PilatesBodies Studio
BOUTIQUE, CLASSICAL PILATES STUDIO IN SANTA FE NM
The mission of PilatesBodies is two-fold: first to empower people to be in control of their own health and well-being so they can live happy, self-actualized lives; and second to help expand and direct the Pilates Method in Eldorado at Santa Fe, NM.
PilatesBodies is a fully equipped, with all traditional apparatus, Pilates Studio. Private lessons, Group Apparatus, Duets, and Mat Classes are offered. Additionally PilatesBodies now offers online lessons via ZOOM
“I started doing Pilates in town but was craving a more classical approach to it, like Joe taught. PilatesBodies was recommended to me and 16 years later I am still driving to El Dorado to have Alicia as my teacher! Small classes, great teacher and studio!”
Kathy Brennan
Alicia Watts-Russell
STUDIO OWNER, PILATES INSTRUCTOR AND TPC HOST ADVISOR
I first encountered the word “Pilates” as a teenage gymnast and ballet dancer in Denver, CO. A woman my mother knew, named Maya, was described to me as having beautiful, long legs because of a special machine she exercised on called a Reformer. That woman was Maya Aubrey, a protégé of both Eve Gentry and Michelle Larsson. It wasn’t until five years later, a few years after I moved to Santa Fe, NM, that Michelle Larsson happened to drop in on the modern dance class I regularly took. I had been experiencing some knee strain, and the dance teacher suggested I talk to Michelle, who was then the director of The PhysicalMind Institute. Michelle had been famously mentored by Eve Gentry, who had passed away just a few years earlier. She suggested I call PhysicalMind. After my first lesson, I was hooked. I was 22, and while I didn’t fully grasp Pilates at the time, I found the equipment amazing. I just knew it was smart and that it was for me.
About a year later, I moved back to Denver to finish my college education. Unsure of what I wanted to do for a career after graduating with a BA in Social Sciences from The University of Denver in 1999, I decided to look into Pilates again because of my previous experience in Santa Fe. I researched Pilates studios in the local phone book and found that The Pilates Center in Boulder had the only listing. I was delighted to discover that The Pilates Center not only offered private sessions and classes but also had a teacher training program. TPC had a well-structured curriculum and specific requirements before allowing someone to begin training to teach. The Pilates Center teaches a rigorous program that comes from a place of confidence rather than fear. Their program is tough, but incredibly nourishing and fulfilling. I was healed in many ways by TPC’s training. I knew they cared deeply and were willing to share everything they knew with me—and with everyone.
Beyond that, training with The Pilates Center helped me develop personal skills, confidence, empathy, and an eye for body movement patterns. Coming from the world of gymnastics and dance, I was quickly humbled by the healthy movement practices I learned at TPC. I had been someone who trained to extremes in both body and mind—nervous if I didn’t train enough and pushing through injury out of fear of losing progress. The Pilates Center offered me a healthy recalibration to a more balanced concept of body and mind. Instead of being focused on perfection and tricks, I learned to appreciate and have compassion for what each and every body needs to achieve a skill. The simple perspective of “nature” conveyed that all layers of Pilates, including the very advanced, are healing. There is nothing missing in the classical repertoire, and The Pilates Center offers a confident, nurturing environment to support that perspective. This perspective and philosophy continue to guide my teaching and the way I run my studio.
In addition to completing The Pilates Center’s Advanced Program in 2001, I completed their Masters Program in 2009 and became a host advisor to them in 2017. I have also done extensive continuing education with Cara Reeser, Irene Dowd, and Michelle Larsson.
In 2023, I received my Persistent Pain Pilates Educator certification from the Embodied Business Institute.
I remain ever intrigued by Pilates and still believe it to be the best life choice I’ve made. I am forever grateful for it and for the people with whom I get to spend my days.
“The solution to our present-day health ills lies in recognizing the fact that normal development of both the body and the mind is not possible by pitting the body against the mind, or vice versa. It is foolish to believe that one can perform effectively without working in concert with the other.”
Joseph H. Pilates
Pilates – Complete System of Movement
BENEFITS OF PILATES TRAINING
Utilizing highly specialized equipment, Pilates develops maximum muscle strength while Increasing flexibility. The combination of superior strength and enhanced range of motion allows for extremely efficient performance capabilities. Pilates re-patterns, realigns, clarifies, and defines the body. It frees the user from poor postural habits, helps heal chronic back pain and stiff neck, and eliminates tension, stress, and fatigue. In addition, the system promotes great circulation, creating an “internal cleansing” of the body.
The results achieved through the study of this unique system are unparalleled.
Users of Pilates gain intrinsic strength, breath control, and absolute precision of movement. Doctors, physical therapists, dancers, and athletes have long revered the method of Pilates as a healing and educational physical training system. Whether one wishes to gain a happy, healthy body, relieve an aching back or achieve maximum human potential, the Pilates Method is the best method there is.
“I encourage anyone with back problems, an athletic senior, serious about reducing age-related pain to enroll in private classes with Alicia Watts-Russell. She is fully focused on you and your body and will guide you with no injuries to a healthy life.”
Elizabeth Foree
