Franklin Method Educators & Trainers

Growing up in Sweden, AnnaLena spent most of her free time running between gymnastics and dance classes. As a teenager she started teaching modern dance to adults and gymnastics to young children. She continued her dance through college, and added running as a way to reduce the stress of studying and taking exams.
She graduated with a Masters in Engineering Physics in 1988 and received a PhD in Solid State Physics from Lund University, Sweden, in 1994. After two years as a Post Doctorate Fellow at MIT in Cambridge MA she moved to San Jose CA with her husband to work at Applied Materials Inc.

She left high tech when her daughter was born in 2003 and found more time to focus on her movement practice. She came upon Pilates by chance and immediately knew that this was her calling. It changed her body and helped her get her back and neck problems under control. She got certified as a Pilates mat teacher in 2006, and started the comprehensive Pilates teacher training program through Balanced Body University in 2008, all with Tom McCook at Center of Balance in Mountain View CA. She was hired as a Pilates instructor by Tom in 2009, and taught thousands of Pilates privates and group classes during her 7 years at Center of Balance. In 2016 she opened her own studio – Move Beyond Pilates – in Cupertino, CA.

In addition to being a certified Pilates Instructor, AnnaLena is also an ACE certified Group Fitness Trainer, a level 1 Franklin Method Educator, and she completed CoreAlign I, II, and III training in 2010. Being committed to continued learning, she has enjoyed attending movement workshops with teachers such as Thomas Myers (Anatomy Trains), Jill Miller (Yoga Tune Up), Katy Bowman (Restorative Exercise), Karen Clippinger (Dance Anatomy and Movement), Eric Franklin (Franklin Method), Gray Cook (Functional Movement), David Weinstock (Neurokinetic Therapy) and countless classes and workshops with her mentor and most significant movement teacher Tom McCook at Center of Balance.