About Us

Regan Zubak

Owner

Regan is the owner, operator and master instructor of Village Pilates Studio. She opened VPS in 2005 and loves working with her clients every day, collaborating with the vps staff, leading the Teacher Training Program, and hosting Continuing Education Workshops for students and professionals. And in 2016, she became an ambassador for TripTribe, leading beautiful and inspiring Pilates beach retreats.

Completing among the most intensive Pilates certification program of its kind in the world, she teaches with knowledge, creativity, and inspiration. Fulfilling over 1,000 hours of apprenticeship work in the classical Pilates Method and studying with the most highly trained and renowned instructors in the field, Regan continues to be committed and impassioned as a lifelong student.

Her initial training consisted of a strict one-year 750-hour program under the tutelage of Fran Ahrens of Body in Balance, Hinsdale, IL. Regan continues to train, earning her ‘Master's in Pilates’ at The Pilates Center in Boulder, Colorado in 2010 and successfully becoming a Certified Pilates Method Alliance Teacher (PMA® - CPT) in Fall 2012. She also is a PMA approved CEC provider, hosting a handful of workshops each year for serious students and professionals. Regan is dedicated to her own daily Pilates lessons and continues to take workshops, lessons, and observations from the leading Pilates instructors in the country as well as from her own highly trained community of fellow VPS instructors.

In light of the Village Pilates Studio mission, Regan Zubak is consciously creating a ‘village’ atmosphere, with high educational and professional standards, for people to feel welcome and motivated to practice Pilates. She is dedicated in being a trustworthy Pilate's teacher, one who is thorough, caring and careful, and keeps abreast on the ever growing information in the field.

Len Palombi

Instructor

Len is a classically trained Pilates instructor, qualified on all apparatus. He completed his initial training in 2012, through The Village Pilates Studio in Forest Park, IL, under the direction of Master Instructor Regan Zubak and is certified by the Pilates Method Alliance (PMA). Len has also completed the Polestar® Pilates Comprehensive Training Program and holds additional teaching certificates.*

Len is experienced in working with older adults. Having completed his training at age 60, he is able to draw on his own experience with the method to make Pilates accessible regardless of age or level of fitness. He makes full use of his extensive training to help clients correct postural imbalances and develop efficient movement patterns. Len has a non-anxious presence, putting clients at ease. He provides clear instruction rich with imagery. He always strives to provide his clients with a positive movement experience.

• Pilates for Hip and Knee Replacement – Polestar® Pilates
• ractitioner of Pilates Studio – Polestar® Pilates
• Post Rehab Breast Cancer Survivor Exercise Specialist – Pink Ribbon Program
• Bone Safe© Pilates for Osteoporosis – Jenna Zaffino

Krystal Gavras

Instructor

Krystal spent the first 18 years of her life being an athlete, mainly a competitive gymnast. In college Krystal began taking Pilates mat classes to fill the gap in her post-competitive gymnastics career and immediately fell in love with it. During her master's program in Sport-Exercise Psychology she began taking classes at VPS and found an appreciation and passion for the classical method. She soon discovered that her love for Pilates went much beyond the physical. Krystal decided to take her practice to the next level and enrolled in the 750-hour Teacher Training program with the encouragement from senior instructor, Ellen Taylor. Krystal has been classically trained in Pilates on all apparatus and all fitness levels under Regan Zubak. Krystal has also completed a 160 hour Pilates Master Mentorship Program under the guidance of Pilates elder and First Generation Pilates Teacher, Lolita San Miguel. In July of 2016, Krystal graduated from the program and was granted the title of 'Second Generation Pilates Teacher' and 'Lolita San Miguel Pilates Master.'

Being a high level coach for over 10 years, Krystal encourages all athletes to add Pilates to their training regime as she believes that Pilates is the best cross training for long-term success. She has extensive knowledge of working with young athletes and has a special interest in helping athletes use Pilates as a tool for injury prevention. Krystal also advocates the value of the pilates method during pregnancy as she maintained her practice throughout her entire pregnancy. She encourages women take pilates during pregnancy so they can have a powerful birth and faster recovery. Krystal continues to be inspired by the method and is passionate about passing her knowledge to each one of her students. She feels that the body is what moves us through life and is our greatest means of transportation. If you move well every day, then you will be pleasantly surprised by what your body is naturally designed to do. Krystal looks forward to empowering people of all ages and fitness levels to achieve their movement goals with the Pilates method.

