Two years ago, a physical therapist told me that I needed to start taking Pilates on a regular basis. I was dealing with mysterious chronic lower back pain, and she assured me that a commitment to Pilates would help. I began frequenting Fort Pilates, a lovely studio in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, and wound up one evening in a class taught by the choreographer and dancer Sofia Engelman. Something about the sense of creativity and discovery in Sofia’s class — combined with the grounded, non-judgmental clarity of her teaching — would lead me to return to her again and again. (I also appreciated that she taught a discounted weekly community class, which I learned to sign up for weeks in advance; it was always in-demand.)
Around this time last winter, when I was recovering from a surgery for the treatment of endometriosis, I saw Sofia for a series of private sessions at her home studio. At a time when I was feeling estranged from my body, doubting if I would ever feel like my old self, she was a steadying, nurturing force who helped me ease back into movement with both rigor and levity. I came back feeling even stronger than before.