Today we’d like to introduce you to Monica Bondi.
Monica, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I am a Pilates Movement Specialist, former dancer, wife, mom of three, and owner of a private Pilates studio called Bird on a Perch Pilates located at Sawyer Yards in Houston, TX.
My introduction to movement started in my living room in Northern California. My older sister took ballet lessons and would come home from class and share the steps she had learned. After a year or two of my living room lessons, I signed up for my first ballet class when I was 9. It didn’t take long for dance to become my life and for becoming a professional dancer to become my dream. Through high school, I danced 5-6 days per week, performed throughout the year, and attended Summer Intensives at the San Franciso Ballet School. My life was eat, sleep, dance, and dance some more. Outside of dance, I had some interest in becoming a Physical Therapist, but I was so determined to become a professional dancer that I didn’t give it much consideration. I continued my dance studies at UC Santa Barbara, earning a BFA in Dance. At UCSB, I continued taking ballet almost daily, but the program’s emphasis was in modern dance, which felt like home to me.
I was ready to take on the New York modern dance scene upon graduation. However, three weeks after graduating college, I was back in my hometown performing for my childhood ballet teacher at a community arts event. During the performance, I took off for a jump and heard a loud pop from my knee. I didn’t immediately realize I was injured or feel any pain, but my knee gave out and buckled as I tried to continue performing. The diagnosis confirmed that I had ruptured my ACL and torn my meniscus. The news hit me like a punch in the stomach. I was devastated, and my dreams of becoming a professional dancer started to crumble. My orthopedic surgeon at St. Francis Memorial Hospital in San Francisco introduced me to Pilates. He prescribed Pilates and Physical Therapy as part of my rehabilitation for my knee surgery. During that time, I realized how unique and beneficial the Plates Method is. It kept me moving when I couldn’t dance, trained and conditioned my body as a whole, and ultimately helped me return to dancing again. The path to becoming a Pilates Instructor wasn’t on my radar yet, and I moved to New York to pursue a career in dance.
In New York, a dancer friend suggested I check out a Pilates studio called the Kane School of Core Integration. She had been going there, and it had helped her with a back injury, and she thought it would be an excellent place for me after recovering from my knee surgery. The Kane School had a medicinal feel to it with old anatomy posters on the walls, bins of skeletal models, multiple pieces of Pilates Apparatus, and many dancers recovering from injuries. I signed up for the mat certification without much thought other than to learn the method more in-depth. At the time, I was taking dance classes, auditioning, performing here and there, and working as a hostess/cocktail server in a Thai restaurant to pay my bills. A few years passed, and I re-injured my knee, and I made the difficult decision to retire from performing. After experiencing what Pilates had done for me, I decided I wanted to pass along that same experience. I became a Comprehensively Certified Pilates Instructor at the Kane School in 2007, allowing me to help others live healthier, more active lives and assist dancers in learning about functional anatomy, injury prevention, and recovery modalities.
At first, it was a bit intimidating to learn something new and know it well enough to teach it. The certification required rigorous training in anatomy, biomechanics, and working with special populations along with the principles and classical repertoire of the Pilates Method. I learned a great deal about how the body moves and functions during the full-year program and constantly found myself saying, “I wish I had known that while I was still dancing.”
I started teaching Private Pilates sessions and mat and reformer classes in Pilates studios around NYC. In 2009, I purchased Pilates equipment and opened a studio out of my apartment for private clients across the Hudson River in Jersey City, New Jersey. Additionally, I was part of the work-study program at the Kane School during my certification, allowing me to see the business side of running a studio which was incredibly beneficial. Teaching from home allowed me flexibility, especially as each of my three kids came into the picture. I ran my home-based studio until my family and I moved to Houston in the summer of 2020. After getting settled in Houston, I re-opened Bird on a Perch Pilates in December 2021, as well as joined the Health and Wellness Team at Houston Ballet Academy in the summer of 2022.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
I would say it’s been pretty smooth. Having a home studio, in the beginning, was a safe place to start. I had already been teaching in the community, had friends and neighbors who knew I was teaching and didn’t have to worry about much overhead. Word of mouth and referrals are my best marketing tools. The majority of my clients had been with my studio for several years (many since its inception), so relocating to a new city during the pandemic and opening a space outside my home has been the most challenging. I’m starting from scratch in a city where I don’t know many people, but what began as a slow build has been growing steadily since, which has been exciting.
We’ve been impressed with Bird on a Perch Pilates, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I offer customized, one-on-one Pilates sessions at my studio. I use a whole-body approach to improve function and strength, reduce pain, and enhance performance. I work with clients with conditions such as chronic low back pain, hypermobility, disc herniation, scoliosis, osteoporosis, total hip and knee replacements, shoulder Injuries, knee or hip pain, or Diastasis Recti. I help dancers become more confident and even more intelligent movers by helping them improve proprioception and find strength, stability and mobility in the areas that need it most. Pilates is for everyone and you don’t have to be a professional dancer to start. You can be a grandparent wanting to keep up wth your grandkids or a new mom wanting to feel good in your body as you take on the new role of motherhood.
Teaching Pilates and working with clients of all ages and abilities is truly a passion of mine. I bring 15 years of teaching knowledge, my own experience as an injured, hyper-mobile dancer and mom, and many hours of continuing education with leaders in the Pilates industry and somatic movement modalities to every one of my sessions. I am invested in helping each person I work with reach their health and fitness goals. I feel inspired to share my knowledge and assist those I work with to understand their bodies better, move better and feel better.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I am a HELLP Syndrome survivor. HELLP Syndrome is a life-threatening pregnancy complication considered to be a variant of Preeclampsia. HELLP stands for Hemolysis (the breaking down of red blood cells), Elevated Liver enzymes, and Low Platelet count. HELLP Syndrome can cause serious illness or be fatal for the mom and baby. I like to share my story to bring awareness to the topic because the symptoms can easily be mistaken, and the signs of Preeclampsia, such as high blood pressure and protein in the urine, are not always present. I thought I had the flu the week before the birth of my first daughter and developed pain and pressure in my upper abdomen, which my midwife and I had thought were from my cough and running out of space from being almost 40 weeks pregnant. During my 24-hour postpartum visit, my midwife took my blood pressure, which was 140/90, and considered stage 2 high blood pressure. This was high for me as my blood pressure was never higher than 120/80 throughout my pregnancy. I had also mentioned a headache. These were red flags, and she took my blood to run labs. She called with my lab report and told me to immediately head to the ER, where I was admitted for HELLP Syndrome and hospitalized for five days. I am forever grateful for my knowledgeable, intuitive midwife, and I was fortunate to have two subsequent complication-free pregnancies. The experience changed my life. It taught me to listen to my body and to go for it because things can change in an instant.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.birdonaperchpilates.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/birdonaperchpilates/
Image Credits
Traci Ling Photography
