As someone new to Pilates, working with Sandy for the past year has been truly life-changing. She is a gifted teacher who has helped me completely transform my posture and breathing. She carefully studies my movement and alignment, cueing subtle adjustments that help me engage and strengthen muscles I didn't even know existed. She gives me exercises to practice at home so I can continue my progress between sessions, and she often checks in to see how I'm feeling days later. I had been struggling with sciatic pain, and through our work together, it has been almost completely eliminated. I have never felt so strong, and as a 55-year-old former athlete, that is saying something. Her studio is light-filled and overlooks a beautiful garden, and the ambience reflects her gentle and encouraging nature. Our sessions have become a true highlight of my week. read more

Sandy is a wonderful human being. The exercises that she taught me , helped me to release the tension and stress on my left leg. I am much better of my sciatica symptoms, with my left hip more unlocked and walking with less leaping! Sandy's holistic work through the Pilates involves lots of compassion and car for her students! Lots of gratitude! read more

I am extremely grateful for Sandy's partnership. I came to Sandy after trying other ways to address my back pain. Thanks to her current knowledge in bodywork and extremely thorough assessment skills, I have a much better understanding of what is causing the problem and now have a strategy to manage my situation. Not only is she great at what she does, she is a lovely person to be around. I wish I had found Sandy years ago and am grateful to have her support and expertise now. A total gem! read more

Sandy is an amazingly gifted teacher and a lovely person! She has helped me improve my strength and flexibility so much over the last 7 years. She takes the time to listen to what you are feeling and targets her workouts to your body and needs. I highly recommend her private and group classes! read more

Sandy is the real deal. I think of it as physical therapy. If you're a super-disciplined type, great! Maybe you don't need this. But if you have any physical issues and have gone to physical therapy but aren't doing the exercises they gave you, then accepting that you're not doing them and shelling out some money to be forced to show up each week can mean the difference between being functional and non-functional. At least that's the way it's been for me-- it's meant being able to walk versus not being able to walk. In fact, I tell people I am going to physical therapy, not Pilates. Sandy keeps up on all the latest developments and goes to workshops. Like my other teacher, Suzanne Ryan in Berkeley, who's also very good, you can tell she's genuinely interested in the body and in staying fresh. She's friendly, but she'll also keep you focused and wants to make sure your body gets its due, not just chatting. Her home garden studio is comfortable and pleasant (unless you're 6'5", ha ha!), and she also sees clients down the street at a Pilates studio on Solano Avenue. read more

Sandy's particular gift is listening to my goals, meeting me where I am at each session, and zeroing in on trouble spots in my body. I came to her with tightness in muscles and joints, especially my ankles. The improvement is nothing short of astonishing. Sandy set me up with a home routine that is both realistic and effective. She is much more than an excellent Pilates instructor and I can't recommend her highly enough. read more

I've had the privilege of working with Sandy for seven years, starting with an old ski injury that needed to be addressed. She diligently worked with me through knee strengthening exercises (while recommending some bodywork to mitigate scar tissue) that had me up and skiing the next year. My body has continued to create reasons to continue working together, from a stuck shoulder to low back stiffness, and now I see my time with Sandy as maintenance that I cannot do without. Sandy has a gentle but impactful approach to Pilates, and her background in dance means that every week is a newly choreographed routine. Part of her practice includes researching and learning other techniques that are relevant, such as Aston Patterning and anatomical pottery class, where every organ is shaped until an entire body is created. It shows that her knowledge is more expansive than Pilates. I would recommend her highly. read more

Sandy Endo is the BEST! I have taken many Pilates classes, and studied with several different personal instructors, but Sandy's expert guidance and support gave me the home program I needed to maintain my fitness for dance and a variety of sports. I'm very active, athletic and interested in being as fit as possible. Sandy emailed me my home program, added modifications, and sent links for various rollers and balls. I'm a yoga teacher as well, and I found her knowledge of the body and muscle systems to be very complete. She also attends ongoing education courses which make her information up-to-date and in touch with the latest thinking on a variety of different issues to address symptoms, pain, and healing of sports and repetitive injuries. If you are thinking of working one on one with a Pilates instructor, Sandy is great! read more

Sandy is a wonderful instructor and a terrific person to boot. She's incredibly knowledgeable about body mechanics, and was so helpful in addressing previous injuries I've dealt with for years. She really took the time to instruct me in proper breathing and Pilates technique, and she offered comprehensive notes after each session, which helped me follow my new routine at home. Just as importantly, she is patient, warm, and kind. After the first session, I felt like she was a friend and was clearly looking out for my best interests. I was so inspired by our Pilates sessions that I even bought a reformer for home use! She shared my enthusiasm about my purchase and quickly helped me devise a workout for my reformer. I hope to work with her again in the future for tune-ups, and I can't recommend her highly enough. read more

