What an amazing experience! Last November I was fortunate enough to travel to Australia to visit with my dear friend and soul sister Cynthia Lochard and her beautiful daughter Tamika. When Cynthia and I met in 1995 we became fast friends – I am certain we knew each other in another life.

Soul sisters Cynthia Lochard & Lauren Stephen

Tamika & Lauren

Cynthia and Tamika recently came to the States to travel, teach and study at PSI and other studios. They visited with Romana and Sari, and Tamika completed her Pilates Teacher Certification. Some clients and teachers will remember Cynthia’s dynamic and super fun workshop last spring at PSI.

Some time ago Cynthia had invited me to come to Sydney to teach at her studio, Cynthia Lochard’s Pilates Method Studio, and so off I went, leaving Seattle’s short gray and rainy days for the Australian sunshine. While excited to see my dear friends and to teach at a new studio, I left Seattle with some trepidation – I had never traveled 16 hours straight on a plane before plus we had made the decision to more efficiently use our studio space which meant that lots of consolidating of equipment and reorganizing had to happen while I was gone. Even though I was leaving the studio in the capable hands of Cindy and Steve and all our incredible instructors, I was still a little anxious.

And then I had a truly amazing time. I felt a deep connection to the people I met and to the land. It was incredibly inspiring to teach at Cynthia’s studio. Everybody was sooo fit and super focused. My original intention was to teach one of the Principles for class but I ended up teaching both Concentration + Flow and Centering. Because to a person, every participant was fully present.  I had a blast and they did too.

Here are just a few of the hundreds of photos I took. For more, check out the Pilates Seattle Facebook page.