Our Pilates Team
Kaarin Shipitko
Kaarin Shipitko came to Pilates through her career as a professional ballet dancer. After a serious injury, she started taking Mat classes and fell in love with all Pilates had to offer. After dancing in the U.S. and Russia she decided that she wanted to be able to share the benefits she found in Pilates with others and began training to teach at Pilates Academy International in New York City. Kaarin loves that Pilates can be adapted to different bodies and fitness levels making it an ideal fitness method no matter where you are in your life. She focuses her classes on getting a good workout while maintaining alignment and increasing the students’ awareness of their own bodies
Lisa Spencer
I began practicing Pilates in 2002 after giving birth to my daughter, then began teaching mat Pilates in 2007 after moving to the Mad River Valley. I joined Essential Physical Therapy & Pilates as a Reformer instructor in 2020. It has been fabulous conditioning for my dance and performance practice. I am a lifelong mover and learner, and am insatiably curious about the mind-body connection. This fascination guides me through a continuous study of psychology with a focus in movement therapy. In seeking to deepen my somatic connection with others, I became a certified Death Doula in 2021 and completed Level 2 Certification for Craniosacral Therapy in 2022. Outside of work I love hiking with my Carolina-Dingo mix Raja, am interested in becoming a collector of Maine Coons, and grow every day as a human through parenting my two children. I live, work, play and heal on unceded Abenaki land.
Willow Wonder, N.C.P.I.
Willow first came to Essential Physical Therapy and Pilates with a shoulder injury in the winter of 2013. As a dancer, she was very impressed with their use of Pilates as a rehabilitation tool--so impressed she decided to become a Pilates instructor and one year later received her Comprehensive Polestar Pilates Instructor certification. Willow holds a BFA in Modern Dance Performance from Purchase College Conservatory and an Ashtanga Yoga Instructor certification. She continues to dance and perform professionally and has been teaching in central VT since 2002. Willow is passionately committed to bringing more movement into people's lives. Working at Essential Physical Therapy and Pilates is a wonderful gift!