How Pilates & Hormone Health Became My Passion
I first became aware of my less-than-stellar health and hormonal imbalances in my mid- to late-twenties. At 25 I had just retired from my professional ballet career and naively jumped at a loosely disguised phone sales job- you know, the corporate thing I was “supposed” to do. Sitting in my cubicle felt stifling after a decade of being on my feet dancing for hours a day and I started to see and feel a difference right away.
I felt bloated all the time, my anxiety and depression were spiraling, and I was constantly uncomfortable thanks to the recurring yeast infections and UTIs that I could not get under control without antibiotics.
Plus I was miserable attempting to log a hundred outbound calls at work every day.
Then life gave me a huge push. About three months into my corporate gig I was commuting home on the busy 163-S when traffic came to a halting stop (except for the car behind me). I was slammed into the car in front of me, my car was totaled, and my body was SHOOK.
I didn’t see it at the time, but this was the beginning of my redirection.
I immediately sought chiropractic care for my whiplash, something that I already was in need of thanks to several old injuries (minor whiplash, slipping at a restaurant job, and my cumulative ballet career).
Keeping a regular schedule at the chiropractor was an amazing excuse to miss work and it brought me a lot of relief. However, it also highlighted the fact that I had absolutely no upper body strength and practically any semi-strenuous activity could trigger a tension migraine that would knock me out for a minimum of two days.
As someone who spent a decade dancing around on my toes, leaping through the air, and genuinely proud of my strength and flexibility, I felt helpless.
I was in my mid-twenties! I wasn’t supposed to feel like a victim in my own body
Luckily, about three months later, opportunity knocked.
Just when I thought I could not make another dang call to a random veterinarian’s office in the middle of nowhere (I was selling veterinary website design, so niche), my mom called me and offered me a remote position handling accounts receivable for my family’s elevator business.
Not only would this allow me to quit my corporate gig from hell, but it would also give me the freedom to explore my new interest: Pilates.
Though there is an undeniable ballet-to-Pilates pipeline, I actually did not really understand or practice Pilates until the very tail end of my ballet career. One of my ballet mistresses also taught Pilates and she was kind enough to allow me to pay her in specialty coffee to join her in the studio once a week.
My body responded to the exercise right away; I noticed a difference in my neck pain and my performance in the studio. Funnily enough, I remember expressing interest in becoming a teacher at the time and she cautioned me that it was a saturated market and she really didn’t make very much money teaching Pilates. A little crestfallen, I had shelved the idea.
After my car accident I could not get the idea out of my head. I just knew that I needed to get stronger in order to feel in control of my body again so that I could enjoy life. And I knew Pilates would get me there.
As luck would have it, a Club Pilates had just opened up down the road and their teacher training program was beginning enrollment. I jumped right into the 500-hour comprehensive training program a little unsure of where it would lead but knowing it was what I needed.
The equipment fascinated me- reformers, barrels, chairs, cadillacs- it really is an adult playground! I was also very eager to teach and since the studio was new and I had previous experience as a ballet teacher, they hired me right away. While I didn’t hesitate to begin teaching, I also felt overwhelmed by the new verbiage and a bit disappointed that I was still dealing with pain on a regular basis.
I really felt like there was an element of Pilates that I was missing. I had been practicing for about a year without significant improvement in my neck and shoulder pain. In search of alternatives, I started trying out different studios on Classpass.
It was in one of these random classes at a new studio that I encountered a whole different approach to Pilates that left me feeling confused about what I thought I knew.
I went back two or three times, learning something new each time. After my third session I felt immense relief in my neck and shoulders.
This was the magic I had been searching for!
Without hesitation, I began a mentorship with the owner of the studio, who’s Pilates education connects directly to the lineage of teachers who trained with Joseph Pilates himself.
In six months my strength, body, confidence, and ability to help others with Pilates was transformed.
I was also inspired to make Pilates my career.
By then, the front room of my house housed a full Pilates studio, complete with a reformer, cadillac, ladder barrel, and chair. I called it Graceflow Pilates.
I had big ambitions. I wanted to run a private training studio while also teaching at my mentor’s studio while also working remotely for my family’s business.
There was A LOT on my plate. Yet I still couldn’t see what it was doing to my health.
Fatigue, brain fog, mood swings, cystic acne, and increasing food sensitivities had joined the bloat, anxiety, depression, migraines, yeast infections, and UTIs on my list of “normal” symptoms.
My combined desperation for relief from the UTIs and desire to have clear, glowing skin led me to try the most extreme diet I have ever fully committed myself to- The pH Miracle Diet.
This is an elimination diet, vegan diet, and alkaline approach to food, all rolled into one.
A few incredible things happened:
My UTIs cleared up immediately.
I lost about 10 pounds of water weight.
I understood how directly related nutrition is to health.
Partly motivated to continue eliminating my “normal” symptoms (acne!!), partly out of fear for my own longevity after losing my dad to cancer in 2016, I enrolled at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.
Again, unsure of where it would lead, but knowing I needed to do it.
I dabbled in different nutrition philosophies, tested out supplements, began realizing how burnt out I was, learned my period actually has four phases, and began wondering if removing my IUD would solve all my problems.
Similar to many millennial women, I did not get a comprehensive education about menstrual health beyond the fifth grade talk where the health teacher awkwardly asks if you know what a period is and sends you on your way with a pad.
Pair that with my time in the professional ballet world and the hormonal IUD I had for the better part of my twenties and you could say that my relationship to my cycle was nonexistent and my period was severely MIA.
Again, I felt pulled. I added a hormone health concentration to my IIN certification because I HAD to know more. Healing my hormones and understanding the four phases of my menstrual cycle seemed like the key to getting to the bottom of my remaining “normal” symptoms.
I realized that I was severely under-educated on the magical blueprint held within my own menstrual cycle. I was equally parts frustrated, sad, overwhelmed, and determined- not only to heal my own cycle but to share this life-changing knowledge with other women.
Through trial and error, returning to my natural cycle after years on hormonal contraceptives, research, and experimentation, I developed a new lifestyle for myself that supported my hormone health, felt sustainable, and made me feel more vibrant than I had in years.
The Spring to Life Method was born.
Since 2020 I have been educating women on the dangers of hormonal birth control and empowering them to take control of their natural cycles, with cycle tracking, hormone-supportive habits, and my unique cyclical approach to Pilates through Spring to Life Method, the app.
In 2022 I went on to become a fertility awareness educator through the FEMM program which inspired my signature program, Feminine Body Independence, which teaches women to chart their biomarkers to use their natural cycle as a contraceptive while also regulating and syncing their cycles.