Julia Cox

Instructor

Julia Cox (Haptonstahl) has been a practitioner of Pilates since it was introduced to her as a dance student at age 14. She attended Northern Illinois University on scholarship majoring in dance as well as studying anatomy of movement at Columbia College in Chicago. Julia danced professionally in MOMENTA Dance Company in Oak Park, Chicago, Austria, the Art Institute of Chicago and performed fire dancing and fire eating in the Chicago area.

Teaching since 2010, Julia completed the rigorous 750 hour Pilates Teacher Training program at Village Pilates Studio in Oak Park, IL in February 2013. She has been classically trained in Pilates on all apparatus and all fitness levels under Regan Hoerster and Cameron Jarrett. Julia completed her Pilates Method Alliance (PMA® - CPT) Teacher Certification in April 2013. She keeps up with her Continuing Education Credits to stay updated on changes in the field.

In July 2018 Julia received her Pilates Master’s in, “The Science and Psychology of Teaching” through the guidance of Master Teacher Chantill Lopez PMA-CPT founder of Skillful Teaching and Anne Bishop PMA-CPT, EdM founder of Body Brain Connect. She is continuing to work with them on their Master’s Plus Program throughout the next year.

Training with exceptional and experienced teachers in Pilates and dance, Julia utilizes her lifelong experiences in movement to teach people to move intelligently with a sense of purpose, while providing an understanding of how the body moves anatomically. She teaches students to be able to take ownership of their movement practice, guiding them to gain a greater sense of body and mental awareness. Nothing is black and white and everything can be explored as every body is unique. Her biggest goal as a teacher is to help her students find their greatest potential and knowing that the sky is the limit. Julia has a unique intuition and intelligence of visual and spatial understanding to see the body as a whole when teaching students. She hopes to help her students meet their goals while creating a positive, challenging and motivating movement experience! Teaching to the whole person is essential in one’s movement and teaching journey. Teaching to a body is just not enough. Julia hopes her students walk out feeling better than they came in.

Just entering her 30s, Julia has endured many difficult experiences with her body and mind. After multiple surgeries and other health issues that have created setbacks, the teaching and personal practice of Pilates has always brought her back to life! Her extensive experience in dance, and being a long time patient in physical therapy, have inspired her to intensify Joseph Pilates’s idea of “quality over quantity.” She believes full body movement with focus from head to feet will help liven our spirits and prevent pain, injuries, and bad health overall. Pilates creates a balance between mind and body for her and she hopes to help her students find the same sense of balance. Julia has a special interest in teaching dancers, athletes, Post Concussion Syndrome/Traumatic Brain Injury, endometriosis, pelvic floor dysfunction, spinal injuries, previous or current injuries in general as well as exploration of the unknowns of what the body can do. Pilates has proven to be a lifesaver for her mind and body. She hopes the good health and happiness she has experienced through her practice of Pilates will be a source of inspiration for her own students.

Catherine Ditto

Instructor

Cathy completed Regan Zuback’s 750-hour Pilates Teacher Training 2012 after practicing Pilates since 2008. She is currently pursuing a Masters through the Pilates Center in Boulder.

“For many years I enjoyed walking, long-distance cycling and various forms of aerobics. After 40, it seemed my fitness level was decreasing even though I was exercising. Pilates is more than a complement, but a key to my pursuit of fitness and wellness. The core strength I built through Pilates makes everything I do easier.”

Cathy has an undergraduate degree in therapeutic recreation and a masters in curriculum and instruction. Both support her desire to continue learning and to maximize freedom of movement to enrich her life. Through Pilates, she hopes to help others improve their quality of life by improving the way they feel.

Annie Velez

Instructor

Annie has been an avid fitness enthusiast for over 20 years and first tried Pilates at a health club. She was immediately intrigued and shortly after having her children, she pursued its practice further. Consequently, she began to feel longer, leaner and stronger. As a result, the study and practice of Pilates became her next journey in life, which perfectly complements her seasonal bodybuilding competition preparations.

