CERTIFIED GYROTONIC® METHOD INSTRUCTOR

Ronda, owner and director of FitWise Pilates and Wellness, has worked as a movement therapist, wellness practitioner, Master Pilates Instructor, Pilates Personal Trainer, group exercise leader, and exclusive specialty chef for private citizens and celebrities alike throughout the world for over 20 years. Ronda did her initial Pilates training in Brazil and through Polestar Pilates Education. Ronda is certified through Pilates Method Alliance. She has worked/studied with Elizabeth Larkam since 2005 as well as several other prolific educators including Jean Claude West. Ronda continues to attend advanced workshops, courses and master level classes. During her career as the Body, Mind and Spirit Chef, she instructed workshops and clients on weight management, movement medicine, energy optimization, personal fitness, wellness and other daily life concerns through an easy approach to nutrition, functional movement and sustainable lifestyle choices. Ronda’s Movement repertoire is vast and innovative. Her clientele range from professional athletes to acute rehabilitation and everything in between. Dance and Movement Medicine are her areas of expertise. Movement and healing are truly her second nature. Ronda has traveled extensively throughout the West Indies, the South Pacific, as well as South, Central, and North America, researching medicinal and native foods, movement therapies and modalities that formed the basis of many of her flourishing practices at FitWise Pilates and Wellness. Her own desire for optimal fitness and well-being led her to create a style of nutritious haute cuisine for specialty diets and natural living in which currently she teaches and leads in wellness groups. As the owner and director of FitWise Pilates and Wellness in Mill Valley and formerly El Cerrito for 12 years, Ronda teaches Pilates, functional fitness, Fascia Fitness, brain fitness and movement therapies to heal, rehabilitate and strengthen both body and soul. We also offer the Gyrotonic method, and our goal is to provide you with a range of wellness services geared at enhancing your total mind and body health.

Elizabeth Larkam is a pioneer of the Pilates Method Alliance® initiative Heroes in Motion®. She was awarded the Medal of the Danish Society of Military Medicine in recognition of her efforts to improve the rehabilitation of wounded soldiers. As a Dancemedicine Pilates Specialist at Saint Francis Memorial Hospital, 1985-2000, Elizabeth developed Pilates programs for orthopedic, spine and chronic pain diagnoses. As Director of Pilates & Beyond for Western Athletic Clubs, she helped create the internationally acclaimed Mind & Body Center. Elizabeth authored the book Fascia in Motion: Fascia-focused movement for Pilates (Handspring, September 2017) and the Pilates chapter for the book Fascia in Sport and Movement (Handspring, 2015, second edition 2020). She is co-editor of the book in preparation, Pilates Applications for Health Conditions: Case Reports and Perspectives (Handspring, 2021). Elizabeth is a Feldenkrais® practitioner and a Gyrotonic® and Gyrokinesis® instructor qualified in specialized equipment. She has 48 programs on Pilates Anytime and eight on fusionpilatesedu.com. She is a Balanced Body Master Instructor and Mentor. Elizabeth has participated in eight dissection courses taught by master dissectors Carla Stecco, Gill Hedley and Todd Garcia. She taught the movement component of dissection courses hosted by Tom Myers and by Balanced Body Pilates. Elizabeth is a participant in the Fascial Net Plastination Project, sponsored by the Fascia Research Society at Guben Plastinarium. She hosts the monthly webinar series ‘Moved to Learn!’ produced by Handspring Publishing for movement educators and manual therapists. Elizabeth is a guest teacher on Shifting Paradigms, a biotensegrity forum.

Joanna began studying Pilates as a dancer seeking rehabilitation for her lower back in 2003. Joanna’s interest in how Pilates healed her pain and changed her body led her to become a comprehensively certified instructor through Balanced Body University.

Through her experience and love for the method, she brings a deep sensitivity to her teaching. “I find joy in helping my clients learn, understand and grow in their own practice and am passionate about educating them about the strength and power of their own bodies”.

Joanna started with FitWise in the original studio in El Cerrito with Ronda and Stephanie. In the studio, she works with clients of all ages and fitness backgrounds ranging from prenatal and postnatal fitness, acute rehabilitation and Pilates for athletic performance. As an AFAA certified fitness instructor at the UC Berkeley Recreational Sports Facility, She has worked as a core trainer for the Cal Triathlon Team and the Pilates trainer for Cal Women’s Swimming from 2010-2015. Her work with these teams has contributed greatly to her interest and experience in working with athletes.

Joanna’s classes quickly fill up, don’t wait to join her.

Alison is a certified Pilates and Yoga instructor with over fourteen years of teaching experience. She began her movement studies dancing and practicing yoga at the age of three with her mother who taught creative movement. She received her BA in History at Brown University where she was also awarded the Weston Fine Arts Award in Dance. After graduating, she moved to New York City and studied and danced with many masters of the craft. She went on to complete her Pilates certification at BodyTonic Gymnasium in Brooklyn. In 2009, she completed her Master’s Degree in Somatic Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. She additionally holds two yoga teacher certifications: one through Ana Forrest and the other through Laughing Lotus SF. Throughout this lifetime of movement studies, she has worked with many different populations including those working with rehabilitation issues, expectant and new mothers, the elderly, athletes, and children dealing with developmental issues. Since the birth of her son, she loves to help expectant and new mothers navigate the pre and post-natal process. She continues to be fascinated with questions of embodiment and strives through her work to inspire people to have richer experiences of their own aliveness. Alison is thrilled to work with the FitWise community and in an environment that fosters intelligent movement.

