Pilates with calleja

Now offering virtual private sessions! Take a movement break with me and have the chance to feel more energized, grounded and strong. Click on the “what I offer” tab or send me a message for more details. No previous experience necessary, and only a mat required. See you on the other side of the screen!

Meet Me

Hello! I am a fully certified STOTT PILATES® instructor and post-rehab specialist based in NYC. I cam to Pilates as a young pre-professional dancer. After my career in modern dance, I have since become a writer and writing teacher, but I still find it crucial to remain grounded in the body and help others to do so. You can currently find me teaching group classes and privates at Kinespirit Riverside Gyrotonic and Pilates. I am passionate about helping people discover how to live and move well in their bodies, and achieve their fitness goals.

I hold an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia and a BFA in dance from Alonzo King LINES Ballet/Dominican Univ. of CA and I have been teaching Pilates in Houston, the San Francisco Bay Area, Metro Detroit, and New York City since 2011. I have worked with a wide range of clients, including athletes and dancers, teenagers, senior citizens, clients sustaining chronic injuries and conditions, and those undergoing post-rehabilitation from surgeries.

I tailor each class and private session specifically to my clients’ needs. I incorporate sound biomechanics within all of the workouts that I teach to ensure the safest and most effective Pilates experience. I would love to meet and work with you in person if you live in the NYC, or online if you are anywhere else in the world!

Certifications

STOTT PILATES®

Level 1 Full Certification (All Equipment)

Post-Rehabilitation Conditioning Specialization

Level 1 Full Certificate

Post Rehab Certificate

What I Offer

Private Sessions

Enjoy a workout that is tailored specifically to your postural type, needs, and fitness goals. My private sessions are ideal if you would like to achieve a solid foundation in the Pilates method for the first time, you are looking for a safe and effective way to address a particular injury/condition while building overall fitness, or if you would like to take your workout to the next level of intensity. You will receive individualized cues and modifications on a broad range of equipment to move with precision, strength, and joy!

Group Equipment Classes

I offer group equipment classes on a variety of Pilates apparatus, including the Reformer, Cardio Trampoline and Jumpboard, Chair, Cadillac tower, and Spring Wall. In each group equipment class, the core and extremities are challenged and supported with spring resistance. Experience a wide variety of exercises designed to improve posture, strength and flexibility, with a number of modifications offered to accommodate every person’s needs.

Virtual Sessions

These 1/2 hour or hour long sessions work great as a pre-work or mid-day boost, and provide real time instruction, programming and cues to give you the most of an in-home workout. Private sessions include a first time postural analysis, and subsequent personally designed sessions. Send me a message through my Contact tab above for discounted virtual private rates. Click here to sign up for my online group classes through Kinespirit Riverside in which you can join students worldwide in developing and maintaining a strong Pilates practice!

Testimonials

Calleja was my first Pilates instructor and my favorite. She did great work getting me familiar with the basics and improving my strength. A later instructor told me she could always tell a Calleja student because they know their breathing and are good at knowing their body positions. In addition I appreciated the way Calleja took my injuries into account and especially helped me with my plantar fasciitis by working on my hamstring flexibility. She was always patient and encouraging while also keeping things challenging.

~Pam C.

I would like to strongly endorse a highly qualified Pilates instructor named Calleja Smiley. She was my trainer in the studio we belonged to in Marin County, California. The studio has great instructors, but Calleja was what I would describe as a couple of levels above. Yet, she was able to come down to the amateur level in explaining body position. She would drill down verbally to get my core engaged and have the absolute perfect position for the best results. I have always had a bad back; Calleja would suggest easier moves to help protect my back and still get a great workout. I highly recommend Calleja Smiley, for personal and class lessons.

~Mike M.