Meet Colleen

COLLEEN CUMMINS

Studio Owner, Master Pilates Educator, Biomechanist, AND Travel Guru

Colleen's relationship with Pilates began in 1996. While holding a BS degree in Exercise Science (1986) and trained as a massage therapist (1989), Colleen was trained and mentored in the Pilates method by Colleen Glen and Michele Larsson, and therefore her teaching is strongly influenced by Eve Gentry's rehabilitative work.

Colleen’s approach uses therapeutic touch to help her students find more healthful alignment and movement. She specializes in and is deeply passionate about helping a diverse clientele repair their movement patterns toward one of efficiency, pain relief, and function through hands-on techniques and pilates-based movement. She has brought integrated and intelligent movement to bodies plagued by back issues such as herniated discs, scoliosis, stenosis and sciatica, as well as pervasive and insidious lower back pain. Her approach to personalized care aids in the rehabilitation process for people with pre and post hip and knee replacements. Having had breast cancer herself, she has a unique take on methods that aid post breast surgeries, as well as instage and post cancer treatments. She has successfully introduced the Pilates method to clients struggling with various chronic conditions such as rheumatoid and osteoarthritis arthritis, fibromyalgia, Down’s Syndrome, incomplete spinal cord injuries (SCI), traumatic brain injuries (TBI), and Lyme Disease.

Prior to Pilates, Colleen was in management in a large hospital-based fitness facility in Tulsa, OK working both in the fitness and therapeutic departments doing fitness testing and exercise prescriptions for the general population and competitive athletes, as well as cardiac phase IV and pulmonary rehab patients, water therapy for out-patient rehab and nutrition counseling for all groups.

Shortly after beginning her own personal training business in 1992, she discovered the Pilates Method. Having sustained her own overuse injuries as a semi-professional triathlete, cyclist, and runner, Pilates gave her a more functional, stronger and resilient body. After years as a student in the Pilates method, she began integrating these beneficial movement patterns into clients’ personal training sessions. Upon moving to New Mexico in 2001, Colleen established CoreWorks Pilates.

“My practice continues to evolve as the studio name implies: Coreworks Alchemy in Motion. I have studied many types of yoga (Hatha, Iyengar, Ashtanga, Anusara) and other movement disciplines (Feldenkrais, Gyrotonics/Gyrokenesis, dance, rock climbing, circus arts) as well as meditation and contemplative practices. My philosophy is rooted in integrated full body movement and mindfulness: When we notice and befriend our emotional inner body, our physical body has a lot more room to play. To me, movement is art. As I see it, we are painting lines, arcs, and shapes with our kinetic motions and these basic principles are built into my teaching. We begin with modules that address not only our physical movements, but also the impact of our emotions on our motions and visa versa. We may begin by observing our breathing and then learn sequential breathing, feeling the physical and psychological effects. We then apply this breath pattern to a fundamental movement pattern in the studio or in the natural world increasing the level of difficulty and challenge. Lastly, these foundations of breath and movement are applied to the motions in our daily lives and activities. Mindful, playful and artful motion nourishes each and every joint in our bodies and also our souls. The relationship we cultivate with our moving bodies is our conduit to the world.”

Colleen teaches seminars, workshops and concentrated experiential learning for students and teachers of not only the Pilates method, but also for those from other fields. Her previous workshops include:

1) Pelvic floor health: Anatomy of and role in healthy movement

2) Integration of the psoas, quadratus lumborum, and the diaphragm for stability and range of motion

3) Advanced Pilates equipment workshops employing guided exploration focused on the five spinal shapes

4) Pilates off the mat and outside the studio

5) For Pilates teachers-Picking the Brain: Creating Awareness and Mindfulness in clients

6) Mindfulness in Motion: Mindfulness practices based in recent neuroscience and meditation techniques that root us in resilient physicality.