About Thrive Forever Pilates

Emily Sullivan’s dual-careers as a yoga teacher and a massage therapist began with her training in ballet. While Emily was growing up on Cape Cod, her ballet teacher taught her how to express herself through movement. She excelled, and she was performing with Boston Ballet’s corps before graduating from high school. In college, she was inspired by the Buddhist principle of right livelihood. Emily first enrolled in a massage therapy program after teaching English in Africa and Europe. Her new career combined her earlier inclination toward physical movement with a deeper aspiration to help others.

Emily studied bodywork with Tom Karis and meditation with Lama Konchok Sonam before opening her private massage therapy practice in 2010. Further studies in Thai Yoga Massage with Kam Thye Chow set the stage for a dedicated yoga practice. Being drawn to Astanga and Vinyasa Flow, Emily trained with Mimi Loureiro. As a result, Emily introduced yoga poses and short sequences to her clients as self care. To make yoga accessible for all her clients, she became certified by Renee LeVerrier to teach yoga to people living with Parkinsons and other mobility disorders. She completed her 300 hr yoga teaching certification with Down Under Yoga.

Emily lives in East Somerville with her young daughter. They balance their busy lives with regular escapes to the beach.

Movement is life and life is movement. However, I often say’ “Pilates is life and life is Pilates! “I have always been a mover. My childhood was filled with cartwheels on the beach, climbing trees and riding my bike as fast as I could with the wind blowing through my hair. I soon discovered dance and how movement can transform my body and soul. Through Pilates I found that movement heals.

At age 17, I was diagnosed with mild scoliosis. Although I was told this was “nothing and would not affect my life,” I spent the next two decades suffering chronic back and neck pain and constant headaches. My pain overshadowed every aspect of my life, throughout every stage from then on. I stopped being adventurous and I started anticipating pain. And yet, doctors kept telling me there was nothing wrong.

The day I walked into a Pilates studio for the first time I found new meaning in how movement heals. I discovered Pilates as self-care and, in turn, discovered my new career path. With patience and perseverance, I taught my body how to move with confidence again and I became determined to share this knowledge with others. If movement is life, then there is too much at stake to not move. Everything.

Today, my greatest joy comes from sharing my students’ victories. When a client gets up off the floor without using their hands, and another shares that they are now in touch with their body and how it moves, I know that the work we do is transformative and that the victories are large indeed. When students continue to participate in their favorite outdoor activities and sports, engage with life on their own terms, I know that these accomplishments mean more than the sum of their parts; they mean freedom. They are strong, capable, resilient, and able to live their lives fully.

I see infinite potential in every person. In a non-judgmental and supportive environment, they explore movement, discover their abilities, learn to make choices and gain confidence. I come to the studio everyday excited to witness their process.

I am a Nationally Certified Pilates Instructor and a lifelong learner and lover of movement. I have been teaching for over 20 years. My method of teaching is rooted in classical Pilates. Over the years I expanded my learning with mentors and leaders such as Madeline Black, Sherri Betz, Carolyne Anthony, Irene Dowd and Eric Franklin. This has created a canopy of understanding of movement that enriches my ability to teach and interact with every individual. As I continue to seek more answers, my teaching evolves and grows and so will your learning.

NCPT
Madeline Black Method
Pilates for Neuro
Buff Bones
Pink Ribbon

As a lifelong lover of movement, I studied gymnastics as a young child and then committed to ballet and modern dance for many years before discovering hatha yoga and Pilates. I have been teaching mindful movement for over 20 years. I have been trained to teach hatha yoga, Pilates, Gyrotonic®, somatics, as well as prenatal and postnatal yoga. I love all of these disciplines and continuing to study and learn about the wonders of our human body. I am grateful for the opportunity to share the healing power of conscious embodiment through both methodical and explorative movement and deepening awareness of body and breath.

My approach to teaching is interdisciplinary, intuitive, and focused on the person in front of me. I have extensive experience working with a wide spectrum of injuries and ages – from babies to seniors. My intention is to approach every-body with an approach that is thoughtful and unrushed to underscore the healing benefits of mindful movement – allowing space for attuning, listening, and responding to the sensations and wisdom of our bodies, as well as recognizing the delight that can accompany being present with aware and deliberate movement.

My previous studies include dance, social work, theology, and Eastern philosophies. In my time outside a studio space, I love being in nature, hiking, gardening, and enjoying life with my two amazing boys and our expanding menagerie.