This is part of our Meet Our Visiting Instructor Series where you get to read about some of the visiting teachers and educators to our studio.
Meet Stephanie Ross-Russell, 
lecturer and facilitator with art-of-motion academy.
What have you been up to recently?
A lot of reading and study about fascia and what makes us move!
How long have you been a Pilates teacher and what inspired you to become one?
I’ve been teaching Pilates for 21 years. I did my initial training with Alan Herdman in London following an ankle injury that forced me to retire from the professional dance world. I had been a dancer with London Contemporary Dance Theatre and Richard Alston Dance Company and having to give that up because of my ankle gave me huge motivation to try to understand what went wrong and how can we move better to be more resilient, avoid injury and bounce back when we do get hurt.
What’s your favourite Pilates exercise? Why?
Teaser on the reformer! Not only for the challenge but the way it requires total focus which wakes up the mind and the body beautifully and the contrasting full body front line opening over the box afterwards is the reward ?
If Joe Pilates was still alive, what would you ask him?
Jeez, what to ask?? I don’t think I’d ask him anything. I would thank him wholeheartedly.
What are your top three tips for clients and students for progressing their Pilates practice?
1) Find and honour your own rhythm. 2) Stay curious about your body and it’s incredible potential 3) Move in as many different multidimensional ways as possible every day.
Describe your teaching style in less than ten words
Detailed, challenging and calm. Passionate about movement for living well.
Where are your three favourite places in the world?
- Home. Lisbon. My mothers farm house in Southern Portugal.
What are the top three things on your bucket list?
1) Climb Mount Kilimanjaro with my husband. (I’m scared of heights) 2) Take up cross-country skiing (I hate the cold but think the movement is awesome ) 3) Gather all the special people in my life for a BIG party.
Tell us about someone who inspires you
Karin Gurtner. For her endless energy and optimism, her unrelenting quest to understand more and more deeply what moves us, her complete and utter professionalism and her fierce commitment to providing the best movement training out there.
When you’re not teaching what do you do for kicks?
Movies! I love the movies and I also love being on our beach in Portugal.☀️
Tell us one last thing we might not know about you
17 years ago my husband and I did 3 courses of IVF treatment and third time we got lucky and had triplets! Physical and emotional challenges aside, today we have 3 strapping 17 year old young men and it’s certainly kept us on our toes with never a dull moment! Wouldn’t change it for the world.???
Stephanie teaches Anatomy Trains in Motion courses with us in Dublin.
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