Amy Havens, Studio Owner and DirectorPMA Certified Pilates Teacher™
Amy is a graduate of Colorado State University holding a BA in Dance. Her first introduction to Pilates was by Gary Calderone, then owner of the Pilates Center of Ft. Collins, CO and graduate of The Pilates Center of Boulder, CO® Not only did she immediately feel the benefits of the exercises, she got a sense of the beauty and mystery of the work. She recognized this was a mental and physical practice, a lifelong discipline. Amy moved to the bay area to pursue a performing career and like many dancers, was hit with an injury. Pilates and chiropractic were her means of rehabilitation and it was the transition out of the dance world that enabled Amy to follow her intuition to deepen her relationship with the Pilates method. She was encouraged to work with Madeline Black and Jean Sullivan and completed her first Comprehensive Teacher Training Program through The PhysicalMind Institute®. Amy was invited to teach alongside Jean at her studio A Body Of Work San Francisco.
Amy is a Pilates Method Alliance Certified Pilates Teacher and holds additional certifications in pre/post natal training through CORE Conditioning, is a licensed Booty Barre™ (Tracey Mallet, founder) and Pilates for Buff Bones™ (Rebekah Rotstein, founder) teacher. She has completed BASI's® rigorous Mentor and Master Programs with Rael Isacowitz and is a proud graduate of Pat Guyton's Pilates Conservatory Teacher Training Program®. Amy has also completed Gil Hedley's 6-Day Intensive Hands-On Human Dissection Workshop, has been a member of IDEA since 2001 and is a founding teacher for Pilates Anytime. Her unending curiosity for learning continues to lead her down the fascinating path of movement education. Upcoming plans include Core Align Level 1 Training, Foot Reflexology Certification and Franklin Method® Teacher Training. These new endeavors will add to her over 20 years of teaching experience of dance and Pilates.
Amy is the owner of CenterPoint Pilates Inc, a premier studio in Santa Barbara, CA. It was awarded BEST PILATES STUDIO 2011 and 2012 in the SB Independent's Readers Poll. CenterPoint has 12 teachers on its staff, all PMA Certified Pilates Teachers. Amy believes in individuality and honors the diverse background of each of the teachers. CenterPoint Pilates has had the honor of regularly hosting various guest teachers including Rebekah Rotstein, Jennifer Kries, Eric Franklin and the studio's mentor, Pat Guyton. It is considered 'the place to study Pilates' in Santa Barbara.
Amy is a patient and compassionate teacher, remembering that "Rome wasn't built in a day". Based on her rich movement background, her style is eclectic and purposeful. She teaches with enthusiasm, clarity and a well trained eye. She finds inspiration in teaching to all levels, but it's working with beginning level students that best keeps her in the present moment, staying clear with the intention of the method: whole body health, whole body commitment and breath. She shares that Pilates is a way of life, that the studio is just one place to practice this method. Amy is a mentor and coaches student teachers and values the apprenticeship model. She will be a forever student, knowing that greatest teachers are often the most curious of students.
Amy lives in Santa Barbara with her husband and two dogs Maddie and Boomer. She and Bob love to travel and cook and both love music, dance and laughter.
Sabrina Bell-Bonadao, LPTA
PMA Certified Pilates Teacher™
Sabrina's most important professional goal is to teach all patients and clients that integrating conscious consistent breathing with balanced active movement and relaxation is the foundation for healing and achieving higher fitness performance.
At San Francisco State University, Sabrina received her education in Dance-Physical Education and Holistic Health. Sciatica and shoulder weakness led her to St. Francis Hospital's Dance and Sport Orthopedic Clinic where Dr. Garrett prescribed Pilates rehabilitation. She continued training with Elizabeth Larkham for an additional two years.
In 1989, Sabrina studied the Simonson modern-jazz dance technique at NYC's Evolving Arts studio and Zina Rommet's floor barre technique for dancers. She struggled with a past severe ankle sprain and rehabilitated with Marika Molnar's Upper East Side Physical Therapy team. She swam for her cardio and discovered that she could give herself ballet barre in the water using slow deliberate motions. Within two months, her stamina, jumping and spinning speed and strength significantly improved.
