ABOUT KATHLEEN

Kathleen Keller is a teacher, a mentor, an explorer and risk-taker, a life-long student of health and fitness, and a warm, supportive and creative spirit driven to helping her clients and students achieve optimum health. She has devoted her life to the practice and teaching of bodywork and fitness. Drawing on her extensive experience, diverse training and decades of teaching in six countries, she has developed THE KELLER METHOD™, a distinctive approach to fitness and well-being that focuses on functional movement education and self-empowerment.

Kathleen has been a movement teacher since 1978 and a Pilates educator since 1997. She is dual-certified in Pilates Apparatus and Mat by Polestar® Hong Kong and STOTT® Vancouver, along with two extensive Pilates aprenticeships and on-going trainings in rehabilitation. Her additional edification includes: BASI (BodyArts & Science Pilates International, California), The Pilates Center Boulder methods and Yamuna Body Rolling® (Therapeutic Ball Release).

Kathleen is also a Certified Fascial Fitness Trainer - Divo Muller and Robert Schleip PhD., (Germany) and an Associate Teacher for Thomas Myers Anatomy Trains - Myofascial Workshops for Movement Educators (Maine, USA)

Her one of a kind approach blends Therapeutic Ball Release, Evolved Pilates methods and Myofascial Anatomy with related bodywork adaptations from: Feldenkrais Techniques®, The Franklin Method®, and Restorative Yoga. This results in a well-rounded method with a progressive and balanced approach to achieving overall body wisdom and health. Anyone can book Kathleen privately to learn her innovative techniques to enhance treatment, promote self-healing, re-educate posture and prevent injuries.

Kathleen is based out of Tower Sport Therapy in downtown Calgary, AB., Canada. She has developed a series of training courses for Health-Care Professionals in Therapeutic Ball Techniques and she teaches Thomas Myers Anatomy Trains courses for Movement Therapists.

Most currently she has launched an exciting new career direction called POSTURE MATTERS where she is teaching workshops in Postural Re-education with her new associate Eva DaSilva. See Posture Matters www.posturematters.ca more information on this new development.

Kathleen’s background

A former national level competitive gymnast and professional dancer, Kathleen began teaching athletics, fitness and dance in 1978 in Vancouver, Canada. In her twenties, she began studies in Kinesiology and the pursuit of a career in the health and fitness field.

After teaching dance and fitness, and performing on stage for 20 years, Kathleen discovered Pilates in the mid- ’90s. Her initial studies and apprenticeship began at The Method Center, a Polestar® rehabilitative studio in Vancouver under her first mentor, Rena Shields. She completed her Polestar® Studio certification under master educator Dawnna Wayburne in Hong Kong. Her STOTT® Reformer & Mat certification was completed in Vancouver and in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia under master educator Heather Low of Stott® Vanc and then Meridian Pilates, Vancouver.

In addition to her dual certification and rehabilitative apprenticeship, Kathleen has also completed a comprehensive apprenticeship on all apparatus at the Canadian Pilates Institute in Vancouver under the guidance of Linda Zurak, a Pilates Center Boulder graduate.

In 2002, Kathleen was recruited by the family of the Malaysian Prime Minister to manage the opening of Pilates studios in Malaysia and to train locals as Pilates instructors. At that time, Pilates was virtually unheard of in Southeast Asia, a region about 10 years behind North America in fitness knowledge. Here, Kathleen introduced the first international level of Pilates and Therapeutic Ball Release techniques to Malaysia, started up and managed two new studios, instructed clients and led teacher-training apprenticeship programs. Throughout Kuala Lumpur and various Malaysian provinces, she also led workshops for local physiotherapists and chiropractors.

In 2005, Kathleen was recruited to be the International Pilates Educator for a large chain of high-end health clubs in Indonesia — a country of 237 million people with, at that time, not one local international level Pilates instructor. She introduced the first international level Pilates teacher training program for locals and Therapeutic Ball Release techniques to that region, spoke at conferences, gave workshops and trained hospital physiotherapists and chiropractors. She directed the programming for nine clubs in both Indonesia and Malaysia and began the development of her own instructor-training courses, THE KELLER METHOD™.

In 2006, Kathleen moved to Alicante Spain, in order to more fully concentrate on the development of her instructor-training syllabus. During this time, she taught her methods to Pilates instructors and groups of physiotherapists in Spain and London, England. In 2007 she relocated to Calgary, Canada and based her practice out of LifeMark Physiotherapy Clinic.

In 2010 she joined her current team at Tower Sport Therapy. Here she maintains a busy private practice at while still concentrating on myofascial studies. Please go to www.posturematters.ca to find out more about her new POSTURE MATTERS courses.

CERTIFICATIONS / APPRENTICESHIPS / TRAININGS

Certified Fascial Fitness Trainer - Divo Muller & Dr. Robert Schleip PhD - 2013
Thomas Myers Anatomy Trains for Movement Educators - Certified Associate Teacher - Thomas Myers KMI Institute, Maine, USA 2012
POLESTAR Pilates ® - Certified Studio Instructor: Cadillac, Chair, Barrels, Mat & Reformer Hong Kong, 2003
Meridian Pilates - Cadillac, Chair & Barrels - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 2003
BASI Pilates Method (Body Arts and Science International): Two week intensive - Rael Isacowitz - California, 2002
Canadian Pilates Institute - Comprehensive 350 hour apprenticeship in all apparatus and two years of experience in the Pilates Center Boulder style - Vancouver, 2002 – 2000
STOTT® Pilates - Certified Instructor: Reformer and Mat - Vancouver, 1999
The Method Center – Polestar Rehabilitation Studio: Nine month apprenticeship, trained on all equipment with an emphasis on small apparatus including: foam rollers, ring, discs, balance board and therabands - Vancouver, 1997
Yamana® Body Rolling Practitioner - Certified Level 2, Body Logic of New York, 2000
Health & Fitness Kinesiology Certificate: Simon Fraser University, Vanc., Canada, 1984

In addition to the training above, Kathleen has also studied and /or attended intensive workshops with many other notable master teachers in related practices and the Pilates method including:

Thomas Myers, Anatomy Trains 17 hour Course Assistant - Calgary, AB - 2015(X2), 2014
James Earls, Walking the Lines 14 hour training- Seattle, WA - 2015
Thomas Myers, Anatomy Trains 17 hour Course Assistant – Richmond, BC - 2013
Pilates Rehabilitation - 32 hour training - Colleen Jorgensen, Osteopath - Calgary, 2011
Thomas Myers, Anatomy Trains 17 hour training – Calgary, AB Canada - 2010, 2009, 2008
Pilates Rehabilitation: 32 hour training - Colleen Jorgensen, Osteopath - Vanc., BC 2009
Pelvis Stabilization: Marie-josé Blom-Lawrence, Long Beach Dance - CA, USA - 2001
Pilates for Scoliosis and the SI Joint: Trealor Physiotherapy, Vancouver BC - 2001
Kathy Grant and Lolita san Miguel: Pilates Elders, California, U.S.A. -2002
Cathy Corey West Coast Pilates: Vancouver, Canada (2001)
Paul Check, Swiss Ball Master Educator: Attended numerous courses

Courses and Sessions attended while living in Asia: 2002-2006

Yoga & Breath - Donna Farhi, Singapore
POLESTAR® Pilates Educators - Brent Anderson & Alastair Greetham - Hong Kong
The Eric Franklin Method - Morten Dithmer, Singapore & Hong Kong
Alexander Technique - Andrew Fairweather, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Feldenkraise Movement & Gyrokinesis - Dawnna Wayburne, Malaysia & Hong Kong
Rolfing Movement - May Chan, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia