Founders/Instructors

Originally certified in Pilates, Martha is an Instructor and Master Trainer (Teacher Trainer) for the GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM® and whenever possible, continues to learn from its founder, Juliu Horvath.

Martha works with professional athletes and dancers as well as with an aging population dealing with the issues that arise with wear & tear. She has rehabilitated both her own knees after bilateral ACL surgery, as well as her back, after disc issues in her 20’s.

From 1990-93, Martha studied Pilates with and taught as an apprentice under the guidance of Romana Kryzanowska and mentorship of Bob Liekens. Martha opened the first certified Pilates studio in Massachusetts in 1993 and taught many of the first generation Pilates instructors in the region.

Martha was a professional dancer and choreographer for 25 years, including ten years directing and touring with her company, Snappy Dance Theater.

Click HERE to see Martha’s Gyrotonic Teacher Training Schedule.

Growing up, Bess trained in both ballet and modern dance, and brings that movement background to her teaching. Pilates helped Bess stay in top shape for partnering (lifting men!) during her performing years. Bess was originally certified in Pilates through POWER PILATES® (2003) and then The Pilates Standard (2021.) She was certified in  GYROTONIC® method Level I (2007) and GYROTONIC® method Level 2 (2015), GYROTONER® and JUMPING-STRETCHING BOARD®.

Bess’ teaching style emphasizes form, strengthening, and simultaneously finding fluid and grace. She enjoys helping clients deepen their body awareness, strengthen their mental endurance, and find release during a challenging workout.

Paula is a classically trained Pilates Instructor, having begun her journey with Peak Pilates in 2005, certified in 2007. In 2015, Paula completed the Masters Program at The Pilates Center of Boulder, one of the best programs in the industry. She received national accreditation through the Pilates Method Alliance (PMA, now NCPT) in 2018. Paula’s interest in quality movement, injury prevention, healing, and the mind-body connection has brought her to Core Movement Integration. She is currently working towards certification.

Paula is a practitioner and devotee of the Pilates method. She subscribes to a simple mission: Stay true to the method as designed by Joseph Pilates, who believed that “movement heals.” The ultimate aim is to enhance one’s capacity for well-being and mobility. She is especially affective in aiding individuals with degenerative diseases, neurological issues, and those in PT recovery.

Boston native Adriane Brayton has always been interested in movement and fitness. In addition to being an instructor of the GYROKINESIS® Method, she is a certified United States Pilates Association instructor and a licensed Massage Therapist (LMT), specializing in Swedish Massage, Sports Massage and Myofascial Release.

Adriane attended the Boston Arts Academy and Connecticut College, where she received BA’s in Biological Sciences and Dance. A long-time dancer who believes in the power of movement to heal and maintain the body, she is the Co-Director of Continuum Dance Project, which received the 2022 Boston Dancemakers Residency from The Boston Center for the Arts. In 2017 she completed at 3-year guest artists residency for the Expansive Meanings and Makings in Art/Science Project, in partnership with The National Science Foundation. Adriane is thrilled to be part of the Upward Spiral team.

Amy Stearns has been practicing Pilates with the Upward Spiral professionals for over a decade. As a longtime restaurant worker, she began to experience foot and back pain due to the strain of standing for long hours. The flowing movements of Pilates and its focus on efficient biomechanics, posture and breathing patterns changed and reeducated her body, and eventually she found herself incorporating the Pilates philosophy into regular everyday tasks. Amy believes that regular Pilates sessions are vital to maintaining a strong and healthy body for everyone. She is certified through Peak Pilates, working primarily with master trainer Pam Garcia, from Pure Pilates in Norwell MA. Amy is an avid record collector who cohosted a successful DJ night at the now shuttered and sorely missed Cambridge pub River Gods, which featured musicians from the local underground music scene. Amy lives in Central Square.

Cathy has been active in our community of movement enthusiasts and teachers for many years. She is a classically trained Pilates instructor (Power Pilates Comprehensive) with over 17 years experience teaching in Boston-area gyms and boutique studios. Cathy is certified as a GYROTONIC® exercise Level I and Level 2 instructor, and she has been certified on the Jump and Stretch Board and Gyrotoner.  She is also a certified personal trainer (ACE) and a TRX instructor.

Cathy began her career as a mental health clinician, and she found that movement not only heals the body, but also the mind and spirit. She encourages her clients to consider regular, mindful movement not just a workout, but a lifetime practice to create joy and reduce pain.  She is grateful to her many teachers and mentors who have guided her learning and development as a teacher. When she is not at Upward Spiral, Cathy works in medical and scientific affairs at Biogen Digital Health and she is pursuing an MBA in the evenings at Boston University.

Elle Jansen grew up dancing in the mountains of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Witnessing the artistry of the desert air and never-ending skies, she fell in love with the arts and movement. Elle started her professional career as a performer, professional dancer, and choreographer at age 17. In 2017, Elle graduated from the University of San Francisco (USF) with a BA in Performing Arts & Social Justice and International Studies. She’s worked as an instructor at USF, teaching collaborative artistic courses, bringing together USF students and incarcerated people from San Francisco jails. She continued to teach theater, dance, and musical theater within San Fran public schools and early childhood ed centers. Landing in Boston in 2019, Elle began her GYROTONIC® teacher training at Upward Spiral Studio. She currently works for the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy and continues to teach young performers in multiple musical theater troupes in the Greater Boston area with Rehearsal for Life.

