Qualified Gyrotonic® Instructors
Instructors must complete extensive training. There is only one Gyrotonic training available as the inventor of Gyrotonic is alive just as the Gyrotonic Expansion system is alive. Find out more at www.gyrotonic.com
Jessica Talisman, Instructor/Owner:
Jessica started teaching in 1995 after graduating from Smith College, BA in History. In 1996 after working in an Elementary school for 1 year, Jessica entered a Masters in Teaching for Secondary Education with a focus in History and Language Arts at Lewis and Clark College. While in Graduate school, Jessica taught horseback riding at the Lake Oswego Hunt Club. She had grown up riding and training horses since the age of five, and rode competitively from through college, distinguishing her competitive riding career by finishing in 5th place in Zone finals. To balance the rigors of school and the high impact of riding, Jessica decided to deepen her Yoga practice. This practice became a passion and soon a true dedication. Inspired by the book The Passionate Teacher by Robert L Fried that states that one must teach their passion in order to be a good teacher, Jessica realized-- movement is her passion. It was not until 1999 that Jessica had the opportunity to complete a three-month intensive Yoga certification in Los Angeles with Bikram Choudhury.
She opened Hall Street Yoga in 1999 and soon after comenced her studies in Pilates. Fate have it, she was contracted to teach Yoga in a Pilates studio and fell in love with the practice. Jessica completed more than 800 hours of study with the Pilates Guild under the guidance of Joseph Pilates protegee Romana Kryzanowska from 1999-2002. Jessica started teaching Pilates in 2001 in a small studio within her Yoga studio. Jessica's love for Pilates took over and in early 2003, Jessica sold her Yoga studio and moved the Pilates studio to SE Belmont. In 2004 she pursued further training with the Power Pilates Bridge program and Niedra Gabriel. She has also studied the Peak Pilates System. Jessica continues to learn from different modalities and forms of movement. Jessica is certified in the Gyrotonic Expansion System and has been teaching Gyrotonic since 2005. She continues to advance her studies in Gyrotonic. She has completed her Level II Gyrotonic Prep Course with Debra Rose and is also certified to teach on the Ladder, a specialized piece of equipment. She was fortunate to attend the Lower Lumbar Specialized Workshop with Paul Horvath. Jessica has designed and taught numerous workshops and has served as a Master Teacher in St Lucia and Grenada for 5 years at two exclusive European resorts.
Jessica has kept moving through two pregnancies and believes in the benefits of Pilates and Gyrotonic firsthand. She not only used the two modalities to keep strong but also to help with the birthing process and ease the difficulties of postpartum recovery. Pregnancy is one of the greatest gifts for increasing body awareness experiencing the ability to change the body.
Above all, Jessica frequently pursues continuing education opportunities to maintain the continuum of the learning process. Her aim is to never allow movement to get stuck in a pattern for any student. It is important to constantly keep the body and mind interested so the person can grow and the body can evolve. Jessica still loves Riding, Yoga, Pilates, Gyrotonic and most recently, the writings of Bruce Lee.
Check out studio owner Jessica Talisman as a Lululemon Athletica Ambassador. Lulu is a wonderful company based out of Canada that offers amazing workout clothes. They support the community and environment with fabulous events in store and throughout PDX! Visit Lululemon
Teresa Lee
Teresa Lee was first introduced to Pilates through ballet while attending the University of Oregon. She was immediately impressed with the work as it improved her sense of balance and control. Teresa continued her Pilates practice when she moved to Colorado to dance with the Boulder Ballet. It was there that she found The Pilates Center, where she embarked upon 800 hours of study with highly skilled and revered mentors, to finally become certified in March of 2003. She and her husband moved to Portland in September of 2004, which is when Teresa began working at reForm Pilates and Movement. Her passion for movement has led her to also train in the Gyrotonic Expansion system. She finds that the combination of Pilates and Gyrotonic compliment one another and give her clients a heightened sense of healthful movement in their bodies. Teresa is thrilled to work with the wonderful instructors and clients at reForm. Creating change in bodies and eliminating pain is a very rewarding process that she finds, not only ongoing, but very fulfilling.
Kelli Kessler
Kelli Kessler began her Pilates training in 2000 after graduating from Colorado College. Steering herself towards a career in the medical field with her Biology degree, it took two Pilates classes, to begin to realize what her true passion was: To help people connect more deeply to themselves through their body as she was discovering within herself. She began a two-year apprenticeship with Master Pilates trainer Lara Kolesar in Boulder, Colorado. Learning a very tactile approach to teaching from Lara, Kelli discovered the gifts that Lara was giving her were beyond just Pilates. She was teaching her a method of becoming an intuitive, body-wise movement teacher with a keen eye for seeing movement patterns in the body.
Kelli’s kinesthetic abilities began at a young age as a natural athlete. She played competitive tennis and lacrosse throughout her youth and became an All-American lacrosse player at Colorado College. Through her athletic successes, Kelli discovered that there is a fine line between using her body and abusing it. Suffering from low back pain often through her athletic years, she was determined to figure out how to move more efficiently and without pain. During her 5 years in Boulder she became a certified Pilates instructor in 2002 and a certified massage therapist in 2003. She also immersed herself deeply in the study of Hatha yoga with Sofia Diaz and the study of Gabriel Roth’s 5Rhythms™ dance with Melissa Michaels. Through exploration and dedication, these modalities helped relieve her back pain, discover herself, as well as deepen her understanding of the entire mind/body/spirit connection.
In 2005, she moved to Portland, Oregon with her husband and shortly thereafter joined the reForm team. Kelli has been teaching Classical Pilates at reFORM since 2005. In 2007 she dove into the exciting world of Gyrotonic and is currently teaching both Gyrotonic and Pilates. Kelli is currently pursuing her Gyrokinesis certification. With almost a decade on this journey through movement as both a teacher and student, Kelli finds her work very rewarding. She is committed to contributing her gift in this world by helping people cultivate and strengthen their connection to their bodies thus helping them walk a stronger, more centered path in their lives. Kelli is passionate about sharing her wealth of knowledge through Pilates, Gyrotonic, and Massage. Her flexibility as both an instructor and Massage Therapist allows her to help clients realize the deep connections within the body. Kelli is currently offering massage by appointment at the new reFORM Annex.
