Emma laughing on the beach at sunset in white workout clothes

Pilates instructor · Corrective Exercise Specialist

// Hi, I'm Emma

I help women rebuild deep core strength from the inside out.

Especially when the usual ab work hasn't got them there.

2008Doing Pilates since

15+ yrsTeaching

6,100+Women trained online

20s → 80sAges on my mat

Emma holding a Pilates Teaser in the middle of a tree-lined street — // Where it started

I thought I had a head start.

I've been doing Pilates since 2008 and teaching it since 2011, so when I got pregnant with my daughter, I honestly thought I had a head start. I had grand plans for an unmedicated birth, I'd done all my homework, and I trusted my body completely.

Then an emergency C-section quickly became the only safe option.

I was absolutely devastated. And somewhere in the middle of all of it, one of my first thoughts was: what about my Teaser? What about my Roll Ups and my Hundreds?

The Pilates instructor who couldn't find her own abs.

Two years later, I still didn't recognise my own core. My abs had separated by about 5cm (four fingers wide), I was throwing my back out picking up the smallest things, and every time I tried a Roll Up, my belly domed right down the middle like a little belly mohawk.

So I did what any Pilates instructor would do. I worked harder. More ab work, more planks, more effort, and I still wasn't getting where I wanted to be.

What I eventually learned changed the way I teach forever. Before my core could take on more work, my breath, my rib cage and my deepest abdominal muscles had to learn to work together again. Piling more effort on top was skipping that step.

Black and white photo of Emma in a side stretch over a box on the reformer — // Two years later

Black and white photo of Emma twisting on the reformer box — // Two years later

Emma pressing a resistance band forward in her studio — // Back to learning

So I started looking at the bigger picture.

I studied with physical therapists, chiropractors and other Pilates teachers, and trained as a Corrective Exercise Specialist. The more I learned, the more I noticed how much of what happens in the core starts somewhere else. In the way you breathe, where your ribs sit, how you stand while you wait for the kettle, and the way you hold your breath and brace every time you lift your toddler.

Emma smiling at the water's edge in a white sports top

// Me today

“I feel stronger now than I ever did before I had my daughter.”

After completely changing my approach, I could finally feel my abs again, my back stopped going out every other week, and yes, I can absolutely jump on a trampoline, thank you very much.

The small things that make a big difference.

Black and white close-up of Emma's hand giving a cue in the studio — // What I notice that others miss

After more than 15 years of watching women move, this is the part of my work I love most: spotting the small things that make a big difference to how the core works.

Crunches added too early can make the belly dome down the middle, so I hold them back until the deep core is ready for them.
A full backbend asks more of the front of the body than it's ready to give. A baby backbend (lifting from the chest with the base of the ribs still on the mat) often does the job better.
Ribs that flare up every time you reach overhead can make it much harder to feel your deep abs working.
Holding your breath every time you pick something up is one of the most common habits I see, and one of the most rewarding to change.

The cues I use to change these are what I call my Lightbulb Cues: the small tweaks that make you go "oh, THAT'S what I'm supposed to feel."

// My teaching

From my home studio
to 6,100 women.

Emma stretching over the Pilates chair, reflected in the studio mirror — // My home studio

Emma laughing while balancing on a Pilates chair in her home studio — // My home studio

I started out teaching in person in my own home studio, where I just taught good workouts, and I loved it. I taught women in their 40s to touch their toes. I taught women in their 70s to get up off the mat without using their hands. Those everyday wins still make me happiest.

After my daughter was born, more and more of the women on my mat were mums, and the usual cues weren't landing for them. Their cores needed a different starting point, and I knew exactly how that felt. Rebuilding the core after ab separation, or diastasis, became the heart of my teaching.

In 2020 I took my teaching online so I could reach more women than I could ever fit into my studio. Since then, more than 6,100 women have trained with me online, from brand-new mums to women in their 80s.

// How I teach

Strength, built from the inside out.

Emma in a side plank on the reformer, seen from above

For everyone

Pilates-inspired and beginner friendly

You don't need to have done Pilates before.

The order

Inside out

Breath and deep core connection come first, then we build strength on top.

The detail

Quality over quantity

Fewer reps, better cues, and a lot more feeling what's actually working.

The goal

Real life strength

Lifting your kids, carrying the groceries, getting back to the workouts you love, and getting up off the floor without thinking twice.

Any age

For women at every stage

Whether you had your baby last year, twenty years ago or never at all, it's never too late to build a stronger core. I've taught women well into their 80s who are living proof.

Emma running barefoot along the shoreline at sunset

// The women who find me

Strong, active women who've worked hard.

Most women find me after they've already tried the planks, the ab classes and the "just engage your core" cues, and still can't feel their abs doing what they're supposed to. They're usually strong, active women who've worked hard and are frustrated that it isn't adding up.

If that sounds familiar, I'd love to help you look at the bigger picture.

If there's one thing I want women to say about me, it's “she's the one person who gets it.”

Emma laughing on her doorstep with a cup of tea

// A little more about me

British, based in LA, always with a cuppa.

I'm British, I'm based in LA, and I'm a mum to one very energetic daughter.

2008
Started doing Pilates.
2011–2018
Started teaching Pilates.
Classical Pilates, Whole Body Method
Comprehensive BASI Pilates, Rael Isacowitz
Anatomy Intensive, Dr Paula Sauer
2019–2022
Corrective Exercise Specialist, Dr Sarah Duvall
2020
Took my teaching online.
2024
Certified Hormone Coach, Institute for Menstrual Health
Today
6,100+ women trained online.

// Let's train together

Coming soon: The Deep Core Method.

I'd love to help you feel strong, capable and at home in your core again. My new program, The Deep Core Method, is coming soon, and the waitlist will hear about it first.