Movement becomes medicine when you learn how to truly feel it, and this conversation with Christi Idavoy shows you exactly how to teach from that place of depth, clarity and presence.

Today, Nic sits down with senior Polestar Pilates educator Christi Idavoy for an inspiring conversation on movement, teaching, energy, intuition and the art of presence in the studio.

Christi shares the story of how movement has shaped her life since childhood, the unexpected path that led her from yoga to Pilates, and the moment she met Brent Anderson which changed everything for her.

She discusses the philosophy behind Polestar Pilates, why presence is a teachable skill, how to create safer and more transformative client experiences, and why knowing yourself always comes before guiding others.

For any Pilates teacher, studio owner or movement educator, this episode will allow you to understand the deeper layers of teaching Pilates, beyond just the choreography.

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure you follow Beyond The Reformer so you never miss a conversation.

Share this episode with another Pilates teacher who would love this episode and if you have a moment, leaving a quick rating or review helps the show reach even more people in our growing global community.

Connect with Nic:

• Beyond the Reformer Instagram
• Soul Pilates Instagram
• Soul Pilates Education
• Nic’s Instagram
• Join Soul at Home
• Book a Pilates Class

Connect with Christi

• Christi Idavoy Website
• Christi’s Instagram

To receive 10% off SPINEFITTER by SISSEL, click this link and use the code BEYOND at checkout. As an affiliate, I’ll receive a small commission which helps support the podcast.

If you’re a pilates studio owner looking for a mastermind to help you scale, systemise, and grow your business, check out Studio Grow here.

Thinking about investing in Pilates equipment? Balanced Body are offering our listeners a special discount! Simply fill in the form here and mention Soul Pilates when you order.

Few people have shaped modern Pilates education like Nichole Zuckerman. As one of Polestar Pilates’ most senior educators, Nichole has dedicated her career to deepening how teachers understand movement, presence, and the human body.

Nic sits down with Nichole to explore the philosophy that has made Polestar Pilates one of the most respected education schools in the world.

Nichole shares her upbringing surrounded by reformers and studio life, what it was like growing up as Brent Anderson’s daughter, and how Polestar has evolved into a global leader in Pilates education.

They talk about teaching with presence, the psychology behind movement, and why developing awareness, empathy, and curiosity are essential for every Pilates teacher.

This is a rich, insightful conversation for anyone who wants to teach with more depth and meaning!

If you enjoyed this episode, hit follow on your podcast app, share it with a fellow teacher, and leave a rating or review. Every share helps this community grow and keeps these conversations reaching more Pilates educators around the world.

Connect with Nic:

• Beyond the Reformer Instagram
• Soul Pilates Instagram
• Soul Pilates Education
• Nic’s Instagram
• Join Soul at Home
• Book a Pilates Class

Connect with Nichole:

• Polestar Pilates' Website

To receive 10% off SPINEFITTER by SISSEL, click this link and use the code BEYOND at checkout. As an affiliate, I’ll receive a small commission which helps support the podcast.

If you’re a pilates studio owner looking for a mastermind to help you scale, systemise, and grow your business, check out Studio Grow here.

Thinking about investing in Pilates equipment? Balanced Body are offering our listeners a special discount! Simply fill in the form here and mention Soul Pilates when you order.

Behind every powerful Pilates class is a teacher who understands subtlety. In this solo episode, Nic shares how to create classes that help clients find ease, awareness, and lasting change.

After years of teaching and now educating other Pilates instructors, Nic has noticed a recurring question from listeners: what does it mean to teach with subtlety?

In this episode, she breaks down the art and science of structuring a Pilates class that helps clients move with more awareness, ease, and confidence.

Nic explores why starting supine allows students to unwind tension and reset their nervous system, how to layer exercises to set them up for success, and why spine articulation and standing integration are essential for taking Pilates beyond the studio and into everyday life.

She also shares her philosophy on mindful cueing, unlearning old teaching habits, and how to guide clients towards noticing change.

If this episode helped you see your teaching in a new way, share it with another instructor who would love it too.

You can also subscribe, leave a review, or send Nic a message with your biggest takeaway! She loves hearing how these conversations land with you.

Connect with Nic:

• Beyond the Reformer Instagram
• Soul Pilates Instagram
• Soul Pilates Education
• Nic’s Instagram
• Join Soul at Home
• Book a Pilates Class

To receive 10% off SPINEFITTER by SISSEL, click this link and use the code BEYOND at checkout. As an affiliate, I’ll receive a small commission which helps support the podcast.

