone-supportive, resilience-building process. You will discover how to apply progressive load, manage recovery, and create empowering programs that help women not only move better — but feel stronger, more confident, and more alive in their bodies. 

One of the first things we learn in our Pilates journey is how to round our spine or safely build a C curve. In the Foundations level we see the round spine being introduced in the Roll UP Rolling Like a Ball and Spine Stretch Forward on the mat, Stomach Massage  – Round Back, Elephant and Knee Stretches – Round on the reformer, Roll Back and Forward Push Through on the Cadillac, Press Down and Pull Up on the Wunda Chair. Of course, these beginner exercises grow into intermediate and advanced exercises, so understanding these skills early is imperative to building support correctly. In this workshop, we will look at the required connections needed in the body to build a safe C curve while using different tools and pieces of equipment in the studio to assist us in finding a balanced curve.

This workshop will teach you how to integrate the visual system to optimize deep core connections and postural support. You will learn how to assess visual contributions to spinal alignment and postural orientation, use visual cues to strengthen core connections, and integrate the visual system with basic Pilates mat and equipment exercises. This workshop is appropriate for rehab practitioners and Pilates instructors with any level of experience.

Joseph Pilates’ philosophy of a simultaneous development of body and mind are thought to be the root of physical and emotional joy. Join Dr. Brent Anderson for a whole-body movement experience guaranteed to bring joy. Brent will provide tools to all participants to ensure the balanced development of body and mind with your clients.

Join author and Integrated Pilates Therapist Gwen Miller to explore how you can help guide clients to relieve back pain and sciatica through movement strategies that are immediately usable in private or group sessions. Learn subjective and objective assessments that help inform exercise selection and props to create a safe and enjoyable movement experience for clients with chronic pain.

As Pilates instructors, we are motivated to provide high quality instruction that helps our clients achieve their goals. Sometimes, despite our best cues, clients continue to demonstrate compensations that limit progress in their Pilates practice. But what if it’s not our cues? Participants will be empowered to problem solve and deliver effective movement instruction and learn six key physical and non-physical factors which influence movement performance. You will come away with strategies to minimize compensation and facilitate a rewarding movement experience for a wide variety of clients.

In this course, we will explore safe, effective, and stress-free strategies for achieving well-executed spinal extension. With a focus on proper alignment and precise timing of the back, posterior hips, neck, and shoulders, you will discover how to make extension exercises more accessible for the wide variety of bodies you work with every day.  
By integrating extension protocols into your Pilates repertoire, you can help counteract the common forward-slump posture and support the long-term health of the aging spine. Together, we will work with a blend of traditional Pilates exercises and innovative non-traditional movements designed to expand your teaching toolkit and inspire your practice. 

It’s often said that the knee is a slave to the hip and the foot. It moderates the forces between the two and occasionally gets caught in the crossfire when the hip and the foot go their separate ways. Beginning with the concept of balancing the forces around the knee, we’ll assess the thigh and calf muscles for mobility and strength then take that information to the hip and the foot to identify the possible root of the imbalances we see in the knee. Expand your field of view and enrich your understanding of the lower limb in this deep dive from Advanced Movement Principles.

Every day over 10,000 adults turn 65, entering one of the fastest-growing age groups. With 65 as the new 50, many of these clients are looking to enjoy some of the best days of their lives. However, thinning skin, arthritis, neuropathy, and fat pad atrophy can all impede their ability to walk, run, and enjoy their favorite activities. Join podiatrist Dr. Emily Splichal as she explores the common changes to the foot and how to offset these changes to enhance movement longevity.

Pilates Studios all over the country are attracting more and more individuals with a history of pathology including disc herniation, spondylolisthesis, stenosis, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and joint replacements. Pilates is an attractive and popular exercise choice once physical therapy has concluded and fitness becomes a priority. In this workshop we will focus on developing the techniques for creating a safe and effective classes incorporating flow, cueing, and teaching continuity designed to guide post-rehabilitation clients through a successful movement experience and toward achieving their fitness goals. 

Based on new exercises developed for Advanced Movement Principles, this workshop focuses on improving imbalances in the spine, pelvis, hips and legs through unilateral and asymmetrical exercises in the Pilates environment. Using both new moves and variations on traditional exercises you will learn how to use the neuromyofascial system to improve alignment and create balanced muscle development in the core and lower body. The course includes foundational concepts, but the focus is on experiencing and exploring the exercises so you can put them to use with your clients to create lasting change effectively and efficiently.

We will explore the life skills needed to manage everyday life and directly translate them into the Pilates environment. In this workshop you will learn how form builds function and why good alignment matters. We will review the gait cycle and learn how to create more ease, efficiency, and power using the Pilates system and all pieces of classical apparatus. This workshop is perfect for anyone looking to feel stronger, more supported, and more capable outside the studio.

