Training overview -

Karen has completed 2000 hours of formal certificated training hours: 

• Pilates Foundation qualified matwork Pilates teacher, 500 hour course at Brigid McCarthy Pilates Studio. 

• Qualified Reformer Pilates teacher, at Brigid McCarthy Pilates Studio. 

• 3rd generation Lolita’s Legacy comprehensively trained (matwork and apparatus) Pilates teacher, 500 hour course. 

• Pilates Foundation qualified apparatus Pilates teacher, 800 hour training course at Vanessa Smith Pilates Studio. 

• Specialist pregnancy and post-natal certification.

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, 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.

During this personal practise Karen experienced the hugely positive effects of Pilates on her own body, particularly during pregnancy and post-natally and is passionate about helping others discover the benefits of Pilates.

Wanting to share the benefits of the apparatus work 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 84, 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 has 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 training 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 - 

• Teaching Men Pilates with Anthony Lett
• Pilates in Clay (anatomy) with Anthony Lett
• Pilates for Equestrians with Mary Thornton 
• Release or Recruit? with Suzy Barton and Warrick McNeill
• Neurodynamics for Pilates Teachers with Suzy Barton and Warrick McNeill
• Beyond Neutral with Nathan Gardner
• Spirals with Nathan Gardner
• Feldenkrais with Vanessa Smith 
• Working with Hypermobility with Isobel Knight and Jessica Moolenaar
• Rolling through the Spine with Brigid McCarthy
• Finding your Legs with Brigid McCarthy 
• Review, Refine and Extend your Practice with Hana Jones
• Feldenkrais and Pilates - giving clients choices with Vanessa Smith
• Psoas - the clever guy of the pelvis with Cameron Angus
• Emphasis on Extension with Alan Herdman
• Carola Trier's Circuit Workout with Jillian Hessel
• Mastering Control on the Mat with Brett Howard
• A True Pilates Studio Experience with Lolita San Miguel
• Lolita's Body Walk with Brett Howard
• Studio Circuit for the Whole Body with Brett Howard
• Exploring Fluids in Pilates Practise with Anne-Marie Zulkahari
• Biotensegrity, interplay of tension and compression in Pilates with Elizabeth Larkam
• Fascia-focused Pilates: elastic recoil sequences for matwork and reformer with Elizabeth Larkam

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.