Tight upper back & neck Do you find that you have stiffness in your upper back, or your neck doesn't rotate as easily as it once used to? This stiffness is your body's way of telling you more problems are on the way if you don't get mobile soon. Future symptoms that could develop are nerve impingement, causing numbness, tingling and loss of dexterity in the lower extremity of your arm and hand. A development or increased level of headaches and tension spasms in the head and n

Grounding You... Do you ever have those moments, days, or even months where you feel as if you are living life on a Ferris wheel, not able to get your feet on the ground? We have all been there, especially around the change of seasons. In the fall & winter, these feelings can easily intensify as the pressures of the holiday season rise. My go-to technique, to get my "feet back on the ground", comes from an ancient Hindu teaching to balance your Root Chakra. Your Root Chakra i

November's Daily Move, comes with a bigger payoff then just tightening the muscles of your back, buttocks and abdominal...read on to find out how it saves you MONEY! Pilates Double Leg Stretch Lay on your back Exhale and curl up using your abdominals, pulling your knees in towards your chest, with your hands on your ankles. Your lower back is imprinted, it is not in neutral alignment. Keep your abdominals drawn in deeply as you inhale and simultaneously reach your arms and le

I have been thinking a lot about what it means to be a teacher. And, conversely what it means to be a student. I have spent almost 20 years being a teacher of fitness, movement and function, from group classes of over 200 people, to private one-on-one instruction. Last year I had the privilege of teaching & guiding 7 students on their path to become Pilates teachers themselves. I love teaching. Selfishly I love witnessing the transformation a person goes through when they fin

We have a new Fall Schedule for group classes, including the R.I.45! Pick up a copy at the studio or CLICK HERE to go to our MindBody scheduling site and start booking your classes now!

The Essentials... Name: Alexandra Gordon Prefers to be called: Alex Originally From: Here! Born at Cedar-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles, right around the corner from the studio. Destiny! Birth Day: June 29th Education: Studied fashion design at FIDM in Los Angeles Previous Career: Worked in fashion for 13 years The Pilates Life... Pilates Training: Trained and certified at JK Zen Fitness by Juliet Kaska herself! It was an intense 6+ month program that was filled with educat

A Simple Technique to Stimulate Your Calm ...huh? Yes! Stimulate your Calm! Our title for this month's Mindful Matters is an obvious contradiction. Something you should know about me... I really enjoy contradictions. My favorite contradictions are when two or more things are seemingly opposed to one another, but when looked at beyond the surface, they are actually deeply connected. You cannot have light without darkness. It simply does not exist. Similarly, in Pilates, isn't

Your Abdominals When you think of working your abs, you most likely feel you're training one muscle. You know, that muscle that burns in your stomach, especially during Hundreds. However, your abdominals are more than just one muscle, they are a GROUP of muscles made up of FOUR primary muscles: rectus abdominis, external oblique, internal oblique and the transverse abdominis. To truly be strong in your abdominals, you must be strong in all four areas. And of course, each has

"What move would be the best move to give as our daily exercise for our very first newsletter?" This question stressed me out for years. Hence why it took 7 years to launch a Zen newsletter! Just Kidding! Hundreds would be the obvious choice...it is the quintessential Pilates exercise, equally loved and hated by Pilates enthusiasts. You will often hear me saying in group classes, "If you go to a studio and a teacher does not include Hundreds in their repertoire, you should qu

Mark your calendars! On Monday October 2nd, our newest class, R.I.45,will launch at 10:30AM with Juliet! R.I.45 classes will be offered throughout the week. See the complete schedule below. R.I.45 stands for: Reformer Intensive in 45 minutes. Get your full-body Pilates body workout on in under an hour! Move intentionally through a traditional Pilates sequencing at a tempo that will get your heart rate going. During R.I.45, your instructor will be leading the choreography from