I have had the honor of taking the Pilates teacher training with Chantill Lopez and am excited to begin my fourth year in her mentoring program. Chantill’s authenticity and grace come through in everything she does, fostering the passionate curiosity about the body in motion that is essential to being a good movement teacher. Her mentoring program covers every aspect of teaching from how to teach each exercise and why to creating trusting teacher/student relationships to the business side of things. I whole heartedly recommend her program for anyone that is interested in digging deeper into their self practice and teaching.

My coaching work started with Chantill started in early 2016. I had spent a number of years building myself and my practice in a someone else’s Pilates studio. I had hit a wall in being able to advance professionally or monetarily at this studio.

With Chantill’s help I started drafting a business strategy that gave me the tools to start crafting myself as a powerful teacher. Over the course of the year that we worked together I was able to go from frustrated to on fire. I got vital feedback and perspective on my abilities and how I presented myself so when the opportunity came to open my own studio I was prepared to take that step.

Chantill’s coaching and clear feedback was invaluable for helping me step out from under a not great work environment to being engaged in a positive workplace.

Chantill has been my teacher, mentor, and friend for many years. She is a brilliant teacher of both Pilates and how to be a teacher – two distinct, but overlapping, pursuits. She has coached me on the foundational things, like introducing myself to clients and cueing from multiple perspectives, and on the advanced pursuits that make good teachers great, like finding strength in times of doubt and insecurity and working with challenging students. She will meet you where you are, help you set goals both personal professional, and guide you in mapping an executing a path forward. Moreover, she’ll ask you the tough questions you may be too nervous to ask yourself! I cannot recommend anyone as a mentor more fulsomely than I recommend Chantill. 

There are endless books that describe the technique of yoga and Pilates practice and how to teach the moves. Chantill Lopez, honestly, and with laser precision, focuses our attention on essential questions that new and seasoned teaches, alike, don’t think to ask either in the beginning of a teaching career – and often later, when many may have lost their perspective. In the early phases of teaching, we often feel we have all the tools it takes to be a great guide.

The teacher of a mindful practice must maintain his/her healthy inner framework for why we do what we do. Only with our own solid core – of values, personal vision, and heightened awareness of possibilities and process, can we maintain a balance of passion and boundaries; especially when uncertainty hits us square in the face. At that point when we realize there are no safety nets, Chantill’s

words of wisdom are a welcome acknowledgement of our fears: Why am I teaching? What do I have to give? What do I want out of a teaching career? Aware to the possibilities of personal transformation in our students, and within our own lives, Chantill poses questions and practical exercises to heighten and hold onto the enduring reserves it takes. This is a worthy book to sit alongside any teaching manual.

Fellow teachers – I must tell you what an impactful experience Chantill Lopez’s 28-Day Course was!  If you are at a point in your teaching, whether it has just begun or you are a seasoned teacher, and you are looking for answers, this course is for you.  Over four weeks time Chantill gives us the opportunity to step back out of our crazy busy lives and teaching schedule to examine our purpose and why we teach, while treating ourselves to self-practice and self-care so that we may have more for others.  You will be exposed to fresh new ways of looking at yourself, how you think and feel, how you move, and breathe, and how your self-practice can transform your energy, life and teaching. You will undoubtedly come out of the course with clarity, and purpose to move you forward in your Pilates teaching journey.

Chantill has an energy about her that makes people want to work with her on both a professional and a client/student capacity.  She is technically very skilled in Pilates, anatomy, and applied physiology, but perhaps more importantly, has an ease of conveying her knowledge to clients and co-workers.   She is very approachable and always strives to make people feel comfortable with trying new things, whether it be getting a client to try a challenging exercise, urging a teacher to sub a class that they are nervous about teaching, or implementing a new policy at the studio.  Chantill has been a joy to work with and I look forward to working with her and learning from her for many years to come!

I have had the privilege of taking classes/workshops from Chantill over the years. She is a thoughtful, knowledgeable, caring, inspiring, and passionate Pilates instructor and person. I always walk away with some new take on an exercise or an inspiring thought that enhances my own practice, as well as wanting to share the information with my students. I’ve been a Pilates instructor for 19 years, so this is an extremely valuable professional development resource to have in my local area of practice. When I have a client or student looking for someone else to practice Pilates with, Chantill is always my first recommendation.