Annie has always had a strong interest in the anatomy of the body in movement and how it contributes to its overall health. As she developed a passion for Pilates, Annie pursued the VPS Teacher Training Program with Regan Zubak and completed it in December 2012 with 1,150 hours of work and continuing education studies. Fast forward to today, she is one of our Senior Level Instructors with more than 5 years of teaching experience and continues to take additional Pilates education courses to provide her best to our clients. When a studio client was asked for a testimonial of what to expect when training with her, this is what was said: "When walking into any of Annie’s classes be ready to move with intention and to learn. With engaging cues and detailed explanations to get you to work deeper and smarter and with a bit of humor you will walk away feeling stronger, smarter, successful, and wanting more. She has the proficiency to tend to each student's individual needs while working within the framework of the class. Annie’s ability to share her knowledge of pilates is exceptional and her passion is truly contagious!"

As a Cum Laude alumni from Northeastern Illinois University, she holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and a minor in Chemistry. Having worked with many bodies throughout her teaching years she has learned that there is an advantageous combination of the use of Pilates with rehabilitation and desires to mend the two to help people get back to functional health. Waiting for the right time to return to school, she plans to complete requirements to establish a career in functional movement and health. Currently she is a Polestar Pilates student, and is excited to be part of this community as she learns more about contraindications for movement, pathologies and conditions that are commonly seen among Pilates clientele in both rehab and fitness settings. Her ambition for functional movement and health has also lead her to intern as a Ki-hara Resistance Stretch Trainer to help others train their bodies eccentrically and concentrically to eliminate muscle imbalances that could otherwise distort joints, restrict mobility and range of motion.

Annie was born and raised in Chicago where she continues to reside with her two children and husband. In the whirlwind of life and motherhood she makes sure that she's taking care of herself in three personal areas; body, mind, and spirit so that life can be enjoyed to its full potential. She hopes to radiate her positive energy toward Pilates onto others, so they too can feel the hallmark benefits of Pilates in order to enhance their lives. The motto she lives by is simply to "be fit for 'LIFE' because you only have one life to live and it's beautiful!"

Michelle Siu

Instructor

Michelle has been a fitness and outdoor enthusiast all her life. She took her first Pilates class at Village Pilates in 2007 prompted by back problems after childbirth. Not only were her back problems gone in a few weeks, but Pilates turned out to be a whole body workout that makes people’s bodies stronger, leaner and flexible. “With Pilates, you strengthen your core, articulate your spine and fire every system in your body. It is the most efficient form of exercise I’ve come across. It is so important with our busy schedules to stay healthy so we can enjoy life with our family and friends.” Since then, Pilates has been a constant in her life as it keeps her strong, healthy and injury-free. She also loves that Pilates is ageless and can be practiced by people of all ages and all levels of physical fitness. Michelle joined the VPS Teacher Training Program in order to challenge herself and deepen her practice, and completed the rigorous 750-hour program in January 2017. Her teaching style fuses classical and contemporary Pilates with moves made to challenge her clients to the best of their abilities.

Andrew Cox

Instructor

Andy’s background is both athletic and creative. His years of playing baseball, weight training, and playing rugby taught him the importance of overall health. He has also been a working musician since the age of 15, and teaches drum lessons outside of the studio. His patient mindset and easy-going attitude are cornerstones of his teaching style. He believes learning is a dynamic process much like movement and that a successful practice stems from executing the basics very well.

“The foundation of any skill, whether movement or music, must be firmly established to create success in making progress towards the student’s goals within the aim of the practice.”

He is comprehensively trained in both classical and contemporary Pilates thanks to his full studio apprenticeship under Regan Zubak and working with Cameron Jarrett at Fitness Formula Clubs (FFC). Andy earned his Pilates Method Alliance Certification (PMA-CPT) in October 2017 shortly after completing the rigorous program at Village Pilates Studio in June 2017.

His breadth of work ranges from young athletes to help improve their performance through vigorous conditioning, and up to older adults to relieve pain through restoring physiological function. Andy enjoys working with a variety of different abilities and ages, because he believes Pilates can benefit every body. He hopes to make your movement experience unique and rewarding, while challenging new levels of ability to emerge as the student discovers their own potential and capacity for success!

Gretchen Junker

Instructor

Gretchen came to Village Pilates as a client, searching for a practice that would help with chronic low back pain. She was immediately charmed by the warm and calming studio environment, and was thrilled as her pain rapidly resolved. Gretchen’s movement background is in modern dance and she currently practices the Japanese martial art, Aikido. Parenting three teenagers, caring for the family dogs, and her work in STEM education through the Oak Park Education Foundation in the District 97 elementary schools fills the rest of her time.