In this bonus episode, Nic sits down with Balanced Body Educator LaBriece Ochsner at the Pilates Gathering in Scotland to explore how education, compassion, and clarity in teaching continue to shape the future of Pilates.

LaBriece’s journey began over two decades ago in Zurich, where her first Pilates mat class revealed a method that would change her life. From teaching in Swiss fitness centres to running her own studio and becoming a global educator, she shares how her experience across cultures and languages has shaped her approach to teaching and mentoring others.

Together, Nic and LaBriece dive into the emotional and psychological side of teacher training, the importance of teaching real people (not just perfect movers), and why confidence, patience, and curiosity matter more than perfection.

LaBriece also opens up about balancing motherhood, studio ownership, and international education, and how Pilates can bridge the gap between fitness and deep movement work.

If this episode inspired you, please follow or subscribe to Beyond the Reformer wherever you listen to podcasts!

Connect with Nic:

• Beyond the Reformer Instagram
• Soul Pilates Instagram
• Soul Pilates Education
• Nic’s Instagram
• Join Soul at Home
• Book a Pilates Class

Connect with LaBriece:

• Website
• Labriece’s Instagram

To receive 10% off SPINEFITTER by SISSEL, click this link and use the code BEYOND at checkout. As an affiliate, I’ll receive a small commission which helps support the podcast.

Nic is back with another conversation recorded live at the Pilates Gathering in Scotland. Cameron Angus and Nic explore how the worlds of physiotherapy and Pilates intertwine to create more resilient, mindful, and connected movers and teachers.

With decades of experience spanning the battlefield, physiotherapy clinics, and now his own Pilates studio, Cameron shares the fascinating evolution of his work and how Pilates became central to helping people move better, recover from injury, and reconnect with their bodies.

He and Nic discuss the emotional and psychological dimensions of posture and pain, why communication is the most under-taught skill in movement education, and how teachers can support clients in building awareness and confidence.

If this episode inspired you, please subscribe, rate, and share it with another teacher or movement professional who would love it too. Every listen helps this community grow and continue sharing powerful conversations that take us beyond the reformer.

Connect with Nic:

• Beyond the Reformer Instagram
• Soul Pilates Instagram
• Soul Pilates Education
• Nic’s Instagram
• Join Soul at Home
• Book a Pilates Class

Connect with Cameron:

• Email: [email protected]

To receive 10% off SPINEFITTER by SISSEL, click this link and use the code BEYOND at checkout. As an affiliate, I’ll receive a small commission which helps support the podcast.

If you’re a pilates studio owner looking for a mastermind to help you scale, systemise, and grow your business, check out Studio Grow here.

When Michael King started teaching Pilates nearly five decades ago, there was only one studio in London, and no one could have imagined how it would grow into the worldwide practice it is today.

In this inspiring conversation, Michael joins Nic live at the Pilates Gathering in Scotland to share his remarkable journey through 47 years of teaching, learning, and shaping the Pilates industry.

From his early days training under Alan Herman to managing studios in London, Houston, and Los Angeles, Michael reflects on how Pilates has evolved and what has stayed the same.

He shares his philosophy on education, mentorship, and the importance of keeping Pilates accessible while upholding its integrity.

Nic and Michael explore how the method continues to adapt, why staying curious is the secret to longevity, and how teachers can build confidence through community and continued learning.

If you have ever wondered what it was like to witness the birth of Pilates in the UK or what it takes to keep teaching for nearly 50 years, this episode will remind you why we fell in love with the method in the first place!

If you loved this conversation, don’t forget to subscribe to Beyond the Reformer, rate the show, and share this episode with another teacher or Pilates lover who would be inspired by Michael’s story.

Connect with Nic:

• Beyond the Reformer Instagram
• Soul Pilates Instagram
• Soul Pilates Education
• Nic’s Instagram
• Join Soul at Home
• Book a Pilates Class

Connect with Michael King

• MK Pilates Instagram
• TikTok
• My Academy Pro

To receive 10% off SPINEFITTER by SISSEL, click this link and use the code BEYOND at checkout. As an affiliate, I’ll receive a small commission which helps support the podcast.

