Shift Pilates Body Shop hasn’t even been open for a year yet, and already, something remarkable is happening in this light-filled, plant-filled Pilates home off Meeting St. in Downtown Charleston. Its founders Joe and Diana Walker poured their heart and soul into the process of bringing Shift into form last year, and now it has a life of its own—two full-time instructors, a robust, diverse community that’s grown organically, and a second location already on the horizon to open in West Ashley this summer. Diana, Shift’s lead instructor, says her purpose is to help people feel better and find a felt-sense of home in their bodies, and that’s exactly what’s happening with Shift’s clients.
The reasons people start doing Pilates range from seeking relief of pain from injuries or chronic conditions, to wanting to build a stronger core, to desiring a long life of movement and enjoying their body. No matter what the initial reason is that gets them into the door, what they will discover after consistent practice is that they’ll never feel the same way about their body again. Suddenly, through the Pilates method, you become a team with your body. You start to hear its voice, learn more about your habitual patterns, and find new ways of inhabiting it.
If you’re willing to let it, Pilates can be a homecoming, and a return to life through discovering the joy of movement and the natural healing abilities of the mind-body—no matter what your body’s story is.
Diana didn’t always feel at home in her body or have this perspective about Pilates. Like most experts and pioneers, she has had her own, winding journey of arriving at this orientation. When she started her Pilates instructor certification process at age 23, her intention wasn’t to change the course of her life. At that time, she was a Health and PE teacher and certified Personal Trainer. She thought getting certified in Pilates would simply be continuing education for personal training, specifically with how it could help her clients develop core strength. She considered herself a young, fit, active, and healthy 23 year old—she was a runner, soccer player, and weightlifter. She loved to hike and go rock climbing. And yet, she was also carrying around a secret about chronic pain and deep concerns for her body. Back and neck muscle spasms afflicted her day and night. Back, knee and ankle pain was chronic, and she was getting dizzy spells while teaching middle school students due to dysfunctional breathing patterns that originated in childhood asthma.
“I never knew why these things were happening to me. I felt that I was too young, too fit and too active to be feeling these things. I kept a lot of it a secret and just hoped it would go away,” says Diana. Most of us can probably relate to this in some way or another. We’re carrying around this thing, or multiple things, that are going on in our bodies or minds, and we think we’re all alone, wondering how it could be happening to us. We think we have to just deal with it and put on a face to get through life. What Pilates did for Diana was bring light and awareness to how she was experiencing her body and how she was treating it. This new awareness made space for her to make changes and learn to care for and relate to herself in a new way, with the practical tools of Pilates.
During her first weekend training, they were all sitting on the floor. She could barely listen, because of the pain searing through her body just by sitting. “I looked around at everyone else, and realized I was deficient in that skill. We were doing movements that I felt so awkward in, and my body didn’t want to move that way. I didn’t know why my body was doing what it was doing and not what the instructor was saying. Everything just hurt. After a couple of days though, my eyes and mind started seeing what the goal was, and I was absolutely fascinated by the idea of understanding my body in a new way. It was mind blowing that I actually had some control over how I felt, and that I wasn't just a victim to injuries, pain, spasms, scoliosis and dizziness. These weren’t things that I just had to accept and deal with for the rest of my life. This new feeling of control, authority, or a say over my own self and my body was one of the first times in my short life that I felt empowered. This is what you call a shift in perspective.”
As the training went on and her Pilates journey unfolded, for the first time in her life, she felt confident, grounded, and more mobile in her body. It radically transformed all aspects of her life, most importantly the way she thought about, viewed, and spoke to her body. This transformation led Diana onto a path of helping others, and she developed her gift of being able to resonate with the body in front of her. Today this gift provides her with the ability to read whomever’s body she’s working with, with accuracy and intuition. She’s now been teaching Pilates for just over 16 years and has honed her craft of guiding people expertly through movement in a mind-body shifting way—a way that doesn’t try to fix someone, but rather, invites the person as a whole to join in on the experience of the Pilates method. Diana’s guidance will breathe life into your body’s movement and shift you into a new awareness of the whole, brilliant human being you are. Hence the name, Shift Pilates Body Shop.
Here at Shift, we want to offer everyone that comes in a shift in perspective and the gift of discovering a deeper relationship with their mind-body. We want everyone to know they have access to a long life of moving and breathing and feeling the joy of being alive. The Pilates method is simply the set of tools to take you there. The journey may take time, but we’ve seen it happen again and again in clients, where habitual patterns are unwound, the breath is moving into new places, injuries are no longer holding you back, and the body is feeling more resilient and mobile than ever before. These physical shifts start to ripple out into your mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. When we feel empowered and at home in our bodies, it transforms the other areas of our lives too.
We hope that when you come to Shift you find home in your body and home in our community. Diana and the Shift Team recently hired a second instructor, Dana, who has had her own experience of shifting perspectives about her body and finding confidence in life through Pilates. With two full-time instructors, we have a robust weekly schedule full of opportunities to develop your Pilates practice and connect with others doing the same. We welcome everyone from beginners to advanced practitioners.
We are the go-to place to learn classical and contemporary Pilates principles. At Shift, you’ll develop a life-long practice with these principles in your mind and body and debunk common Pilates myths. Our community of diverse individuals is brought together by a shared desire to build a sustainable fitness practice and become the fullest versions of ourselves. We’re dedicated to all facets of personal growth, and this shines through in the way organic encouragement and support flows between our staff and clients. We’re here to help you shift into more of you.
Diana Walker
Certified Pilates Instructor and Certified Personal Trainer
Owner + Lead Pilates Instructor at Shift Pilates Body Shop
Phone Number: 843.708.1566
Email: heyyo@shiftbodyshop.com
Website: www.shiftbodyshop.com
Instagram: shiftpilatesbodyshop