How We Pilates

Your teacher.

Mimosa grew up in Austin, Texas and has lived in New York since 1996. She graduated the Swedish Institute of Massage Therapy and Allied Health Sciences in 1997 and earned her New York State license to practice the same year. She graduated Hunter College with a degree in English and Chemistry in 2001. Back pain led her to her first Pilates lesson in 2000. Mimosa took frequent lessons with Romana Kryzanowska and Sari Mejia-Santo, and trained frequently at re:AB Pilates and Tribeca Bodyworks (now Real Pilates).

In 2003 she certified with the Pilates Studio of New York, and in 2004 she earned her certification with Romana’s Pilates. Mimosa became a sought after teacher at re:AB and as Program Director, she oversaw Brooke Siler’s teacher training program and coordinated the studio’s continuing education. She trained as a vinyasa yoga teacher with OM in 2006. Mimosa has created anatomy and injury workshops for teachers in New York and the UK. She maintains her practice as a licensed massage therapist, and is a personal trainer certified by the National Academy of Sports Medicine since 2009. Mimosa takes Pilates lessons with brilliant teachers; feel free to ask her about them. She dived into graduate school for social work in 2023 and will have her MSW in mid-2026.

In addition to being a Pilates teacher and always a student, she is a powerlifter, social worker in training and level 1 AEDP practitioner, and a mom of 2, which is basically harder than all that other stuff. She'll try anything related to fitness. That's what Pilates does for you.

Pilates and Contrology

Joseph Pilates, namesake

Pilates was a PERSON. He named his system CONTROLOGY. Learn about Pilates the person here: https://cathystrack.com/product/get-to-know-joe-pilates/

What's in a name

Pilates as we call it now is a SYSTEM. There is not "mat Pilates" and "reformer Pilates". There are pieces of equipment called "the mat" and "(the universal) reformer". Other apparatus include the trapeze table/cadillac, the trio of chairs (wunda, electric, and arm), the barrels (small, spine corrector, and ladder), the pedi pole, the guillotine (really), and a number of smaller specific "correctors" and spring-laden bits, which add up to hundreds of unique exercises. (Many of us who trained in classical lineages utilize equipment by Gratz Pilates. But there are myriad manufacturers!)

There's a lot of "Pilates" out there