About

Keion Moradi Means…

Keion embodies knowledge, inspiration, skill—and perhaps even a bit of levity—to share the Pilates method with others. She discovered Pilates in 2004, as a long-distance runner looking to prevent injury and in 2010, started teaching.

Keion is a graduate of THE WORK™, a rigorous, highly exclusive continuing education program for seasoned Pilates teachers, led by program director and first generation teacher Jay Grimes, and Sandy Shimoda, owner of globally celebrated studio Vintage Pilates. In 2017, Keion also joined the high-caliber teaching staff at Vintage Pilates and as a forever student, continues to study with both Jay and Sandy.

Keion co-owns Strong Body Pilates, a Los Angeles-based studio dedicated to passing down the original method. She completed her original certification under the tutelage of second generation teacher, Risa Sheppard.

More About me / My Pilates Story:

It all started when I bit the dust during a run in the Silver Lake hills of Los Angeles. I know my above bio says I found Pilates because I was looking to prevent injury, but to clarify, I was actually looking to prevent further injury.

The injury from my fall led to months of being out of work, out of sorts and certainly out of commission for running. My tailbone had bent inward enough to make everything in life pretty painful — sitting, standing, lying on my stomach, breathing. It took months of rest, visits to the chiropractor and babying my coccyx before I could exercise near the level to which I had been accustomed. And forget about exercise — I was precarious in my day-to-day movements. Here I was, stiff, sore, breakable … and only in my 20s.

Some six months after that injury, I tried out Pilates at the recommendation of a friend. Sure, Pilates had already been making its way into the mainstream. Mari Winsor’s DVDs had debuted and media coverage had been buzzing on the latest celebrity fitness trends. Headlines reading: How Jenn Anniston got her smoking hot abs and toned physique and somehow looks better than women 15 years her junior .. and, take that, Brad Pitt! The seduction was already there. The functional, corrective part was the clincher. My friend, who always made me laugh with silly salutations, like “how’s your butt?” was concerned for my wellbeing. It was time to see what all the Pilates hype was about.

By now, you’ve probably guessed my story doesn’t end here….

That which merely called me out of the shadows in the names of pain prevention and vanity had yet more to share with me. Soon, I was doing Pilates not just for my body, but also for my mind and spirit.

As someone who has spent hours on the daily tapping laptop keys, I always required frequent breaks. There’s a persistent need to retreat from time spent immersed in one’s head. I wanted to avoid swallowing my own self whole. My escape route of choice was exercise.

For 18 years, I have been using Pilates to stay in shape, keep up with my kids, avert writer’s block, take a chill pill, solve the world’s problems, move through life with a lot more ease, confidence and control, and so much more.