Marianne hails from Dallas, TX where she has been teaching Pilates and personal training since 2013. After completing her comprehensive teacher training through Power Pilates, Marianne went on to work with professional athletes, chronic injuries, and clients with neurodegenerative diseases through premier fitness clubs, private homes, and assisted living facilities.

Prior to her full-time Pilates career, Marianne graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas and went on to work in the nonprofit sector as a fundraiser and then as an assistant at a tech company. Seeking a way to bring more movement and creativity into her life, she embarked on a journey as a performing cirque artist through booking agencies in Dallas, specializing in contortion, aerial, and partner acrobatics. She credits Pilates for helping her recover expeditiously from both shows and multiple injuries.

Marianne believes in the power and adaptability of Pilates to fit anyone – no matter your fitness level or prior experience, there is a Pilates session that is right for you! She is excited to teach in the Bay area and to assist FitWise clients with meeting their movement and wellness goals in collaboration with the rest of the studio.

Carlo has always been a fitness and wellness enthusiast. As a competitive athlete, he was first introduced to Pilates in 2014 when he began at the original FitWise studio.
Carlo became a part of the FitWise Pilates Mill Valley administrative staff and the rigorous comprehensive Pilates teacher training program under the direction of Master Trainer Ronda Priestner. He enjoys working with clients to unlock their own mind-body connection and utilize the benefits of Pilates in all aspects of their life.Carlo has experience working with clients of varying ages and abilities; from competitive athletes looking to increase their strength, balance and flexibility to post-natal women reincorporating physical exercise into their lives. He also has worked with clients post-surgery, those with limitations due to arthritis or injury, complete knee and hip replacements, torn rotator cuff and impingements, stenosis, spondy, SI dysfunction, Natal and herniated/bulging discs to name a few.

Carlo’s goal is to customize the exercises to meet the specific needs of the client, so you feel challenged and see progress in a safe and positive environment.

Miranda is a passionate advocate of the complementing disciplines of Pilates and yoga. Her practice combines the focus, breath and mindset of yoga while maintaining the detail of Pilates instruction. She is dedicated to sharing the joy, challenges and rewards of deep conscious movement with her students.Miranda began her journey of movement at the age of three in ballet. For the next 20 years she studied ballet, modern and Luigi jazz technique in Boston, New York and at the University of Arizona. Upon moving to San Francisco in 2006, her love of the body led her to an Ashtanga yoga teacher training with Larry Shultz at It’s Yoga. The training sparked a deeper curiosity of functional movement, alignment, and body integrity. She continued her education with EHS Institute and completed a Balanced Body Pilates teacher training in 2010. Miranda works with a diverse clientele base from those nursing injuries, postural alignment, post rehab and athletes. Her teaching style creates body intelligence through challenging functional movement.

CERTIFIED GYROTONIC® METHOD INSTRUCTOR

Recently returned to the Bay Area from Los Angeles, Andrea first moved to San Francisco at 15, and soon after joined the San Francisco Ballet, where she danced for 4 years. It was during this time that she was introduced to the Gyrotonic method as a way to recover from surgery, and immediately fell in love with the methodology.

“Through Gyrotonic exercise I discovered a pathway whereby I began to develop entirely new depth of physical internal awareness and kinesthetic understanding of body mechanics that literally re-wired the way I inhabited myself, both onstage and off.

Andrea embodies a passionate dedication to healing, exploring, and creatively expressing the body. A licensed massage therapist since 2012, she is deeply experienced in a broad spectrum of healing modalities and practices, and offers a unique synthesis of styles through her offerings. Particularly, she has studied in Gyrotonic for over 12 years, she has worked with numerous master trainers, including Domini Anne, Nora Certified Gyrotonic Method Instructor, Debra Rose, and Magali Messac; and is additionally certified to teach on multiple pieces of specialized Gyrotonic equipment.

CERTIFIED GYROTONIC® METHOD INSTRUCTOR
CERTIFIED GYROKENISIS® METHOD INSTRUCTOR

In the Bay Area she has worked for Western Athletic Clubs under movement and Pilates specialist, Elizabeth Larkam as well as Leah Putnam at Spring Training. In recent years her interests have evolved into investigations of movement and dance in a cultural context. Since 2014 she as been part of the part-time faculty at Sacramento State University teaching the course, Dance Cultures of America.

Her certifications include Gyrotonic Level 1 and Level 2 as well as certifications in the Gyrotonic specialized equipment: the Ladder, the Jumping Stretching Board, the Leg Extension Unit, and the Gyrotoner. She is also certified in Gyrotonic floor work, Gyrokinesis, and has completed workshops in Gyrotonic for Golfers and Gyrotonic for herniated discs. Other training includes an MFA degree in dance from Mills College, certification in Laban and Bartenieff Movement Analysis, certification in Aston Techniques 1 and 2 of the Aston Patterning system, and certification in the Bill Evans modern dance technique.

For Kristin, the movement education continues to be fulfilling and ever-evolving. She brings all of her experiences and understanding to help clients.