Tanya Diaz-Ruiter of Glen Arbor brings her Pilates expertise to the area with her new studio, Crystal River Pilates.
“I just think that it would be a great need in Glen Arbor to have something local (Pilates),” Ruiter said.
Ruiter, originally from New Jersey and a Glen Arbor resident for two decades, strives to help clients safely and effectively discover their personal strengths.
According to Ruiter, a certified Pilates art educator, her personalized training regimen will make you feel stronger and more confident.
Starting with a one-on-one needs analysis to better understand each client’s goals and physical condition, Ruiter creates a custom lesson plan, with each session focused on personal strength, flexibility, and confidence.
She offers one-on-one or group classes right alongside the Crystal River. Pilates equipment includes a reformer, Cadillac, Wunda chair, ballet bar, wall unit, spine corrector, foot corrector, and magic circle.
She started Pilates as a student in classical, modern, and contemporary forms while sharing residency in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Ruiter quickly fell in love with all things Pilates, especially classical Pilates.
“I really fell in love with that style of Pilates. It was not offered in this area, so I plugged away at it by studying in Rotterdam and working in the studio there. I just wanted to have that same quality of Pilates when I returned to Michigan,” Ruiter said.
After two years of discussion, the family renovated the garage on Faculty Row, north of town, into an elegant Pilates studio.
“We bite the bullet and did it ourselves. So that’s how it kind of got started. When we figured out what we were going to do for space, are we going to rent something? Or can we build something on? And then we saw the space of the garage,” she said.
With construction completed, Diaz-Ruiter is now focused on building the client base from the Manitou shores.
“You can move around and work on different parts of your body that you want to improve on,” she said.
Diaz-Ruiter completed her training at Pilates Rotterdam under the guidance of Javier Velasquez.
Diaz-Ruiter enjoys teaching Contrology, the original name for the method of exercise developed by Joseph Pilates.
Contrology focuses on developing the body uniformly, correcting posture, restoring physical vitality, invigorating the mind, and elevating the spirit.
“There are tons of exercises that can help people improve on a skill that they wanna work on, if they’re an athlete or a violinist or a piano player, runners, ballerinas, and more,” Diaz-Ruiter said. “You can have fun, you can work on a specific thing, if you’re coming back from an injury and you need to make something a little bit stronger, or you want to become more flexible. It’s neat.”
Diaz-Ruiter, a proud mother of two, credits Pilates for helping her through personal battles, such as tearing her ACL or being diagnosed with cancer.
Pilates became a place of healing, growth, and empowerment. She began to rebuild her strength, one controlled movement at a time, with an emphasis on core stability. These controlled, precise movements made all the difference in her rehabilitation.
As the weeks passed, Diaz-Ruiter recovered faster than anticipated and found something remarkable happening within me.
She credits her contact in the Netherlands for helping her through the tough times.
“It was nice that when I fully recovered, I could come back and slowly get back into Pilates with different exercises.
I've battled with ovarian cancer. So I had to be really careful with my stomach. I could do other stuff that was healing … The whole community (in the Netherlands) supported me because I was still doing my education. During that time, my instructor, Javier, let me take a year off from any of my exams while I healed. And then I was able to come back and finish.” Diaz-Ruiter said.
“I’m really happy to share that with anyone who’s gone through surgery, that you can take care of yourself and still be strong in other areas of your body while healing another part.”
Diaz-Ruiter loves both Rotterdam and Glen Arbor for different reasons. In Rotterdam, she loves the city’s culture and diversity. They come to Glen Arbor to escape the chaos for a slower life, to relax, be active outdoors, and be with nature.
“When I go to Rotterdam, that’s my training time. So I devote all of my time to training in the studio six hours a day, four days a week,” she said. “I like to use that time in the winter to build on my craft. Then come back here (Glen Arbor) in the summer, open the studio, and show everything I’ve learned there.”
Diaz-Ruiter and her Netherlands community do online classes for the worldwide community.
