The Neuro Studio/Pilates for Neurological Conditions
Online coaching for people who live with neurological conditions and their trainers
01/30/2026
Your eyes just survived an aggressive scroll session 📱🔥
Think about it: every video and photo snaps into clarity in milliseconds 👀⚡
That’s your eyes doing rapid‑fire saccades, narrowing your visual field, your brain stitching together sharp images, and your neck + jaw gripping to stabilize the whole system 💥🧠💪
Basically… eye plyometrics on crack.
This quick visual reset uses a saccade, a neck isometric, and gaze stabilization to slow the eyes down, open up your vertical visual field, and give your system a moment to breathe 🌫️⬆️⬇️
Try it after your next scroll spiral and notice if you feel less anxious, more grounded, and ready to relax or tackle whatever’s next 😌✨
01/29/2026
Did you know your shoulder could be making your balance worse? 🤔
Yup — proprioception in the upper body is a critical determinant of balance, and the glenohumeral (GH) joint is the most mobile joint in your body. That makes it the easiest place to lose the subtle awareness that drives stability, especially when you’re weight‑shifting or even just standing still.
In this video, we’re using a simple towel to improve the sensory input to your arm and shoulder. 🧺
It’s not about forcing or locking the shoulder in place. The goal 🥅 is to help your brain sense the subtle shifts so it can respond more appropriately.
🔑 The key is gentle:
✅ Squeeze the towel without increasing the pressure between the towel and your ribs.
✅ No shifting your spine, no gripping harder, no overthinking. Just try it and notice what changes. ✨
✅ Better sensory input → better joint awareness → better stability. 💪
If you want to learn how to take tips like this and integrate them into your work for lasting change, take our quiz to find out which course is right for you.
Comment QUIZ or tap the link in our bio. 🔗
01/27/2026
Breathing shouldn’t feel like work 😮💨
Think of a newborn — breathing so quietly and efficiently it almost looks like they’ve stopped. That’s what a well‑organized system can do.
To get back to that newborn‑level ease, try this drill because research supports that when the glenohumeral joint (your most mobile joint) isn’t reflexively stabilizing, it can shift posture in ways that restrict breathing movement and send “danger” signals to the brain ⚠️.
And when the brain feels unsafe, everything shifts — movement, tension, stress, and yes… your breath.
The good news is this is changeable. Research also shows that changes in shoulder‑girdle position can alter how the ribcage expands during breathing, which makes it a powerful place to start. In other words, the way your shoulders organize themselves directly influences how freely and efficiently you can breathe.
Please NOTE — If your breath didn’t change, that’s not a bad thing. It might simply be a sign to explore your spine or jaw next. Nothing is “wrong”; your system may just need a different sensory entry point.
And if your breath did change, that doesn’t mean you’re stuck there forever. It means you found a great starting place to learn and improve shoulder mechanics from here.
Try this the next time you need a reset and tell us if you feel calmer, clearer, or more ready to move 💬👇
01/22/2026
Try this for the trifecta of foot drop, gait training, and knee hyperextension. Just remember: the brain needs clear sensory input to build real motor control. 🧠✨
The client in this video has lived with MS for over 50 years. She has been bedridden at times and is currently walking with a walker. During her session, we observed that in push‑off, her brain loses sensory feedback from the foot as the heel lifts. When the brain can’t feel the foot, it won’t lift it efficiently—overloading the system and making foot clearance (already difficult due to foot drop) even harder. ⚡️🦶
Goal 1: Show the brain the position is safe by adding sensory feedback to the heel using a 🌈
Stay tuned—future posts will show how we gradually decrease that feedback to translate studio gains into real‑world walking changes. 🚶♀️➡️🌍
Goal 2: challenged that position with weight shifting, rotation, hip listing, and other exercises, all with a focus on sensory integration. That means improving one system without creating chaos in another. 🔄🧩
To support this, she used a head‑mounted laser and colored markers as visual targets to define end ranges of motion—rather than relying on poor proprioceptive feedback from the knees (which LOVE to hyperextend). 🎯👀🦵
Please note: Meghann only uses and recommends this specific laser from — trust her, she’s tried them all. ✔️
At The Neuro Studio, we ALWAYS add and never subtract, because when you give the brain better feedback, it can organize movement and repeat it with consistency. Not perfect… just repeatable. 🔁✨
And repeatability is where change happens. 🌱
01/19/2026
✨ At the Neuro Studio, we ADD, and NEVER subtract.
