Stephanie Forster

Stephanie Forster is the founder of Preggo Pilates and the Director of Pre and Postnatal Education at EHS Pilates in San Francisco. She brings over 20 years experience as a Pilates practitioner, dancer, body worker, anatomy and yoga student and choreographer to her teaching, which is infused with irreverence and humor. Her first hand knowledge of pregnancy, birth and Mamahood and deep connection to the local birthing community make her a natural at serving pre and postnatal women. Stephanie is a qualified teacher of the Tupler Technique, and has studied a variety of modalities for healing diastasis recti (split abdominals) and a founding member of the Mamas Resource Network, an eclectic Bay Area network of professionals who serve, support and educate pregnant and postpartum women and their families. She has an M.F.A. in Dance Performance and Choreography from Mills College and has been a dance faculty member of the Rhythm and Motion Dance Program since 2000. When she is not busy in a Pilates or dance studio you can find her chasing after her two young children.

Back to Instructors Visit Stephanie’s Schedule

Moana Luna

“Change happens through movement, and movement heals.” — Joseph Pilates Moana began exercising to battle stress while attending graduate school at SFSU. After graduating with a degree in counseling, she worked in the mental health field and continued to practice yoga, boxing, weight training, and Pilates. She completed the Pilates Teacher Training Program with Ellie Herman in 2007. Relevant training and continuing education includes Buff Bones® Instructor Training; ACE personal training certification;Foot and Gait Therapy Mentorship Program with Nancy Myers; CoreAlign Teacher Training; Balanced Body University (BBU); Pilates Rehabilitation Intensive with Lizz Roman; Preggo Pilates Workshops with Stephanie Forster; Pelvic Power seminar with Eric Franklin; Exercise as a Cure for Anxiety & Depression Seminar (Orinda College); and ACE Personal Training Certification. She enjoys working with a diverse group of clients and providing a fun total body workout that incorporates Pilates principles such as coordination, concentration, and alignment. She is especially interested in the positive impact of exercise on her clients’ mental and emotional well-being.

Back to Instructors

Monique Convertito

Monique teaches Pilates with special attention to Foot & Gait, focusing on the importance of correct form and body awareness. Using simple and functional daily movement techniques, Monique has helped many of her clients rehabilitate from hip, knee and foot surgeries. Intrigued by the appearance of the Pilates machines on a morning jog back in 2005, Monique signed up for her first Pilates class with the hope of overcoming shoulder pain and weight gain from her “sit-down” job as a magazine Art Director. After a decade of classes, practice, and study, Monique celebrated becoming a Balanced Body certified Pilates trainer in 2015. In 2020, Monique became a Faculty Member at EHS Pilates in San Francisco , as well as a certified Balanced Body Master Trainer for the CoreAlign. In 2021, she was accepted into the Balanced Body Comprehensive Master Training Program. Monique currently teaches at EHS Pilates in San Francisco, as well as at out of her private home studio. She continues to study and assist Nancy Myers’ Foot & Gait Program and looks forward to teaching with Nancy in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico in Spring 2022.

Back to Instructors

Karen Goldstein

Karen Goldstein was first introduced to Pilates when only 18 years old after developing knee problems while studying ballet in NYC. She was sent to the original Pilates studio run by Romana Kryzanowska, a direct disciple of Joseph Pilates. After returning home to the Bay Area, she continued her ballet training with, as her teacher noticed, “much better alignment”. There was no Pilates on the west coast for about 10 years, but when Karen continued to have alignment and pain issues from dancing, she resumed her pilates training under the guidance of Jennifer Stacey in San Francisco. She completed her Teacher Training Certification under Ellie Herman and has also studied extensively with Lizz Roman learning rehabilitation techniques based on the principals of Janda. Karen likes to teach Pilates with an emphasis on form and how it applies to functional life movement. She likes to educate her students to have more freedom in movement, strength, and to learn ways to help themselves when their body/pain issues arise so that they can get along with more ease in their everyday lives.

Back to Instructors

Brigitte Brunner

Brigitte Brunner is a Balanced Body master instructor and educator as well as a graduate of Ellie Herman Studios. After completing her Pilates teacher training in 2005, Brigitte began teaching in San Francisco. In 2012 she completed the Master Instructor training program with Balanced Body. Since then she has been one of the educators leading Pilates instructor training programs at EHS Pilates in San Francisco. Relevant Continuing education and training includes: CoreAlign 1 and 2, Lizz Roman rehabilitation intensive, Mary Bowen Pilates and Psyche, Eric Franklin Pelvic Power, Thomas Meyers Anatomy Trains, Marie Jose Blom, Amy Alpers and most recently the Buff Bones Instructor training. Buff Bones is a medically endorsed system for bone and joint health. In her private and group sessions, Brigitte brings energy, passion and attention to detail. Brigitte has also taught extensively in Italy and is fluent in Italian.

