Hi, I’m Greta!
Welcome to my online movement studio!
I discovered the work of Joseph Pilates and his method of Contrology, as he originally called it, while earning my B.A. in Dance at the University of California, Irvine. The practice helped me feel stronger, calmer, and more organized internally. For the first time in my life, I felt truly at home in my body. I've now devoted over 20 years to the classical Pilates method and I have made it my life’s work to help others learn to befriend their bodies, too.
My work as a movement educator is to embody the best practices of all of my influences and help connect my students to the wisdom that has been passed down to me. In my classes, I encourage self-compassion as much as critical thinking skills and curiosity as much as discipline.
I’ve found that in order for this method to be truly effective it must do two things. First, it must make sense to you. Alignment principles and body mechanics can become tools that you utilize to optimize your physical aspirations and help you put Humpty Dumpty (aka your body) back together again after pregnancy, surgery, or unexpected life circumstances.
Secondly, and most importantly, this work must be personal. There is an emotional component to addressing our physical and mental limitations and we must learn how to develop a practice that takes this into consideration. I created The Movement Department to help you learn how to create your own personal “owner’s manual” so that you can build the body you want as well as take care of and befriend the body you’ve got.
The Movement Department: A fun and inclusive virtual studio
I am deeply attuned to where people get stuck in their learning process - especially when it comes to alignment and body mechanics. Many aspects of my former life as a professional dancer were splendid but, truth be told, it was often an exercise in self-sacrifice and unrequited love. While at times these experiences were painful, they led me to seek out time-tested, evidence-based movement and healing practices.
My intention in creating The Movement Department is to provide an inclusive space for re-imagined movement education. I want to steer others towards strength, flexibility, and confidence. Together we demystify the human body and learn how to spin our painful and dysfunctional movement patterns into sustainable movement gold. When you feel inspired to move, I hope you’ll join us for an online class and explore our growing community!
About Pilates
In his own words, Joseph Pilates described his method as the “attainment and maintenance of a uniformly developed body with a sound mind fully capable of naturally, easily, and satisfactorily performing our many and varied daily tasks with spontaneous zest and pleasure.”
Born in Germany, Joseph H. Pilates started his life as an impoverished and sickly child who struggled with asthma, rickets, and rheumatic fever. Joe diligently studied anatomy books, the cycles of nature, and the movement patterns of animals in order to bring his body back to health. As Joe grew up he became a sort of athletic renaissance man, achieving success as a boxer, a gymnast, a skier, and a diver. While he was interned on the Isle of Man during World War I, he taught wrestling and self-defense and worked to rehabilitate the injured.
Over the span of nearly 60 years, Joe created a thoughtful and intelligent system of exercises designed to decompress the body's joints, evenly develop strength and resiliency in the muscles and soft tissues and increase the capacity and quality of the breath mechanism. In addition, he invented and hand-crafted specialized pieces of equipment to aid practitioners in executing each exercise with precision, flow, control, and coordination.
About Yoga
Yoga is a vast series of techniques and ideas gathered over thousands of years designed to foster physical, ethical, mental, and spiritual health. In the words of B.K.S. Iyengar, “Yoga is a state of complete equilibrium of body, mind, and spirit.”
✧ The physical practice of yoga "cleanses," organizes, and restores function to each of the bodily systems.
✧ The ethical tenets of yoga center, philosophically, around the theme of living amicably with nature, other members of the human race, and, ultimately, with ourselves.
✧ The mental techniques are designed to discipline the faculties of the mind, including the intellect, emotions, and will.
✧ The spiritual theory asserts that when the physical body is at rest and the mind is alert but calm, then our consciousness and sense of "one-ness" with the universe is the only experience we will sense.
Jill Marlow Krutzkamp
Jill is a Pilates expert and real-life professional ballerina. During her 15-year dance career, she completed her B.S. in Health Education as well as extensive Pilates training. Jill established Movehealthier to inspire people to live a life full of movement and balanced health integration. Jill designs her classes to target the strength of the whole body with the idea that movement leads to a healthy mind, body, and spirit.
Catherine la O’
Catherine is a yoga teacher and Shadow Alchemy mindset coach. She received her E-RYT-500 training at Yoga Tree, completed a certification in Yoga Therapeutics, and has extensively studied Buddhist mindfulness meditation. Catherine’s classes are designed to incorporate aspects of understanding and expression from each of these studies, which result in a combination of mindful movement, restoration, and inner exploration.