Upon returning to California in 1991, Sabrina certified with International Aquatic Exercise Association, Arthritis Foundation, and Multiple Sclerosis Society to teach aquatic exercise to persons struggling with land based exercise. She worked as an aquatic specialist at Easter Seals Timpany Center guiding post stroke patients, arthritis students, and persons with back pain under the guidance of physical therapists.
In 1992 she started an aquatic fitness program at Los Gatos Swim & Racquet Club incorporating musical movement in water, post rehabilitation, water running for athletes and taught swimming to adults fearful of the water. Her dance training included hatha yoga from the teachings of Eric Shiffman. Together with her Pilates training she taught both Vinyasa and yoga based Pilates classes.
In 1999 she earned her Physical Therapy Assistantship License and in 2002 she finalized her Pilates certification with the Integrated Teacher Training Program under the tutelage of Madalene Black, Leah Putnam, and Jean Sullivan. Today, at Santa Barbara's Hayashida and Associates Physical Therapy Orthopedic Clinic, Sabrina guides patients in aquatic therapy and is a trainer of Pilates post rehabilitation.
Her loves are her fiance, family, gardening, dancing, and the Italian language and culture.
Kathy Bresslin
PMA Certified Pilates Teacher™
Kathy discovered the work of Joseph Pilates in 2001while exploring different modes of recovery and rehabilitation following the total replacement of both hip joints. She took a Pilates mat class, at the suggestion of a Physical Therapist she was working with at the time, and was impressed with the intelligence of the system and how great the work made her feel. What began as extended physical therapy in that one mat class started the process of study to teach, through Body Arts and Science International, and to pursue the study of anatomy, the biomechanics of movement, and the potential of Pilates work for physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Kathy pursues the knowledge and understanding of the Pilates method, as well as the craft of teaching, as she pursues continuing education through Balanced Body University workshops, Pilates Method Alliance Conference workshops, Pilates Conservatory and Master Teacher Pat Guyton. She has been informed and inspired by taking courses from Karen Clippinger, Diane Defenderfer, Mary Bowen, Brent Anderson, Michele Larson, Elizabeth Larkham, Ron Fletcher, Sheri Betz, Sara Meeks, Suzanne Martin, Jillian Hessel, Madeline Black, Amy Taylor Alpers, Rachel Taylor Segel, Sherri Brourman, Kathy Corey, Deborah Lessen, and Dawn Marie-Ickes. Prior to finding the way to Pilates, Kathy taught Hatha Yoga for 13 + years, was certified through the Integral Yoga Institute at the Satchidananda Ashram and received her completion of study and certification by Swami Satchidananda himself. She has been influenced by and studied with numerous notable and inspiring Yoga teachers such as Eric Schiffman, Rodney Yee, Judith Lasater, Angela Farmer, Victor Van Kooten, and Lilias Folan, as this interest and pursuit to understand continued to grow and develop over a span of almost 40 years. Similarly to Yoga, Kathy believes that a Pilates practice has a profound effect on the physical, mental, and emotional aspects of being. "Continuity of practice is the key to well-being."
Kathy's other interests are swimming, which has been lifelong, the Garden and Horticulture. She has been a self-employed Garden Designer for over 25 years and has a deep passion for the plant world. She is an activist for Ocean Conservation and as a former volunteer naturalist for the Channel Islands Marine Mammel Sanctuary, ardently promotes support and stewardship of our local coastal and island environment. She and her husband, Scott, share their lives with Annie, a Border Collie-Australian Cattle Dog, puppy Lexi, a Smooth-Coat Border Collie, and Tobey, an Orange Tabby feline.
Kathy's gifts as a teacher include good communication skills, relating well and easily to others, her personal and professional background, and very diverse personal life experiences. She inspires discovery, growth, and change by pursuing and practicing the way to physical and mental improvement, understands the importance of developing a regular and consistent practice that helps one become a 'feeling good and moving well' system, and ardently promotes and supports the same for her students.
