Elizabeth Stafford
Certified GYROTONIC® Instructor
Certified Pilates Instructor
Studio Manager (Pearl District and Lake Oswego)
After a long career in Restaurant Management in San Francisco, Elizabeth moved to Portland 2008 with her husband to raise their son. Looking for a career change that would give her more time with her family, and would keep her healthy and moving, teaching Pilates felt like the right path. With a background in dance and love for the Pilates Method, she became an instructor and taught throughout Portland with clients of all ages and abilities. Throughout her journey, she has taken workshops in the Franklin Method, Structural Integration, attended Pilates refresher courses and is now certified in the GYROTONIC® system.
With emphasis on the core, alignment and function, she will design a plan for you using both exercise systems to strengthen and lengthen your body. You will learn to stabilize and mobilize your shoulders and hips to relieve or prevent lower back pain and connect to your deepest spinal muscles using imagery and breathing. She sees both practices as a lifestyle, so that you may move through life with functioning ease and learn to connect to your body. She feels so lucky to be doing a job she loves and working with amazing people in an environment that is nurturing, warm and motivating.
When Elizabeth is not teaching or working out, she enjoys the Portland food and wine scene, traveling, yoga, seeing live music, spending time with friends and snuggling with her husband, son and dog.
2009 Balanced Body® Mat Pilates Certification Course
2012 Balanced Body® Anatomy in Three Dimensions
2013 GRAVITY Foundation® Instructor
2013 Balanced Body® Reformer Certification Course
2014 Balanced Body® All Apparatus Pilates Certification (Chair, Cadillac and Ladder Barrel)
2015 Balanced Body® Orbit Certification
2016 Summit Professional Education Manual Therapy and Self-Care Techniques
2016 Momentum Pilates Certification Course (Mat and All Apparatus)
2017 Franklin Method® Fascia Training Course
2017 Franklin Method® Psoas: Beyond the Abdominals Course
2017 Northwest Center for Structural Integration Structural Bodywork Seminar
2018 GYROTONIC® Level 1 Certification
2018-ongoing GYROTONIC®