Simply Balanced

David Gensheimer began taking Pilates at the early age in conjunction with physical therapy after knee surgery. After healing from surgery, David realized how beneficial Pilates could be for him as a dancer. He continued training under Kristie Kiser for several years. David became a company member with Ballet Austin while simultaneously starting his Pilates teacher training with Balanced Body under Jill Lucas. He was offered a position with Nashville Ballet the following year resulting in a move to Nashville where he finished his certification under Erin Weston-Myers. Since then, David has trained under and taken classes from people such as Nora St. John, Elizabeth Larkam, Julian Littleford, Chrissy Romani-Ruby, Karen Clippinger, and many more. David is also a Faculty Member with Balance Body.

David also has professionally danced with the Nashville Ballet, Stillpoint, the Houston Metroploitan Dance Company, Ballet Austin, and still does guest performances around the country. In addition, he studied Dance and Kinesiology at St. Edwards University. David believes Pilates is a key ingredient to injury prevention, balance, and strength. For fun David likes to spend time with friends, reading, and volunteering at his church. God is and always will be his main focus in life.

“My first lesson with David was soo amazing, I’m really excited to finally get started with Pilates!  Everybody was very nice too, and a great ambiance/vibe as well. Thanks for having such a great place to be!” – Jim Minniehan

Jennifer McNamara was a professional ballerina for 20 years, retiring at the end of the 2006-07 season as a principal dancer with the Nashville Ballet.  She had intended to study physical therapy in college, but is grateful that she chose to explore dancing first. Through dance she was introduced to Pilates-based exercises through the rehabilitation of various injuries sustained during her career, and gradually began studying the work on her own.

She completed her Pilates certification through Simply Pilates, and has since joined the teaching faculty of Balanced Body University. Jennifer comes from a family of teachers. Although she was certain she would never become one herself, Jennifer discovered she loved sharing the knowledge gained from her own mistakes and successes, and the grace found in understanding the body’s movements.

She especially loves watching her students in both disciplines (Pilates and ballet) when a concept clicks, and they reach that next level–whether it’s mastering a difficult piece of choreography, or linking an exercise to a lifelong movement pattern.

Jennifer, her husband, Matthew, and their dog, Carmen Delilah, live in East Nashville, where they are in the process of remodeling their house.  They share a  love of outdoor activities such as mountain biking and camping.

Jennifer continues to perform as a guest artist with ballet companies, and regularly performs with Stillpoint Dance Theater and Vanderbilt Dance Theater, where she is also a teacher.

“I consider Pilates an investment in my long term health. After having chronic, episodic back issues, I asked my physical therapist if private Pilates would help. She said yes and was she ever right! My private Pilates with  Jennifer McNamara has taught me, changed me and made me realized just how much hesitation there was in my daily movement. Pilates has taught me what good posture is (I really did not know) and how important precision of movement is. Pilates has changed the way I move and sit. After a year of private instruction with Jennifer, I realized I wasn’t holding my breath to bend over, or climb down down my thighs holding on, or squatting because I could NOT bend over. Today I continue to realize how much compensating I had done over the years…and all of it just made me weaker where I needed to be stronger and more stiff where I needed to be more flexible. I consider myself fortunate to have such great personalized instruction. My whole body moves and feels better due to my private Pilates classes with Jennifer.”

- Becky Heywood

Lisa’s first experience with Pilates came as a patient recovering from lower back pain.  Her chiropractor prescribed private, one-on-one training to help strengthen the muscular imbalance that he felt was the root cause of her problem.  As a Licensed Massage Therapist since 1999, Lisa quickly understood the benefit of this proactive approach.  Many of her own private clients had chronic, reoccuring problems that needed more than the temporary relief she could provide with massage alone. The lightbulb went off.  Lisa now applies her keen understanding of how the body works to her Pilates clients.

Lisa is a graduate of Touch Therapy Institute in Encino, CA.  She spent most of her career working on the clinical side of massage therapy where she specialized in prenatal massage and patients recovering from injury or accidents in West Hollywood and Beverly Hills, CA before moving to Nashville with her husband in 2007.  She received her Pilates Certification from Balanced Body University.

In Lisa’s eyes, the beautiful thing about Pilates is that it provides a mechanism that people can use to relieve their own physical pain while transforming their bodies and achieving fitness goals they never thought possible. Contributing to her client’s progress is a great source of joy in her professional life. Nothing is better than the point at which it dawns on a client that they are developing the body that they set out to create.

She enjoys spending time with her husband, son, and their Doberman, Rosie.

“I have been an athlete all of my life but have never experienced the results I have gotten from my Pilates classes. In a relatively short period of time I have made noticeable changes in my posture and core strength. My instructor Lisa Brown was able to quickly hone in on the areas I needed work on. She is encouraging and makes our sessions a lot of fun. I have never felt better in my overall well being. Simply Pilates is a great studio!”