Ken Gilbert
Ken Gilbert, MA, is a Nia Black Belt and Nia Education Trainer; a Movement and Creative Integration Professional who applies the practice of Nia to develop and evolve the conditioning of body, mind and spirit. Ken holds a Standard Secondary Teaching Credential in California and received his MA in Dramatic Art at the University of California, Davis in 1983.
Ken began his movement and fitness career in 1988 teaching Hi/Lo Impact. In 1989 with the invention and development of equipment in Group Fitness he taught and developed his teaching skills in Step, Slide, Resistance Training and Spinning. Curious about Pilates, he began studying, practicing and training to teach the work in 1994. He met Ron Fletcher in 1996 and committed his Pilates teaching focus to The Ron Fletcher Work. Over the past 18 years at the Santa Barbara Athletic Club Ken taught Group Fitness classes and worked one-on-one with individuals on the Pilates equipment in the studio.
In 1997, wanting to work intimately with body/mind connections, Ken chose to study and work with Debbie Rosas and Carlos Rosas, Co-creators of Nia, a fusion fitness and transformational program of movement. Teaching his first class in 1999, Ken generated a community of committed students and practitioners of Nia and became a Nia Black Belt in 2003.
In 2005 he became a Nia Education Trainer facilitating Workshops, Master Classes and White Belt Intensives in North America, South Africa, and the Pacific. For more information regarding The Body's Way - the Nia practice of Body, Mind and Spirit visit www.nianow.com. As one of the Nia's 16 International Trainers Ken works to inspire, educate and motivate everyone to become healthier; more integrated and balanced in their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual lives, inviting his students to make the connections of the mindful body to connect breath with sensation, feeling, and imagination.
Currently in Santa Barbara, Ken founder and owner of EmBODYment,
A Studio for Movement and Creative Integration: www.embodyment.com.
Ken is committed to developing and evolving the study and practice
of personal empowerment through the conditioning and expressivity
of physical movement stimulating body/mind integration, emotional
agility, and spiritual awakening.
Michelle Kimball
PMA Certified Pilates Teacher™ and and Booty Barre® Teacher
Michelle is a senior instructor at CenterPoint Pilates. Growing up in Santa Barbara, she ice skated competitively and studied ballet extensively. She attended the University of California, Santa Barbara, and later the University of Southern California where she graduated with a BS in Business Entrepreneurship. In addition to Pilates and Ballet, Michelle has also studied Hatha and Power yoga.
Michelle's interest in Pilates began after the birth of her 2 children. She noticed her body had changed considerably with 2 pregnancies, and she had missed the toned and strong body she once had. She wanted to regain her physique, and hearing about the benefits of Pilates, decided to give it a try. She loved it instantly. The benefits of Pilates were immediately evident to her, and she became devoted to the work. So impressed with Pilates and its effect, she enrolled in and completed the Comprehensive Teacher Training in 2004 with Core Conditioning and began teaching at CenterPoint Pilates soon after. Her background in movement, ballet, and yoga, as well as her own personal experience with the work has given her a deep appreciation of the benefits of Pilates.
Inspired by her daughter Sadie, Michelle created a Mother & Daughter Pilates class for CenterPoint where moms and their daughters practice together. Michelle is passionate about teaching the girls the importance of good posture, strength, and flexibility all the while making the class fun and inspiring.
In early 2011, Michelle became a Certified Booty Barre® Instructor. She teaches this high energy class several times a week and loves how it has enabled her to incorporate her dance background into her teaching.
Michelle teaches private clients, Mat and group classes, as well as Booty Barre® classes at CenterPoint. She loves inspiring her clients to make positive changes in their bodies and in their Pilates practice. She continues her Pilates education by attending workshops every year with Master Teacher Pat Guyton.
She lives with her husband Brent, her daughter Sadie, her son Cole, and Will their dog.
Emily Draws
PMA Certified Pilates Teacher™
Emily's interest in the health of bodies began with massage therapy school in 1998, where she and fellow students would watch passersby and guess where they were tight in their musculature based on the way they walked. Little did she know how that gait analysis would come into play years later.
Emily's first experience with Pilates came as reformer sessions with her brother-in-law as her teacher in 2003. She continued her informal study of Pilates as a group participant preparing for an infomercial advertising a home version of a Cadillac. She attended class three times a week for three months. She did not miss one class, and by the end of it she was in love with Pilates.