If you’re a pilates studio owner looking for a mastermind to help you scale, systemise, and grow your business, check out Studio Grow here.

Thinking about investing in Pilates equipment? Balanced Body are offering our listeners a special discount! Simply fill in the form here and mention Soul Pilates when you order.

Guided by first-generation teacher Lolita San Miguel, Joakim discovered how movement can shape not just stronger bodies, but stronger lives.

In this episode, Nic sits down with Joakim Valsinge, a former military instructor turned Pilates educator, at the stunning Pilates Gathering in Scotland.

Joakim shares how he first discovered Pilates not through pain or injury but through curiosity and vanity!

His early experience as a soldier taught him brute strength, but Pilates introduced him to a new kind of control, awareness, and resilience.

As he trained and opened his own studios, he discovered how the discipline’s subtlety could heal injuries, strengthen the body, and transform how people move through life.

He reflects on his time studying with Lolita San Miguel, one of Joseph Pilates’ elders, and how she helped him embrace his unique background to become the teacher he is today.

Joakim shares how Pilates became a form of therapy, communication, and connection for his family as his son Albie, was born with Prader-Willi syndrome.

If this episode inspired you, make sure to subscribe, rate the show, and share it with a fellow teacher or mover who believes in the power of authentic Pilates.

Connect with Nic:

• Beyond the Reformer Instagram
• Soul Pilates Instagram
• Soul Pilates Education
• Nic’s Instagram
• Join Soul at Home
• Book a Pilates Class

Connect with Joakim:

• Website
• Pilate Joakim Instagram
• Teacher training

To receive 10% off SPINEFITTER by SISSEL, click this link and use the code BEYOND at checkout. As an affiliate, I’ll receive a small commission which helps support the podcast.

If you’re a pilates studio owner looking for a mastermind to help you scale, systemise, and grow your business, check out Studio Grow here.

Thinking about investing in Pilates equipment? Balanced Body are offering our listeners a special discount! Simply fill in the form here and mention Soul Pilates when you order.

Building a Pilates business that thrives across generations, grows through change, and keeps clients coming back for decades doesn’t happen by accident.

In this inspiring conversation, Nic meets the powerhouse mother–daughter duo behind EQ Pilates, who have combined passion, community, and classical integrity to build one of the UK’s most respected studios.

Nic speaks with Linda and Sarah, the founders of EQ Pilates, about what it really takes to create a studio that stands the test of time.

They share how EQ began as a single mat studio over twenty years ago and evolved into a thriving multi-space destination blending contemporary and classical Pilates.

They explore how they’ve maintained a loyal client base for decades, the importance of creating an uplifting community, and why having genuine care for your clients and teachers always pays off.

Linda and Sarah also open up about expanding with reformer and Cadillac classes long before they were trendy, and their refreshing honesty about the business challenges of pricing and profitability.

They discuss their recent shift toward the classical Pilates system, the lessons learned from mentorships with Leslie Logan, and why self-practice is the key to staying inspired as a teacher.

If you loved this episode, make sure to follow and subscribe to Beyond the Reformer on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.

Share it with another Pilates teacher or studio owner who’d find inspiration in Linda and Sarah’s journey, and don’t forget to leave a rating or review. It really helps the show reach more listeners.

Connect with Nic:

• Beyond the Reformer Instagram
• Soul Pilates Instagram
• Soul Pilates Education
• Nic’s Instagram
• Join Soul at Home
• Book a Pilates Class

Connect with the Linda and Sarah:

• EQ Pilates Website
• EQ Pilates Instagram

To receive 10% off SPINEFITTER by SISSEL, click this link and use the code BEYOND at checkout. As an affiliate, I’ll receive a small commission which helps support the podcast.

If you’re a pilates studio owner looking for a mastermind to help you scale, systemise, and grow your business, check out Studio Grow here.

Outdated cues and generic fixes won’t create lasting mobility. Science-driven strategies will.

In this week’s episode of Beyond the Reformer, Nic is joined by Ava Rodriguez, also known as The Joint Whisperer.

Ava is the founder of Move Beyond with Ava and the Mobility Fitness Academy, where she helps teachers and fitness professionals integrate joint mobility principles into their work.

Ava shares how her own injuries shaped her approach, why so many cues in Pilates and fitness need an upgrade, and what it truly takes to help clients move beyond pain and restriction.