When a client keeps looking down, the answer isn’t “Stop dropping your head.”
That’s how their brain organizes movement — and not respecting their brain’s choices could be what is holding back their results.
Instead work to ADD sensory input and step back to watch the shift.
👣 Option 1: Improve sensory feedback from the foot.
Roll out the foot to increase the sensory input the mechanoreceptors are sending to the brain, or let your client wear a shoe if their sensation is reduced due to a neurological condition or more progressed neuropathy. The weight, shape, and pressure of the shoe can give the brain clearer, more reliable information about where the foot is in space.
👀 Option 2: Expand their visual field.
If they can see their foot through peripheral vision, they don’t need to drop their head to find it.
🚫 Rememeber, simply telling someone “don’t look down” is short‑sighted.
And the magic REALLY happens when you learn assessments that more accurately identify sensory gaps because MORE sensory is NOT better!
👇 Try both options and comment below if your clients’ posture or head position shifts.
I want to hear what you notice.
And if you want to lear the assessments check out our course options.
10/16/2025
🚨 It can be so exciting when a drill or game creates a shift in your clients, BUT the key to lasting success and results is understanding why it helped and what you should do NEXT!
Want to learn more?
Join us in our next Advanced Course - Live trainings starting October 18th!!
Inside the Advanced Neuro Techniques Course, you’ll learn how to:
🔍 Accurately assess each client’s unique sensory needs
🌀 Enhance reflexive stability + cerebellar response using proprietary Neuro Studio techniques
👁️ Integrate the visual + vestibular systems without relying on generic drill lists
🧭 Think critically to tailor sessions to your client’s sensory + learning style
🧩 How to use gamification to trigger a better respoinse in your clients’ brain!
📅 We start October 18th
🎥 Live + replay access included
➕ FREE access to yearly updates based off our current research and development
This isn’t just theory, it’s transformation. Yes, we’re going to break some things down over here. But we promise to guide you through rebuilding with clarity, purpose, and a deeper understanding of how to get the most out of every movement session.
💬 Drop “GAME” in the comments or DM me for the full curriculum.
Let’s rethink movement. Let’s change lives.
10/15/2025
🧠 Why do we call it the Neuro Studio family?
Because here, teachers aren’t just instructors or teachers. They’re collaborators, disruptors, and trusted guides. We treat our students like family because we believe in building a community rooted in respect, curiosity, and results-driven care.
At Neuro Studio, it’s never just about learning facts. It’s about learning how to think critically, adapt creatively, and implement techniques that honor each client’s unique brain.
We teach the why, the pathology, the symptoms, and the how, so you can confidently tailor movement strategies using Pilates and other modalities to meet your clients where they are.
🌀 You’ve probably heard us say: Every client is a Neuro Client, not to minimize the fact that people living with neurological conditions face. It is
because every brain deserves an approach that responds in real time, not just one-size-fits-all methods for movement, spasticity, building strength or even relaxation!
Ready to learn how to individualize movement for real results?
✨ Click the link in our bio to explore our courses
💬 Or comment “LEARN” below and we’ll send you the details!
10/14/2025
🧠 Give this exercise a try and let us know how it goes!
It was originally designed for clients recovering from a TBI with significant hemiparesis, but let’s be honest, we ALL need better foot-to-hip connection.
So yes, I expect you all to give it a go and report back. 👀
📌 Note: I demoed using a Pilates box, but we used a wall and a sturdy couch that didn’t move for the actual exercise.
