Functional Anatomy Teacher

Co-Teacher for the Sheppard Method Pilates Teacher Training Program

Backed by more 24 years of experience as a Pilates teacher, Janine Venable-deZarn brings an unmatched wealth of knowledge to the team at Sheppard Method Pilates and remains as the Co-Teacher for the studio’s Pilates Teacher Training Program. Her passion, which stems from helping clients learn to use their bodies optimally through Pilates so they feel better in their physical presence, allows her to improve the quality of life of every client by empowering them to care for themselves. As a result, one of her greatest joys as an instructor is when she hears a client say that Pilates is helping them in unimaginable ways, that they no longer have pain every morning, or that a lifelong injury has healed after so many other forms of treatment. This is what keeps Janine going and lets her know that she has done her job well. For this reason, it is without doubt that her favorite part of teaching at Sheppard Method Pilates is the personal nature of the studio’s instruction, where the team seeks treat the whole person, not just the body.

Janine’s Journey to Pilates

In 1998, before the practice was ever popularized, Janine discovered Pilates. She had been a professional dancer in musical theatre on the East Coast. Years after she had stopped dancing, Janine moved to Los Angeles and a friend who owned a Pilates studio asked if she would teach Pilates at her studio. Her friend admitted that she desperately needed an instructor and said she would even pay her to learn.  A seemingly good offer that was too good to refuse, Janine thought, “What have I got to lose?” Little did she know, she would soon fall in love to with Pilates, creating for herself a career of teaching clients and not too long after, a career in also training future Pilates instructors.

For the next two to three years, Janine continued to work at her friend’s studio until she was offered a job by a pain management doctor where she would work closely with the doctor’s patients. In this arena, Janine worked with patients suffering from chronic pain or recovering from a surgery/illness and who needed rehab, which in turn, completely changed her outlook. Over the next 16 years, Janine absorbed nearly everything about the human body from Dr. Axler and developed an appreciation for the power of healing through Pilates. Through this journey, Janine realized that anyone could learn Pilates, no matter their age or physical ability so long as they had a willingness to do so. In 2005, Janine began working with Risa, training future Pilates instructors and thus began a new chapter in her Pilates career.  All in all, Janine’s journey has been one that is nothing short of amazing, and the evolution only continues.

Education

  • Bachelor of Arts in Theater, Smith College
  • Certified Mat Pilates Instructor, Physical Mind
  • Certified for Mat and Equipment, Sheppard Method Pilates Teacher Training Program
  • 16 Years of Experience Working with Worked a Pain Management Doctor in a Physical Therapy Arena