Embody Movement Pilates Studio, Inc.

Sarah and her staff are very knowledgeable and kind. I thoroughly enjoy taking Pilates classes at her studio. She really helped me return from injury in a manner appropriate for me so that I didn’t injure myself again. I highly recommend them!!

I started my Pilates journey with Sarah about 12 weeks ago. I can't say enough about how wonderful the experience has been. I suffer with a few injuries and Sarah is always catering the session to help strengthen those areas or relieve pain if needed. I appreciate the detail and education that comes with each session. Highly recommend!

My journey to Pilates began with my wife. I have always maintained a workout routine. But over the years, I’ve grown increasingly concerned about my attention to core and abdominals. My wife began working with Sarah at Embody Movement and was seeing significant improvements. More importantly, Sarah helped her to understand ways in which she was working against herself. Sarah has a terrific sense of movement, a deep knowledge of the body, and an ability to focus in on ways to improve the effectiveness of the time you spend working out. Her skills at using analogy to help you understand is terrific. Nobody does it alone, and Sarah is a terrific partner on your journey to a stronger you.

A little more than a year ago, I was at a low point. My poor physical condition was keeping me from doing the things I love to do. Even walking or standing for any length of time had become difficult. The thought of going to a gym or big club was intimidating and I didn’t have the knowledge or self-discipline to really do anything effectively on my own. A family member suggested I try Pilates. I found Embody Movement Pilates Studio (EMPS) and started taking private sessions with Sarah. She made me feel very comfortable and was so encouraging. Before I knew it, I was getting stronger, more flexible and feeling better. I’ve learned so much, not just about Pilates, but body awareness in general – like how feet affect balance… who knew?! Sarah has a wealth of knowledge and has been so patient helping me address my various issues (posture, balance, bad knees, etc.). As I’ve gotten stronger and more capable, Sarah has modified and fine-tuned the exercises to help me continue my growth. I truly believe Pilates has something to offer for everyone, at any level of fitness – from athletes to those like me, who spent too many years sedentary, sitting at a desk. Now, a year+ into it, I feel better than I have in years, and I’m able to do the things that I love again. I even look forward to going to my sessions! Pilates and my experience at EMPS, has been truly lifechanging.

Three years ago I had a serious back injury and while physical therapy helped tremendously, after 7 months my medical coverage for PT ran out. I was in need of something to continue my recovery and the therapist agreed that Pilates would be a good choice. I signed up for a private consultation package at Embody Movement and was impressed with how careful they were about protecting my injury while continuing to strengthen the surrounding muscles. I joined a Reformer group class 2 years ago and even though there are 2 or 3 other students in the class, the instructor (Kevin) is careful of, and works around each student's physical concerns. Over time I noticed a significant strengthening of my body overall, improving my posture, my balance, and my lung capacity -- seriously, my asthma doctor measured a 10% increase in my lung capacity since starting Pilates! I feel safe exercising in an environment where the instructor closely monitors each student and and have realized this is one of the best things I can do for my physical well-being. There's a good rapport with the instructor and the other students, and I look forward to class each week. Everyone at Embody Movement is really nice and Sarah (the owner) is not only an excellent instructor but a great business person. I'm committed to making this a life-long practice!

Sarah is an excellent Pilates instructor, has a beautiful studio and offers a variety of very interesting classes. I have attended the Melt Method and the OOV classes and found both to be very informative. As a physical therapist, I really appreciated her attention to detail when instructing exercises and she has a very good grasp of the human anatomy. I highly recommend her studio.

Amazing studio ! The instructor Sarah is dedicated to helping each client achieve their fitness goals.

I recently participated in the 6 week MELT class for the hydration of the fascia. It really helps with flexibility and pain management of my Fibromyalgia. Sarah is an AWESOME instructor. The small student to teacher ratio allowed for lots of personal instruction. This is not your typical exercise class. All the movements are slow and so deceptively simple anyone can do this. And it will remove your pain and stress from the very first session. I highly recommend this class.

Five years ago I politely declined a Lumbar Laminectomy with Fusion. Three years ago my physical therapist told me to call Sarah at Embody Movement and start Pilates. I replied that I could take Pilates at my local gym and she repeated...Call Sarah! Best advice I've ever gotten! For the first time in three years I took a walk that was pain free! I made her pilates classes a priority in my schedule, and Sarah and Becky made my health and well being a priority as well! They were very consistent at teaching, cuing and correcting as I learned, healed and strengthened. As a former runner I was surprised to learn that you can have a hard, sweaty workout without the high impact, jarring classes that I had to give up. I am having fun as I gain core strength, flexibility and continue to learn new things in every class! Thanks Sarah & Becky!

When I started training for my first Chicago Marathon last summer, my mom immediately suggested that I start Pilates as my cross-training. I'd never done Pilates before, but after my first session with Sarah at Embody Movement, I was hooked! I completely owe my injury-free training season to Sarah. Her ability to identify areas of concern and personalize each session not only gave me the strength and flexibility I needed with the amount of running I was doing, but also increased my own body awareness to a degree I hadn't known was possible. So it was no question that when I decided to run marathon #2 this summer, I would start training with Sarah again. And again, I owe another injury-free running season to working with Sarah. As with last year, Sarah helped me with core and hip strength, flexibility, and overall body awareness. But this time around, Sarah added something new to my training that I would be remiss not to mention: MELT. If you haven't tried it, you need to. I admit I was a bit skeptical at first -- I questioned whether the small, often subtle movements would really decrease my stress and tension and help with hydration and injury prevention the way Sarah explained (so eloquently and in a way I could understand, of course!). But as always, with Sarah's help, I noticed incredible improvements with MELT. A huge part of the method is body awareness and self-assessment, and Sarah helped guide me through assessing what part of my body to work on each week: feet, neck, calves, upper body... pretty much anything that was tight or tense could be improved by "MELTing" the first ten minutes of each session. Sarah got me so hooked that I got my own MELT roller and now use it almost every day. I cannot tell you what a difference it has made, not just in my running, but in my daily life. I work as an editor at a desk 8 hours a day, and MELT helps release that tension that builds in all of our bodies sitting for that long. I really can't say enough good things about Sarah and Embody Movement. Sarah has so much knowledge about the human body, but she's able to explain things in a way that makes sense. I HIGHLY recommend Sarah, Embody Movement Pilates, and MELT to anyone!!