SUSANNE WHARTON
CERTIFIED STOTT PILATES® INSTRUCTOR, CERTIFIED LEVEL 1 NKT® PRACTITIONER AND FOUNDER OF NORTH STAR PILATES.
Susanne started practicing Pilates 14 years ago due to long standing back and joint pain. She was amazed at how this simple body conditioning regime transformed her body and brought about pain relief. From this point she was 'hooked' on Pilates and wanted to become a teacher in the method so she share the method to help other people.
Susanne first qualified to teach Pilates with STOTT PILATES in 2009 and is qualified to teach to an advanced level on the Mat and on all the Pilates apparatus. She loves how the equipment can assist clients to experience exercises and movements that may not be possible on the mat.
Susanne continually updates her education to learn more about the human body and how to improve movement and has undertaken training with some of the leading practitioners in the world (David Weinstock - NKT, Kathy Dooley - Immaculate Dissection & NKT, Perry Nicholson -Stop Chasing Pain & Primal Movement Chains) and Anatomy Trains workshops. She has traveled the world to learn from mentors, this included a year teaching and training in the STOTT PILATES® licensed training centre in Dubai. Her extensive experience, knowledge and commitment to helping others lead to the opening of the Wakefield studio in Jan 2014.
Having had hip surgery for a Labral Tear injury in 2019 Susanne used the Pilates method to stay strong pre-surgery and for rehab after surgery. She has found that the combination of prescribed Physio exercises and appropriate Pilates exercises has brought about a fast recovery. She is passionate about empowering people to become more confident with their movement and assisting people to reduce their pain and restrictions through Pilates and movement therapy.
KELLY STEPHENSON
CERTIFIED STOTT PILATES® INSTRUCTOR, NKT® PRACTITIONER AND LEVEL 3 PERSONAL TRAINER.
Kelly has been teaching Pilates part-time for 13 years and has been with North Star Pilates from the beginning.
Kelly has suffered with lower back pain and tightness in her body most of her life, mainly due to having a sedentary desk job and a lack of daily movement in her younger years. She learnt to manage it with regular Pilates, improving her breathing and moving more mindfully. In January 2019 she had an incident which resulted in a fragmented disc. In May 19 she had back surgery as the fragmentation had caused nerve compression which resulted in a condition called 'drop foot'. She rehabilitated herself using a mixture of physio exercises and the Pilates equipment.
Kelly is keen to teach people the importance of keeping your strength up in the hope of avoiding surgery, but if surgery is required then prior strength aids a much quicker recovery. She can also empathise though how pain can be a worry for people and how it often creates a fear of moving. Kelly is wanting to help people understand their bodies more to overcome this fear and her mission now is to use her own experiences to help others with back pain and mobility issues.
Kelly knows how to be the stepping stone to getting you back to doing the things you love.
Kelly completed her Matwork course through STOTT Pilates® in London and more recently trained to teach Reformer. Kelly is certified at Level 1 Neuro Kinetic Therapy, which means she is able to identify problematic muscles in the body that contribute to pain and limitations of movement. Kelly also completed her PT diploma through the YMCA in London at the beginning of her training so is often keen to mix her skills depending on the person in front of her & what they need.