★ 5

I came to Kim as a Pilates novice with a healing but not-quite-back frozen shoulder. She worked very closely with me to increase my range of motion and strengthen my shoulder. Along the way, we also worked a lot on posture and core.

Kim is very knowledgeable and perceptive about musculoskeletal function, and her cues and take-home exercises have been really key for me.

I’m now enjoying her group classes, which are (is this an oxymoron?) chill but challenging.

I would recommend Kim to anyone recovering from an injury who requires delicacy of diagnosis and care, and to anyone who wants to get stronger and move more consciously.

Source: Google

★ 5

Kim is an excellent instructor! I have taken Pilates elsewhere and Kim is the best instructor I have had.

Source: Google

★ 5

Kim is a miracle worker! I have been doing pilates for years, and for about two months with Kim, twice a week. She has done more for my strength and agility than any instructor I have had, is very patient and truly has an eye for fine tuning all aspects of your physical life. Plus she is a joy to work with.

Source: Google

★ 5

Kim totally rocks! She helped me figure out what was going on with my knee and had magical exercises to address it. at the same time she understood who I am and had tons of fun and strength building Pilates exercises tailored just for the rest me. I love working with her!

Source: Google

★ 5

I crossed paths with some whom I first called instructor to now call her a Friend @pilatesbykimip has/is truly amazing, gifted and beacon of light in this realm of body movement. Kim is committed to making this practice be accessible and safe for all bodies, mobility challenges, and see folx strengths physically and mentally when you are in those stuck moments….Kim has constantly reminded me that moving my body is a privilege and though we may experience some resistance but utilizing our power house and source will help make the strides of moving through our mental and physical challenges - while lifting your whole head up 🤣 (inside joke). Thank you Kim for introducing me to this new practice and how to embrace and embrace my Queen-ship!

Source: Google

★ 5

During my Achilles recovery process I began Pilates, Kim being one of my first instructors. She’s incredibly thoughtful and knowledgeable to meeting people where they are, and ensuring that the exercises accommodate and enhance the strengths of each person. Love working with her, I’ve experienced so much relief as well as building much needed strength in my ankle.

Source: Google

★ 5

Kim is one of the most insightful and thoughtful Pilates instructors I’ve had. She’s great as a class instructor and a miracle worker as a private instructor. She WILL help you find your spine!

Source: Google

★ 5

I started working with Kim almost 2 years ago and I can’t say enough about the extraordinary experience I have had with her! I was a novice to Pilates and have many physical issues: lower back injury, overweight, fatigued body,… I never thought I could do most of the Pilates movements. With her expertise, patience, caring, precision, compassion, and huge depth of experience, Kim helped me through all my challenges and guide me to become so much more confident, agile in my movements, and advance in Pilates level. Today I can’t live without Pilates as it’s become such a center piece to my overall well-being and taking classes twice a week with Kim, not only help my body feel stronger, but also my mind sharper and overall more balanced. If you are new to Pilates or have reached a higher level, Kim’s personal touch and expert attention will help you reach your fullest potential. I can’t recommend her enough! She currently teaches in Oakland Hills in a beautiful and serene environment that is so easy and convenient for me. Thanks Kim for your amazing support!!!

Source: Google

★ 5

Kim is someone who is invested in your mental, emotional, and physical health. Her vibe and expertise adds to the class that doesn’t compare with others. Beware, this tiny ball of energy can cause lots of sweat and guaranteed soreness… but you’ll be coming back for more! Kim is willing to support your goals in and outside of the Pilates realm and this is what I love most about them <3 ENJOY!

Source: Google

★ 5

Kim is great!!! She is a good listener. She is intuitive. She is patient and kind. She is knowledgable and methodical in her instruction. And she pushes me to go just a little further - which I need! I am so thrilled to have been connected to her.

Source: Google

★ 5

Source: Google

★ 5

So happy I found Kim! Pilates is the full-body workout that I wanted without all of the compression on my spine that kept me from doing more dynamic activities. I'm only a few weeks in, but I'm already seeing definition in my stomach and my back is feeling better! Thanks Kim!

Source: Google

★ 5

Prior to the pandemic I was dancing, hiking, stretching, and generally involved in some movement practice approximately 15 hours weekly--I was a former dancer and this brought me joy and balance. In March 2020 I stopped most of these activities and sadly never reentered because my work in mental health became incredibly imbalanced. I started experiencing pain in my neck/shoulders/hips and lost significant flexibility/mobility in my back. I was feeling divorced from my body for almost 2 years and fearful to reintegrate movement into my life.

Having known Kim through the dance world and witnessing her pilates journey, I knew I would be in good hands to dip a toe back into an embodied movement practice. A session with Kim far exceeded my expectations. Kim offers an intuitive, authentic, joyful, challenging and affirming space for folks to be with their bodies in a full and honest way. Kim is gentle yet accountable and helped move me through some pretty major responses/releasing.

After our first session, I felt more balanced, fluid, connected, duality of strong and soft, and hopeful. I also felt an immediate relief from much of the body pain I had been experiencing. I would recommend pilates with Kim to all, spanning from new to advanced students. I look forward to continuing to work with Kim and receive her magic.

