Let Me Move You: A Serendipitous Journey Into Pilates
By Lori Coleman-Brown
Ever since I can remember, I was moving- dancing, skating, doing handstands in the yard and riding my bike– all of it a scream for self-regulation. I was an emotional child, and it was always a source of embarrassment for me. My emotional way of being followed me for a large part of my life, until I ended up on the west coast. Now that I’m an adult, I’m owning that part of myself. It’s made me who I am, and I think it’s given me more emotional intelligence and compassion for my students – and for myself. But as a child, it confused me and left me with so much swirling inside that begged for an outlet. I’m glad that I intuitively understood that movement is self-regulation.
It’s funny when I think about how my parents wanted me to become an engineer. I was good at math and science, but I had to dance. I’m sure a mathematician can say the same thing about numbers, but, for me, there is no way I could sit still all day when my brain and body were begging me to MOVE.
There’s so much to discover through movement. It’s a gift we were given. Feeling and understanding it, for me, has always been necessary to exist in the world on my own terms. And even though I’ve always been a mover, nothing has transformed me quite so powerfully as understanding myself through the lens of Pilates.
How Gratz Pilates Has Impacted My Life
Lori when she was at Purchase
I met Gratz before Pilates, and the Pilates room became my sanctuary.
I was accidentally introduced to Pilates in about 1983, when I was a dance student at the State University of New York at Purchase. I had a knee injury from trying to breakdance with Doug Elkins at a party. I remember the exact moment of injury. I jumped back and to the left, landed on the heel of my sneaker, which connected and stuck to the floor, causing my left knee to hyperextend. Crack. Ouch. Dream state disbelief.
My dance teacher, Sarah Stackhouse, told me to avoid the doctor and go to Pilates instead. At that time, dance medicine was not very developed or accessible. She took me downstairs in the dance building and unlocked a door. All of this strange equipment was pushed into a corner, and there was a big pile of storage boxes centered in the room. Certainly, the equipment in that room was not treated as the precious cargo I’d come to realize they truly were. What I remember most about the equipment – which I’d later learn was Gratz – was how strange the chain and fluffy straps were. I was entering a strange, new world. This room and crazy apparatus would become a sanctuary for me while I was in the dance program at Purchase.
My introduction to Pilates was unique for several reasons. The first is that I discovered the Gratz apparatus before the Pilates method itself. Another is that the Pilates room at Purchase was a sanctuary, in which I was free to play. I was so grateful for a place to rest from the pressures of the dance world. Here, I could move for me again.
Of course, I’ve come to learn that the apparatus is a powerful way to help people get deep to their skin for embodiment and ultimately “control,” by doing what Joseph Pilates called “Contrology- the art of control.” When you do Pilates with the apparatus, the springs, straps and even the upholstery helps you feel where you are. A way to heighten the senses and structure your parts, because when you’re just in space, it’s different. We’re so accustomed to air and gravity, we don’t really feel our bodies. If we change the forces, we can become more aware of what we’re doing because we’re being grounded and awakened to something pinging our sensors.
I also came to appreciate how the apparatus creates consistency for one’s Pilates practice across studios, instructors and borders, creating a network of locations and relationships around the world. This is a very profound thing to learn and to understand. Gratz helped me create my wholeness as a person.
Purchase Pilates Room
After I was introduced to the Pilates room, I found Romana in New York City and started taking sessions with her. My friend Steve was studying with her, and he’d teach me the things he was learning too. I spent lots of time in the studio putting it all together the best I could. I wouldn't have known it at that moment, but Pilates, Romana and Gratz changed my life.
I helped Steve reopen the studio at Purchase. We asked Romana to come and teach us. She sent us her teacher Phoebe Higgins. Phoebe guided us and our dancer friends as a group to learn Pilates. When she took people 2 by 2 to the Reformers, the rest of us practiced what we could remember- basically what I recall as playing around. It was fun.
