Teacher Training/Continuing Education
Instructor education is for Pilates instructors, fitness instructors, body workers, and the serious enthusiast. We are an authorized training center for Balanced Body and currently offer comprehensive Pilates training, Movement Principles training, Anatomy in Three Dimensions, Bodhi Suspension System, Barre, CoreAlign, and MOTR instructor training. All of our courses are approved for continuing education credits through PMA, ACE, NASM, and AFAA.
Janet Sunderland is a Balanced Body Educator with 25 years of experience in fitness and movement education. During her career she has functioned in many roles including Pilates instructor, sports performance coach, personal trainer, group fitness instructor, and adjunct faculty member at Bastyr University. As an instructor Janet has worked with a variety of clients from professional athletes to active agers. Janet believes that Pilates can complement any fitness program as it improves core strength and balances the muscles around the joints improving the way your body functions, looks, and feels. In addition to her role as studio owner of Soma Pilates, she is the Balanced Body educator in residence and teaches most of the Balanced Body trainings at Soma Pilates.
Balanced Body is one of world leaders in Pilates instructor education and equipment production. The instructor training curriculum is modular, allowing students to come and train for a weekend at a time, and work with different instructors at different locations. You can mix and match the modules to fit your needs. The Pilates trainings are divided into three categories:
Mat: The mat training covers preparatory exercises, intermediate and advanced mat work, modifications, prop use, and the original exercises of Joseph Pilates’ work, Return to Life.
Reformer: The reformer training reviews foundational mat work while working through beginner, intermediate, and advanced reformer work.
Apparatus: The apparatus training explores the extensive repertoire on the trapeze table/tower, the barrels, and the chair. Students will learn both beginning, intermediate, and advanced work on these equipment.
For more information on the Balanced Body Pilates curriculum, contact Janet Sunderland or go to the Balanced Body Website.
Find the next classes being offered.
Movement Principles
The Balanced Body Movement Principles form the foundation of Balanced Body Education. They include the most important information on anatomy, assessment, biomechanics and foundational exercises needed to become a successful Pilates teacher, personal trainer or movement educator. The course mixes information on how the body works with basic exercises to illustrate the information in movement. Broken down into five categories: Whole Body Movement, Trunk Integration, Lower Body Training, Upper Body Training and Mobility and Restoration, the Movement Principles provide a solid foundation for training in any environment, with any equipment. You will come away with a complete tool box for effectively training clients to recover from injuries, improve their general fitness and enhance their performance. The focus on practical understanding of common movement patterns prepares instructors to be excellent at problem solving, goal setting and learning new exercise techniques with ease. The Movement Principles Module is a prerequisite for all Balanced Body Pilates training modules. It is approved for 1.6 ACE, 16 PMA, 15 AFAA, and 1.6 NASM cec’s.
Taught by Janet Sunderland and Kim Stern, find the next classes being offered.
Anatomy in Three Dimensions™
Anatomy in Three Dimensions is an effective, engaging, and interactive way to learn anatomy by building muscles in clay on a miniature skeleton. By forming the muscles yourself, you expand your fluency in the structure and function of the body. You will come away with a new understanding of join mechanics, muscle function, and how the body moves. This class meets the anatomy requirement for Balanced Body teacher training modules, and is approved for 1.6 ACE, 16 PMA, 15 AFAA, and 1.6 NASM cec’s.
Taught by Janet Sunderland, find the next classes being offered.
Bodhi Suspension System Instructor Training
Bodhi is a perfect complement to a Pilates, fitness, or rehabilitation program. It takes the mindful movement principles and brings them to standing, offering new challenges for balance, stability, strength, and more. The two day instructor training explores all of the exercises on the Bodhi, practice teaching and designing programs, a full manual and support DVD, and more.
Taught by Janet Sunderland , find the next classes being offered.
MOTR™ Instructor Training
The MOTR is a small, affordable piece of equipment that takes the mindful movement principles of pilates and translates them to a new context, combining release work, balance, coordination, and more. This two day training will lead you through the key exercises, as well as guide you through sequences and programming for a variety of sessions, clients, and contexts. The course additionally has a track format that supports your learning and teaching throughout.
Taught by Janet Sunderland, find the next classes being offered.
Balanced Body Barre
Balanced Body Barre combines the fun group dynamic of a Barre class with the precision and mindful movement concepts of Pilates. The instructor training program focuses on teaching instructors thoroughly with safe cueing strategies, identifying appropriate music for classes, and a template structure to help you craft meaningful classes. This two day course is suitable for studio or group fitness instructors, and can help you craft a variety of classes to support your clients.
Taught by Janet Sunderland, Staci Alden and Kim Stern, find the next classes being offered.
As an authorized training center for Balanced Body, Soma Pilates is participating in the community expansion scholarship program. For more information please check out the Diversity in Pilates website.