22 Years of Helping People Feel More at Home in Their Bodies

This June, we are celebrating 22 years in the heart of Pioneer Square.

In 2004, I opened Kinesia Pilates as a sole proprietor in a converted warehouse just a few blocks from where we are today. My mother, Gay Marcontell, joined me in 2008, and in 2016 we moved into our current storefront studio and Stephanie Allison joined the team. We are proud to include the addition of our first Kinesia Pilates apprenticed teacher, Jack Anderson, who completed advanced Romana's Pilates training at the studio and joined the team in 2025.

When I decided to open Kinesia Pilates, I wasn't simply opening another Pilates business. I was creating a safe place for self-care, healing fitness, and a positive physical culture community.

The path that led to this vision for a space dedicated to healing self-care fitness is a personal journey. As a young person, I had experiences that disrupted my sense of connection to myself. Anxiety and stress made it difficult to feel grounded within my own body. Dance training became my way back to myself. Through movement, I discovered a path toward healing, resilience, and self-awareness.

Over the years, I've come to understand that many people carry these feelings in their body. Stress, trauma, injury, and even painful life events can affect how we feel about ourselves and in our bodies.

Growing up, I was fortunate to study with a dance teacher who introduced me to the earthy, somatic technique of modern dance. Through movement, I began to experience a shift in consciousness and the ability to feel present, capable, and safe within myself.

As my own healing journey evolved, I wanted to create a unique space for others on their own healing journey.

I believe that all of us are affected by stress, injury, anxiety, and life experiences that leave their mark on our minds and bodies. It is not enough to simply push through life, stoically surviving everything that is thrown at us. We also need to feel grounded, resilient, pleasure, and to have a joyful connection to our bodies.

Healing is an ongoing process that balances the pressures of our lives. I believe that having a self-care movement practice is part of a life well lived.

When I was in my mid-twenties, I was a new mother searching for a career doing something that I believed in, and in that search I discovered Romana's Pilates.

It felt like coming home. I was certified by Romana Kryzanowska in 1999.

Romana Kryzanowska worked extensively with Joe Pilates over many years. She taught us to value and preserve the original method which offers a unique guiding principles;

Pilates is the complete coordination of body, mind, and spirit, to stretch, strengthen, and align the body to restore natural vitality.

These principles guide our work today.

To be a teacher of Romana’s Pilates is to have advanced training in Pilates powerful system and philosophy. Pilates helps you become stronger through deepening your connection to yourself, and it is a fun and pleasurable movement practice.

During the Covid lockdown, I discovered the MELT Method (Myofascial Energetic Length Technique). Like many people, I was in need of massage bodywork, but with everything shut down I had to find new solution. MELT is a method of self-care massage that can be done at home. MELT uses gentle neurofascial touch through small soft balls or a soft foam roller, focused breath, and cognitive self-awareness to help calm your nervous system, restore healthy tissue hydration and improve lymphatic flow. It complements many of the principles that have guided my work for decades and expands my ability to help people support their own resilience and recovery.

Today, both Gay and I are certified MELT instructors, and we teach our clients how to add these techniques into their home self-care hygiene rituals.

In many fitness environments, the emphasis is placed on appearance, performance, or comparison. Social media has only intensified those pressures. It is easy to lose sight of what actually helps us feel strong, capable, and comfortable in our own skin. Some fitness training can leave you feeling pressured, over-extended or over-stimulated, and even cause cortisol crash, leaving you inflamed or even injured.

At Kinesia Pilates, I wanted people to have a different experience.

I wanted people to experience personalized fitness coaching that makes them strong and helps them build a healthier relationship with their bodies through positive guidance, practical challenges, and goals that are meaningful to everyday life.

None of this would be possible without our teaching team.

The teachers I invite into the studio share these values and this mission. All of our instructors are certified in advanced Romana's Pilates training, and together we are committed to creating an experience that is responsive to our clients' changing needs and goals.

Our teachers understand that every person who walks through the door brings a unique story. The exercises, cues, and challenges we offer are never one-size-fits-all. They are thoughtfully chosen to support individual goals, honor where each person is today, and help them move toward their personal best.

As we celebrate 22 years, I find myself filled with gratitude.

To our clients who have trusted us with their health and well-being. To our teachers who bring skill, care, and dedication to every lesson. To Pioneer Square for providing such a beautiful home for our studio. And to the community that continues to grow around us.

Thank you for being part of the journey.

Here's to the next chapter, and to helping more people feel strong, capable, and at home in their bodies.