About Sharon

Meet the Teachers

Pilates Teacher/Studio Owner

Pilates Teacher
& Studio Owner

After years of working at a desk as a CPA left me with chronic back pain, I sought relief through Pilates. My first private lesson was in 2004, and I immediately loved how it made me feel. I was intrigued by how small changes in my alignment and movement made a profound difference in my body. The mental focus required to do Pilates also calmed and centered me. Through consistent practice with a highly-trained teacher, my back pain diminished and my strength and flexibility increased. Over time, I progressed to more advanced exercises that I had not dreamed were possible for me; and my body and mind were truly transformed. My Pilates practice has elevated my sense of well-being and enabled me to enjoy more optimal health through life’s ups and downs and two pregnancies. 

My passion for the Pilates method led me to pursue teaching so I could share its unique results and benefits with others. The summer I turned 40, I enrolled in the Advanced Teacher Training program at The Pilates Center in Boulder, Colorado. There, I studied with multiple second generation Pilates teachers and learned alongside other trainees from all over the world. It was a life-changing experience and I graduated in August 2011, after 950+ hours of training and apprenticing. 

I am certified through the National Pilates Certification Program and continue my education by taking workshops on Pilates, biomechanics, anatomy and more. My personal practice is an ongoing, lifelong journey. I am inspired by taking classes from excellent teachers locally and online (shout out to Kim Reis and Katie Atkins-Castillo!). I will always be a student of this incredible method.

Through my own practice and teaching, I have been shown how Pilates is beneficial for EVERY body regardless of the stage of life we are in. 

I have worked with clients across the full spectrum of fitness, from the young professional dancer to the seventy year old with disc degeneration, and many other wonderful, unique bodies in between. I feel that my experience managing my own back issues informs my teaching of others dealing with various challenges. Every client is important to me. The relationships that grow from our work together top the long list of things I love about teaching Pilates.

I moved to Oregon in the summer of 2015 with my husband and two children, and I am grateful to call Milwaukie home. My goal in establishing Milwaukie Pilates is to provide a special place for anyone to practice this unique, intelligent method of movement.

I want it to be a welcoming place for all and hope to bring together a supportive community of people striving to become their best selves.

And I want us to all have fun together doing it! When I’m not teaching or practicing Pilates, I enjoy walking in our beautiful neighborhood, doing MELT, listening to podcasts, reading fiction, and hanging out with my husband and our two teenagers (and three dogs and two cats). 

“Contrology (we know it as Pilates) is designed to give you suppleness, natural grace, and skill that will be unmistakably reflected in the way you walk, in the way you play, and in the way you work.

You will develop muscular power with corresponding endurance, ability to perform arduous duties, to play strenuous games, to walk, run or travel long distances without undue body fatigue or mental strain.

 And this by no means is the end.”

- Joseph H. Pilates