Julie van der Meyden
Julie is a classically trained and TRX certified Pilates instructor who has almost 15 years of experience under her belt. She started teaching Pilates in 2006 and was classically certified by 2008 at Push Pilates in Memphis, Tennessee. She remained there for two years, training many individuals, including those who ended up becoming Pilates teachers themselves.
Julie and her family moved to the Seattle area in 2014, and she began working at Active Body Pilates in March of 2015. While at Active Body, she trained marathoners, triathletes, crossfitters and even a Seahawks player!
She worked at Active Body until this December, when the studio closed due to Covid-19. During this time, she would find she was great at helping those who were rehabbing from surgeries, those going through pregnancy (whether prenatal or postnatal), and those with scoliosis.
When Julie is not training, she loves to spend time with her family and friends! She is married and has three children, two grandchildren, two French bulldogs, and two cats. You may find her paddle boarding on the lakes in the summer! She is a hiker and, more recently, has fallen in love with snowshoeing!
Julie's main goal in life is to share her knowledge and love for the Pilates method with as many people as possible.
Maple Chu
Maple started practicing Pilates in 2016. What originally started as just a new way to cross-train became the reason her posture and flexibility improved. In addition to noticing physical benefits, she also found herself consistently feeling more relaxed after each class. In 2021, she left her consulting career and decided to become a Pilates instructor to help people feel better in their bodies.
Laurel Levasheff, GCFP CPT
Laurel has been actively involved with the Pilates Methodology through the NY Pilates Guild 2001 andThe Feldenkrais Method of neuroplasticity, motor re-education (Berkeley, California) 2006. Laurel finds meaning in providing others the exact conditions needed for total transformation. "when you know what you're doing you can do what you want" - Dr Feldenkrais. Diagnosed with scoliosis in her youth, study of classical Ballet technique, San Francisco Ballet Company & Pacific Northwest Ballet Company lends core conditioning like Pilates helps develop a healthy spine and flexible resilient body. while in Dance Pedagogy at University of Oklahoma she was required her to attend Pilates at the University as a means for supporting her spine and preventing injury. Returning home to Seattle she joined a New York Guild sponsored Pilates 1000 hour certification and was certified in New York City with Romana Kryzanowska the successor to Joseph Pilates (2000).