In the fall of 2004 Emily went through the CORE Conditioning Comprehensive Teacher Training Course at Centerpoint Pilates in Santa Barbara. The CORE syllabus follows both the traditional exercises and Physical Therapy adapted protocols.
Emily attends as many workshops as she can in order to continually gain more knowledge, inspiration, and increase her skills as a teacher. She finds teaching inspiration in other exercise styles as well, such as aerobics, yoga, and dance.
Emily is also a licensed massage therapist and a part-time web designer. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a BFA in 1991.
Lea Longley
PMA Certified Pilates Teacher™
Lea Longley was born and raised in Santa Barbara, California. She has always enjoyed an active lifestyle and was thrilled to find Pilates because she felt that the discipline promoted both mental and physical health. She was immediately fascinated by the rich history of Pilates and the many examples of people who have been doing Pilates for much of their lives. Through these living examples we are able to see the lucid minds and strong yet supple forms that these individuals have created through their Pilates practice, and aspire to that same brilliance as we move through our lives. One of her main goals as a teacher is to impart these benefits to her clients. Lea strives to create an environment that is open, light and accepting of everyone who wants to be there, while also honoring the needs of each individual participant and progressing towards their goals.
Lea's study began in late 2003 when she entered into a teacher training program with Core Conditioning in Studio City, California. After completing their rigorous and comprehensive curriculum she began to teach at CenterPoint Pilates in Santa Barbara, California. As she began to teach she realized that her education had only just begun and has avidly pursued her personal and professional practice. She continues to study under CenterPoint owner Amy Havens and guest faculty member Pat Guyton. She has been richly influenced by Rael Isacowitz, Karen Clippinger, Brent Anderson, Elizabeth Larkham, Lolita San Miguel, Sheri Betz, and Diane Diefenderfer to name a few.
As her practice evolves and grows she is reminded that there is always an opportunity to learn more. Each time we move with purpose we are altering the landscape of our minds and bodies and inviting a chance to look at ourselves and our world with fresh and open eyes.
Gunilla "Neela" Hutton
PMA Certified Pilates Teacher™
Born in Sweden, Gunilla "Neela" Hutton discovered Pilates
when she was first beginning her career starring on television, in
stage musicals and headlining at numerous venues around the world
with her singing act. "As a performer, staying fit was not an
option if you wanted to work. I studied dance and took class whenever
time allowed, and also worked out with a personal strength trainer.
It was around this time that I began to hear the 'buzz' about this
'magical', beautiful form of exercise that top actors and performers
were doing. I was told to go to master teacher Ron Fletcher, who had
a studio in Beverly Hills. Ron himself gave me my first lessons, and
I became an immediate devotee! The shape and tone that Pilates gave
my body was the frosting on the cake, but I needed the strength and
endurance it gave me to bring up my three children and continue my
very busy career. Whenever possible, I was in that Pilates studio,
and when I was on location, I did my MAT work in my hotel room. It
was my therapy mentally, emotionally and physically. Pilates did it
all for me!" And it still does! Neela now has happily settled
in Santa Barbara with her husband. She was certified by Core Conditioning
in Studio City, CA and has been a teacher for several years. Working
with clients of all ages and fitness levels, she enjoys sharing how
to live a joyful and youthful way of life through Pilates.
Aliza Nizet
PMA Certified Pilates Teacher™
Aliza began practicing Pilates in her early twenties as a means of bringing balance to the stressful and often sedentary lifestyle of a graduate student. She was thrilled by the results from the start, reaping not only the physical benefits of increased strength and flexibility but also the mental benefits associated with the fundamental principles of Pilates such as breathing, centering and concentration.
After completing a master's degree in art history, Aliza moved to Santa Barbara and found CenterPoint Pilates as the ideal environment in which to turn her passion into a profession. While she continues to learn and grow as a student, she is also delighted to work with clients of all levels, helping them to achieve functional movement both in and out of the studio and encouraging them to reach new levels of mind-body commitment. She is a profound believer that Pilates is not simply a form of exercise but an avenue for lifelong discovery.
