I met and began doing Pilates with Belkis Rutchland 5 years ago. I found her online and was quite impressed with her training! She studied with Joseph Pilates’ protege, Romana, and being a pilates instructor myself, the training was quite important to me. I had a young daughter and was not in great shape when I started with her. Belkis had compassion and also challenged me at just the right level. Within a year I was back in good shape and feeling wonderful. Belkis has always been consistent and reliable, and knows the perfect session for my needs on any particular day. She has always been professional, kind, respectful and a good communicator. I plan on always working with her as long as I can.
Brigitte Culhane
Hello, a few months ago I searched here for a pilates Instructor and I think I hit the jackpot! I want to let everyone know how amazing my sessions with Belkis Rutchland have been. Within 2 months I transformed from someone who had frequent back flare ups to someone who can pull weeds for hours:-) As a physical therapist I am super picky and am thrilled that I found Belkis. She is an astute observer and keeps challenging me to get stronger. Steady progress while having fun!
Ursula Schneider
Belkis has been my Pilates instructor for over 4 years. She helped me work out while I had my frozen shoulder, up to the point of recovery. Until I met her, I kept re-injuring my shoulder with different exercises and instructors. With her, I have never had issues with injuries as she is very careful with body alignment and corrections. She has taught me more than just Pilates. I've learned many life lessons from her and she has given me valuable advice. She has a gift and I am sure she has used it to help countless people.
Mika Michaels
I started working with Belkis after leaving a different local health coach whose methods were just too intense for me, and who I felt did not hear me or recognize my needs. I have had the opposite experience with Belkis. She is a great listener who is in it with me every step of the way. Each minute of our hour-long sessions feels dedicated to my improvement. Her advice and praise are always very specific, so I understand exactly what I need to focus on or where I've grown. What I like most about lessons with Belkis is how positive they are. She never uses phrases like "You're doing this wrong" or "You need to try harder." She corrects gently and encourages strongly, consciously choosing not to use words with negative associations. For example, I have a moderate head tilt that I'm working on fixing, and when Belkis notices that I need to hold myself differently, she prompts kindly, "Where's your head?" or simply says "Top of the head." I also struggle with some of the techniques that require using many parts of the body at once. Belkis is always patient with me when she sees I'm having trouble and will joke about how it's hard for everyone, keeping the tone light and energetic. Even though the atmosphere is fun, there's never any doubt that Belkis is very knowledgeable about pilates. When it's difficult for me to do something, she always seems to know exactly why: whether I'm focusing on the wrong muscles or I'm tense from running late, Belkis often recognizes it before I do myself and knows just what advice to supply. She's also great at noticing things that, to me, seem very small. She's sure to give praise when she sees I've remembered to keep my shoulders relaxed or my neck long, because she knows I'm working hard to make those things a habit. When I said Belkis was in it with me every step of the way, I meant it literally: every session, Belkis physically moves me into correct positions, pushes my body so that the right muscles are being used, touches the areas I need to focus on, and will even bear the brunt of my weight if she needs to. I'm only twenty-nine years old, but there are a lot of things I'm not used to doing, and this approach allows me to feel what postures and movements I need to make so that I can replicate them myself. Belkis is very communicative whenever she's helping me this way, so that I'm not in pain or being pushed too far. Sometimes I even come out of workouts feeling that Belkis must have exercised harder than I have - and that's no comment on the workout's level of intensity, but simply an observation about how far Belkis will go to ensure you're getting the most out of each session. Overall, my experience with Belkis has been nothing but positive. I have always loathed sports and exercise ever since I was little, so this is one of my few good experiences with working out. I can feel myself growing stronger, and I love that I'm gaining this familiarity with my body. Belkis's methods and attitude have no doubt contributed to this new, great relationship I have with exercise. Thank you for reading, Adrienne Rocheack Nash, CEO & Founder, Example Company
