Vanessa Van Wyk
Pilates Certified Instructor
RTY
​
Vanessa has always loved sports and fitness, coupled with a deep interest in science and nutrition. She has an associates degree in health and wellness promotion with a focus in community health and education - primarily working with 65+yr olds, focusing on falls prevention, strength in later life, maintaining independence, and nutrition and diabetes education. She then obtained a bachelor’s degree in exercise science with a focused concentration on biomechanics with strength and conditioning education to build sport-specific exercise plans. She minored in nutrition, where her studies focused on autoimmune disorders and an anti-inflammatory diet.
After being diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, Vanessa started her fitness lifestyle and coaching in the gym setting, focusing on building strength through movement, in an effort to relieve her joint pain. Building strong muscles in order to protect the joints is pivotal to those with joint conditions! Because of her diagnosis, being in proper alignment is absolutely required in order to avoid being injured, so she became a yoga instructor in order to learn more about true joint range of motion, joint safety, flexibility vs hypermobility, and how being both strong and flexible builds a healthy life.
After all this, Vanessa found pilates. She believes pilates is a perfect coupling of both the strength and “gym world” as well as the flexibility, stretching, and mindfulness of the “yoga world”. With pilates, we are building a healthy foundation and lifestyle for the rest of our lives by focusing on maintaining healthy spinal alignment and a focus on core strength (and pelvic floor strength) in order to stay healthy and feeling vibrant even into later years of life.
By combining her unique knowledge of strength, flexibility, and proper alignment, she can help you create a balanced lifestyle with all of the above. She could not be happier to be a part of your journey!