Meet Pilates Instructor Sabrae Garrett–A Passion for Guiding Clients to Health
- Cherie Turner
- 1 minute ago
- 4 min read
Tahoe Fitness Loft Pilates teacher Sabrae Garrett has been active her whole life. In her youth, she was a cheerleader: “I loved it!” says Sabrae. That early enthusiasm for moving with joy and purpose, and cheering others on to be their best selves, is still strong today.
Sabrae went on to develop a love of the fitness industry. She took classes, lifted weights, and followed fitness trends and advice in pursuit of staying healthy and active. She also skied, and she ran for many years, racing 5ks and 10ks. “My last race was the Boulder Boulder 10k,” she recalls. “I did it to mark my 40th birthday.”
A challenge Sabrae was coming up against for years, however, was pain. While she was strong and fit, she had also been in a number of accidents: a car crash, a skiing accident, and a water skiing accident. These impacts left Sabrae with shooting pain in her knees, neck, arms, and back. “I hurt from head to toe,” says Sabrae.
Over the years Sabrae had tried to mitigate her pain through fitness and strength training, and she had tried Pilates. In 2012, she recommitted to Pilates and began going regularly. She liked Pilates, but she was still in pain.
Around this same time, Sabrae sought medical advice for her pain symptoms: the solution her doctor proposed was a spinal fusion. “I didn’t want a fusion,” says Sabrae, “so I asked if there were other alternatives I could try first.” Her doctor recommended physical therapy.
That’s when the switch was flipped for Sabrae: she talked to her physical therapist about Pilates and about her pain. He suggested modifications to the Pilates movements she was doing in the classes she was taking: Sabrae realized that Pilates, taught correctly, can be movement physical therapy.
As Sabrae discovered the power of Pilates to help her take back her own well-being, she realized that she wanted to help other people do the same. Her path to becoming a Pilates teacher began.
Today, Sabrae has been teaching Pilates for a decade. She’s been through comprehensive Pilates education and training and is nationally certified, which also means she keeps up with continuing education requirements. It’s all in service to both her own continued wellness, and the wellness of her clients.
Sabrae is quick to point out that she was her own first client. After two years of Pilates, she got herself to a place of being almost completely pain free, and she never did get surgery. Now in her mid-50s, Sabrae maintains that virtually pain free state, to this day, primarily through Pilates, good nutrition, and acupuncture.
With her extensive training and now years of teaching, as well as all of her personal experience, Sabrae is well equipped to work with a wide variety of people, tending to a wide variety of needs. “I love to work with women through pregnancy, before and after,” says Sabrae. “It’s amazing what Pilates can do for pelvic floor health.”
Sabrae also notes that she works with a lot of people through pre-hab and rehab around surgery, and she says disc, knee, and shoulder problems are common. She also works with people who are looking to get in good shape and stay healthy and active: Pilates is a great foundation, whether people simply have the goal to move well or they’re competitive athletes looking to stay well balanced and injury free. And this is true for almost any age: Sabrae has seen clients as young as 7 years old, “and I worked with a couple who were both 87,” she says.
Whatever the issues, whatever level of fitness and strength a person has, the starting point is the same: “I start with the breath,” says Sabrae. She adds that Pilates is all about quality breathing for a strong core. From there, she says, she adds layers–helping clients develop a strong foundation of mobility, strength, and endurance.
The goal is balanced development of muscle groups, with a full range of motion. And always without pain. The benefits of a consistent Pilates practice are multiple: better mobility, better balance, better gait and movement, better posture, greater ability to navigate trips and falls, greater resilience, and reduced or eliminated aches and pains–to name a few.
Sabrae points out that the functional fitness Pilates delivers is great for day to day life, and also for overcoming life’s challenges. Sabrae herself was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019. The surgery and treatment were painful and difficult. But, she recovered quickly and well. “I know that being in really great shape helped a lot,” says Sabrae.
Sabrae Garrett’s body has been through a lot, and she’s turned to Pilates again and again, year after year, to keep her healthy. “I know that Pilates is the best thing I can do for myself,” she says.
She’s also learned to listen to her body and act accordingly. Sabrae encourages her clients to tap into their own body’s messages as well, especially around pain. “If you are feeling pain,” she says, “please listen. Maybe you need rest. Maybe you need exercise. Maybe you need recovery.”
“I’m amazed with how much pain people live with and just push through,” Sabrae continues. “If we could catch them early on and intervene when the pain starts, especially before they end up having to opt for surgery, we can often have much better outcomes. Many issues can be reversed, especially if we get to them in the early stages.”
Sabrae is quick to regularly return to a quote from Pilates founder Joseph Pilates: "Physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness." She continues to practice Pilates because she knows this to be true. She loves teaching Pilates because it’s so gratifying to help others in their journey to be fit, healthy, and happy. Her own personal motto: “I’m trying to save the world one spine at a time.”