Intelligent Fitness
Pilates and MELT: training your whole body to stay strong and support you whereever you want to go
My Story
I was trained and certified in 1997 by Mr. Pilates’ protégé, Romana Krysanowska in New York city. In the over 25 years since, I have trained clients at every age and athletic level in cities from New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, and Durham. I am fascinated by movement and the way each of us live in and are shaped by our bodies, including the imbalances/stresses/injuries/limitations/quirks that our activities impart in us.
Born and raised in Hawai’i, I grew up dancing hula. I kept dancing (modern & hula) in college and beyond. I competitively raced Hawaiian outrigger canoes while living in the San Francisco Bay area. Here in North Carolina you can find me taking yoga, kayaking, hiking, gardening, baking, quilting, or knitting. Pilates keeps me strong as I practice these athletic (or not-so-athletic) activities and provides a blueprint for recovery when I’ve injured/re-injured myself—for me it’s the occasional reoccurring low back, hip, and foot issues I can get. I have also spent decades being plagued by migraines that could lay me out flat.
Enter the MELT Method, a gentle form of self-treatment that enhances mobility, structural and neurological stability, and performance that I began practicing around 2017. The results have been so remarkable– migraines drastically reduced and better neurological hip stability for example– that I got certified in 2021 to teach MELT by Sue Hitzmann, the creator of the MELT Method.
I am now a Level 5 MELT Method instructor and I’m thrilled to include MELT’s scientifically proven techniques that reduce temporary or chronic pain as part of my intelligent fitness teaching offerings.
About Pilates
Nearly 100 years ago Joseph H. Pilates developed “The Art of Contrology”, or the Pilates method. All these years later Pilates is still a powerful way to gain core strength, stretch, alignment, and control. It is recognized not just by the hundreds of thousands of practitioners who are dedicated to the Pilates method, but also by physicians, orthopedists, chiropractors, and physical therapists. Pilates is gentle enough to be part of a rehab protocol and challenging enough for athletes training at the top of their skills; it can be immensely beneficial to younger children, older adults, and anyone in-between, because a Pilates program is designed for your needs. What do you want out of your fitness? What can’t you do that you believe you should be able to do?
The MELT Method
The MELT Method improves flexibility, alignment, posture, and balance, exercise results, joint stability and mobility, sleep and digestion, and also creates a sense of over-all well-being. MELT reduces temporary and chronic aches and pains, headaches, tension and stress, and even visible signs of aging like wrinkles and cellulite. Even better, you can feel results immediately!
MELT recognizes that body functionality and stability comes from our connective tissue system, not just our central nervous system. Our connective tissue links every single system and subsystem in our body. This may sound technical, but the techniques we use on the MELT soft foam roller and with the therapy ball kit are simple and gentle enough for anyone to use.
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Address
Durham NC 27703
Phone
510-915-5164
angelineshakapilates@gmail.com