RADIX PILATES AND WELLNESS
Ground. Connect. Grow.
Building Nervous System Resiliency through Pilates and Somatic Movement
ABOUT ME
Hi! I'm Marika (she/her). I'm a physical therapist, Pilates instructor, forever student, movement aficionado, living room dancer, mother of 2, partner to 1, friend, space holder, flawed human, and just generally grateful constituent of the universe.
I received my B.S. in Biology from Texas A&M University and went on to study physical therapy at UT Southwestern in Dallas, TX, graduating with my doctorate in 2010. My areas of practice include orthopedics and pelvic health, with particular interest in the latter. I completed my comprehensive Pilates certification through Balanced Body, training with Karen Sanzo and Shelley Estes in Dallas, TX.
I am currently a Somatic Experiencing student learning to further integrate sensory based processing of trauma and chronic stress through nervous system regulation.
PILATES SERVICES AND SPECIAL INTERESTS
PILATES
Pilates is an ideal methodology to help clients make connections, shift imbalances, find strength, and realize presence of self through embodied movement.
I offer individualized online and in-person Pilates sessions (private or small group equipment and mat), accessible to all bodies and levels of ability, from beginner to advanced. All sessions are trauma informed.
I also use Pilates based movement as a foundation for somatic processing and sensory integration as well as general movement education. My areas of interest include pelvic health and chronic pain, pregnancy and postpartum care, movement and sensory exploration, and facilitation of nervous system regulation (see below).
PRENATAL AND POSTPARTUM CARE
It can be overwhelming to navigate changing abilities as the body adapts to accommodate a growing baby during pregnancy or healing postpartum. A personalized Pilates movement practice can help you to build a better sense of body and movement awareness during these transitional times, and help you grow confidence in your movement abilities, whatever your fitness or activity goals may be. Improving pelvic core awareness, mobility, and breath control during pregnancy can help keep you moving comfortably and with strength as you prepare for birth. In the postpartum period, mindful movement can help you reconnect to your body, rebuild and grow strength, prevent/reduce incontinence symptoms, and address diastasis recti concerns. It's never too late to work on re-establishing connection with your postpartum body, even if it has been years or decades since your last pregnancy and birth.
Also See Events and Course offerings for other learning opportunities!
NERVOUS SYSTEM REGULATION
Following a traumatic event (or if you have been chronically stressed for a period of time), our brains/bodies can be primed to interpret any stress signal as a threat. The next time we experience an event that activates our nervous system in the same way, we will run the same neural pathways of stress that were once helpful to help us survive that stress or trauma, but now may be counterproductive at this amplified level for something like: being stuck in traffic, running late, minor interpersonal conflict, missing an appointment, making a mistake. Our nervous systems are functioning at a level where any minor disturbance can set off a disproportionate reaction, leaving us feeling anxious, unable to focus and lead to a host of health issues (chronic pain, GI issues, immune system dysregulation, high blood pressure, altered sleep patterns, headaches, etc.)
We have a natural rhythm and flow in our nervous system, between the up/on (sympathetic) and down/off (parasympathetic states), throughout the day. Ideally we function within a window of tolerance and can return to it following a higher stress episode. Dysregulation happens when we can no longer return to this window. We can get stuck in the "on" survival stress physiology with sympathetic dominance, or in the "off" shut down, immobilized, stuck state with deep parasympathetic dominance. By learning to become more attuned to sensations and experiences within the body, we can move more fluidly between these states, improve our ability to return to the window of tolerance, grow it, and expand our resiliency.
PRICING
Please email Marika for booking.
$85
PRIVATE PILATES/MOVEMENT EXPLORATION SESSION
$50/person
DUET PILATES SESSION
Please contact for pricing
GROUP ONLINE MAT CLASS
$120 initial /$95 follow up
PHYSICAL THERAPY CONSULTATIONS
$385
PRIVATE PILATES PACKAGE OF 5
$750
PRIVATE PILATES PACKAGE OF 10
STORY
And Philosophy
This work grows from my own journey of learning to live more presently, more authentically, and more consistently with my values.
Following a series of difficult life transitions (birth of second child, (semi) unexpected cross country move, leaving friends and family as well as professional community), I hit a personal bottom. I couldn't figure out how to get back up and muscle through the daily grind like I had always done. In navigating my recovery, I began to realize I had been living a dysregulated and exhausted existence (as are most of us in western society).
It's taken me a while, but through therapy, Somatic Experiencing, Pilates, dance, and other embodied movement practices, I finally feel a sense of serenity, have been able to find flow, and feel like I have more capacity to responsibly pour from my own cup again.
I have a passion to help and share with others in the same way: to foster and build a sense of trust and resiliency in the nervous system and body, to encourage freedom and curiosity of movement, and re-establish an internal sense of "home."
It's my job to provide a safe, permissive space for movement to happen, and to facilitate building confidence in one's movement capacity. We are so often given expectations and limitations on what we can and can't do. But my approach is to reduce fear and strengthen movement from a place of possibilities.
You are the one who can ultimately decide what you can and want to do with your body. How can we collaborate to realize your movement potential?
RADICAL BELIEFS
We are integrated mind-bodies. There is no separating ourselves into discrete systems. Emotional experiences are physical experiences (and vice versa).
We are neurologically wired for connection and it is one of the most essential things we do as humans.
The instructor/client relationship is a collaborative partnership.
Movement should be explored with permissive curiosity.
All movement can be good movement.
Give options, not corrections.
Movement is one of the best ways for the nervous system to know itself, for us to know ourselves.
