Instructor Dana

Hi my name is Dana Holman! I am a certified STOTT Pilates instructor based right here in Stratford. 

My love for movement started years ago, before my kids, with the yoga practise. After having my 2 girls, it was especially important to me to continue to make myself a priority and yoga was a great way to slow things down & look inwards. 

After COVID ran its course, I was eager to get back to a fitness regiment of some sort and was on the search for something that would resonate with me. Three years ago I got wind of Reformer Pilates and the machines intreged me so I gave it a try. Immediately I was hooked. Not only did my body crave the movement & stretch that pilates provides but I also felt like I found my place. A place where my mind could shut off the outside world and allowed me to again look inwards and learn about how my own body can move & control its self. It gave me confidence and awareness and ultimately just made me feel better!

2025 was a big year for me personally. It’s the year that I made the choice to change career paths & to take a leap of faith into learning more about a practise that I loved. I enrolled in Merrithews STOTT Pilates program and completed an anatomy course, Intensive Mat Pilates & Intensive Reformer Pilates courses all in the GTA area. These programs required many observation, personal practise and teaching hours to complete along with a practical & written exams. 

I am so excited to put all my hard work into to practise and to teach others about their own bodies. I can’t begin to explain the wonderful feeling I get when I have a group of people in class & everyone is having fun or when that one person connects with your cue and adjusts their body’s posture.