Pilates changed Sara Dao’s life. She first started the practice as a student, seeking pain relief for her own knee injury. Within weeks, she was in love. Within months, she was pursuing her own teaching certifications. Within a year, she had redesigned her life and career to focus on sharing her passion for Pilates and the functional wellbeing that it unlocks with others. More than a decade of instructing later, Sara has founded Studio Soma Pilates to bring her unique approach to clients in Burbank and beyond, through a studio space that invites calm, recovery, and strength for people of all walks of life and all phases of ability. She built Studio Soma Pilates as a respite for wellness, strength, healing, self-improvement, and life-long learning.
Sara is a life-long learner herself. She converted a childhood fascination with anatomy and a deep appreciation for the body’s ability to heal from injury into a commitment to constantly increase her own education and understanding. She has built her Pilates expertise on a foundation of STOTT PILATES®, a contemporary form of the practice that is research-based and emphasizes modern exercise principles. She is fully STOTT® certified for all levels and all forms of equipment, but she has additionally pursued extensive specialty certifications, to grow her knowledge as an instructor and to expand how Studio Soma Pilates can meet unique needs and circumstances with precise knowledge and extreme care.
Sara’s ever-growing specialty certification areas include:
Sara combines her passion and knowledge with great personal warmth and thoughtful sensitivity to ensure that all her clients feel welcome, heard, and understood. She has a unique talent for meeting her clients where they are, while tailoring a program that both inspires and challenges, leading to measurable progress in a format that is supportive and sustainable for life. She invites you to come fall in love with Studio Soma Pilates.