Many people are unaware of their biomechanics during daily movements. The CoreAlign is the perfect transition piece from the Pilates world to real life. Its functional and rehabilitative nature allows us to teach proper posture and joint-protection techniques.  This workshop will explore lower extremity exercises on the CoreAlign and assist instructors in cueing healthy movement patterns.  Participants of this workshop will learn proper kinematics of common lower extremity repertoire and utilize the CoreAlign for client education.   

Celebrate strength, connection, and the beauty of mindful movement with this special Mother’s Day mat class led by Balanced Body Education Director, Joy Puleo. Designed for mothers, daughters, sons, partners, and anyone who wants to honor the women who inspire them. All levels are welcome—come move, breathe, and celebrate together. 

Pilates is an excellent low impact movement that can restore range of motion and complete function for clients with a knee replacement. A current review of the literature reveals the importance of pre-habilitation and the importance of continuing targeted movement to increase ROM, flexibility and strength beyond physical therapy, especially during the first-year post-operative. Pre-Pilates and Pilates Movements on the mat and equipment are ideal for rehabilitation to fitness and offer progressions and modifications for successfully advancing a client through each stage of pre and post recovery. In this workshop we will review the anatomy of a knee replacement compared to normal knee anatomy and apply best practices for using Pilates to work with the pre- and post-operative needs of the knee replacement client while keeping within the scope of your practice.

While spinal asymmetry and scoliosis are often assumed to be an adolescent phenomenon, many clients seek relief through movement practices during the adult phases of life including pregnancy years, change of life years, and the older adult years. At any age, Pilates helps. Dynamic stability, balance, and phase appropriate mobility and strength requirements create fluid challenges for Pilates instructors. Learn how to recognize and adapt to the shifting nature of asymmetry in each phase of adulthood and the implications of time on skeletal, fascial, and neurologic tissue and structure.  Through the principles of form and fascial force closure you will be able to identify and avoid spinal asymmetry progression by promoting pre-activation strategies designed to ease pain, increase strength, and support clients at all phases of aging. Theoretical, Mat, and Apparatus work are included. 

Have you ever had that client that no matter how much they stretch, they always seem to struggle with flexibility?  Proper movement patterns must have a balance between length and strength of opposing muscles.  This is especially important for the general population, many of whom may have a sedentary lifestyle. In this workshop, you will explore methods specifically to improve and address hamstring flexibility. You will also learn valuable muscle balancing techniques using the Pilates apparatus.  

In this course, we will look at the role of the extrinsic and intrinsic foot muscles in balance, gait, and running, and at their support of the foot’s structure overall. We will discuss some of the research supporting targeted foot muscle training, and you will learn exercises to support the arches of the feet, strengthen the ankles, and improve proprioception. We will consider how we make choices about foot alignment within the Pilates repertoire and gain some new strategies to optimize and carry-over to your clients’ daily activities.

The seemingly simple task of balancing on one leg or walking across the room is actually a complex, integrated, multi-sensory experience with stimulation coming from the eyes, ears, joints, and plantar foot. Join functional podiatrist and Naboso founder Dr. Emily for this exclusive opportunity to learn all you need to know to improve balance! Experience a balance series designed to challenge the visual, vestibular, proprioceptive, and mechanoceptive systems!

There is mounting evidence in support of Pilates participation for people recovering from, or living with, various spinal conditions. This interactive workshop looks beyond basic spinal contraindications to build a deep understanding of how spinal motion impacts various spinal pathologies and how this informs Pilates programming choices. Join Brooke and Lindsay and learn to access the deepest core muscles for stability and controlled mobility and strategies for re-introducing spinal motion. You will come away with a systematic framework to maximize movement quality and minimize risk of re-injury.

What is the difference between flexibility and mobility?  Should we always stretch if something feels tight?  How do we know what is an appropriate stretch and what is too much?  Explore movements designed to enhance flexibility and mobility throughout the major joints of the body, including the spine.  Learn the different types of stretching, and when to use them.  In this workshop, Gwen will introduce you to muscle testing and muscle energy techniques which can be woven into your private or group programming for improved client results!

Midlife is not a breakdown — it is a powerful transition point that reshapes how women think, move, and lead. For Pilates instructors and movement educators, this season often mirrors the experiences of their clients: shifting hormones, fluctuating energy, and renewed questions about purpose and identity. This workshop invites teachers to explore midlife not as a problem to solve but as an awakening to lead from deeper embodiment and empathy. Through reflection, movement, and experiential dialogue, participants will explore the neuroendocrine and emotional shifts of menopause, how these changes influence communication and teaching presence, and how to apply conscious leadership to restore energy, clarity, and connection.