Pilates for Motherhood
Our Story: Pilates & Healing
With over 15 years of studying and teaching Pilates and Dance, Monique began her journey into motherhood. She found a calling as she learned how to heal her own body after her first baby’s birth. Blending her own work with an ever growing clientelle of mothers with deepening study and innovation, Mama-ilates began to take form. From emergency c-sections, to diastis recti, and with every client needing to rebuild their pelvic floor muscles after birth, mama-ilates developed as a methodology to rebalance women’s bodies after birth and to fortify them leading up to birth.
Mama-ilates: Monique’s Approach
Education
Monique began her Comprehensive Pilates training and personal Pilates practice in 2009 at Synergy Pilates. She has studied Pilates in both its classical and contemporary forms and received her Reformer and Springboard Certifications from Balanced Body at EHS Pilates in 2014. She has created her own unique Pilates program for supporting healing in women's bodies throughout motherhood entitled Mama-ilates.
Experience
Monique’s passion for movement sparked from her early education in ballet and grew throughout her professional dance background, from Belly Dance to Hip-Hop. Teaching both dance and fitness at New College while choreographing for her dance company, The Rhythm Dancers, evolved into a desire to pair the study of movement with healing. Teaching Pilates in the Bay Area was a dream-come-true for Monique. She has taught reformer classes in Alameda at Rise, Mariner Square Athletic Club, Face & Body Pilates Studio, Island Fit Pilates, and privately in her home studio. She continues to learn more about Pilates every day as well as how to shape a personal Pilates practice to support healthy movement patterns, injury prevention, chronic pain, and optimum alignment both for herself and her clients.
Philosophy
Pilates for Monique is a practice where everyone can come to heal their bodies, grow stronger and more flexible, and address issues of chronic pain, weakness or imbalance. Monique’s focus on Pilates has grown from her experience healing her own body from injury and chronic pain throughout her movement career and as a daily practice she could not live without!
Mama-ilates Method and Teacher Training
Monique’s study and practice of prenatal and postnatal Pilates during and after the birth of her babies has led her to grow a client base of new moms through her Mama-ilates Program. In all of her classes Monique focuses on rebuilding the body to reflect its best alignment, healthiest movement patterns, and flexibility with a focus on strengthening the connection between the pelvic floor and deep abdominal layer. Come study with her to meet your fitness and movement goals in a fun and supportive setting or to learn more about healing your own chronic pain and injuries through a customized Pilates practice!
If you are interested in studying the Mama-ilates Method with Monique, we offer Teacher Training and Certification both in-person and virtually. Please reach out and tell us about your experience with pilates and teaching background. We would love to hear from you!
Our Space
We created our studio as a retreat to renew the spirit, hosted in our private carriage house overlooking the San Gabriel River Trail. We are located within a quiet residential neighborhood, surrounded by oak trees.
