Welcome to the latest installment of our Feature Teacher series on the Align blog! This month, read on to learn more about Becky Golberg.

Hi Becky! For those who don’t know about your background, what can you tell us about your experience with Pilates, yoga and dance? 

A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I used to be a ballet and modern dancer. It was in those days that I first started taking yoga, which I loved from the start. And then I took my first Pilates class, which I hated! It was a mat class at a local dance studio, and it was super hard and no fun at all. It was essentially like doing a Pilates video, because the verbal cuing was very vague and I got no hands-on correction at all. I was working really hard, but not feeling like I was “getting it”. I left class thinking I hated Pilates, but decided later that maybe I just needed more guidance. A smaller class or a private lesson, maybe, but as a waitress/dancer/ballet teacher, money and time were at a premium, and I didn’t get past the thinking stage until I’d actually quit dancing.

Many years later, I was working at Pizza Luce, and one of our delivery drivers—a spunky, fun-loving gal named Jenni Roberts—was going through the Align Teacher Training Program, and was promoting insanely cheap private lessons. I hadn’t danced regularly in about seven years, and was out of shape and unhappy. I jumped on the opportunity, and loved it from day one. Even as a trainee, Jenni had a great eye and was skilled at communicating what she wanted, and even better at making me want to do it! It was a lesson I remembered later, when I myself was in training: that a patient and encouraging instructor can make all the difference in helping someone enjoy their workout and want to come back.

I got mildly obsessed with Pilates, and back into yoga (which I had practiced only sporadically since I quit dancing), and they became my major hobby until I decided to become a teacher myself. Funny tidbit: it was Jenni who planted that seed, as well. After her class one day, we were talking about form, and she laughed at one point and said, “You know you’re gonna become a teacher, right?” And it suddenly seemed so obvious! I waited another year, I think, before I felt ready to take it to that next level, and I don’t know that I’ve ever made a better decision. I love Pilates so much, and I love sharing it with others and watching it change their lives as well.

What’s your favorite thing about teaching?

I don’t know what my one favorite thing about teaching is… I have so many! I guess the best is probably watching people’s bodies change: in the short term, when you get that right phrase or physical correction, and the movement suddenly becomes what you’re trying to make it; and in the long term, when you see people coming all the time, and you watch their bodies get strong and flexible and balanced, and you see that change radiating from inside themselves.

It’s amazing to see someone’s posture change, not just because they’re decompressing and aligning properly, but because they’re walking with confidence. As a dancer, I saw and experienced a lot of self-judgment. We were all so obsessed with our shapes, and so critical of our differences. And the more advanced we got, the more we judged ourselves. How backwards is that? I love being at Align and seeing it play out the way that I think it should be: people get stronger, they learn to do things they never imagined themselves doing the first time they walked through our door, and they walk out that door a little bit taller. They’re impressed with themselves, and proud, and I’m proud and impressed as well! Yeah. That’s definitely my favorite thing.

What’s your favorite class to teach? And do you have a favorite piece of equipment for your personal practice?

For teaching, mat is my favorite! I have no idea why. When I was in training, I thought it was because I taught it more, and was more comfortable with it, and that was probably accurate at the time. But then I had no mat classes at all on my schedule for about six months, and I got a little rusty. Now I have two again (Wednesdays at 6 pm and Saturdays at 10:30 am), and even though it took me a minute to feel like I’m back in the groove, they’re still my favorite. I just feel like you can get such a good, high energy flow going, and it’s FUN!!

For personal practice, though, I love reformer the most right now. It changes from time to time, but I think because I’m teaching so much and not making enough time to work out myself, and I tend to demonstrate stuff on only one side, I get a little lopsided sometimes. And the reformer is so good for decompression and straightening out those little kinks. I feel like a good reformer workout is almost like a visit to the chiropractor.

You’ve started TRX training, right? Tell us a little about TRX. Why should Align clients give it a try?

Yes. I’m apprenticing at TRX right now, and you can book a private with me for $35! It’s a badass exercise form. Like Pilates, it targets the whole body, and it’s what I call “sneaky cardio”, because you’re not jumping around, but it kind of magically gets your heart rate up. You’re supporting your own body weight, so it’s equally hard for tiny ballerinas and 200-pound dudes. It’s super hard and super fun, and I can’t wait to learn more and more as I teach more people.

What do you like to do outside of the studio?

Hahaha, outside of the studio, right! Oh, you’re serious… Between this and my other job (I tend bar at Pizza Luce Downtown three days a week), I don’t have a ton of time. But when I do have free time, I love reading. Mostly fiction, but I also have a lot of books about the human body that I like to flip through and think about reading someday… I also like going to the park at night and playing on the swing set, and going to rock and hip hop shows, and hanging out with my sister’s kids, who are 10, 9, and 6. Oh, and I love TV! I plan on getting one soon and watching it regularly.

What’s your favorite place near Align to grab a quick snack or a drink?

Lucia’s, duh. ;) Or occasionally, if I’m done for the night, I’ll pop into Barbette for some mussels and a glass of wine.

Do you have any big summer plans?

I’m going to Valleyfair in a couple weeks, and I plan to hopefully make it to the beach a couple times and have a couple picnics… I love picnics.

What’s a surprising fact about Becky Golberg? Something most people at Align might not know about?

Um… I was on the radio for nine years. Sunday nights on drive105 and then Love105. I was still doing it til about a year and a half ago, until they got bought out and had to lay off all of the part-timers. But that’s okay, because now I have a day off. Usually. ;)

What else in going on with you, Becky?

I’m currently looking for a place to do a Yoga teacher training in India, hopefully this fall. As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been practicing yoga longer than Pilates, though inconsistently; and when I discovered Pilates and came back to yoga with an awareness of my core, it changed everything. Conversely, I find that when I apply yogic principles to Pilates, I make amazing breakthroughs, and I feel like the time has come to explore that further, and bring it into my teaching a bit more. Whether or not I will actually start teaching yoga seriously remains to be seen; I may just use this as another tool in my Pilates belt, which is how I view teaching barre and TRX, or I might feel driven to become a two-headed monster and try to do both. Either way, I look forward to sharing my experiences and new knowledge with everyone at Align!