Susan Burke’s journey to becoming a Pilates practitioner and establishing her studio, Pilates For Everybody, began with a lower back injury she suffered as the result of years of being a competitive athlete. Pilates was recommended to alleviate her pain, and after three sessions, she was hooked.

“I found my back and entire body started to feel more balanced and stronger,” she says. “I began to have a deeper understanding of how my daily activities and movement impacted my back.”

Pilates is a method of exercise that consists of low-impact flexibility and muscular strength and endurance movements. It emphasizes proper postural alignment, core strength, and muscle balance. It is named for its creator, Joseph Pilates, who developed the exercises in the 1920s.

After earning a Pilates Master Mentor Certification, Susan, who hails from Lyme, New Hampshire, decided to open her own studio where she tailors sessions to meet individual clients’ needs. But Susan was still feeling a disconnect or missing piece in her practice, which led her to Pilates mentor Wendy LeBlanc-Arbuckle, creator of the Three Core Connection Embodied Perspective. Through Wendy’s encouragement, Susan found the connection of all three—mind, body, and spirit—that she had been seeking.

“I keep this inquisitiveness alive in my present practice and teaching philosophy by continuing to dig deeper into an understanding of the mind-body-spirit connections that began with Joseph Pilates,” Susan says.

Today, as a practitioner, Susan guides her clients toward an understanding of how current patterns of movement may not suit them anymore. She builds a partnership with her students to understand how they can move better and feel more in tune with their bodies.

Currently, Pilates for Everybody is being offered on Zoom every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 8:15 to 9:15 am. The cost is $18 per class or a package of 10 for $150 payable by check or Venmo. Registration in advance is required.

For further information, email [email protected] or call (603) 795-2690.