Dimi has been formally teaching Pilates since 2003. Trained in Pilates Mat level 1&2, Pilates Props, Pilates Reformer, Pilates on the Swiss Ball
As a trained dancer, Dimi understands the desire to be strong, flexible and enjoy the way your body and mind respond to each other. Teaching Pilates at three gyms across Melbourne, as well as running a successful Pilates personal training business, Dimi loves to create interesting, fun, challenging sequences that keep her clients motivated for more. Movement, technique and breath are the three cornerstones to her Pilates philosophy.
Meet the dynamic, switched-on pocket rocket that is Dimi. She teaches Fit Flow and Total Body Tone here at Just Believe Fit, but she is just at home teaching dance and meditation. Find out here how she came to be so good with castanets…
When did you first fall in love with fitness and Pilates?
Fitness has been a passion of mine since I was a little girl. My mum used to stretch and do quirky exercises before she’d go to bed. I quickly adopted her routines to suit myself! My aunty let me borrow her record player and records so I would make up choreography to entertain the family. Yikes, no wonder my older sister thought I was a show-off.
Pilates is an absolute love of my life. I used to scour second-hand bookshops and found old dance ‘magazines’. One had an article about dancers attending Joseph Pilates Contrology studio in New York. Being a dancer, this sent me on a lifelong ambition to find out more and more.
What is your favourite type of class and why?
The class that brings someone to a place of readiness. Where energy, eagerness, laughter and a sense of community fills the space.
How did you end up teaching?
As a 17-year-old, I attended a beautiful Canadian woman’s aerobic dancing classes. Through her coaching, grooming, and consistent gentle criticism, I emerged a teacher of classes at 18. I taught my little classes throughout uni, part-time work, right through demanding full-time work in disability services. I made a career change over 15 years ago. Determination and fire in the belly spurred me forward towards this now full-time career in fitness, wellness, and personal training, inspiring others to discover the joy of freedom through movement.
What is your funniest teaching moment?
Oh sometimes in Pilates someone accidentally ‘lets one go’. This time it was silent and deadly. Speechless, I held my nose walked straight over to the overhead fans, and said: “Oh guys, the next one who does that is put outside. “They all erupted with laughter.”
What is your favourite post-class meal?
My current fave is yummy prawn and ginger dumplings. My partner buys them frozen for me and cooks them up just right.
And favourite snack?
Sweet and salty popcorn
What is the biggest thing you have learned that has changed your life?
“Slow down a little or life will bitchslap you so hard it will leave scars.”
Dimi P
What is your personal mantra?
Breathe and flow like a river.
What is something about you people wouldn’t know?
I was a gypsy flamenco dancer for many years. I had my shoes specially made in Spain and was quite adept at using the castanets. Olé
