deep breath pilates

Our bodies are the containers of our lives. Who we share our bodies with is always an intimate risk with the hopeful possibility of goodness, health and love. After so many failed attempts with past “trainers, yoga, exercise” instructors, I took a much needed risk to engage my Self under the guidance of Chris Evans’ Deep Breath Pilates. Her attention to detail, gentle patience, skilled practice, the brilliance of her integration of Yamuna and Talawa Technique within the foundation of Pilates speaks to her depth of understanding of the body from a human perspective, but also a cultural perspective. With Chris, I felt first the freedom to be fully clumsy, shy, unsure. In releasing this my strength began to support those places as balance and healing. She will continue to be a part of my process of healing the past as a healthy present.

- Ellen Sebastian Chang

Working with Chris is helping me become conscious of the parts of my body I’ve forgotten how to listen to. I am learning new ways to breathe. I am learning how my physical posture is a mirror to my mental/emotional posture. I am recalibrating my relationship to gravity.

- Alexa Burrell

I have been a runner, walker, hiker, swimmer, and biker for most of my life. As I grow older, I am in intimate touch with the need for ways to care for my body to allow it to continue doing the work it has always done for me. Chris Evans’ movement classes are proving to be exactly the attention my body needs to sustain and enhance my other activities. As much as I enjoy the body movement, I enjoy the body knowledge Chris brings to her practice and shares with me. I also love the sense of loving and supportive community she fosters in her classes – I look forward to coming every week.

-Danyelle O’Hara

I have been working with Chris Evans for the last 18 months one to two times a week and I have noticed a marked improvement in the way I move and walk. Chris is an amazing instructor who is very knowledgeable in the correct way the body needs and wants to move, and her deep compassion makes her an indispensable part of my healthcare and fitness team. I would recommend her to anybody who is already fit, to people such as myself, who want to age gracefully and still roll around on the floor with their grandchildren. Chris is absolutely a sound investment in self-improvement!

-Julie Franklin

I was visiting the Bay Area for work from South Carolina, and I started to feel a little low, so I decided to book a massage with Chris. She suggested a lymphatic massage, which I had never experienced before. I could not believe the positive results I got from such a light touch! Chris has healing hands, not only did I feel good immediately after the session, but I continued to experience the benefits for a whole month. I cannot recommend this treatment enough!

-Carmen K

I was in town from the East Coast and had the good fortune to take a private Shiatsu, Acupressure and Craniosacral massage session with Chris Evans. It was deeply relaxing, gentle, and powerful. I opened, loosened, and elongated my body. I felt cleansed of toxins through my own deep breathing. I unclenched my jaw - the intractable location where I center all of my stress. One message session was more restful and restorative than a full night's sleep. After, my spirits felt joyous, positive, connected, and, of course, nostalgic about my Oakland roots.

-Jennifer B.

I look forward to Deep Breath Pilates classes every week. Chris brings a unique multidisciplinary approach (dance, martial arts, music, massage, Alexander) to her teaching and guidance. With kindness and a meticulous knowledge of anatomy, Chris encourages her students to develop mind-body connections, and let go of cultural preconceptions of body shapes and abilities. There are no mirrors in here, we just all meet where our bodies are today in a wonderful camaraderie. I always leave her light-filled studio physically strengthened and balanced, as well as emotionally refreshed.

-Isabel C.

The craniosacral and lymphatic drainage sessions I've had with Chris were instrumental in my preparation for and healing from brain surgery in May of 2023. Each session leaves me feeling more relaxed, alert, open, and alive -- simultaneously. Chris' huge wealth of knowledge, curiosity and dedication to expanding her skill set, and finely tuned ability to connect and craft her practice to the body as it is on the specific day of the service is among the finest in my 40 years of experience as a professional dancer. Her kindness, humor, and sensitivity are additional assets to her practice, as is the beauty and design of her space.

-Valerie Gutwirth

I have had the privilege and honor of receiving several bodywork sessions with Chris and I can wholeheartedly say that Chris is one of the most powerful teachers and healers I have met. Her work/her being is a gift to this world—If you ever want to experience a bodywork session that gently helps you ease into the fullness of your being, I would recommend you check out Chris’ offerings. Every time I have had a bodywork session with Chris, I have been able to fully drop into my body, tap its wisdom and reach a deep state of relaxation where I am reminded that being at ease is our birth right. Through working with Chris, I have been learning to re-align with the core of my being and move from a place of ease. In essence, I have been calling my spirit back as I listen to my body’s wisdom guiding me to the ancient knowing that has been and will always be. I am so grateful to have connected with Chris.

-Chingwell

Chris has a breadth of knowledge and experience that makes her a true healer! I always leave each session feeling mentally and physically stronger.

-Matthew S

I can’t thank Chris enough for her holistic approach to health. I was fortunate to have a friend recommend Deep Breath Pilates sessions to me during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite my initial concern that online sessions weren’t going to ‘cut it,’ I was pleasantly surprised by how Chris seamlessly led Pilates sessions with me solely through a video conferencing platform. It is clear that she is an expert. Through her instruction, I felt myself grow stronger, which boosted my mental well-being during such trying times. I was grateful that she agreed to continue online sessions with me even when the height of COVID had lessened and folks were moving away from online lessons. As Chris’s client, I was introduced to her vision of a holistic approach to movement, which she holds as central to the well-being of individuals and as foundational to building and sustaining community. I was most touched by Chris’s knowledge of alternative therapies that she shared when I was nervous about getting surgery. I am sure that the approaches she shared, combined with the Pilates lessons, put me in a good state of being both before and after my surgery.

-Kamela Heyward-Rotimi