Aliza has completed a Pilates Matwork and Standing Pilates certification through the PhysicalMind Institute® as well as Comprehensive Pilates Teacher Training through Body Arts and Sciences International™. She is a Pilates Method Alliance® Certified Pilates Teacher.
Karen Ketchum
Karen is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh with degrees in psychology and physical therapy. She has 20 years of experience as an outpatient physical therapist treating a wide variety of both orthopedic and neurological patients. Her background also includes 12 years as a student and teacher of the Graham technique of modern dance. Karen has found in Pilates a field of study that combines her love of movement with the scientific principles that have informed her practice as a physical therapist. She completed the Comprehensive Teacher Training Program through PHI Pilates and was fortunate to work alongside Christine Romani-Ruby, MPT, one of the leaders in the field, in her studio in Pittsburgh.
Karen and her husband, Terry, their border collie, Mia and their two house cats, Cody and Paddy, have recently moved from Pittsburgh to Santa Barbara. Karen has joined CenterPoint Pilates to continue both her personal study and teaching. Through her personal study as well as her experience with clients and patients, Karen has been impressed with both the physical and mental benefits to be gained with regular practice of the Pilates method. She finds great satisfaction in sharing the technique with others and assisting clients to achieve their goals through enhanced movement and postural awareness. Additional movement studies include Feldenkrais technique, Alexander technique, yoga, a black belt in Tang Soo Do, and Core Align Level 1 Training.
Linnea Haddock
PMA Certified Pilates Teacher™
Linnea completed the BASI Comprehensive Teacher Training Program in 2011. She grew up in Canada, England, Singapore, and Santa Barbara. The one constant in all the moving was her formal dance training. Attracted by Pilates' emphasis on the mind/body connection and strength building, she first began practicing Pilates in 2002, while living in New York City. She continued her practice through the birth of her two children and was amazed by how it rehabilitated her body and enhanced her well-being.
Linnea has been teaching since 2009. Her goals as a trainer are to support and guide clients, beginner to advanced, as they increase whole body awareness, remediate imbalances, enhance strengths, and move with integrity.
Linnea views the practice of Pilates as a lifelong pursuit. She learns from and finds inspiration in her fellow teachers and from workshops, seminars and conferences.
When she is not practicing or teaching Pilates, Linnea enjoys time with her two sons and her husband, cooking, being in nature, swimming, dancing, and listening to music.
Lindsay Slavik
PMA Certified Pilates Teacher™
Lindsay Slavik is from Orange County, CA and currently resides in Santa Barbara. She received her B.F.A. in dance at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Lindsay has trained under the Joffrey Ballet School, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. During her education at UCSB she has trained with Christopher Pilafian, Nancy Colahan, Mira Kingsley and Valerie Huston. She toured in the UCSB Student Company to Italy, New York and all over Southern California performing New York choreographer, Jennifer Muller’s Speeds Project (1974). This project was funded by an American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, along with five other faculty pieces. Her choreographic works at UCSB, ‘Unveiled’ and ‘It Is Finished’, have sparked her inner desire to create and choreograph more dance pieces. Lindsay has won various scholarships including the Alice Condodina UCSB Performance Scholarship as well as the Tonia Shimin Excellence and Promise in the Field Scholarship.
As a form of cross-training for her dance career, Lindsay discovered a passion for Pilates upon graduating from UCSB. Through the Pilates method she experienced a new range of movement possibilities that have improved her strength, mobility and inner connection to her body. Because of these new discoveries, Lindsay began intensively studying Pilates with the desire to spread this form of intelligent, mind-body technique through teaching. Lindsay received a certificate of completion from Body Arts and Science International (BASI) in October 2012. As a Pilates instructor she loves to help transform her clients physical capabilities and sense of well-being. She desires people to enjoy moving whether it's in class or in everyday life. Her objective as a teacher is to bring people into a deeper awareness of their own body; moving freely, efficiently and powerfully, discovering their own limitless capabilities.
Currently Lindsay has completed her second season with the modern dance company, Nebula Dance Lab, and is continuing to share her passion for Pilates with her clients and students at CenterPoint Pilates, Santa Barbara Tennis Club and Westmont College.