Today we’d like to introduce you to Bonnie Cahoon
Hi Bonnie, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I fell in love with Pilates in 1999. I met a trainer in an acting class and noticed how incredibly strong her calves looked. “I’m a Pilates trainer,” she explained. “Whaaat?” Never heard of it before. So I went on over to her studio, disenchanted with the local gym franchise where I could only hope the prior sweaty butt wiped down the stationary bike, and that I might not get hit on today. She threw me on what looked like a cross between a jacked-up hospital bed and an S & M apparatus, otherwise known as a Cadillac. I was hooked. It wasn’t so challenging that I was discouraged, and it wasn’t so easy that I wasn’t challenged. It was just right. After just one session I felt taller. I was standing straighter and muscles that had long slumbered were awakened.
Cut to 2003. I quit my job as a Writer/Producer for television promo and I found myself sitting on an exercise mat, with a notebook, learning anatomy, kinesiology and the secrets of classical Pilates, on my way to becoming a Pilates instructor myself. After nine months and hundreds and hundreds of hours of observation, student teaching, classes, written and practical tests, I was certified. I’ve had my own fully equipped studio ever since. I’ve also taught mat group classes at Glendale Yoga (don’t bother Googling, it’s not there anymore), Toluca Lake Body Works (not there either – I pilfered all their equipment when they closed) and Warner Brothers Studios gym (still there!).
During my adult life I’ve wanted to cry when I stood on the scale, and I have been accused of being too thin. I have been ripped, and I have jiggled when I brushed my teeth. There were days when I felt I was so strong I could easily do the most advanced “Adult Gymnastics” Pilates, and there were days when I could barley do a Level One roll-up.
I returned to the network television workforce for a time and sat at a computer all day. I let my Pilates practice slip a bit – ok a lot. I wondered why my back seemed to “go out” a lot. I was stiff. I was grumpy. My knees hurt. I jiggled.
Well, I am BACK. And even if I’m not as ripped, thin and young as I was, my love for Pilates is as strong as ever, and I want to pass the joy on. I want everyone, no matter what age, weight or fitness level to experience the absolute magic of Pilates. You will feel taller, stronger, stand up straighter, and if you’re like me, smile a lot more. Join me.
Let’s start having fun and feeling great!
Bonnie has been certified in the Pilates Method for 20 years, and she is a third-generation Classical Pilates Instructor, her master teacher having been trained by Joseph Pilates’ protégé Romana Kryzanowska.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I’m not gonna lie to you, being a fitness instructor is not easy. The physical demands are overwhelming, the pay is sometimes underwhelming. Really the only way to make it very lucrative is to own your own studio. Then there’s the task of getting people to come. If you build it, they don’t always come. And they don’t always stay. I’ve have extremely enthusiastic clients disappear after a few months. But I get it. It’s never personal. And private Pilates can be pricey. It’s worth it though. There is no other modality of exercise I have ever experienced that focuses so intensely on the individual’s needs and shows such immediate results, as personal one-on-one Classical Pilates. Plus it’s fun, and anything but boring, and it feels sooooo good (I could go on and on). Anyway, one needs a constant full schedule and a constant enthusiastic energy to make it.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a Pilates Instructor. Below I’ve included an in-depth description of what Pilates is and no, it’s not Yoga. But before that, more about what I’m up to. I have my own fully-equipped home studio in Glendale, with all the crazy-looking Pilates apparatuses (machines) where I teach private sessions. My own business branches out to the internet, where I teach Mat Pilates and Gentle Chair Pilates on-line several time a week. I also teach group Reformer classes at the YMCA of the Foothills in La Cañada/La Crescenta. And I’m very proud that I was awarded “Best New Employee of the Year 2023” after working at the YMCA for only two months in 2023.
I also teach at UCLA Extension, through their Osher Life Long Learners Program. I teach Gentle Chair Pilates on-line to those over 50.
I’m known for my humor, I think. Exercise should be fun. There should be smiling and laughing, in between the grunts of effort. Some people prefer a more militaristic approach to exercise. I think that’s great, too. As long as you’re getting people to safely move their bodies. But that’s not me. I want to have fun. I want my students to have fun.
AND if you are an animal lover, you can always get some pup-lates and puss-lates at the end of a session at my studio. (Snuggles with my three tiny weird dogs and two cats.)
Now, what is Pilates?
Joseph Hubertus Pilates, one of the great pioneers of modern physical fitness and health, was a visionary in his approach and methodology. By combining the best of Western and Eastern philosophy, he brought together a series of controlled movements that engage both the mind and body – exercises that allow each user to experience a new awareness of muscle function and control.
-The Complete Writings of Joseph H. Pilates
Although thought to be a relatively new method of exercise, Joseph Pilates developed his system of exercise to rehabilitate hospitalized patients, over 100 years ago, in the 1920s. He called his method Contrology. Eventually, Pilates become a proven system of rehabilitation for injured dancers and gymnasts. Now, Pilates studios are as ubiquitous as Starbucks and offered at every gym franchise. Since 2000, the Pilates name is no longer trademarked, so anyone can claim to be a Pilates trainer.
But those who practice and teach Classical Pilates will do it like Joseph did. Classical Pilates draws from elements of boxing, yoga and ballet. It strengthens while stretching. Unlike isolated exercise routines done at the gym with lots of repetitions that can tire out joints and create imbalances in posture, he believed that by doing a few repetitions of each exercise and alternating areas of the body to be worked, one would have a more balanced workout, therefore a more balanced body with much less opportunity for burn out.
The six key principles of the Pilates Method are: CENTERING, CONCENTRATION, CONTROL, PRECISION, BREATH and FLOW. By centering the body, connecting the mind and body, using precise movements and the breath efficiently, one will have a maximum amount of flow for a minimum amount of exertion, which creates a more efficient body with a longer shelf life. Pilates exercises are adaptable for all ages, abilities and health conditions.
Pricing:
- Online Classes: Single Mat Class $24, Single Body Positive Gentle Chair Class $20, Private session $100
- Packages for Online Group Classes: Series of 10 mat classes $200 ($40 savings), Series of 10 Gentle Chair classes $180 (value of a free class)
- In-Studio Sessions: Private Single session $100, 30-min Private consultation and Mini Workout $45
- Packages for In-Studio Privates: Series of 10 $800 ($200 savings), Series of 5 $450 ($50 saving)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://BonniesPilatesForEveryBody.com
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtg_lPzfCWnc__4bBW7JFSQ
