Element Pilates Studio
Lisa Thompson
Andrea Murphy
Natalia Tikhonova
Lisa Thompson
As a professional modern dancer, Lisa has an extensive background in movement and has been performing, teaching and touring across the country, and abroad for over 20 years. She holds a B.A. in Dance from the UW and continues her studies in other movement techniques to bring a dynamic movement world into her teaching. She became fascinated with dance at the age of four, in tap dance class, and her curiosity of the body and movement continues today. Arriving in Seattle in 1992, she discovered Pilates to assist with her dancing. Introduced to the technique by Michele Miller, then later studied with Master Instructor Cary Regan. After studying many different Pilates programs, Lisa ultimately chose STOTT Pilates and completed her Full Certification in 2004.
A profound love, and study of Yoga, led Lisa to the Samarya Center where, in 2006, she became a Certified Yoga Teacher, and began studying Integrated Movement Therapy. This teaching and movement journey has led her down many different paths of mind/body modalities including Aston Patterning, Feldenkreis, Gyrotonics, the Franklin Method, and the Alexander Technique, among many others.
Lisa brings all of these different movement modalities, and a thoroughly trained eye, into her teaching and can easily address each client's specific needs and challenges to help them actualize and integrate their mind/body potential in the safest, most efficient way.
In 2009 Lisa also completed her certification in Nutritional Therapy, bringing another component into the studio that she is equally passionate about. She consults as a Nutritional Therapist regularly helping clients to reveal yet another layer of their mind/body connection through nutrition.
Andrea Murphy
After working for twenty years on the administrative/management side of health care, Andrea decided to make a shift in her career and become a provider of health care. In 2005 she went to massage school at Brenneke School of Massage where she later graduated as a Licensed Massage Therapist. She has always been fascinated by anatomy and worked for 14 years as an Office Manager for PT clinic in the North Seattle area. While going to massage school, she began doing Pilates with a friend who was getting her certification. As a personal workout, she loved it! She had many chronic injuries from years of playing tennis and running and had given up on several different forms of exercise at that point.
Andrea looked into getting certified because she felt Pilates would be the perfect adjunct to her career as an LMP. She became STOTT certified in 2008. She loves teaching Pilates to both beginners as well as athletes and more advanced clients. She is an avid tennis player and finds that her Pilates workouts help her stay injury free.
In addition to tennis, she is a dog lover. She became certified as a small animal massage practitioner after graduating from massage school and she works doing massage and swim therapy with injured and older dogs.
Natalia Tikhonova
Natalia is a trained Stott Pilates Instructor coming from a background in aerobic exercise and physical therapy. She began her career as an aerobics pioneer in Moscow, Russia in 1991 when she received certification in rhythmic gymnastics. She later rose to group exercise director and general manager of a Moscow Sports Club. She continued her career in America in 2002 as a group exercise instructor working at All-Star Fitness, Pro-robics and other clubs. She is currently certified by AFAA in group exercise and is pursuing certification in Fundamentals of Movement for the Orthopedic Patient.
In 2007, Natalia received an Associates Degree in Physical Therapy and presently works at the University of Washington Exercise Training Center as a licensed Physical Therapist Assistant. In her clinical work, Natalia has worked extensively with patients having lower back pain, scoliosis and needing functional movement restoration after injury or surgery. She discovered Pilates as an exercise format ideally suited for fitness and rehabilitation, and decided to become a Pilates instructor to apply this knowledge when working with clients seeking to restore healthy movement patterns, musclular strength and balance, and proprioceptive self-awareness.