Training overview -
Karen has completed 2000+ hours of formal certificated training hours:
Karen’s Pilates training journey....
Karen qualified as a matwork teacher with the Pilates Foundation UK Ltd in 2010.
Having started taking Pilates classes in 1999 with Vanessa Smith and Brigid McCarthy, Karen was hooked from the start and practised Pilates extensively for over a decade prior to commencing the rigorous Pilates Foundation 500+ hour matwork teacher training course at the Brigid McCarthy Pilates Studio in Edinburgh.
Wanting to also share the benefits of the full Pilates method using the large apparatus Karen qualified to teach on the Universal Reformer at the Brigid McCarthy Pilates Studio.
Next, Karen qualified as a 3rd generation comprehensively trained Pilates teacher having completed the Lolita's Legacy teacher training programme to teach on all the apparatus.
Lolita's Legacy is the 500 hour teacher training programme of Lolita San Miguel, a 1st generation Pilates teacher who trained with Joseph Pilates. Lolita, now aged 85, is one of the few remaining Pilates 'Elders'.
Always looking for more depth of knowledge to pass onto her clients (and with just one comprehensive training course over the course of two years not being enough!), Karen also qualified from the 800 hour Pilates Foundation apparatus training course at Vanessa Smith Pilates Studio in Glasgow, further refining her insight and skills to help clients realise real lasting change.
Karen is the only person to have comprehensive qualifications from both the Lolita’s Legacy programme and the Pilates Foundation.
Karen also holds a specialist certification in ante and post-natal Pilates, having studied with Rachel Rafiefar, the first specialist Pilates for pregnancy teacher in the UK and teacher trainer at The Thoughtful Body studio, and is a member of the Guild of Pregnancy and Post-natal Exercise Instructors.
As a Pilates Foundation accredited teacher Karen maintains an ongoing commitment to professional development, regularly attending CPD workshops and courses, including -
Karen has also taught specialist workshops on Pilates for equestrians and has run sessions for top level ice-dancers. She also assisted at a Mobilize charity event for injured servicemen.