WRITTEN BY Anna Madejska
If you've ever wondered what goes on behind the studio door or the screen (if we're working virtually), here's a look at how I approach every private session, and why no two sessions look exactly alike.
It Starts With You, Not a Template
A lot of people assume a session with me automatically means pelvic floor work. It doesn't.
Every session starts with a real assessment of what your body needs that day. I analyze your symptoms, your history, your goals, and how you're actually moving right now. Sometimes that means we spend the whole hour on pelvic floor coordination. Sometimes we don't touch it at all and focus on mobility, breath, or strength somewhere else entirely.
I also take into account how you're showing up emotionally and physically. If you walk in depleted, stressed, or just not up for a high-demand session, we adjust the intensity and approach. The goal is always for the work to serve you—not to force you through a rigid plan.
My Education and Background
I'm Anna Madejska, a certified Pilates instructor. Additionally, I am a kinesiologist, licensed massage therapist, and women's health specialist. My approach draws on B.S. in Kinesiology, classical Pilates training, Dr. Sarah Duvall's Pregnancy & Postpartum Corrective Exercise Specialist (PCES) certification, Core & Pelvis certification, Functional Movement Screen (FMS) principles, applied kinesiology, and manual therapy training including Graston Technique, clinical Thai bodywork, Kinesio Taping, Myoskeletal Alignment Technique and Muscle Energy Technique, among others.
I bring all of these tools together to build a session structure that's both systematic and flexible.
The Session Framework
After talking through how you're feeling and screening your movement, most sessions follow a four-phase sequence designed to address the specific imbalances I find, and to make sure the changes actually stick. I adjust the order, emphasis, and techniques in real time based on your body and your day.
No two sessions are the same.
1. Inhibit
First, we focus on releasing hypertonic muscles and easing protective guarding. By incorporating soft-tissue modalities such as Graston Technique, Myoskeletal Alignment Technique, Kinesio Taping, and clinical Thai bodywork, I help quiet the physical stress that restricts fluid range of motion. Unlocking this tight area lays the foundation for all subsequent movement to land effectively.
2. Lengthen
Once that tension eases, we work on restoring mobility through hands-on myofascial release and, in the studio, the Pilates apparatus (reformer, tower, and similar equipment). We're not forcing range of motion here; breath and gentle positioning help your body accept new mobility rather than resist it.
3. Activate
With better mobility available, we wake up the stabilizers and deep core systems that haven't been pulling their weight. This is primarily Pilates-based work, adapted to your needs.
When it's appropriate, this is also where breath and pelvic floor training come in, grounded in Dr. Sarah Duvall's PCES certification. We start by learning to tell resting breath apart from exercise breath, and retrain the coordination between your diaphragm and pelvic floor—gentle expansion on the inhale, controlled engagement on the exhale. Better pressure management here can make a real difference for leaking, prolapse symptoms, diastasis recti, SI joint discomfort, and low-back pain.
If pelvic floor work is part of your plan, we follow a graded progression from simply learning to feel and recognize the muscles, through controlled contractions and full relaxation, to timing the pelvic floor with your deep core and breath. We work on both underactive and overactive (gripping) patterns, because releasing tension is just as important as building strength.
And if pelvic floor work isn't the priority for you, this phase simply shifts to whatever your system actually needs whether it be glutes, posture, breath mechanics, or other stabilizers.
4. Integrate
Finally, we take everything we've unlocked, mobility, breath, activation, and put it into movement patterns that carry over into real life: walking, lifting, daily activities, and more demanding exercise. This is the phase where the screening findings turn into functional, pain-reduced movement you can rely on outside the studio.
What You Walk Away With
Every session ends with a clear explanation of what we found, why we approached it the way we did, and simple strategies, often around breath and timing, that you can practice between sessions. Many clients pair their private sessions with the on-demand video library to keep building on that work consistently.
Who This Is For
Even though a lot of my specialized training centers on women's health (pelvic pain, pregnancy and postpartum recovery, menopause-related changes), I work with people of all genders and ages. Clients also come to me for scoliosis, chronic back pain, posture concerns, athletic performance, or simply to move better and more reliably. Virtual sessions make it easy to keep this consistent no matter where you are.
