Today we’d like to introduce you to Nathalie Gonthier-Thomas.
Hi Nathalie, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I moved to Los Angeles from France in the mid ’90s. At that time, I was an artist and I started working in the visual effects world mostly for feature films, at major studios like Centropolis FX, Sony Pictures Imageworks and Digital Domain. After 25 years, I decided to transition to a healthier lifestyle and started teaching Pilates. I wanted a better balance in my life so I could spend quality time with my daughter. Being present to watch her grow up was very important for me. Time always seems to fly by, and there is no going back. My own health and happiness were also a motivation to change carrier. I discovered Pilates years before I decided to transitioned to become a teacher. I had experienced the benefits of this particular type of exercising that is like no other as a client while working as an artist. Spending hours sitting in front of a computer, it was very important for me to take a break and head to a Pilates studio to move my body, recenter and reconnect with myself. Pilates is an excellent practice to connect mind and body, and for the time of a session, I would feel recenter mentally and physically recharged. I remember one night, during a Pilates class after a long working day, looking at my trainer and thinking to myself: “I could do that. Teaching, practicing Pilates all day, getting deeper into this very particular system, and getting to know more about it. Why does it feels so great on my body and mind?”. Soon after that night, I signed up for a teacher training Certification program for Classical Pilates, and that was the beginning of a new adventure.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
When I am taking my daughter to school in the morning, we drive by this freeway pass in west LA, where there is a tag on a wall that reads: “Life is full of bumps”. And almost every morning we drive by this tag, I tell my daughter: “They have it wrong. The bumps ARE life”. And my daughter rolls her eyes and says: “I know, you told me that a hundreds time… mom….” There is a Spanish saying: “No hay caminos, hay que caminar.” that sums up how I have been moving forward in my life. Good days, bad days, easy ones, difficult ones, obstacles, challenges, fears, they are real and a motor, a motivation to go on, to push forward and find ways to make things work. One of my biggest joy in my life is to look at what I do, what I did and see what I have learned in the process of trying to achieve a goal. Setbacks, challenges, failures are giving me the reasons and motivations to go over them, figure things out, find solutions. In the process, I have been meeting people, discovered places, engaged in new activities, explored different ways of thinking to continue to enjoy everything I do.
After I decided to become a Pilates teacher, I worked at different studios, small businesses and bigger corporations. Small places closed down, big gyms were not nor me. From one place to another, I ended up meeting with Daniela Escobar, the owner of Westwood Pilates, a small classical Pilates studio. Meeting her and finding this place was like finding a new home.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Westwood Pilates – Mar Vista?
Westwood Pilates is a Classical Pilates studio fully equipped with classical apparatus, providing both Private sessions and Group Classes. Now considered one of the best Classical Pilates studios in West Los Angeles, our studio has become known to create very personalized relationships with our clients. Each year since our founding in 2013 by Daniela Escobar (owner) Westwood Pilates has grown, creating a community of Pilates enthusiasts and a home away from home from beginners to seasoned teachers. We aim to provide a space where people feel comfortable and welcome, no matter what your age, ethnicity, gender, body type, or movement background. The Pilates Method is an exercise technique developed by Joseph Pilates (1880 – 1967). He drew inspiration from both eastern and western exercise regimes and created a sequence of exercises on various pieces of equipment that connect body and mind, focus on the proper use of breath and a strong center. Pilates is an extremely effective and safe form of exercise that will correct imbalances, postural alignment and improve your strength, flexibility and overall feeling of well-being.
Westwood Pilates is proud to uphold the Classical Pilates method and strives to maintain the integrity of Joseph Pilates’s work.
Additionally, Westwood Pilates studio recently opened a small antenna in Mar Vista, which I am managing. Since May 2022, our Mar Vista studio provides the same attention, care and expertise following Joseph Pilates method.
I am very proud to be part of Daniela Escobar’s team and extend her efforts and vision to continue to teach Joseph Pilates work.
How do you think about luck?
I think that we all make choices. We can always decide to take another direction or to continue on the same course. Keeping an open mind, staying curious, looking around, opening our hearts to others, trying to see if we have our place in a particular situation leads us to opportunities that we choose to seize or not. Is it luck or a conscious decision ….? Personally, I find that I have met wonderful people along the way of both of my careers, the film industry and the Pilates worlds. I chose to let go of negative or vain situations. Meeting Daniela Escobar, owner of the Westwood Pilates studios was an opportunity and one of my best “luck” in my life.
In meeting her, in working with her and learning from her, I have grown and flourished in my teaching career. I have find a place to develop, explore, expand and contribute to a community dedicated to bringing wellness to people’s lives. The original (classical) Pilates method is a tool for anyone to feel healthy no matter their age, gender, fitness level. To find a community of people dedicated to teaching the same thing you love is an amazing feeling. It also gives me the confidence to bring my clients my best attention and dedication for what they need.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://westwoodpilates.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nathaliespilates/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/WestwoodPilates
Image Credits
Photo credits: Guido Luciani Photography
