Healing Your Core

Mariska Breland,42,learned about the power of pilates after discovering she had MS.But she got a whole new understanding when she was diagnosed with liver tumers.

- Mariska Breland

MY RELATIONSHIP WITH PILATES STARTED IN 2002 , WHEN I WAS DIAGNOSED WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS .

I had had symptoms for several years, such as numbness in my fingers and intermittent tingling and weakness in my legs, but it was still a big shock to be told I had MS at age 27. The thought of a diminished life was scary and depressing.

But I was determined to fight. I had tried Pilates a few times before, enough to know it would give me a workout without aggravating my MS. In fact, Pilates turned out to be ideal for me. It gave me relief from my many symptoms, especially painful leg spasticity, and it felt physically freeing. It worked the three things that are often negatively affected by MS: strength, balance and flexibility. Plus, doing Pilates lifted my spirits, which is very important, as depression is really common for people with MS.

I loved Pilates so much that in 2005, I got my mat certification through Power Pilates, then got my comprehensive certification with BASI. I’ve also studied with Julian Littleford, Jennifer Kries and Carolyne Anthony, among others.

I began teaching mat classes around Washington, D.C., then started the Pilates program at Washington, D.C.’s Flow Yoga Center, while continuing my full-time, freelance job as a creative director, developing multimedia projects for large corporations and museums. In 2010, I opened my own studio, Fuse Pilates, in D.C. And in 2013, I started the Pilates for MS™ Teacher Training (now Pilates for Neurological Conditions, which focuses on stroke, Parkinson’s and other neurological issues), which is widely used in the U.S. as well as Europe. The program incorporates the latest research into a Pilates program designed for common neurological problems.

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