Lori and Phoebe in 2010
Romana’s Impact
Romana teaching Lori on the Cadillac in Seattle
The impact Romana had on my life is pretty profound. I was able to interact with her in ways beyond being her Pilates student. One way was through my friend Steve. He was not only a Pilates student of Romana’s, he also helped her as a handyman. Romana served me tea one time when I came along with him. We had a lovely conversation. She interacted with me completely differently than when I was a Pilates student. The way she saw me and treated me as an adult was powerful. At Pilates she called me generically “little dancer.” She had an impact on so many of us, each in a special way, and created a web of relationships that exists to this day.
Romana could be very kind but also put someone in their place fast. She had an elegance with her champagne and at the same time was very earthy. She had a lot of levels that made her such an interesting person. Romana lit people up. Her presence was a gift. I think that’s one reason why so many amazing Pilates teacher’s stories track back to her.
Romana taught me many life lessons, but one exchange in particular really made an impact. I asked her a question about a client and she answered “you know what to do.” Wow. I realized she believed in me more than I believed in myself! That really anchored me to Pilates.
Pilates was part of my knee healing journey. At that time I was also learning of other healing and movement techniques including physical therapy, Zena Rommett Floorbar, yoga and White Cloud (now called Gyrotonics). But I kept being drawn back to Romana’s studio in NYC over and over for so many reasons: the atmosphere, the teachers, the structure, Romana. I could feel the healing history in the room. Pilates stuck with me as a special world.
A Life Dedicated to Teaching Pilates
Lori teaching on the Low Folding Mat
I’m fascinated by the art of teaching. For years, I’ve asked myself, “How do you teach someone movement?” They’re the ones in their body, not you.
The Power of Observation in Movement
Did you know that if you watch another person move, your brain lights up? You can watch someone dancing and have the experience as if you’re dancing too. That’s too magnificent to ignore. My role as a Pilates teacher invites me to connect to myself so that I can help another person go on a journey of self-discovery and learn to connect to themselves. Because of my passion and my training, I know many ways to get there. My job is to be a guide. It’s a great job to be a Pilates educator.
And now I’m teaching teachers to teach teachers to teach clients! This is truly a fascinating process to be a part of. Each person’s experience of living in their body is different, and each teacher experiences their client differently.
Pilates as a Tool for Personal Awareness
I believe the most important thing is to connect people to their own body. This is perhaps my greatest wish for others. To get to know themselves and how they show up in the world.
What I love about Pilates is that there is structure. The sequences and curriculum standard exercises offer students a consistent practice with a lot of variety. Joe Pilates created a world where we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. I can see a client a few times, then they can see one of my colleagues.
Pilates Around the World, Rooted in the Same Method
The client’s experience with that teacher will be different, even if they do the exact same program they usually do with me. And whether the student is in NY or Bangkok, they will still be using the same apparatus – even if it’s with a different teacher in a different language. The cool difference is that it helps the student know themselves from different perspectives, much like when you tell the same story to three different friends. You’ll notice that each time, you may explain it differently or add in details you forgot before, it's the same story. Those minor details mean so much when you’re exploring your body through Pilates. It’s a difference you can feel.
About Lori
Lori Coleman-Brown is the Director of Education at Atlas Pilates in Seattle where she teaches her daily clients and heads both the undergraduate Teacher Training as well as the Graduate Intensive Cycle programs. She travels the world teaching at events in studios, clinics and conventions.
Lori has a trifecta of body knowledge: she’s a trained dancer with a BFA from SUNY Purchase, physical therapist with a MPT from Temple University, and a Pilates teacher with four decades of experience in the field.
Her unique relationship with Romana Kryzanowska shaped her perspective on connecting with people through movement that continues to guide her today.
“I believe movement is fundamental to being a happy human. I teach movement to connect people with their inner selves, and because it’s a way for me to stay grounded. When you move, I feel the movement in me.”
2 Responses
Jenny Delich
July 18, 2025
Lori has been my amazing teacher of pilates and with each session empowers me as a whole person.