Source: Google

★ 5

Source: Google

★ 5

Kim is such a thoughtful and talented healer. I'm a professional dancer experiencing a long persisting hip/back injury that really flared up after an intense show. I approached Kim to help me work on ways to heal and strengthen before needing to perform the same show again. She took in so much information in a short preliminary phone call and turned around with an incredible plan of action that has me feeling so taken care of and optimistic! After one session, my stability on one leg already felt drastically improved. So grateful for Kim's incredible knowledge and guidance!

Source: Google

★ 5

Amazing sessions with the fabulous Kim! I've been experiencing mild chronic pains (from years of performing). These past sessions with Kim have taught me many techniques towards strengthening and gaining stability of my body. I feel an amazing shift in how approach my daily workouts and stretches and have continued to implement what I've learned from Kim's intuitive and caring teaching.

Source: Google

★ 5

When I injured my back at work I was worried that it would be the end of my career. Although the recommended chiropractic and physical therapy sessions helped with the initial injury, the physically demanding nature of the work I do made it difficult for me to make a full recovery. When it was clear that I needed more than chiropractic and physical therapy sessions, working with a personal trainer was sugessted, and this is how I met Kim Ip.

Kim is a pilates instructor with a background in both dance and physical therapy. She was able to ‘read’ by body and understand how various muscle imbalances were contributing to my injuries at work. She worked with me twice a week in her studio and developed a home exercise program for me that was doable.

Kim has the gift of understating the body mechanics of movement and was able to help me strengthen my body in order to avoid continually re-injuring my back. I am happy to say that I can now work without back pain, which I did not feel was a possibility before I started working with her.

Source: Google

★ 5

Kim is great, she has a passion for finding the areas of the body that need to be built up to help your whole system work together better. She has a good sense of how to rehab people and help them to get to a point where they have more resilience, better posture, functionality and generally helps you get out of old patterns that had caused chronic pain and dysfunction in the body. Speaking from my own experience working together as well as others I have sent to her she is is a caring and skilled practitioner who will also push you to increase your physical capabilities/ core strength as rapidly as possible.

Source: Google

★ 5

I came to Kim with a shoulder impingement injury I got from dancing. It's important that I healed it properly because I'm a professional dancer. I did some physical therapy, but after 6 weeks of PT they recommended Pilates so I could strengthen the muscles around my shoulder. I needed specific attention for my injury (so group class wouldn't fully meet my needs), so I went looking for private pilates instructors. What drew me to Kim was her own dance background that gives her a deeper understanding of the body. She's also great at describing and demonstrating what's going on and her sessions are so joyful! She helped me create a plan of action to strengthen and bring functionality back to my shoulder. Her private sessions helped my entire body get stronger for dancing. Thank you Kim for addressing my injury with care and grace!

Source: Google

★ 5

Don't tell anyone but Kim might also able be able to teach in San Francisco!

How many people does it take to figure out if I'm actually breathing fully, moving without creating injuries or if I have emotional and physical trauma that's causing sleep issues and physical restrictions? It should just take one (me). But it takes two: me and Kim. I didn't even know I needed help until I met Kim. All I knew was I kept getting injured before Kim. Now she's one of the few healers I keep going back to.

Research has shown that people heal faster when they feel the healer genuinely wants them to heal. Kim wears a heart tattoo on her throat literally and figuratively. Her love for helping people heal shows in her soothing, unique techniques. That's why my chronic shoulder pain and chest tightness healed despite other things I tried: evidence-based Somatic Experiencing (TraumaHealing.org) and EMDR therapy, acupuncture, physical therapy, bodywork (Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais, rolfing), energy work and guided meditations (which only prompted me to notice my breath but didn't get me to notice that I wasn't fully breathing my whole life). Unlike those sessions, I often feel instant results after a private, in-person session with Kim. She is the missing link in the trauma field because she notices what other modalities miss. For example, since she's also a Pilates teacher, she puts us in various pretzel positions and notices when people can't do certain movements because of issues deeper than physical structural issues. The other modalities seemed to rely on me to already be aware of and disclose discomfort. But I had trauma I didn't even know I had. So I wasn't able to fully heal.

Instead of only asking me what I feel, Kim says what she sees. More importantly, she helps me be in my body for real and feel subtle sensations so I don't keep injuring myself. With her x-ray vision (Feldenkrais and dance background, training with Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen and Pilates), here are just a few things she helped me be aware of:

1. I was pulling my arm out of its socket with everyday movements. With her guidance, my shoulder pain has been gone for months.

2. I was not fully breathing in all sides of my lungs, which was causing other problems. In one hour, my years-long chest tightness was gone. I've tried on my own to recreate the champagne bubble sensations in my whole body and deep sleep after private, in-person breathing sessions with her even in online Zoom sessions. But for now, it takes two, though her intent is for me to be self-sufficient.

Source: Google

★ 5

Kim is a very warm and welcoming teacher. I came to her with pain in my S.I. joint and had to stop taking Bootcamp classes because it left me in so much pain. I can tell she really cares about helping me feel stronger and pain free in my body. I was honestly intimidated to try pilates because it always felt like a niche exercise, but Kim really took the exercises and broke them down in a digestible way. She was very patient as I had no clue what my "core" consisted of. She makes sessions challenging and sustainable so I still feel like I'm making progress in understanding how to do new exercises with each session. After 3 sessions, I am already feeling stronger on my hikes and more flexible in my hamstrings. I look forward to my next session with Kim.

Source: Google