About Maya Christopherson
Maya Christopherson’s Pilates journey started way back when she was a graduating piano performance major at the University of Utah in 2001. Her professor suggested finding some sort of grounding physical and mental exercise to assist with the performance anxiety she was feeling leading up to her senior recital. Maya went looking for such a thing and first found yoga (and never left it). Then shortly after that she was introduced to Pilates by family friends. As soon as she was on the Pilates equipment, Maya felt the same joy of movement she had felt doing ballet and modern dance as a child. Needless to say, she was hooked immediately and decided to make several treks to Boulder, CO between 2004-2005 to be certified in the comprehensive advanced teacher training program at The Pilates Center, headed by sisters Amy Taylor Alpers and Rachel Taylor Segel, who studied under first generation Pilates elder Romana Kryzanowska. From the very beginning, Maya loved being a teacher of movement, instantly seeing the benefits of better body mechanics, improved strength, and more refined coordination in her clients. In 2013, Maya became a Nationally Certified Pilates Teacher through the Pilates Method Alliance. A lifelong curious learner, further educational interests led Maya to studying with Cara Reeser of Pilates Aligned, originally in Denver, CO. In 2019 Maya completed the post-graduate Heritage Training Program, based on Cara’s experience with another of Joseph Pilates’ lifelong students, first generation Pilates elder Kathleen Stanford Grant. In 2024, Maya was the first person to complete the post-graduate Movement Science Made Simple advanced movement studies program, led by Cara Reeser and Jeremy Laverdure. In 2020, after 16 years of working as part of Streamline Bodyworks in Salt Lake City with Eva and Steve Kauffman, Maya opened Uplift Pilates SLC. Maya’s own Pilates practice has never stopped growing and has always remained fascinating to her, and she finds her teaching practice just as stimulating. Nothing is more exciting to her than seeing her clients get stronger and more skilled in their bodies, and therefore more empowered as humans.
