Meet Team PhysioFit

Pilates Instructor

“Change happens through movement and movement heals.” - Joseph Pilates

Karen first encountered Pilates back in 1987 at St. Francis Hospital’s Center for Sports Medicine and Dance Medicine. She needed help with a chronic Achilles tendon injury and was curious to see if Pilates could help. She knew, almost immediately, that she had found a robust system to rehab her injury and that Pilates would alter the course of her life. She spent over a year focusing on simply being a student of the method, and then in 1989, she became certified in teaching Pilates through the Center for Dance Medicine with Patrice Whiteside. With the encouragement of her teachers, she opened the first Pilates studio on the Peninsula in Palo Alto in 1990.

Early on, Karen started getting referrals from osteopaths, doctors, Physical Therapists, and all kinds of practitioners looking for a safe way for their patients to overcome their issues. Things grew from there, and the next step was to train other teachers so that she could meet the demands of all the people who wanted Pilates sessions. She was part of The Institute for the Pilates Method’s first-ever Teacher Training Course. Mentoring other teachers were and are a strength Karen possesses. Many of the teachers Karen trained went on to open their own studios, or were recruited to develop Pilates centers in clinics all throughout California.

As the field of Pilates grew, so did all the populations who sought out Pilates. Pregnant women, people with scoliosis, serious athletes, people who needed to cross-train, tech workers, people with neurological conditions…

Working with all these populations made Karen grow and stretch and develop expertise in order to serve her clients. Karen has a voracious appetite for continuing education and study and has worked with some of the best
practitioners in the fields of movement studies, bodywork,
and medicine.

Karen’s teaching philosophy is to find “whatever works best” for each client rather than following a particular ideology She and each of her clients are in a collaborative process, learning from each other. She’s also a fan of practice and supports and coaches her clients as they develop their own practice.

She feels honored to be part of such a dynamic field and is in awe of the human body and the potential of each person to live joyfully in their body, able to do the activities they want.
She believes that most people can age beautifully.

Karen is also a poet, who teaches poetry & creative writing at the college level. She loves studying and taking movement classes of many kinds. Currently, her movement passions are hiking, Pilates, yoga, tai chi, Qigong, contact improvisation, and water exercise.