Sharmila is one of today’s leading Pilates instructors in Southern California. She has over 25+ years of progressive Pilates experience as a teacher, teacher trainer and studio owner. She is the author of The Power of Intention for Dancers: A Journal for Achieving Your Dreams, and has over 30+ years of dance experience as a performer, choreographer and adjudicator. In essence, dance was the precursor for her passion in examining the convergence of technical and artistic human movement.
In 1999, she apprenticed under the late Romana Kryzanowska, a protégé of Joseph Pilates, consequently earning her a certification under the renowned master trainer’s tutelage.
She received a second Pilates certification through Power Pilates, then expanded her study of human anatomy at New York’s Westside Dance Physical Therapy (WDPT), where she received a Certificate in Dance Medicine. At WDPT, Sharmila studied side by side with physical therapists that oversee the health of the New York City Ballet and other professional dance companies.
In 2016, she was certified in the Gyrotonic® Expansion System, under master trainer Suzie Lewis, with subsequent concentrations in the application of Gyrotonic® for Dancers, to educate dancers in increasing their strength, stability and range of motion. Sharmila was featured on Lauren Ritchie’s Dance Podcast, available on Apple Podcast.
Sharmila has worked with Hollywood’s leading actresses, including Jennifer Jason Leigh, Mary Louise Parker, and Academy Award nominee Toni Collette, as well as former Victoria’s Secret Model Yasmeen Ghauri and former Miss America Maryann Mobley. She is a frequent lecturer at universities, teaching dance medicine workshops on injury prevention and wellness, and was an Adjunct Lecturer at California State University, Long Beach’s Department of Dance.
Sharmila guides her clientele’s development not only physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. Besides operating a Pilates and Gyrotonic® studio in Anaheim, California, she is also a performance coach, guiding her clients to a place of trust, potential and growth.
She holds a master’s degree in spiritual psychology from the University of Santa Monica, with an emphasis in consciousness, health, and healing, and bachelor’s degrees in dance and communication from California State University, Fullerton.
Sharmila’s story
“I started Pilates in 1997 while working as a dance instructor. I was diagnosed with Alopecia Areata, an autoimmune disease and Pilates was the only modality that made me feel better. Shortly after, I moved to Manhattan to apprentice with my teacher, the late Romana Kryzanowska, a protégé of Joseph Pilates, and consequently earned my first instructor certification under her direction.
During this time in my life, I worked for and learned under many of Romana’s students: Bob Liekens, Michael Fritzke, Ton Voogt, Niedra Gabriel, Adylia Roman and Mejo Wiggin. When I moved back to Los Angeles, I managed the Pilates studio at Equinox’s facility in Pasadena. Furthermore, I earned a second instructor certification training through Power Pilates.
To deepen my study of anatomy, I studied dance medicine through New York’s Westside Dance Physical Therapy, learning side by side with physical therapists that oversee the health of the New York City Ballet and other professional dance companies. In 2016, I became a certified GYROTONIC® instructor, after training intensively with master trainer Suzie Lewis. Additionally, I attended the Applications for Dancers GYROTONIC® training in 2017.”