Background
The study of the body in motion has always been a part of Teren's life. It began as an artistic exploration in her first career as a professional dancer and teacher, first in classical ballet and later in jazz dance. As a ballerina she performed with the California Ballet Company for two seasons, and as a jazz dancer she worked on stage, in television and film. Her training also included flamenco, Middle Eastern dance, pantomime, Hatha Yoga and the Yang form of Tai Chi.

She was singled out at age 14 to assist her ballet instructor with classes. This began a 2 1/2 year teaching apprenticeship that inevitably led to her first job teaching dance. Over the years she has taught all ages from 8 to 80, and all levels of ability from beginning to professional. Teren's maturity, and her 30 years of experience in physical conditioning and training give her a sensitivity that many students have found remarkable.

Encountering Pilates
An old back injury, sustained while dancing, and a newly torn knee cartilage brought Teren to Pilates. It was instant love. "Pilates is the most sensible and sustainable approach to exercise I have ever encountered. You can get an incredibly challenging and rewarding workout suited to your precise needs, whether you are in shape for an Olympic competition or rehabilitating from an injury. I realized I could do this form of exercise when I was 90 years old, or 100 or more, just as long as I could crawl to a Reformer. And it's never boring. I was sold." At the invitation of her Pilates teacher she served in an apprenticeship instructor's program, certified for mat instruction with the PhysicalMind Institute in New Mexico, and began teaching Pilates under her teacher's supervision.

Teren eventually owned her own successful Pilates studio, the Balance of Power Studio, in Incline Village at Lake Tahoe, before moving to make the Bay Area her home. Always expanding her Pilates education through workshops from the best in the field, she eventually obtained full certification in apparatus (equipment) training under the expert eye of Nora St. John, Director of the Turning Point Studio in Walnut Creek, California.

Teren's "Tai Chi" Approach
The eastern disciplines of movement, in particular, created in Teren a heightened awareness of energy flow within the body, as well as the extraordinary power of mind-directed energy. Teren brings this awareness to Pilates, teaching her students to release energy blockages and utilize the strength-enhancing (and healing) benefits of "flow." She calls her unique Pilates technique the Tai Chi Approach to Pilates.

"Chronic tension is, essentially, blocked energy. Whether it results from habit or injury, it interferes with healing, with our reflex response time, and actually decreases the available strength of our muscles. Learning to release unwanted tension while focusing the flow of desired energy produces remarkable results in strength, endurance, balance, coordination and grace."

Miscellaneous
Teren holds a masters degree in Dance History & Criticism from the University of New Mexico, where she taught jazz dance classes and body conditioning classes, lectured, and studied kinesiology and movement analysis in addition to her degree studies.

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