Welcome to my site.

First - my journey with Pilates.

In 1959 I began to learn the Pilates Method. I was in NYC as an actress/ comedienne/musical comedy performer - with a very bad back! (Click "Historical Video", "Who is Mary?" for more of the story).

How did I discover Joe? One day I saw an article in a newspaper. There was this man standing with his bare barrel of a chest, bare legs, swimming trunks and white mane of hair. Joe was an intriguing sight – a human lion! Who was this man?

In the short article he said “I base my method on the baby and the cat!” For some mysterious reason, never having had a baby or a cat, I took it upon myself to find Joseph Pilates! It was the beginning of a life “root”.

My back improved after only two lessons with Joe. Since walking into Joe and Clara's studio forty-five years ago I have taken one to two lessons every week.

My NYC Pilates teachers:

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6 years twice a week with Joe, Clara and Hanna (their assistant)

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7 years with Bob Seed

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7 years at Romana Krysanowska's

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7 years with Kathy Grant

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7 years with Bruce King and Jean Claude West concurrently

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with Christine Wright since 1995 and ongoing

The time and expense of lessons over the years insured the deepening of my Pilates work. I recommend that all of you Pilates teachers find someone excellent to watch and guide you in your own Pilates practice. This can be pivotal in your journey into yourself and as a teacher.

Second - my journey into the Psyche..

At the same time that I began Pilates I started Jungian psychoanalysis. Both disciplines went so deep in me that they became parallel professional pursuits. In 1971 I began my psychoanalytic practice and just four years later I started teaching Pilates. For years the two careers were side by side. Pilates was directive - analysis was non-directive. Gradually the analyst in me began entering and combining with the Pilates work. I saw each client in depth, and began engaging the whole person, conscious and unconscious.

I still maintain a practice as a Jungian analyst in NYC, Connecticut and Massachusetts. In the world of Pilates I am known especially for my integration of Jungian analytical psychology with the Pilates Method. With some clients I stay with Pilates, but for many others the work has expanded beyond conscious ego understanding to working with what is in the unconscious - the whole psyche. The whole person!

Every week I travel between 2 studios and 3 homes (each with an analytic office) in 3 states, also caring for 10 cats, a dog, gardens, a sailboat (if we can find the time to get to it) as well as feeding raccoons, wild turkeys, deer, squirrels and birds. It's a great life, full to the brim!.

Greatly important is sharing life with my loving husband, Alec Martin, who built the two studios and the machines,
maintaining everything and then some! To New York City I travel alone. To Northampton, MA we all go together, Alec, the ten cats, Pebbles the dog and I along with an ice chest, suitcases and many bags in our trusty car.