reFORM - Portland pilates and Gyrotonic in Portland, Oregon

Kelli Kessler

Kelli 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.