Instructor Trainers

Heather Lawson is an Instructor Trainer for Merrithew^® specializing in Total Barre^® and is a Lead IT for STOTT PILATES^®. A valuable member of the company's prestigious programming team, she has been teaching Pilates for over 10 years and is also an ACE Certified Instructor. Heather graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2000 where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ballet Performance. Heather was involved in the most recent DVD production for Merrithew as a featured performer and instructor

With a strong athletic talent, Helen began competitive gymnastics training at the age of five, and then took part in radio direction finding, triple jump and other competitions. Helen discovered STOTT PILATES^® by chance at a ChinaFit Conference and was intrigued by the method’s scientific approach to physical training. In 2014, she began to study STOTT PILATES. The course gave her a new understanding of biomechanics, functional training, fascial movement, and rehabilitation practices, etc.

In 2018, Helen became a STOTT PILATES Certified Instructor. In 2020, she became a STOTT PILATES Instructor Trainer.

Helen has seven years of experience teaching Pilates, and has set up her own studio in Beijing, where she’s taught more than 10,000 classes. In the face of heavy teaching tasks and different demands of customers, Helen believes in ongoing self-improvement and completes the top courses in China every year. She regularly combines her STOTT PILATES training methods and other modalities to solve her customers’ needs in a holistic way.

Holly was introduced to Pilates through her passion for dance, and she has always been intrigued by how the body moves. Now, she has over 16 years of experience teaching Pilates and is the founder and CEO of the only Merrithew^® Licensed Training Center in San Francisco, Blue Sparrow Pilates.

Offering a wealth of experience in working with diverse clientele from professional athletes to those in rehabilitation, Holly is dedicated to helping others live healthier lives and support other students in mastering skills required to become successful fitness professionals.

Holly is driven to share her knowledge and enthusiasm with other teachers. In addition to regularly publishing on her own blog, her written work has appeared in publications such as Pilates Style Magazine and she has contributed two books. She is also a regular contributor to important industry online platforms such as PilatesIntel, Pilates-Pro, PilatesPal, and Profitable Pilates. Holly designed a Pilates Prenatal App that accumulated over 85,000 downloads in the first year—she is currently working on creating its sequel.

Because of her love for continuous learning, Holly has a host of certifications and trainings under her belt. She became a Merrithew^® Lead Instructor Trainer in 2016 after receiving her STOTT PILATES^® certification in 2001 and becoming an Instructor Trainer for Merrithew, specializing in STOTT PILATES in 2011. Additionally, she is a Lead Instructor Trainer for Merrithew Fascial Movement (2017), CORE^™ (2013) and Total Barre^® (2015). Holly holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Dance from the University of Michigan, and a Masters of Fine Arts in Choreography and Performance from Mills College in Oakland, California.

In 2014, Holly combined her career as a professional dancer with teaching Pilates when she became a Merrithew^® Instructor Trainer in STOTT PILATES^®. In addition to teaching private and group classes at Pacific NW Pilates, she currently performs with the contemporary ballet company ‘push/FOLD’ in Portland, Oregon. She’s also the company’s managing director! To this day she continues to use Pilates as a form of cross training for her dance career. Holly also specializes in training athletes and dancers, and enjoys guiding older adults and clients with special needs to use effective and efficient movement in all areas of life.

Prior to her certification, Holly danced professionally with Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, BodyVox, Éowyn Emerald and Dancers, and skinner|kirk DANCE ENSEMBLE—performing internationally in Japan, South Korea, Germany and India. Along with her pre-physical therapy studies, Holly graduated in 2010 from the University of Utah with a BFA in Ballet, with an emphasis in performance and teaching.

Karyn stumbled upon STOTT PILATES^® after suffering a serious knee injury that caused her a lot of pain. Being amazed by the therapeutic benefits the STOTT PILATES method offered, she decided to learn more and subsequently became a STOTT PILATES Certified Instructor in 2015 and is now a Merrithew^® Instructor Trainer.