Elle first experienced the Gyrotonic Expansion System at age 10, as a supplemental movement series for her dance training and always knew that one day she would become a Gyrotonic instructor. Growing up with the practice deeply embedded in all she did, Elle sees how beneficial and magical the movement can be, not only while in the studio but outside the studio. Elle is thrilled to be a part of the Upward Spiral family.

Emily comes to Upward Spiral Studio after suffering chronic and debilitating pain in her knees that doctors could not explain. Through Gyrotonic and Franklin Method, Emily learned “it’s not what you do, it’s how you do it,” which sparked a curiosity about the body that has led Emily to be pain free and sensitive to the impact of the mind-body connection on one’s felt sense. She seeks to empower clients with a knowledge of their biomechanical functioning and generate a sense of awe and wonder about the body through movement and embodiment. Emily is also a psychotherapist in private practice in Cambridge, where she sees adults, couples, and families.

Jennifer was first introduced to Pilates at the age of 12 as a form of cross training to compliment her intense dance training. Always eager to learn more, she began working with Pilates equipment in high school and never looked back. Jennifer completed her comprehensive training with Polestar Pilates. Jennifer loves learning how to better address the unique goals of clients through various forms of continuing education and with the assistance of multiple mentors found within the Upward Spiral Studio staff. Jennifer is focused on proper alignment and precision in movement as a means to feeling better in one’s body. A dancer by trade, a lot of her cues and images come from that background. Other than in the USS studio, you can find Jennifer on faculty as a lead teaching artist at the Boston Ballet School.

Karyl Maheras became certified in Pilates in 2000, through the Pilates Guild in New York City, studying with Master Trainer Romana Kryzanowska and Bob Liekens. She is also certified in the GYROKINESIS® method (2005) and GYROTONIC® method (2006), and specialized equipment Jump and Stretch Board and Gyrotoner.

Karyl’s ability to accurately see physical imbalances allows her to help clients address their individual needs. Her concentrated studies of The Alexander Technique greatly influence her style of instruction. She encourages clients to develop an awareness of how they move through space on a daily basis. Breath, posture and balance are essential elements in her work. Karyl loves being outdoors and continues to stay active hiking with her dogs.

Lisa is fascinated by the human body. She explores the subject through her passions: art and movement. She has a BFA in Sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design, and all of her artwork relates to the body. Lisa’s interest in exercise began with figure skating as a child, which led to competing through her teens and then coaching at several rinks in the Boston area as an adult. Lisa began practicing Pilates in 2005, when a back injury from her early teens flared up again. Not only did Pilates improve her skating and overall fitness tremendously, but her back injury has not returned since. Eager to learn more and share the benefits with others, she started teaching Pilates in 2009 and completed a comprehensive 1,000-hour classical Pilates teacher training program, finally becoming nationally certified by the Pilates Method Alliance. To further her knowledge, Lisa went back to school in 2014, earning a degree in physical therapy and becoming a licensed physical therapist assistant. She then certified in Level I GYROTONIC® Exercise in early 2020. Lisa continues her education at Upward Spiral Studio where she is always learning something new from its wonderful community of teachers and students.

Liz Walker is a ballet dancer and movement educator living in Cambridge, MA. She discovered the GYROTONIC® Expansion System as a cross-training and injury prevention method in support of her dance career, and soon became interested in understanding the principles of GYROTONIC® more deeply and sharing them herself as a teacher. She has studied GYROTONIC® with Christina Stroh, Kathy Van Patten, Emily Smith and Rosemary Carnes Mestler. As a dancer, she performed as a soloist with Los Angeles Ballet for eight seasons. A graduate of Harvard College, she was the 2011 recipient of the Suzanne Farrell Dance Prize for Outstanding Artistry in the Field of Dance. She is excited to form strong relationships and work toward breakthroughs with her clients here at Upward Spiral Studio.

Hailing from Dallas and recently moved to Boston, Pilates Instructor and flutist Roger Michael Hoverson first came across the Pilates Method by chance, after picking up a book about Pilates in a Barnes & Noble at the age of 15.

Quickly falling in love with Pilates, he remained largely self-taught, practicing off and on for a decade before deciding to become a Pilates Instructor. Roger has been teaching in the greater Dallas area since 2017, most notably at On Point Pilates, Pilates Unlimited, and the University of North Texas.

As a flutist, Roger has found Pilates to be an invaluable resource to help facilitate healthy joint function, increased body awareness, and efficient posture.

During graduate studies at the University of North Texas, Roger was awarded the “Health Literacy Award,” a $40,000 grant, from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine of the National Institutes of Health for his proposal “Empowering Band, Choir, and Orchestra Teachers with Effective Health and Educational Strategies,” to help facilitate and expand health education in secondary music classrooms across Texas.

Roger completed the Comprehensive Balanced Body Pilates Teacher Training at Pilates Unlimited (2019), received his BA in Music from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma (2015), and his MM in Flute Performance from the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas (2021), where he was a student of Dr. Mary Karen Clardy.

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