We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Bonnie Cahoon. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Bonnie below.

Alright, Bonnie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

I was fortunate enough to land a job as a Writer/Producer for network TV right after I graduated from USC. And I was very successful in that field for over a decade. Then I took my first Pilates class.

I fell in love with Pilates in 1999. I met a trainer in an acting class (another career I dabbled in) and noticed how incredibly strong her calves looked. “I’m a Pilates trainer,” she explained. “Whaaat?” Never heard of it before. So I went on over to her studio, disenchanted with the local gym franchise where I could only hope the prior sweaty butt wiped down the stationary bike, and that I might not get hit on today. She threw me on what looked like a cross between a jacked-up hospital bed and an S & M apparatus, otherwise known as a Cadillac. I was hooked. It wasn’t so challenging that I was discouraged, and it wasn’t so easy that I wasn’t challenged. It was just right. After just one session I felt taller. I was standing straighter and muscles that had long slumbered were awakened.

Cut to 2003. I quit my job as a Writer/Producer for television promo. I found myself sitting on an exercise mat, with a notebook, learning anatomy, kinesiology and the secrets of classical Pilates, on my way to becoming a Pilates instructor myself. After nine months and hundreds and hundreds of hours of observation, student teaching, classes, written and practical tests, I was certified. I’ve had my own business and fully equipped studio ever since – Bonnie’s Pilates For Every Body.

So, I left a very lucrative, steady job in television to become a Pilates instructor. Big risk. Big reward. Now I’m helping people to become stronger and feel amazing.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

So, you already know how I got into the business of being a Pilates Instructor and owner of Bonnie’s Pilates For Every Body. Below I’ve included an in-depth description of what Pilates is and no, it’s not Yoga. But before that, more about what I’m up to. I have my own fully-equipped home studio in Glendale, with all the crazy-looking Pilates apparatuses (machines) where I teach private sessions. My own business branches out to the internet, where I teach Mat Pilates and Gentle Chair Pilates on-line several time a week. I also teach group Reformer classes at the YMCA of the Foothills in La Cañada/La Crescenta. And I’m very proud that I was awarded “Best New Employee of the Year 2023” after working at the YMCA for only two months in 2023.

I also teach at UCLA Extension, through their Osher Life Long Learners Program. I teach Gentle Chair Pilates on-line to those over 50.

I’m known for my humor, I think. Exercise should be fun. There should be smiling and laughing, in between the grunts of effort. Some people prefer a more militaristic approach to exercise. I think that’s great, too. As long as you’re getting people to safely move their bodies. But that’s not me. I want to have fun. I want my students to have fun.

AND if you are an animal lover, you can always get some pup-lates and puss-lates at the end of a session at my studio. (Snuggles with my three tiny weird dogs and two cats.)

Now, what is Pilates?

Joseph Hubertus Pilates, one of the great pioneers of modern physical fitness and health, was a visionary in his approach and methodology. By combining the best of Western and Eastern philosophy, he brought together a series of controlled movements that engage both the mind and body – exercises that allow each user to experience a new awareness of muscle function and control.

-The Complete Writings of Joseph H. Pilates

Although thought to be a relatively new method of exercise, Joseph Pilates developed his system of exercise to rehabilitate hospitalized patients, over 100 years ago, in the 1920s. He called his method Contrology. Eventually, Pilates become a proven system of rehabilitation for injured dancers and gymnasts. Now, Pilates studios are as ubiquitous as Starbucks and offered at every gym franchise. Since 2000, the Pilates name is no longer trademarked, so anyone can claim to be a Pilates trainer.

But those who practice and teach Classical Pilates will do it like Joseph did. Classical Pilates draws from elements of boxing, yoga and ballet. It strengthens while stretching. Unlike isolated exercise routines done at the gym with lots of repetitions that can tire out joints and create imbalances in posture, he believed that by doing a few repetitions of each exercise and alternating areas of the body to be worked, one would have a more balanced workout, therefore a more balanced body with much less opportunity for burn out.

The six key principles of the Pilates Method are: CENTERING, CONCENTRATION, CONTROL, PRECISION, BREATH and FLOW. By centering the body, connecting the mind and body, using precise movements and the breath efficiently, one will have a maximum amount of flow for a minimum amount of exertion, which creates a more efficient body with a longer shelf life. Pilates exercises are adaptable for all ages, abilities and health conditions.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

For a Pilates instructor, other than knowing the Pilates method inside and out, having in-depth knowledge of anatomy and kinesiology, it is imperative to have an enthusiasm for teaching. Students can sense if you’re having fun and enjoying teaching them. Or conversely, if you are just going through the motions. If you are bored, they are bored. So I try to constantly learn something new to impart. That’s why I consistently take classes myself. It’s also helpful to have an easily identifiable personality type. “She’s the funny teacher,” or “She’s the serious teacher,” etc., these help students find their type of teacher. You must be a good fit personality-wise to attract and keep the right clientele.

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

I can’t imagine doing anything else with my life other than being a Pilates Instructor and owner of Bonnie’s Pilates For every Body. Pilates is magical. I have been bewitched.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bonniespilatesforeverybody.com/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@bonniespilates