A little more about Jordana…
I began my fitness journey in 2011, the same way many people do: a friend made me do a group reformer class with them. After years of feeling self conscious and uncoordinated and like there was never going to be an exercise that “felt right” for me it was as though a curtain was lifted to expose a wonderland of strength, endurance and mobility challenges, many of which could be done lying down and all on this one amazing machine. Pilates eased my anxiety, carried me through a pregnancy with challenging yet accessible movement and soothed me afterwards, like only having personal space and two hands to yourself can. Eventually it even carried me into the weights room.
As a pretty typical person with ADHD, if and when I find something I love I tend to throw myself into it with everything I’ve got and obsessively learn everything I can about it so that I can also tell everyone about it! This meant that becoming a Pilates instructor was a logical step in the trajectory of my obsession and I completed my first qualification and began teaching in 2016 with a dream that some day I would have my very own group studio.
In late 2017 I found myself with a back injury which turned out to be a bilateral pars fracture at my L5/S1 vertebrae. Anyone who’s ever found themselves with pain and injury that limits their ability to go about their daily lives knows just how distressing the prospect of an extended period out of action can be, especially when your movement practice has also become your mental health care plan. Fortunately excellent care providers and evidence based treatment saw a rapid return to function and significant improvement in my pain within three months.
Through my own journey of pain and rehabilitation I became fascinated with pain science, and the critical role that movement and appropriate loading plays in the success of the rehabilitation process and subsequently went on to study my Diploma of Clinical Pilates and complete a comprehensive qualification across all the Pilates apparatus. In 2021, with what could only be considered crap timing, I left my corporate job to make movement my whole career only to find Canberra going into another lockdown. I taught classes online and when things reopened I launched a business in my home offering 1:1 and 1:2 Pilates and/or personal training sessions while also teaching group classes in local studios. This step only increased my appetite to bring more movement to more people more often and so the idea for Feel Better Pilates really began to take shape. Here, in late 2022 that dream has arrived in full.
As a teacher I’m unapologetic about moving people to explore all the shapes they can make with their bodies and believe that the single most empowering thing we can do for any person is make them stronger. I take pride in teaching classes that are challenging but never too serious. Building and exploring physical capability should be fun whether you’re doing rehab or regular training and should always get your whole body involved in moving fearlessly. Making fearless and competent movers makes better old people, and when it comes down to it that’s the long game.
My qualifications and registrations include:
Certificate in Pilates Fundamentals
Certificate in Reformer Pilates
Certificate III in Fitness (Group Fitness)
Certificate IV in Fitness (Personal Training)
Certificate IV in Pilates (Mat and Reformer)
Diploma of Clinical Pilates
Bachelor of Social Work
Working with Vulnerable People Registration
Kind of good at plants
I’m so excited to be bringing this Pilates dream of mine to life and I can’t wait to meet you!