Instructor Trainer bios

Minah, originally from Korea, arrived in Canada at the age of 19. Her journey with Pilates began as she found comfort in its ability to improve posture and relieve pain. Luckily, living near the Merrithew^® Toronto Corporate Training Centre, she immersed herself in comprehensive courses in 2015. After spending eight years in Canada, she moved to Australia in 2017 to start a new chapter.

In 2018, she founded Blue Sky Pilates, which is not just a studio but also a Merrithew Host Training Center. Now a STOTT PILATES^® Instructor Trainer, Minah facilitates convenient access to Merrithew programs for Australian students. Minah is committed to learning and loves sharing her accumulated wisdom with students. She recently broadened her expertise to include the Gyrotonic method and became a Certified Instructor.

After exploring a number of dance styles over a 15-year career, Mirela entered the world of fitness in 1995. In 2000, she started her Pilates education, then in 2002 she expanded her education with the internationally-renowned STOTT PILATES^® program at the Merrithew^® Corporate Training Center in Toronto, becoming a fully-certified Instructor. She went on to become a Merrithew Instructor Trainer specializing in STOTT PILATES. Mirela is an external associate at the University of Kinesiology in Zagreb, and she regularly presents at the International Congress of Sport Training as well as at the Aerobic and Body-Mind Congresses in Croatia and Europe. Starting in 2012, she has worked with a number of athletes, creating sport-, season- and position-specific programs.

Monique is the founder of Pilates Winnipeg, a Merrithew^® Licenced Training Centre in Manitoba, which opened in 1997. She is one of very few bilingual Merrithew Lead Instructor Trainers and upon request to teach any certification course or examination in both English and French. A graduate of The National Ballet School, Monique has over 30 years of teaching experience. Monique is also a certified Gyrotonic instructor.

In 2007 and again in 2009, she received a mentorship award as a result of recommendations from her peers, along with a lifetime achievement award from Merrithew. She recently hosted Moira Merrithew at her studio in celebration of the studio's 20th anniversary.

Mor has been involved in sports her whole life, and played professional European handball for 15 years. Her love and passion for understanding the human body led her to study exercise science. In 2002 she received her Bachelor of Sciences degree in Nutrition and Exercise Sciences, and in 2005 she graduated with her Masters Degree in Exercise Sciences from Queens College of the City University of New York. Mor and a colleague conducted research into the Changes in Landing Mechanics After Cold-Water Immersion, the results of which were published in the June 2010 edition Journal of Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport (http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-227945281.html). Mor was certified as an Instructor Trainer for Merrithew^® specializing in STOTT PILATES^® in 2009 and is also a Total Barre^® Qualified Instructor. Mor's ability to understand, give and listen to each client, matches her genuine wish for each of her student's success. The feedback from her students has always been positive, praising her as a wonderful, inspirational teacher.

Nadja began her training with STOTT PILATES^® in 2002 became a certified Instructor Trainer for Merrithew^® in 2004.