Straight roads do not make skillful drivers – Paulo Coelho

This isn’t just your average tale of how a small-town girl changed her life with a one-way ticket to the Caribbean. It’s the story of how our very own Yarrow King followed an adventurous and winding path of discovery that landed her at Body Works Pilates.

Yarrow was born in Great Falls, Montana and raised in Deer Lodge – a berg of 5,000 souls. She attended college for a while in Montana and ventured west to Seattle to experience life in a bigger city. There she managed a tuxedo shop and worked at a stock brokerage firm and decided to become an architect. “It was a little-girl dream,” Yarrow confessed. “All little girls want to be architects, right?”

Architecture wasn’t in the cards for this free spirit. That winding path instead led Yarrow to the Caribbean for an adventure-filled year. Back in Seattle she worked as a golf course groundskeeper and in a health food store while operating her own landscaping business. “I loved working outside, walking around, moving my body. We were out there in all weather. It was great,” she recalls of the landscaping. Through her work at the health food store she began reading things that opened her eyes and mind in the realm of wellness and consciousness. She became a massage therapist and moved to a smaller community in Colorado where she also began dancing. “My mother was really my first dance teacher. She would always play music and we would dance around the house,” she said. But it was in Colorado, to the rhythm of newly familiar African, Brazilian, and Cuban beats, Yarrow began to dance and perform in earnest.

In yet another twist of fate, a side-gig scarf painting led Yarrow and friends to Arizona. Tucson’s unique vibe drew them back to stay. Here, an African drummer with whom she had performed asked her to teach African dance moves to dancers in his Brazilian band. At rehearsal she became enchanted with Brazilian and Afro-Brazilian music and dance. She eventually became the dance director of the company she first encountered that evening, Batucaxè.

Yarrow came to Body Works Pilates as a massage therapist, originally. After leaving to establish a private practice, she returned to teach dance. “I had been trading massage for private Pilates sessions with another teacher and Kyria asked me to consider entering the Fletcher program as a way to explore and organize my body more for dance,” Yarrow explained. She became certified to teach Fletcher Pilates mat and eventually completed the Foundational and Professional Fletcher programs of study.

“Part of my purpose on the planet is to be a teacher. I learn so much every time I teach. It really is humbling. I know that I will keep discovering Pilates in my own body so that I can continue to share it with others. I feel really moved that my work in Pilates continues to become more connected to sharing how we can find a peace and wellbeing in our lives – to help evolve the human condition. It’s an inside job. I continue to explore the practice in my own body so I can help others grow as well.”

Practice and learn with Yarrow in Private sessions, Coretets or for a Fletcher Fusion, mat, or dance class throughout the week. Call or book your spot online or with the Body Works Pilates app.