Teaching The Person In Front of You
A Three Month Mentorship For Pilates And Movement Teachers
You know the exercises. Beyond the repertoire, how do you observe, interpret, choose and adapt in response to the individual person in front of you?
Teaching the Person in Front of You is a three-month mentorship for Pilates and movement teachers who want to deepen their critical thinking and integrative movement reasoning.
It is designed for teachers who know the exercises and principles of Pilates, but want more confidence in responding to the complexity of real people: understanding what matters, asking better questions, making thoughtful movement choices and adapting when the original plan does not fit.
This is not a certification or a clinical qualification. It is a small, supported learning environment for teachers who want to build more discernment, practical skill and confidence in their everyday teaching.
For this cohort, a maximum of six online places and four in-studio places are available.
Applications are reviewed for fit, followed by a short conversation before enrolment.
You may know the Pilates repertoire well,
and still feel unsure what to do next.
Most teacher training gives us an essential foundation: movement principles, repertoire, anatomy, contraindications and a structure for teaching. But once you are in front of a real person, the questions become more nuanced.
Do these sound familiar?
- You have a plan, but something about it does not fit the person in front of you that day.
- You can see that a client is struggling, compensating or holding back, but you are not yet sure what information matters most.
- You know many possible modifications, but choosing one can feel like guesswork.
- You want to work more thoughtfully with people who bring pain, injuries, stress, changing capacity or complex histories into the room.
- You want to remain firmly within your scope of practice while developing more confidence in how you observe, reason, respond and connect.
- You want to build sessions around the person, rather than trying to fit the person into the session.
- You want to communicate more effectively with your clients, to create the best possible conditions for learning.
It's Time To Take Your Skills To The Next Level
Teaching the Person in Front of You is a space to slow down the decision making process, examine your habits and assumptions, and develop practical ways to move from observation to choice to reassessment. Gain the skills and confidence to ask better questions, recognize when more information is needed and build programmes that are more coherent, responsive and impactful.
This is not a certification, a clinical qualification or a catalogue of fixed protocols. It is a professional mentorship for teachers who want to become more discerning in the way they think, work and communicate.
Two Mentorship Options to Explore
$
1195
Online Only Mentorship Tier
A focused online learning community for teachers who want to sharpen their critical thinking, deepen their integrative movement reasoning and bring more confidence to the decisions they make in everyday teaching
$
1795
Online + In-Studio Mentorship Tier
Everything in the online mentorship, with the added depth of in-person observation, embodied exploration and live dialogue in the Moving Spirit studio, for teachers who want to practise translating thoughtful reasoning into real time teaching.
Program Preview
October to December 2026
The program includes five live online mentorship sessions, one online Case Reflection and Reasoning Clinic, and optional in studio intensives in North Vancouver. Exact times will be confirmed with accepted participants, with a mix of Saturday and Friday evening sessions.
Date | ONLINE MODULE | Focus |
|---|---|---|
Sat. October 3, 2026 90 mins | Online Module 1: | Clarifying your role, values and responsibility as a movement teacher, and learning to begin with the person rather than the program |
Sat. October 17, 2026 90 mins | Online Module 2: Seeing Before Solving | Developing a more useful way to observe, ask questions and form tentative working hypotheses |
Sat. October 31, 2026 90 mins | Online Module 3: | Making movement choices that connect with client goals, existing resources and real time feedback |
Sat. November 14, 2026 90 mins | Online Module 4: | Learning to adjust when the plan does not fit, while remaining collaborative, responsive and within scope |
Sat. November 28, 2026 2 Hours | Online Group Session: | Applying the shared framework to real teaching questions in a facilitated group case discussion |
Sat. December 12, 2026 90 mins | Online Module 5: From Insight To Practice | Integrating your learning, strengthening reflective habits and creating a practical next step for your teaching |
DATE (To be confirmed) | IN-STUDIO INTENSIVE MODULE | FOCUS |
Fri. October 9, 2026 | In-Studio Intensive Module 1 | Embodied Observation and Inquiry |
Fri. November 6, 2026 | In-Studio Intensive Module 2 | Movement Experiments and Responsive programming |
Fri. December 4 | In-Studio Intensive Module 3 | Teaching Practice, Feedback and Integration |
* Final dates will be confirmed with accepted participants.
About Your Guide / Susannah Steers
Susannah Steers is a Pilates and Integrated Movement Specialist, educator, and founder of Moving Spirit Pilates in North Vancouver. Her work is shaped by nearly three decades of Pilates teaching, a background in modern dance, and more than thirty years spent teaching, coaching, and mentoring developing teachers.
She brings an integrated, person centred lens to movement education, grounded in close observation, thoughtful listening, clinical reasoning, and respect for the individual in front of her. Susannah built Moving Spirit from a one reformer home practice into a thriving boutique studio, where client history, individualized programming, continuity of care, and responsive teaching are central to the work.
Throughout her career, Susannah has taught and facilitated teacher training, workshops, and professional development for Pilates studios, health organizations, fitness facilities, dance programs and other movement communities. She is particularly interested in helping teachers move beyond applying a system or repertoire and toward developing the confidence, curiosity, discernment, and relational skills needed to teach real people well.
Her teaching extends beyond the studio through conversations, writing, and educational programming. Through her podcast appearances and her Substack publication, Dialogues on Movement, she explores the evolving practice of teaching, movement observation, professional growth, and the human side of working with bodies. Her work invites teachers to think deeply, stay responsive, and develop an approach that is both rigorous and deeply personal.
In Teaching the Person in Front of You, Susannah brings together the experience of a long teaching career with a genuine belief that excellent teaching begins in relationship. She creates learning spaces that are practical, reflective, generous, and grounded in the realities teachers meet every day.