At the end of the day, 1:1 means exactly that: real-time adjustments at every phase, based on your body and how you're feeling that day, with a plan that evolves with you.
It Starts With You, Not a Template
A lot of people assume a session with me automatically means pelvic floor work. It doesn't.
Every session starts with a real assessment of what your body needs that day. I analyze your symptoms, your history, your goals, and how you're actually moving right now. Sometimes that means we spend the whole hour on pelvic floor coordination. Sometimes we don't touch it at all and focus on mobility, breath, or strength somewhere else entirely.
I also take into account how you're showing up emotionally and physically. If you walk in depleted, stressed, or just not up for a high-demand session, we adjust the intensity and approach. The goal is always for the work to serve you—not to force you through a rigid plan.
My Education and Background
I'm Anna Madejska, a certified Pilates instructor. Additionally, I am a kinesiologist, licensed massage therapist, and women's health specialist. My approach draws on B.S. in Kinesiology, classical Pilates training, Dr. Sarah Duvall's Pregnancy & Postpartum Corrective Exercise Specialist (PCES) certification, Core & Pelvis certification, Functional Movement Screen (FMS) principles, applied kinesiology, and manual therapy training including Graston Technique, clinical Thai bodywork, Kinesio Taping, Myoskeletal Alignment Technique and Muscle Energy Technique, among others.
I bring all of these tools together to build a session structure that's both systematic and flexible.
The Session Framework
After talking through how you're feeling and screening your movement, most sessions follow a four-phase sequence designed to address the specific imbalances I find, and to make sure the changes actually stick. I adjust the order, emphasis, and techniques in real time based on your body and your day.
No two sessions are the same.
1. Inhibit
First, we focus on releasing hypertonic muscles and easing protective guarding. By incorporating soft-tissue modalities such as Graston Technique, Myoskeletal Alignment Technique, Kinesio Taping, and clinical Thai bodywork, I help quiet the physical stress that restricts fluid range of motion. Unlocking this tight area lays the foundation for all subsequent movement to land effectively.
2. Lengthen
Once that tension eases, we work on restoring mobility through hands-on myofascial release and, in the studio, the Pilates apparatus (reformer, tower, and similar equipment). We're not forcing range of motion here; breath and gentle positioning help your body accept new mobility rather than resist it.
3. Activate
With better mobility available, we wake up the stabilizers and deep core systems that haven't been pulling their weight. This is primarily Pilates-based work, adapted to your needs.
When it's appropriate, this is also where breath and pelvic floor training come in, grounded in Dr. Sarah Duvall's PCES certification. We start by learning to tell resting breath apart from exercise breath, and retrain the coordination between your diaphragm and pelvic floor—gentle expansion on the inhale, controlled engagement on the exhale. Better pressure management here can make a real difference for leaking, prolapse symptoms, diastasis recti, SI joint discomfort, and low-back pain.
If pelvic floor work is part of your plan, we follow a graded progression from simply learning to feel and recognize the muscles, through controlled contractions and full relaxation, to timing the pelvic floor with your deep core and breath. We work on both underactive and overactive (gripping) patterns, because releasing tension is just as important as building strength.
And if pelvic floor work isn't the priority for you, this phase simply shifts to whatever your system actually needs whether it be glutes, posture, breath mechanics, or other stabilizers.
4. Integrate
Finally, we take everything we've unlocked, mobility, breath, activation, and put it into movement patterns that carry over into real life: walking, lifting, daily activities, and more demanding exercise. This is the phase where the screening findings turn into functional, pain-reduced movement you can rely on outside the studio.
What You Walk Away With
Every session ends with a clear explanation of what we found, why we approached it the way we did, and simple strategies, often around breath and timing, that you can practice between sessions. Many clients pair their private sessions with the on-demand video library to keep building on that work consistently.
Who This Is For
Even though a lot of my specialized training centers on women's health (pelvic pain, pregnancy and postpartum recovery, menopause-related changes), I work with people of all genders and ages. Clients also come to me for scoliosis, chronic back pain, posture concerns, athletic performance, or simply to move better and more reliably. Virtual sessions make it easy to keep this consistent no matter where you are.
At the end of the day, 1:1 means exactly that: real-time adjustments at every phase, based on your body and how you're feeling that day, with a plan that evolves with you.