Back to Instructors

Blane Ashby

Blane has been practicing and studying Pilates since 1998 and was certified through the Ellie Herman Institute in 2002. While the majority of his time is spent teaching at Parkside Pilates he also teaches at EHS Pilates Studio. From 2003 to present has been a Faculty Instructor of the Teacher Training Instructor Program (TTIP) at the Ellie Herman Institute acting as co-head of the program. In 2007, he became a certified Balanced Body Faculty Instructor. Along with one-to-one fitness training he specializes in injury prevention and recovery. Blane has had much success in assisting and creating programs for clients in their post recovery and injury prevention goals. Through out the week Blane teaches quite a few Pilates based group classes. His popular classes promote a non-competitive atmosphere while challenging the student to reach their fullest potential. Focus of the classes include precision, control, stability, core strength, increasing flexibility all the while promoting enjoyment and a sense of accomplishment. Pilates can be quite challenging but should be fun too! Blane has been a dancer for the past 20 years and has performed with Company Chaddick, Huckabay/McAllister Dance, EmSpace Dance, Dance Continuum SF, and 13th Floor Dance Theater. Balanced Body University bbu.pilates.com

Back to Instructors

Ruthie Wahlborg

Sharing words and tools for experiencing muscle systems with focused movement, Ruthie confidently coaxes out each person’s ability to swim tranquilly inside their own shapes. The supple, strong muscle is where a person learns to float, truly and metaphorically. Changing someone’s relationship to gravity in a beneficial way is one of the most electrifying aspects of Pilates, as well as it being a sure recipe for grace. Further effects of this sound method include the long, pleasing journey which can deliver a lifetime of a-has, along with lots o’ fun. Ruthie’s Experience:

Teaching Mat and Equipment Pilates steadily since 2003
Certified Training with Ellie Herman in 2002
2006 worked for Tom McCook at Center of Balance, absorbing an unparalleled amount of true movement wisdom through staff workouts and working on the floor.

Her Other Loves:

bicycles
microphones
swimming pools
dance floors are real stand-outs for this gal!

Back to Instructors

Chris Black

Chris has over 13 years of experience teaching Pilates in the Bay Area. Chris Black was certified by Ellie Herman, and has done extensive rehabilitation training with Lizz Roman. She also has studied with Jennifer Stacey and Carol LeMaitre. Chris is also skilled in working with women through all stages of pregnancy, including post-natal. “Chris Black has made it to my short list of things that make San Francisco a great city. Three years ago I discovered that I had AS, a debilitating back condition, and began trying various treatments with mixed results. Chris has been the first person to give me a feeling of control over how my body feels each day. From the very first lesson, she inspired trust and confidence in her approach. She has a deep understanding of body mechanics, but never gets ahead of what my body is able to do. There’s no such thing as a panacea for back problems, but if you’re willing to put in the work, Chris is the closest thing to it.” – Unsu Lee, Bay Area filmmaker

Back to Instructors

Carrie Ferguson

Carrie Ferguson was introduced to the Pilates method after dealing with acute low back pain and tight shoulders, weak stiff neck – a result from long, grueling hours in front of a computer day in and day out as a graphic designer. After a year of strengthening deep core muscles, fine-tuning alignment and posture, staying centered, Carrie knew it was time to follow a new path of self-care and teach others from her experience. Within a year Carrie left the corporate world to pursue and her passion for Pilates. She started her Apprentice training in 2011 and, a couple of years later became a fully certified instructor! This was the best choice she has ever made! She’s so much happier and healthier now in her 40s than she was in her 20s. Carrie’s students often reach that “ah-ha” moment, where they understand and feel the correct muscle group engaging and it’s that moment that they take from their sessions and apply to their daily living patterns, so they may move through life pain-free.

Back to Instructors

Nancy Myers

Nancy has been a movement practitioner for over 20 years. Her injuries due to teaching dance and running were rehabilitated with Pilates at St. Francis Dance Medicine Center with Elizabeth Larkam in 1989.

In 2000, she was certified with Ellie Herman Studios in San Francisco. Nancy has extensive knowledge in anatomy and kinesiology, and she has dedicated her Pilates career to an emphasis on posture and gait analysis and how it applies to the Pilates work. Nancy’s experience spans all types of fitness populations including dancers, professional athletes, pre and post-natal, senior citizens, and clients with injuries and special issues. It is her belief that functional movement is the key to pain relief through better body mechanics.

Over the years Nancy has studied with 1st and 2nd-generation Pilates teachers that have inspired and deepened her understanding of the system. In addition, the work of Vladimir Janda, Thomas Myers, Sherry Brourman, Eric Franklin, and other masters has influenced and inspired her perspective on how she approaches her practice.

She is inspired and learns every day from the bodies she encounters and is grateful to be able to follow her passion to make a difference in a person’s life with every step they take within the inspirational atmosphere that is EHS Pilates.

Nancy is also a consultant for MBT shoes, a certified personal trainer, and group exercise director. She has a BS in International Business and is currently working on her Master’s in Holistic Nutrition. Her Foot and Gait Mentorship program is featured at EHS and she teaches in the US and internationally, both in teacher training and continuing education workshops. She has been interviewed and written about several times in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Nancy’s current projects include authoring “Fabulous Feet” and “Pilates on the CoreAlign”.

Merits

Director of EHS Pilates Institute’s International Teacher Training Program
PMA Certified Senior Pilates Trainer with a special focus on Gait Therapy
Director of EHS Pilates Institute
Faculty member of Balanced Body University
CoreAlign Master Instructor
MBT Trainer/Educator
EHS Retreats

Specialties

Pre and Post-surgical rehabilitative pilates
Postural alignment
Essential Posture and Gait patterning
Foot problems
Pilates-based rehabilitation
Author of “Fabulous Feet” and “Pilates on the CoreAlign”

Back to Instructors