STAFF BIOS

As of 2009, Pengu’s President and Master Pilates trainer Sommer has close to 10,000 teaching hours. Trained by the amazing Ellie Herman (author of Pilates for Dummies, inventor of the Springboard) on all Pilates apparatus’ in San Francisco, her movement career has taken her around the world to all types of students. She has taught Pilates in places like China, Thailand, England, and in the US: San Francisco, Dallas, and of course DC. She has trained people ranging in fitness from Olympic athletes to people with partial paralysis in the limbs. In 2005 Sommer went to China to open her own wellness center in Beijing, Jara Wellness.

Love brought her back to the US in 2008 and currently resides in Falls Church, VA. Sommer began her movement career at 3 years old in classical ballet. Throughout her life she studied various types of dance: African, Mexican (Folklorico), German, Tap (20 years), Jazz, Modern, Improvisational to name a few. In her twenties she studied Gong Fu and Wushu from a Shaolin Temple Master in China. Sommer is known for her kind yet motivating demeanor and sense of humor. Her diverse background knowledge and how she incorporates all her experiences and techniques will give you an inspiring, disciplined, and challenging workout – regardless if you are fit, injured, recovering, or just starting out.

A life-long equestrian and former gymnast, Debra began Pilates in 1997 to help get back in shape after the birth of her second child. The combination of strength and agility required for Pilates intrigued her, and the efficiency of a whole body workout appealed to her. Working through a number of injuries and rehabbing them through Pilates made Debra a devoted student. After a 20 plus year career in the corporate world, she was looking to make a change and entered the Articulate Eye Teacher Training Program in 2003. After training with Jen Campbell of Articulate Eye and logging over 700 hours of training, she was certified in February 2004 to teach on all of the Pilates apparatus. Debra taught at the Pilates Studio at the American Dance Institute in Rockville for 5 years before branching out on her own in August 2009.

As an instructor she brings a high energy approach to helping people meet their goals. Debra particularly likes helping athletes overcome obstacles to excel in their field. She has helped rehab riders, figure skaters, marathon runners and tri- athletes as well as cancer survivors. A creative spirit at heart, she offers a varied and energetic approach.

A perpetual student, Debra recently completed a certification program with Power Pilates in New York. She has been privileged to attend numerous seminars through the PMA with many of the top scholars in pilates today – Mary Bowen, Deborah Lessen, Cara Reeser, Michele Larson, Irene Dowd, Amy Alpers, Peter Fiasca, Wendy Arbuckle, and Bob Liekens. She is committed to continuing education and enjoys exploring all the multi-layered facets of Pilates.

Alexandra started taking Pilates classes while in training at the Actors Studio Drama School, where she earned her MFA in directing. She saw incredible changes in her body quickly and knew she found a life-long practice. After moving back to New York, Alexandra decided Pilates was important enough to her to train as a teacher. She completed her comprehensive training at CORE Pilates, NYC in October 2009 and taught there until October 2011. Alexandra has education and experience in teaching all body types from those with injuries to prenatal.

Meghan received her full mat and apparatus certification from Core Pilates NYC, a Pilates Method Alliance center for teacher training. Upon completing her certification, she taught at Core, and Erika Bloom Pilates Plus in New York City, and is now teaching at Lifetime Fitness in Rockville as well as Pengu Studio.

Meghan has continued to expand her knowledge by training in Pilates for fitness and physical therapy, participating in workshops on scoliosis, pre and post-natal Pilates, and by continuing her studies in anatomy and physiology through college courses. She feels that Pilates is valuable for physical fitness as well as everyday health and wellness, injury prevention, and rehabilitation. In addition to teaching Pilates, Meghan is a professional dancer and company member with Christopher K. Morgan and Artists in Bethesda.