She shares insights on sticky shoulders, neck pain, and the nervous system’s role in mobility, while explaining how to assess joints effectively and help clients progress.

She also talks about her journey as an international educator, the sacrifices behind building a global business, and how continuing education can transform the way teachers show up for their clients.

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction to Ava Rodriguez

01:58 Breaking down outdated movement cues

04:47 Ava’s journey into movement and mobility

08:20 Beginning a career in Pilates

15:01 The creation of the Mobility Fitness Academy

19:55 Bringing science-based strategies into teaching

26:20 Sticky shoulders, neck pain and common misconceptions

29:18 Healing through movement

30:40 Challenges within the education industry

33:54 The nervous system’s role in mobility

38:59 Setting client expectations in mobility work

41:44 Balancing travel and teaching

44:59 Sacrifices and lessons from building a business

48:03 Quick fire round questions

If you enjoyed today’s episode, make sure you subscribe to the podcast so you never miss a conversation.

Share this episode with a colleague or friend who would love it, and don’t forget to rate and review the show to help us reach more teachers around the world.

Connect with Nic:

• Beyond the Reformer Instagram
• Soul Pilates Instagram
• Soul Pilates Education
• Nic’s Instagram
• Join Soul at Home
• Book a Pilates Class

Connect with Ava

• Website: Move Beyond with Ava
• Instagram: @movebeyond.withava
• Email: [email protected]

To receive 10% off SPINEFITTER by SISSEL, click this link and use the code BEYOND at checkout. As an affiliate, I’ll receive a small commission which helps support the podcast.

If you’re a pilates studio owner looking for a mastermind to help you scale, systemise, and grow your business, check out Studio Grow here.

Thinking about investing in Pilates equipment? Balanced Body are offering our listeners a special discount! Simply fill in the form here and mention Soul Pilates when you order.

Pilates is more than a workout, it’s a philosophy and a way of life.

In this inspiring conversation, Nic is joined by world-renowned educator, physiotherapist and osteopath Alexander Bohlander who has spent over three decades shaping the future of Pilates through his teaching, clinics and work with Polestar Pilates.

Alex shares his journey into Pilates, from his first encounter with the method in Belgium to becoming a global leader in education.

He explains why Pilates is more relevant than ever in today’s wellness culture, how it integrates seamlessly with rehabilitation and manual therapy, and why assessment and mindfulness are essential to effective teaching.

From launching Polestar India to co-authoring a widely used teacher’s manual, Alex brings a unique perspective on what it means to embody Joseph Pilates’ original vision of health, balance and community.

He also opens up about meditation, creating ease in movement, and the qualities that define a truly great Pilates teacher.

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction to Alex

01:54 The global rise of Pilates and its appeal

03:32 The philosophy and principles behind Pilates

07:45 Alex’s personal journey into Pilates and therapy

16:06 The challenges and rewards of teaching Pilates

17:40 How Pilates integrates with rehabilitation practices

20:26 Why assessment is crucial for Pilates teachers

29:52 The key qualities of an outstanding Pilates teacher

33:02 Building Pilates in India

35:27 Misconceptions about Pilates in the fitness industry

38:30 Creating a mindful, supportive studio environment

41:00 Writing a teacher’s manual to inspire instructors

43:31 The role of mindfulness in Pilates practice

45:43 How meditation deepens Pilates teaching

48:21 The global community and reach of Pilates

49:07 The philosophy of ease in movement and life

56:52 Connect with Alex

If you enjoyed this conversation, please subscribe to the podcast, share this episode with a fellow teacher or Pilates lover, and don’t forget to rate and review the show. It helps us reach more people in the global Pilates community.

Connect with Nic:

• Beyond the Reformer Instagram
• Soul Pilates Instagram
• Soul Pilates Education
• Nic’s Instagram
• Join Soul at Home
• Book a Pilates Class

Connect with Alex

• Visit Website
• Order A Teacher’s Manual
• Follow on Instagram
• Polestar Pilates India

To receive 10% off SPINEFITTER by SISSEL, click this link and use the code BEYOND at checkout. As an affiliate, I’ll receive a small commission which helps support the podcast.

If you’re a pilates studio owner looking for a mastermind to help you scale, systemise, and grow your business, check out Studio Grow here.

Thinking about investing in Pilates equipment? Balanced Body are offering our listeners a special discount! Simply fill in the form here and mention Soul Pilates when you order.