Alexander GarcÍa and Jennifer García Nelson, are engage. Their vision is to ultimately change the way exercise is approached from every perspective. They have molded their love of people, athletic ability, and their detailed knowledge of anatomical structure into a carefully-designed physical fitness system, which offers a remarkable range of benefits to all ages, abilities, and sizes. Adding together a series of complementary factors in their own lives, they have set into motion an entirely new, hyper-effective way to master one’s own body, while obtaining peak physical fitness, mental awareness, and anatomical effectiveness. Beauty, strength, mobility, flexibility, control, grace, and efficient power are the results.

In addition to teaching Pilates full-time and certifying hundreds of instructors since 1996, Alexander (as a dancer and professional dance teacher for more than 10 years) has taken multiple life experiences and molded them into what engage teaches today. Beginning his athletic history from childhood and receiving two major athletic scholarships he started down the path of a typical American athletic lifestyle. After a major football injury in college resulting in a spinal fusion, his path was diverted in an entirely different direction. Pain was now a permanent part of his life. He became an athletic trainer to others while seeking methods to heal himself. He stumbled upon a reformer and was shocked at the benefits he received from the Pilates apparatus. He joined a fledgling program in Santa Fe, The Physical Mind Institute, and while helping them design and run the teacher-certification curriculum, he gained extraordinary expertise in a field that touched on all aspects of flawed physical fitness techniques. Working on literally thousands of bodies, he mastered the varied idiosyncrasies of all bodies and formulated a sound plan for the future of fitness. “When the Institute moved to New York, I opened my own studio in Santa Fe,” Alexander explains. “I took my own experienced knowledge and the Pilates methodology and incorporated far more detailed applications of anatomy, physiology, and most importantly the individual’s own unique body to develop what we teach today.”

Simultaneously, through years of competitive athletics, years of dance, and a serious back injury as well, Jennifer sought a series of options to help her overcome her chronic pain. “ I was aware of the fitness, mobility and therapeutic benefits of Pilates through my experiences with it in other parts of the world, but I couldn’t find a satisfactory version of it in New Mexico. Frankly, the quality of the instructors was widely varied. There seemed to be very little continuity in an area that seemed to have so much potential. Finally, I found Alex ... and my own evolution completely changed.” With Alexander’s methods, Jennifer not only managed but healed her existing injury, and re-worked all aspects of her body to function at peak efficiency. Jennifer has a BS in Biology with a special focus on anatomy. So, after certifying her one-on-one in Pilates for two years, it was a natural fit to open a studio together and take it to a different level.

“Pilates is the baseline of what we do. Fitness no longer needs to be a struggle against our own body’s limitations. If we awaken our brain to our actual design and architecture, and use this awareness to master our unique physical issues, we can manifest incredibly beautiful, effective, and efficient uses of our own body. This is not a fad or simply the “next” level of fitness. It is the only meaningful way to bring a body to its peak potential and still offer high quality of life as we age. The days of acceptance of chronic pain, growing stiffness, vulnerability, crumbling body parts, and ineffective use during activities we love is over."