👇 Drop your observations in the comments. I want to hear what you felt, noticed, and learned.
10/13/2025
Comment VISUAL 👇 if you are tired of tough transititions that stress both you and your clients OR if you are frustrated that your clients visual or vestibular drills don’t translate into improved movement?
Same here. That’s why our Advanced Neuro Techniques Course dives deep into the why behind every assessment, and shows you how to leverage sensory systems to create meaningful motor change.
Inside the Advanced Neuro Techniques Course, you’ll learn how to:
🔍 Accurately assess each client’s unique sensory needs
🌀 Enhance reflexive stability + cerebellar response using proprietary Neuro Studio techniques
👁️ Integrate the visual + vestibular systems without relying on generic drill lists
🧭 Think critically to tailor sessions to your client’s sensory + learning style
🧩 Stop reinventing the wheel every session
📅 We start October 18th
🎥 Live + replay access included
This isn’t just theory, it’s transformation.
💬 Drop “VISUAL” in the comments or DM me for the full curriculum.
Let’s rethink movement. Let’s change lives.
10/10/2025
🤷🏻♀️Tired of guessing what your neuro clients need? Tired of giving them drills that don’t translate into real movement?
Inside the Advanced Neuro Techniques Course, you’ll learn how to:
🔍 Accurately assess each client’s unique sensory needs
🌀 Enhance reflexive stability + cerebellar response using proprietary Neuro Studio techniques
👁️ Integrate the visual + vestibular systems without relying on generic drill lists
🧭 Think critically to tailor sessions to your client’s sensory + learning style
🧩 Stop reinventing the wheel every session
📅 We start October 18th
🎥 Live + replay access included
This isn’t just theory, it’s transformation.
💬 Drop “NEURO” in the comments or DM me for the full curriculum.
Let’s rethink movement. Let’s change lives.
10/06/2025
✨ Want to experience the NeuroStudio difference? Because talk (and Instagram posts) are cheap and we want you to be as excited to join our courses as we are to teach them.
📅 If you’re ready to Rethink Movement, join us on October 7 at 3 PM ET
💻 Live on Zoom
🎥 Replay available for 7 days
👇 Comment “Masterclass” below and we’ll send you the link!
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Contact The Practice
Send a message to The Neuro Studio/Pilates for Neurological Conditions:
Hi. Mariska here. Co-founder of The Neuro Studio. When I was diagnosed with MS in 2002, my doctors never gave me guidelines for exercise other than "don't overdo it." At first, I was extremely hesitant to exercise at all. After a couple of years, though, I started listening to my body and what I felt it wanted to do. So I worked out. Pretty hard. Fairly often.
But, I didn't do specific exercises designed to strengthen existing MS problem areas. I didn't focus on areas that would likely become problems with disease progression or inactivity. I had no road map. No game plan. No one showing me how I could make my workouts work for me and my individual illness. So even though I was exercising, I was still developing issues with walking, muscle spasticity, and balance.
Enter The NeuroStudio.
Meghann Koppele and I developed this resource as the culmination of my experience as a Pilates instructor and neuro patient for more than 15 years and her 17 years of experience as an expert movement trainer for people with neurological diseases and conditions. We were both frustrated by how few resources are available to people with neurological conditions and wanted to find a way to bring our successful methods to everyone at a fraction of the cost.
We realized that people need more.
People with neurological conditions need smart workouts tailored to their disease or condition, their symptoms, and their lifestyles. They should feel challenged and empowered, not discouraged.
Fitness teachers and caregivers need information and resources – tutorials, workshops, mentorships – that can fit into their budget, their time, and their interest level (whether that’s disease-specific training, symptom-related ideas, a quick consult, or a rich understanding aimed towards creating a practice aimed at serving this population).
That’s the movement we’re hoping to start.
Want to learn more? We invite you to browse our website or visit our new online studio. If you want to get in touch, simply send us an email. We’d love to hear from you.
