How Pilates Put Emilie On The Path To Physical-And Mental-Recovery

Emilie Miller, 39, spent years suffering from anxiety and depression after a traumatic assault. Pilates offered her a path to recovery, both physically and mentally.

- Emilie Miller

I was into a lot of sports growing up in western massachusetts. But once I reached high school, theater became my passion. After graduating from Sarah Lawrence College in 2001, I moved to New York City to try to make it as an actress.

It’s such a cliché, but I was waiting tables in between auditioning for plays and commercials. Nearly everyone else who worked at the restaurant was doing the same thing, and we all became fast friends on and off the job.

In the fall of 2004, I took a cab to Washington Heights in northern Manhattan to visit a guy I was dating. The cab dropped me off in what turned out to be the wrong place, so I had to walk the rest of the way. Soon, two teenage boys started tailing me. I walked faster, my heart pounding, but they caught up with me just in time to drag me into an alley behind a hospital where they stored dumpsters.

TERROR TAKES OVER

That’s where they took turns raping me. I was screaming and pleading for mercy, but no one came for what seemed like ages. But luckily a man driving by heard me. He ran in, chased them off and then drove me to my date’s building—I was too traumatized to think twice about getting into a car with a stranger. I remember he carried me up the stairs and then left.

That’s when the second traumatic event happened: My date didn't believe me. He thought I was making everything up. He told me that I couldn't sleep in the bed, and that I had to be on the couch.

THE TRAUMA SINKS IN