Sarah is a certified Pilates Instructor as well as a Yoga Alliance registered yoga instructor (RYT-200) specializing in Vinyasa Flow. She strongly believes in the power of the mind-body connection, and the body's ability to heal itself. Her main focus is to provide individuals with the encouragement, knowledge, and drive to transform and maintain a strong & supple body. Her classes are challenging, healing, and fun.

David first discovered yoga while working on his master's degree in Counseling, when a classmate invited him to Hot Yoga. As a result, his life changed forever. As a former martial artist the whole body approach to yoga appealed to him however it was experiencing his first Shavasana (final resting pose) when David quickly became enamored with mind-body yoga bliss.

To David, yoga practice is the first modality that truly brings balance into his life. He studied with Ashley Stewart Pehrson, Gopi Kinnicutt and Bentley Storm at Hot Yoga Usa in Washington D.C.

David's positive and welcoming energy is energizing and contagious. Additionally David’s warmhearted playful nature blends with his very calm, grounding presence to create a very safe and relaxing energy in his classes.

A native of South Beach, Florida, Evy is a nationally accredited fitness professional. In addition to her Pilates qualification from Balanced Body, she is a certified personal trainer with multiple certifications in group exercise instruction.

Evy's background in athletics and dance provides her with an in-depth understanding of human kinetics and the ability to prepare distinct, results-oriented fitness programs. Her teaching philosophy is to make each class entertaining & energetic but also educational.

Evy enjoys keeping up with the latest fitness trends and educating other instructors by leading instructional workshops. She has collaborated on over 18 nationally distributed fitness video projects, contributed fitness tips for news segments on local and syndicated TV, and modeled for fitness apparel designers.

Harper was born in Washington, DC and has lived in Maryland her whole life. She first became interested in yoga after taking an elective yoga class while studying interior design at Montgomery College. She started working as a receptionist at a local yoga and Pilates studio and soon became interested in Pilates because of the way it helped her better understand the body and how it moves.

After having the opportunity to work with the some of area’s best Pilates instructors, Harper was inspired to become one herself. She recently completed her 600-hour comprehensive training with Power Pilates. She feels very fortunate to have found such an amazing form of exercise and doesn’t know how she ever moved without it.

Laura Reiman found Pilates in 2007 while finishing her bachelor's degree in Mass Media Communications at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. After graduating and a year in the corporate world, Laura realized her true passion was learning and sharing all things Pilates.

Laura completed her Comprehensive Teacher Training Course with Body Arts and Science (BASI) in Brooklyn, New York under esteemed faculty members Lisa Hubbard and Brandon Gamble in 2012. She has recently moved back to her hometown of Alexandria, VA after living and teaching Pilates in Brisbane, Australia. As a competitive horseback rider and volleyball player, Laura loves how the method compliments other activities. She enjoys sharing the work with others and seeing the strength and length bodies can gain through a tailored and dedicated Pilates program.

Sarah (200RYT) completed her teacher training at Flow Yoga Center, Washington, D.C. Her style is energetic and flowing vinyasa infused with yoga philosophy and inspiring music. She creates an inviting environment to facilitate each student’s personal experience. For Sarah, physical movement is the path to calming the mind, finding ease in the body and allowing yoga to do its transformative work. Sarah has been practicing and studying yoga for over 15 years, including Jivamukti, Ashtanga, Hatha and Hot Yoga.

Sarah is inspired by Seane Corn, Shiva Rea, Jill Abelson and Rob Hess. She hopes to take yoga “off the mat” and into the community by making yoga available to children in need through after school programs. Her goal is to provide children with universal access to yoga as a method to deal with stress and body awareness.

In addition to pursuing her love of yoga, Sarah heads Whirlpool Corporation’s D.C. government relations office, focusing on Congressional and Administration affairs, most notably tax, trade, energy and environmental policy. Prior to joining Whirlpool Sarah worked for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative as Deputy Assistant USTR for Industry and Market Access. Sarah graduated from American University in Washington, DC with a Masters degree in International Economic Policy. She studied in Paris France at the Sorbonne and L’Institut des Etudes Politiques.