STAFF BIOS

As of 2009, Pengu’s President and Master Pilates trainer Sommer has close to 10,000 teaching hours.  Trained by the amazing Ellie Herman (author of Pilates for Dummies, inventor of the Springboard) on all Pilates apparatus’ in San Francisco, her movement career has taken her around the world to all types of students.  She has taught Pilates in places like China, Thailand, England, and in the US: San Francisco, Dallas, and of course DC.  She has trained people ranging in fitness from Olympic athletes to people with partial paralysis in the limbs.  In 2005 Sommer went to China to open her own wellness center in Beijing, Jara Wellness.

Love brought her back to the US in 2008 and currently resides in Falls Church, VA. Sommer began her movement career at 3 years old in classical ballet.  Throughout her life she studied various types of dance: African, Mexican (Folklorico), German, Tap (20 years), Jazz, Modern, Improvisational to name a few.  In her twenties she studied Gong Fu and Wushu from a Shaolin Temple Master in China.  Sommer is known for her kind yet motivating demeanor and sense of humor.  Her diverse background knowledge and how she incorporates all her experiences and techniques will give you an inspiring, disciplined, and challenging workout – regardless if you are fit, injured, recovering, or just starting out.

A life-long equestrian and former gymnast, Debra began Pilates in 1997 to help get back in shape after the birth of her second child. The combination of strength and agility required for Pilates intrigued her, and the efficiency of a whole body workout appealed to her. Working through a number of injuries and rehabbing them through Pilates made Debra a devoted student. After a 20 plus year career in the corporate world, she was looking to make a change and entered the Articulate Eye Teacher Training Program in 2003. After training with Jen Campbell of Articulate Eye and logging over 700 hours of training, she was certified in February 2004 to teach on all of the Pilates apparatus. Debra taught at the Pilates Studio at the American Dance Institute in Rockville for 5 years before branching out on her own in August 2009.

As an instructor she brings a high energy approach to helping people meet their goals. Debra particularly likes helping athletes overcome obstacles to excel in their field. She has helped rehab riders, figure skaters, marathon runners and tri- athletes as well as cancer survivors. A creative spirit at heart, she offers a varied and energetic approach.

A perpetual student, Debra recently completed a certification program with Power Pilates in New York. She has been privileged to attend numerous seminars through the PMA with many of the top scholars in pilates today – Mary Bowen, Deborah Lessen, Cara Reeser, Michele Larson, Irene Dowd, Amy Alpers, Peter Fiasca, Wendy Arbuckle, and Bob Liekens. She is committed to continuing education and enjoys exploring all the multi-layered facets of Pilates.

Erin is fully certified through Balanced Body as a mat and apparatus pilates instructor. She attends Pilates on Tour (POT) annually to stay abreast of current trends, as well as study under “the elders.” Erin teaches in a fashion which caters to each client’s needs and goals, ensuring that sessions are rehabilitative, informative, and challenging for the mind and muscles.

Alexandra started taking Pilates classes while in training at the Actors Studio Drama School, where she earned her MFA in directing. She saw incredible changes in her body quickly and knew she found a life-long practice. After moving back to New York, Alexandra decided Pilates was important enough to her to train as a teacher. She completed her comprehensive training at CORE Pilates, NYC in October 2009 and taught there until October 2011. Alexandra has education and experience in teaching all body types from those with injuries to prenatal.

Fitness and health are a few of Rula's passions as she's been a long time enthusiast. Although she's had a varied work experience, including sales, web content and even event management, Rula enjoys teaching, taking and learning about Pilates. She is certified in mat and apparatus. A native to the McLean area, Rula loves being at Pengu (as she even left only to come back). She credits Sommer for introducing her to real pilates and sparking the fire that started her teaching career. Rula loves to teach pilates mat, as she finds that the most challenging, but also believes that machine fundamentals are critical in mastering any floor exercise or even creative apparatus classes. Rula also enjoys vinyasa yoga, baking yummy desserts, writing, kicking back with her husband and Shiba Inu and her morning coffee (and of course a good pilates class).

Mary is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT 500), and Professional Yoga Therapist – Integrative Yoga Therapy. She has a gift for creating yoga classes that make people feel calm, focused and energized. Her classes are designed with a specific purpose in mind – to give people the tools that will help them find balance in their lives and to come away feeling more of who they already are – a being with infinite possibilities! She offers a safe environment for students at any level and invites them to discover their own playful nature, to develop a keen sense of curiosity and to dwell in limitless possibilities.

When Mary is teaching a power or vigorous class she guides students to challenge themselves in a healthy way, deepening self-awareness and emerging feeling whole and complete. Her language of alignment is designed to be instructive so that students develop a keen sense of self awareness and know when to push to the edge and when to surrender to a powerful inner strength. She has been heard to say ‘ when I see a student in child’s pose, I know the student is listening to their body’. Mary inspires students to discover their true nature and with it gain access to the powerful transformative energy that resides within.

Mary is also a student and teacher of integrative therapeutic yoga – the application of ancient yoga tradition in today’s world to help people find optimal health. She partners with physicians and physical therapists to help patients learn to manage chronic health conditions including Type II Diabetes, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, Fibromyalgia, and the effects of various cancer treatments. Stress is the major cause of illnesses that are seen in physician’s offices today, learning to work with stressors and the affects of stress is a major aim of therapeutic yoga. Mary works with students to create individualized programs so that students learn how to work within the current context of their lives and find ways to create a different context that reduces stress.

Caitlin, Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT), has been practicing yoga for over 10 years. She fell in love with the practice in high school while playing lacrosse and continued while earning her degree in Marketing from Michigan State University.

Caitlin began her teacher training in 2008 and has taught full
time ever since. She focuses on creating a challenging class
with a choreographed flow linking breath, movement, and music
to create a seamless vinyasa. She encourages students to take
chances, be courageous, and even be willing to fall.