Intelligent, evidence-based movement that builds strength, resilience, and ease. Strength built for your life — not for how it looks.
Functional movement is movement that supports how you live. It's not about isolated exercises or aesthetic goals — it's about building the strength, mobility, coordination, and resilience that transfer to daily life. Movement science rooted in evidence, not dogma.
Pilates is a movement system developed by Joseph Pilates in the early 20th century. Originally called "Contrology," it was designed to build strength, coordination, and control through precise, mindful movement. Modern, evidence-based Pilates builds on this foundation by integrating current research in movement science, fascia, and nervous system health.
Mat Pilates is particularly accessible — it requires little more than a floor and your body, making it sustainable, portable, and genuinely effective for building long-term strength and mobility.
Strength, range of motion, and control as primary outcomes. The real focus isn't aesthetic form or memorized breath patterns — it's progressively improving strength, range of motion, and movement control. Pilates becomes effective when these variables improve reliably, not when movements look perfect.
Layered, progressive programming. Rather than fixed choreography, this method uses structured progressions and regressions. Challenge is scaled relative to capacity, and layers of complexity are added only when foundational control exists.
Progressive overload builds tissue capacity. Movement challenge is adjusted gradually through greater resistance, increased range, more repetitions, or controlled fatigue. Tissue capacity comes from stress that is intelligently dosed over time.
Compound, functional movement over isolation. Exercises are selected to train multiple systems at once — creating integrated strength that transfers to life, not isolating muscles for cosmetic reasons.
Effort over aesthetic form. Simple doesn't mean easy. A movement's value lies in the stimulus it provides, not in how it looks. Wobble, loss of stability, and controlled fatigue are part of growth.
You'll hear me cue breath throughout class — but not because there's a universal "Pilates breathing pattern" required for the movements themselves. Research doesn't support the idea of a single correct breath. Instead, I use breath as a tool to support your nervous system. Breathe naturally, and I'll offer cues when they serve your nervous system and your experience.
I developed Somatic Mat Pilates — offered at Astute Counseling & Wellness in Chicago — as a practice that weaves together breath techniques, somatic movement, and mat Pilates to enrich the nervous system benefits of the work. Morning Mat Pilates, my online offering, brings this same approach into your home.
The class that originated this approach — developed specifically for Astute Counseling & Wellness. Weaves breath technique, somatic movement, and progressive Pilates into a single cohesive practice. Available Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
Book at Astute →A focused 45-minute mat Pilates class at Coconut Yoga Chicago. Efficient, progressive, and adaptable. Wednesdays 12:00 PM.
Book at Coconut Yoga →The same somatic approach, available from home. Tuesdays & Thursdays at 6:00–6:45 AM CT. Recordings included. Join once or twice weekly.
Sign up →This work is supportive when you want to build sustainable strength that supports daily life, are navigating chronic pain or stiffness, want to improve coordination and balance, are balancing high-intensity or repetitive movement with recovery, want nervous system support through breath-led mindful movement, or are looking for accessible, sustainable practice.