After making the decision to leave her corporate career to further pursue a career in Pilates, she focused her attention towards post-rehabilitation. In 2017 she earned her specialist designation in STOTT PILATES Post-Rehabilitation Conditioning and a year later she became a Fully Certified STOTT PILATES Instructor. Karyn has also studied Release Technique and CranioSacral Therapy and hopes to help clients find their inner balance to facilitate better movement and enjoy a pain-free life.

As a modern dance major, Hanna has studied the movements of the body since childhood.

After years of examining and scrutinizing her own body, she realized how unsound movements and poor posture could negatively affect one’s life. She started Pilates to rediscover her body's balance, eventually progressing to become a STOTT PILATES^® Certified Instructor.

She has endeavored to inform and educate others about the needs and benefits of Pilates, which culminated in her becoming a Merrithew^® Instructor Trainer.

Currently, as an instructor at PILATES THE FIT in Seoul, South Korea, Hanna not only guides clients to lead healthier lives through Pilates, but she also serves as an Instructor Trainer, teaching many students about the STOTT PILATES method. She looks forward to continuing to share her passion and enthusiasm for Pilates with many more clients and students to come.

Merrithew^® Lead Instructor Trainer Ineke Rush Madsen began her training in Pilates at the age of 12 in New York City with Carola Trier, a colleague and student of Joseph Pilates, with whom she trained extensively. She simultaneously trained at the Dance Theatre of Harlem School where the syllabus was influenced by Kathy Grant.

After a 10-year career as a professional ballet and modern dancer with the Dance Theatre of Harlem, Cleveland San Jose Ballet, Ballethnic Dance Company and Cleveland Contemporary Dance Theatre, Ineke pursued STOTT PILATES^® Certification with Merrithew. She is fully certified to work with all levels, as well as those with post-rehab injuries and other special conditions. She has been an Instructor Trainer since 2004, and was designated Lead Instructor Trainer in 2016. She has taught STOTT PILATES Certification courses and workshops throughout the Bay Area, Northern California, and in Reno, Nevada.

Ineke is a Certified Personal Trainer with the American Council on Exercise and is licensed by the State Medical Board of Ohio in Massage Therapy. She is a Total Barre^® and Halo^® Training Instructor Trainer for Merrithew. She is also a certified yoga instructor (200 RYT).

In 2006 Ineke opened Mindful Movement Collective in Newark, California, a movement and wellness center which became a Merrithew Licensed Training Center in 2008. She opened a second location in Pleasant Hill, California, in 2017. She teaches at both locations and is also on faculty at Ohlone College in Fremont and Newark, California, in both the Athletics and Theatre and Dance Departments.

Originally from Russia, Irina started her ballet training in early childhood. She discovered Pilates while rehabilitating after a knee injury and since then has used Pilates as a part of her training regime. Pilates helped her prolong her dancing career and avoid injury.

Retiring from dance in 2012, Irina obtained her STOTT PILATES^® Certification, and in 2016 she became an Instructor Trainer for Merrithew^® specializing in STOTT PILATES. Currently Irina teaches in Tokyo, Japan.

Irma earned her Master’s Degree in Fine Arts from the University of California, Irvine in 2001. While studying for her MFA in 1998, she took her first Pilates certification. In 2002 she earned full certification in STOTT PILATES^®. Irma is now an Instructor Trainer for Merrithew^® specializing in STOTT PILATES. Her passion for correcting form and healing the body motivated her to add her certifications in Active Isolated Stretching in 2010 and in 2011 she became certified in TRX^® Suspension Training. Irma is also a certified instructor for GYROKINESIS^® and GYROTONIC^®.

Ishbel started practicing yoga with her mom when she was five years old and has practiced and studied yoga ever since. After a serious back injury, Ishbel began studying Pilates as a means of stabilizing her spine. She fell in love with the way Pilates transformed her body and has been teaching yoga and Pilates for the past 10 years. Ishbel is the owner of Nomad Yoga & Pilates, LLC, a business that brings yoga and Pilates classes to people in their homes and offices. She is an Instructor Trainer for Merrithew^® specializing in STOTT PILATES^® and has also earned a variety of Yoga certifications. Ishbel works extensively with individuals who are recovering from injuries, and loves watching the progression from instability and pain to stability and ease-of-movement and easily relates to the relief that Pilates brings to people’s lives!