Instructor Trainer bios

Saki began her STOTT PILATES^® journey in 2008 to support her conditioning as a ballet dancer. By practicing the exercises regularly, she gained physical and mental strength; that so-called mind-body connection. She has been practicing ballet and studying physiology to enhance her teaching and performance skills.

Saki’s based in Tokyo. She joined Sky Pilates Tokyo in 2015 and became a Merrithew^® Instructor Trainer in 2019.

One of her goals is to use all her knowledge in teaching and wellness to help people of all ages maintain functional health and quality movements so they live a happy, healthy life.

Since 2002, Sam Byron has been practicing Pilates and has been teaching STOTT PILATES^® since 2011, receiving his full STOTT PILATES Certification in 2014. He has special expertise in athletic conditioning, post-rehabilitation conditioning, active aging, and group training. In 2017, he became a Merrithew Instructor Trainer specializing in STOTT PILATES, Halo^® Training, and Total Barre^®. Sam earned his Masters of Science in Kinesiology, with a special focus in Corrective Exercise and Orthopedic Rehabilitation, from A.T. Still University. In 2011, he received a Bachelors of Science in Exercise Science from the University of Texas at Arlington.

His clients, who range from fitness enthusiasts to athletes, young to mature benefit from finding greater awareness of movement, core strength and injury prevention. Because Sam personally had to overcome the effects of autoimmune diseases, he has empathy for those in chronic pain. He applies his STOTT PILATES training to decrease the severity of his pain and his client’s.

Samia received her BA in dance before moving to New York to pursue a dance career. Following a knee injury, she became a STOTT PILATES^® Instructor in 2003. Samia taught Pilates in Austria and across the United States, working with a variety of clientele including athletes, pre- and post-natal women, seniors, post-rehab clients as well as with those struggling with their weight. In 2008, Samia become a Merrithew^® Instructor Trainer, specializing in STOTT PILATES and ZEN•GA^®. Samia currently teaches at Inspire Health, a Merrithew Licensed Training Center.

Sandra de Sousa Machado is the owner of Pilates Holistic Center Hamburg. Always looking for a way to combine therapy and training, she discovered the STOTT PILATES^® method. Sandra felt the difference in her body during the education process and long afterwards, and in November 2011 she continued her education in Toronto where she became an Instructor Trainer for Merrithew^® specializing in STOTT PILATES, and then became an IT for Total Barre^® in 2013. Sandra was the first Portuguese certified Merrithew Instructor Trainer and now combines over 10 years of teaching experience with her knowledge of Pilates, sport therapy, personal training and massage to ensure that clients experience the best in mind-body exercise. Her clientele includes professional athletes, singers, dancers and actors.

Sara is a physical therapist and entrepreneur who has owned Inspire Health in Atlanta, leading integrative physical therapy and Pilates center, since 2005. Sara's love of science and sport led her to earn an Undergraduate Degree in cellular biology from the University of Georgia and a Masters of Science in physical therapy from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She has spent her physical therapy career in outpatient orthopedic settings, and is a Board Certified Orthopedic Specialist, seeing complex patients referred by some of Atlanta's top physicians. In creating her own practice, Sara has been a leader in integrating Pilates and physical therapy into a patient-centric, outcomes-driven, consumer-pay clinical model. Since 2003, Sara has utilized the STOTT PILATES^® method for neuromuscular re-education and therapeutic intervention in her practice. Sara has partnered with Merrithew^® since 2007 as the owner of a Licensed Training Center and became a STOTT PILATES Rehab IT to continue to promote the integration of STOTT PILATES into the practices of rehabilitation professionals.