Christina Burke-Tillema
Comprehensive Pilates Instructor
I’m originally from the bluegrass state, but moved to Austin, Texas to attend St. Edward’s University to complete my undergraduate studies. I did a study abroad in the Netherlands my junior year and met my husband. I ended up moving back after graduation to complete a Master’s Degree in American Studies. We landed in Cincinnati, Ohio while my husband completed residency. I kept myself busy with a Master’s degree In English Literature. I was teaching community college there and working as a grant writer before moving to Rochester in 2011 for a Mayo Clinic fellowship. It was a wild transition to the cold North, but this Kentucky girl has grown to love the winters. I have practiced pilates since I was 19 years old and have been teaching for a decade. I am so passionate about the benefits of pilates and its positive impact on our everyday movement. As we say at Club Pilates: Do Pilates, Do Life. I see the practice as a framework for all the other things that I love to do for fun and for my own wellness and self care. My husband and 3 children are my greatest loves and sources of inspiration. When I’m not teaching or driving countless carpools to gymnastics, soccer, and ski racing; you can find me working out somewhere around town including our studio, hiking in the woods with my wolf pack (Stiorra and Sakari - the sweetest dogs around), cycling on my road bike, or downhill skiing when the season is right. I love novels, coffee, my vinyl collection, concerts, the culinary arts, cinema, and stand up comedy. I have a crazy full life, but wouldn’t change it for anything.