Chantill leads an incredibly effective and informative workshop on body rolling, fascia, and anatomy! Her teaching style is riddled with humor and knowledge that is conducive to all learning styles. Whether you are a kinesthetic learner wanting to apply your skills, or you are an auditory/visual learner, Chantill makes a very difficult to understand topic, easy to comprehend and apply to your own activities of daily living, as well as towards your students and clients. You will absolutely love your experience with her— guaranteed!

As a student in her classes, I’ve known Chantill as a fledgling teacher years ago, and now as a mentee in her Pilates teacher training, as a Master Teacher with her own studio, that she has had, in partnership, for many years. From my earliest encounters with Chantill until the present, I’ve been deeply touched by her recognition of my background as an experienced mover. Now, in the teacher training, she encourages me to bring this knowledge forward into a vision for the kind of Pilates teacher I want to be. She takes great pains to be available to her students, is thoughtful and affirming while able to help a student zero in on their problem areas.

I have met few teachers as mature and as genuine as Chantill. I have always felt seen, accepted, and cared for by her as a student, and happily, I feel, as a friend, as she is confident enough to be both. Having an uplifting spirit (regardless of how she, herself, might be privately struggling), clarity of purpose in a well-versed presentation of the material, steady attentiveness to her student’s needs and limits, she is an extraordinary movement teacher.

Chantill’s presence is authentic, warm, receptive, and seemingly fearless, all which create a safe environment for learning and challenge at all levels. Combine these characteristics with a high standard of professionalism and excellence she has held to over the years, I can say in all honesty she will convince you that only a whole-hearted, disciplined and embodied practice can enrich our lives, not just on the physical plane, but on the mental, emotional, and spiritual levels of being, which is at the core of the work of Joseph Pilates.

I have been teaching my own Yoga Teacher Training programs for several years now and feel extremely fortunate to have hosted Chantill as a guest presenter many times. Not only is she brilliant in the area of Anatomy, but she has the skill to present a potentially dry and challenging subject with passion, enthusiasm and clarity. My students always LOVE her. If Chantill is offering to share what she knows about teaching and presenting, count me in! Even though I have been teaching for 15 years, Chantill has valuable information to share on the subject of being an effective teacher. Owner of Asha Yoga, Creator of Living Yoga and Asha Yoga Teacher Trainings

I recently began my Pilates teacher training with Chantill. I had not met her before the training, but I can wholeheartedly say that I couldn’t have asked for a better master teacher to teach me how to teach. Her approach is holistic, taking all elements of the student into account and crafting classes and trainings that are appropriate yet challenging for everyone taking part.  In a situation that I found incredibly vulnerable and nerve-wracking, I felt safe, supported, and to my own surprise, confident! The information provided about the body, the movement, and the practice was thoroughly informative. The weekends and her classes were invigorating, inspiring, and fulfilling.

Chantill’s mastery of Pilates is only surpassed by her gentle, focused instruction.  I have been lucky to have her as a teacher and mentor all the way from my first steps learning Pilates to myself becoming a Pilates Instructor.

Chantill Lopez at Pilates Collective in Sebastopol, CA was an amazing instructor! She guided us through the material with ease and confidence until we left feeling secure in our knowledge. I would recommend Chantill to anyone looking to further their Pilates practice!

When I lost my husband in 2008, Chantill was remarkably sensitive to my emotional needs as I tried to keep nurturing myself by showing up each week, even when I was deeply in grief.  Pilates was the main way I stayed in touch with my body during the grief fog of that time, and I’ll always be grateful to Chantill for her skill and sensitivity.

Chantill Lopez has great passion about the human body and how it behaves in motion. She shares this fact up front and her workshop attendees quickly join her in her enthusiasm. I have attended four Anatomy of Yoga Workshops with Chantill and they each were tailored expertly for the group in front of her. She does some quick assessments of where students are in their Anatomy knowledge and where they want to be at the end of the workshop. She expertly weaves her teaching accordingly and addresses all student requests flexibly. Her delivery is fun and interactive as muscles and fascia are “discovered” in the body I know I have truly enjoyed each workshop. Chantill is a Master Teacher: passionate, knowledgeable, thorough, interactive and able to adapt to the needs of her students. Thank you, Chantill. I look forward to more Anatomy workshops.