Margot McCormack - owner, Margot Cafe and Bar, co-owner, Marche Artisan Foods

Jo has been practicing massage since 1993. She studied health and fitness in college, later studied Connective Tissue Massage under John Latz in 2007, then finally completed her Structural Integration training within the last few years. Jo focuses on manipulating the fascia, the connective tissue that supports muscles, bones, and organs, to help clients gain freedom of movement and freedom from muscular and joint pain.

Above all, Jo cherishes her husband Emil, her daughter Emily, and her relationship with the Lord.

Originally from Leesburg, VA, Alessandra began dancing at a young age. She attended Point Park University where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance.  Upon graduation, she moved to Nashville to continue pursuing a career in dance. Alessandra danced in Nashville Ballet II from 2008-2010 where she was seen in The Nutcracker, Giselle, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Emergence, and Works In Progress.  After leaving Nashville Ballet, she completed her Pilates certification through Balanced Body and immediately after began teaching at Simply Balanced. She loves teaching at Simply Balanced and is excited to be helping clients rehabilitate injuries and achieve their personal fitness goals. She recently returned to school to study dietetics.  She plans to become a clinical dietitian specializing in sports nutrition and eating disorders.

Alessandra lives in Sylvan Park and enjoys going to local restaurants, spending time with friends, and performing with a local dance company, Nashville in Motion.

Laura discovered the benefits of pilates while dancing with the California Ballet in San Diego, CA.  As a professional dancer, Laura has always been drawn to movement, so pilates seemed to be the natural fit.  It was the anatomy and science behind the method that really got her hooked.  Laura received her Level 1 STOTT PILATES® certification in 2005.  In 2006 Laura moved to Atlanta, Georgia where she continued as an instructor and in 2007 received her Level 2 certification.  While in Atlanta Laura worked for Inspire Health, and had the unique opportunity of working closely with physical therapists using pilates in the rehab/post rehab setting, as well as with collegiate and professional athletes. This experience lends her the ability to work with clients at any end of the spectrum, whether recovering from injury, managing pain, athletic enhancement or anything in-between.  In 2008 Laura became a STOTT PILATES® Certified Instructor Trainer for Matwork, Reformer, Cadillac, Chair and Barrels. She has been instructing certification courses around the Southeast and at Inspire Health, the STOTT PILATES® Licensed Training Center in Georgia. Laura is very passionate about the benefits of pilates, and loves working with clients to help them achieve their goals.  Laura and her family recently moved to Franklin, TN.  They are enjoying making Nashville their home, and Laura is excited about being a part of the Simply Pilates team!

STOTT PILATES® Certified Instructor

STOTT PILATES® Certified Instructor Trainer

ACE  Certified Group Fitness Instructor

Kay was first introduced to Pilates while studying dance at Texas Woman’s University in the early 1990s. After graduating college with a BS in Health Promotion in 1995, she continued to incorporate Pilates into her fitness routine. During this time she obtained her Personal Training Certification and Health Coach License.

In her academic and professional life, she pursued paths that allowed her to help others in their search for improved health and quality of life. Working in private, clinical, government, corporate settings and with three universities, she’s designed and implemented health programs and taught health, fitness and dance.  During her so-called free time, she wrote and published a book called Life Planning – a practical method to discover, define, and achieve personal goals.  While it serves as a guide for weight management and fitness, it works equally well for career planning and personal or spiritual growth.

Since becoming Balanced Body Certified in Mat and Reformer, she’s had the good fortune of teaching Pilates for several fitness centers and dance studios in the Nashville area including Belmont University, Vanderbilt HealthPlus, and Simply Pilates.  Most recently, she decided to return to graduate school to complete her Masters degree focusing on Pilates. She also recently began completing full Pilates equipment training through BBU.

Kay’s life centers around helping others reach their goals through Pilates. She feels fortunate to have the chance to share her academic training and professional experience helping others work towards their good life as well.

Prue grew up in Australia and moved to Nashville with her husband in 2010. It was in Nashville where her passion for Pilates fully emerged. Following back pain and numerous visits a week to the Chiropractor for many years, Prue decided that Pilates was the way forward for her and after meeting the team at Simply Pilates, now Simply Balanced, she has never looked back. For Prue personally, Pilates has been a huge benefit and a complement to her other fitness interests, and has increased her strength, core stability, muscle balance and alignment.

Prue studied Pilates through Balanced Body at Simply Balanced. In addition, Prue holds a Certificate III and a Certificate IV in Personal Training from Australia.

Before Pilates, Prue was a management consultant with a large global firm for more than 14 years. Fitness, health and well-being have always been Prue’s passion, and this is what she has chosen to focus on in the next chapter of her career.

Gina appreciates the practice of yoga and coaches people into finding the fit between themselves and their yoga practice. Never judging and always welcoming, Gina teaches a smooth, powerful and structured flow yoga that draws from many disciplines of the practice, most notably Ashtanga. Athletic in it’s nature, a flow class with Gina will take students through a warm up of sun salutations that often have a creative twist for intermediate or advanced yogis and leads into a traditional Vinyasa Flow practice. The pace is swift and strong – making the class a perfect blend of workout and mind/body balancing. Gina also has fun with each class by offering variations for beginners or more experienced yogis, so everyone can feel comfortable and at ease in her class.