Laurie C. Sandy is a terrific Pilates instructor. She is extremely attuned to muscle tightness and helped me put together a plan to release a psosas muscle that was leading to hip and low back difficulties. She also provided me with a good stretching and strengthening workout. On top of that, she is absolutely lovely. I highly recommend her. read more

Best Pilates Instructor. She is caring, giving and she understands the body. She is very professional. I Highly recommend her, she is great for professional dancers. read more

I started working with Sandy after I started feeling back and hip pain. She patiently helped me release the tension in my core. Once my body started to relax, we started building strength in the core and back. Now my back and hip pain are gone. Thank you Sandy. You are the best! read more

I found Sandy when I had such debilitating core muscle pains that I was exceptionally limited in what I could do. Sandy Endo fixed me, literally. She is an exceptional trainer, really digging in and understanding what you need, can do, and where you want to go. She is also an absolute pleasure to work with. I look forward to each session with her, and come out feeling 100% better each time. Sometimes that includes sweat on my brow, sometimes it's stretched out muscles, but each time my body says, "that was exactly what I needed." Sandy was the only one to take time and attention to my specific tummy issues, and to work all the different parts to get me back on track so I can now do just about any type of exercise I want. I don't think the credit goes to pilates: I think it goes to Sandy and her expertise. Can't recommend her more highly. read more

Not all Pilates instructors are created equal - I started working with Sandy about six months ago, and she is without doubt the best instructor I have ever had. Not only am I seeing real results, but I am having a lot of fun. Sandy is very focused on learning your goals and helping you work towards them. I wanted to lose weight and get stronger. She has been very helpful in both areas: I've lost the weight and am developing a lot of muscle tone. My core is much stronger than it has ever been, and I can actually imagine having a firm stomach in the near future. Sandy's private sessions are always well planned so that no two sessions are the same. There is never any boredom - just a lot of challenging fun. read more

I should have posted this months ago. Going to Sandy has made an incredible difference in my life and although she is the only Pilates personal trainer I have been to, I can say with certainty that she is an excellent and very effective instructor. I have been very athletic throughout my life playing many different sports, and have maintained a basic level of fitness. After having two kids I realized I my fitness was not even at the basic level anymore, and my posture had been deteriorating over the years. Although I was exercising some on my own it felt as if my core was never going to be the same again. About two years ago I started going to Sandy just a couple of times a month and noticed some changes immediately. I was able to begin to find my core muscles again, she gave me exercises which began to improve my posture, and pointed out the ways in which my body had physically become out of balance. She helped me fix many areas of my body where I had overcompensated with some muscles and underused others. I am now attending a session once a week and am still making improvements. My weekend warrior sports have also improved dramatically now that I am stronger and more in-balance, and I believe that now in my 40's this has significantly helped me avoid injuries. I really can't recommend Sandy enough to anyone who is looking to make lasting changes to their body. read more

I cannot recommend Sandy enough. I originally saw her for a program I could use at home for core work, and subsequently a routine for upper body using weights that I could add to my workout. She is highly knowledgeable, particularly regarding preventative measures so as not to incur injury while training. read more

Working with Sandy has been the best and most successful thing I've done to help my body heal from an injury that has caused me years of chronic pain. There are things that I can now do that I had given up on ever doing again. And that has a lot to do with Sandy's approach to making me feel safe and challenging my body simultaneously. I can't recommend her enough. read more

Sandy worked with me one-on-one on a constellation of pulled muscles and compromised fascia. She is extremely knowledgeable and gave me several exercises to work on at home, which I've done -- all contributing to healing. She gives clear demonstrations and makes certain that I know how to do the movements before I leave the studio. Her sincere desire to help and to teach and her expertise all achieve great results. I've also taken her group pilates classes for years and recommend her teaching style very much. read more

Sandy helped me last year to come up with some exercises to build my core when I was dealing with abdominal muscle pain and weakness. She is so knowledgeable and with her background in both pilates and physical therapy, she was great at explaining exercises and how the body moves and works. She is kind, enthusiastic and I always looked forward to seeing her. read more

The combination of Pilates and Sandy Endo has finally helped me to enjoy exercise. Try Pilates if you have not done so yet, but be sure to do it with Sandy. Not only do I get the very best instruction but I enjoy the humor of each session. read more