Certified Instructors

Liz Alvarado

Liz came to Purely Pilates when she was working as a physical therapist aide. She is now a Power Pilates certified instructor who brings her understanding of working with injured clients and her love of dance to her Pilates instruction. Liz holds a B.S. in Kinesiology and has been teaching exercise since 1997.

Nancy Chin

Nancy has been teaching Pilates since 2001. She has been trained in classical Pilates by Allison Gonzalez of Power Pilates, and was certified in New York City in 2007 by Bob Liekens. Nancy is also certified in a more rehabilitative approach of Pilates matwork by Polestar Education and by Elizabeth Larkam for studio equipment. She holds certifications from the Pilates Method Alliance, American College of Sports Medicine, and American Council on Exercise. Nancy holds a B.S. degree in kinesiology and psychology from UCLA. She is also certified in prenatal exercise and has three children. Nancy believes that people are often capable of much more than they think.

Emily Goldenberg

Emily fell in love with Pilates, the Art of Contrology, back in the early nineties. She had several minor injuries from dance and sports that lingered on, leaving her without optimum health in her early twenties. Her Pilates instructors taught her how to use her core, the Powerhouse, to realign her body and exercise smarter and more efficiently. In 1998, Emily began the Pilates Studio Teacher Certification Program in New York with Romana Kryzanowska, Sari Pace, and Bob Liekens so that she might share this transformational work with others. Since then she have been blessed to teach this amazing method to people in New York, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Emily recently received Power Pilates comprehensive certification.

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Fumiko Luk

Fumiko is a Power Pilates certified instructor. She teaches privates and group classes in Japanese and English and has created our first classes taught in Japanese. Fumiko took her first Pilates 8 years ago due to problems with her back. Continuing with the Pilates exercise, she gained the strength and stretch benefits that changed her body. Fumiko uses the Pilates method to enhance the quality of her life and find greater joy in living. Her dedication and knowledge leads clients to understand healthy, functional movement to bring each individual to their greatest potential. She is passionate about helping others feel great about themselves.

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Traci Michaelson

Traci came to Pilates more than five years ago when lower back pain restricted her enjoyment of competitive running and other fitness-related activities. The benefits and enjoyment she received from Pilates led her to become a certified Power Pilates instructor in 2008. In addition to teaching Pilates, Traci is a flight attendant for Southwest Airlines.

Robin Naylor

Robin Naylor is a Pilates and fitness enthusiast who is a recent graduate of the Power Pilates Teacher training program at Purely Pilates. She has a degree from F.I.T. in New York City and worked in the fashion industry for many years before deciding to move into the fitness arena by getting her Pilates certification. Robin is inspired by the strengthening, healing, and rejuvenating aspects of Pilates and enjoys challenging her clients to achieve their personal best.

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Jenn Powell

Jenn began practicing Pilates in 2002 because she had back issues and wanted to strengthen her core. Once she realized the difference it made in her body, she decided to pursue a career in Pilates to help others with their health and wellness goals. She enjoys having fun with the workouts and gets as much enjoyment from teaching as performing her own Pilates practice. She received her Power Pilates comprehensive certification in 2008.

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Kathleen Sachs

Kathleen is a Power Pilates certified instructor who came to Purely Pilates as a client and decided move further into her love of Pilates by becoming an instructor. She has a fitness background. She has also recovered from two shoulder surgeries using Pilates to help her to rehabilitate. Kathleen lives in San Francisco.

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Laura Sefchovich

Laura worked as a professional ballet dancer for 20 years dancing with several companies and choreographers on both the east and west coasts. She turned to Pilates after spending 6 months in physical therapy with a back injury. Pilates helped her to remain pain free and to continue her career as a dancer. In 2002 she was offered a job to teach Pilates and began refining her teaching skills by training with Siri Dharma Galliano at Live Arts Pilates in Beverly Hills, and with Lisa Goldin at Contra Costa Pilates Center in Walnut Creek through their certification course. Laura received her second teacher training certification from Power Pilates.

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Kathy Shockley

Kathy originally came to Pilates in 2006 because she wanted to supplement her cardio and weightlifting routine with something that would provide a stronger mind and body connection than she was getting with her usual workout routine. In May, 2008, Kathy injured her neck quite badly in a roller blading fall. During months of physical therapy, Kathy was introduced to Pilates apparatus to assist with rehabilitation and regain strength in areas that were weakened by nerve damage. Because of this personal experience with Pilates, she decided to enroll in the Power Pilates teacher training program at Purely Pilates and is now a certified instructor at the studio.

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Belinda Ting

Belinda became a Power Pilates Certified Pilates Instructor in September 2007, however, her career in the movement sciences began over twelve years ago, starting from Personal Training and progressing to Pilates. Her interest in Pilates and its rehabilitative benefits began with her own experiences with her low back condition. Apart from teaching Pilates, Belinda works full time at a Sports/Orthopedic Physical Therapy Clinic in Palo Alto Medical Foundation where she also teaches Pilates to cancer patients.
Belinda graduated in 2003 with a Doctorate degree in Physical Therapy from Columbia University and is an Orthopedic Certified Specialist and a Fellow of the American Academy of Orthopedic Manual Therapy.

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Phaedra Waybourn

Phaedra is certified through the 500+ hour BodyKinetics teacher training program in San Francisco. BodyKinetics is reknowned for producing teachers with the full knowledge of the breadth and depth of the classic Pilates method. She is also certified by the American College of Sports Medicine as a Health and Fitness Instructor and has worked as an exercise specialist at the College of San Mateo, Senior Coastsiders in Half Moon Bay and Action Therapeutics physical therapy in South San Francisco.

Phaedra's movement history includes gymnastics, volleyball, ice hockey, running, surfing and mountain biking. Of her experience with the Pilates method she states, "I've been an avid weight lifter for years and have always enjoyed being strong to support my active lifestyle, but chronic injuries have left me unable to weight train without pain. Pilates has given me a way to strengthen by body safely from the inside out and allowed me to return to many activities I once enjoyed. I want to share the wonderful rewards Pilates has to offer and help people build strong, supple, injury free bodies so they can enjoy life to the fullest."

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Mallory Welsh

Mallory was introduced to pilates as a ballet student in New York at the School of American Ballet. There, she trained with Phoebe Higgins and learned the importance of her core strength in her ballet training and in general everyday movement.

She moved to the Bay Area when she joined Ballet San Jose and began working with Allison Gonzalez at Purely Pilates where she completed her teacher certification in August 2009.