Gretchen joined the 750 hour Pilates Teacher Training program under Regan Zubak in 2016. She completed her certification in December of 2017 and has been happily teaching equipment, mat and oov classes at VPS since 2018.

Esther Hunt

Instructor

Esther Hunt completed a 750 massage training program at Chicago School of Massage Therapy - Cortiva in April of 2010. She then took 6 years to have and raise three children and applied for her massage license in spring of 2016. Since that time, she has completed 19 additional CECs in Craniosacral Therapy, became Level I Reiki certified and has invested considerable time in exploring the mind-body connection and the role that trauma plays in physical pain stored in the body. She is an avid learner, has a deep love and respect for healing work and knows her calling in life to be that of a healer. She is excited to continue exploring the mind-body connection and how human spirituality, trauma, and the physical body all influence and relate to each other. She sees Pilates as a form of movement that is able to tap into and support all of those things.

Esther began her relationship with Pilates in 2014 at FFC under the direction of Charles Little. She fell in love with the movement and how it was a form of exercise that strengthened and lengthened her body and increased her fluidity of movement and her grace in everyday activities. It shifted her posture, increased her balance, decreased her back pain, helped her mitigate chronic body pain symptoms, increased her feelings of physical stability and deepened her kinesthetic self-knowledge. She stepped away from Pilates for three years and re-discovered her love of the movement when she began attending classes at VPS in September of 2018.

In September of 2018, Esther came to Village Pilates Studio looking to trade work hours for class time. Since that time, Esther’s role at the Studio has expanded to include that of Studio Manager, in-studio Massage Therapist and Teacher Trainee.

Esther continues to love Pilates and all that it can bring to the human body. She believes it is an optimal form of movement for creating health and wellness in a physical body. Esther believes, much like Joseph Pilates believed, that there is an ever-changing, fluid, dynamic balance and relationship between a healthy body, a grounded mind and a vibrant spirit. Her experience of Pilates is that a consistent and regular personal Pilates practice can tap into this dynamic balanced matrix and that it can and does positively influence all three areas in a way that exponentially improves each. Pilates is movement for vitality and life. It is so much more than a form of exercise. It is an act of self-love and is a commitment to care for the physical body that carries a person through this life. As Joseph Pilates titled his book, Pilates truly is about a Return to Life.

Megan Murphy

Instructor

Megan grew up a dancer and gymnast with a passion for movement and physical activity. She studied dance and anatomy of movement at Hope College and Columbia College Chicago before receiving a BFA in dance from the University of Illinois. After pursuing a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction from The University of Illinois Chicago, Megan taught K-8th grade dance in CPS.

Megan initially sought out Pilates as a way to stay active and increase her strength and flexibility, but after immersing herself in the method, she fell in love with the practice and its ability to transform body and mind. In order to deepen her understanding, Megan began the 750 hour VPS Teacher Training program in July 2018 and she is excited to share her knowledge and passion for the Pilates lifestyle with her students.

Rebecca Gleason

Instructor

Rebecca comes from a movement background, having studied dance in college and having been a competitive gymnast for 10 years. She has been practicing Pilates since 2007, when after years of torturing her body with distance running and high impact exercises, she chose to find a practice with intention and a body positive focus. Rebecca started coming to VPS in Jan of 2014 and after many years of consideration, she finally joined the Teacher Training Program in May of 2016. Raising three children and running a small business in Chicago keeps Rebecca busy and Pilates was just the tool she needed to keep herself feeling great and ensuring a bit of self care in her everyday routine. She genuinely enjoys practicing Pilates and loves sharing this method with others looking to find peace in their own hectic days.

Amanda Jones

Instructor

Amanda started Pilates after injuring her knee in a half marathon. After a few classes at Village Pilates Studio, she was hooked and soon found herself at the studio almost everyday. She is convinced that if she had been doing Pilates when she was a runner, she would have not gotten injured or at the very least, not injured herself to the extent that required her to stop running permanently. Amanda loved the constant challenge of Pilates along with the strength she gained so much that she decided to leave the corporate world and join the teacher training program in 2018. She is now a quarter of the way through her 750 hour training and is looking forward to graduating by the end of 2019 and becoming PMA certified. When she is not at the studio, Amanda enjoys eating tacos, being a chauffeur to her teenage son and chasing her two dogs.