Elaine Economou

Elaine Economou is in demand as a teacher, trainer, and wellness coach. Certified in STOTT™ Pilates, she is also a GYROKINESIS ™ trainer, Wellcoaches ™ trained Wellness Coach and TRX Suspension System trainer. Elaine’s unique perspective of fitness and wellness has helped people work with their own postural and fitness issues in workouts that increase overall strength and flexibility with a special emphasis on core strength. Her clients include men and women of all ages and fitness levels who are interested in a more conscious journey to a strong body. She believes that if clients understand their own body, they are empowered to meet all their fitness activities and their lives with the knowledge to stay strong and safe.

The STOTT™ method has transformed Elaine’s training and has deepened her expertise and knowledge of the muscular-skeletal systems of the body. This knowledge, combined with her history in movement and teaching, has enabled her to help clients relieve chronic pain, knee, hip, shoulder and back issues. Additionally, Elaine has assisted clients with post-surgery rehab and in some cases, as a preparation for “last resort” surgery. She appreciates working with clients after their sessions of physical therapy have ended and in consultation with a care team as a transition back to their full fitness level.

Elaine began her journey into the exploration of dance, movement and fitness as many young women do, as a young dancer and then a few years later as a high school athlete. After many years of rehearsals and recitals, she knew that dance and the study of movement, for her, was a lifelong pursuit. In high school she studied ballet and modern dance in Boston which prepared her to pursue a dance a B.A. in Dance at Hofstra University.

After college, Elaine moved to New York City where she continued to work with some of the finest choreographers and movement instructors in the field. She learned of the transformational work of Joseph Pilates and how his method could help dancers maintain their fitness, flexibility and core grace. Continuing her journey through the teaching and study of ballet and modern dance, Elaine danced with companies and created her own choreography, all with an eye to nurturing the inner strength and flexibility that a life of work in the body had taught her.

Upon relocating to Chelsea, Michigan with her husband, Elaine began teaching both dance Pilates in the community. Knowing that her own training had only scratched the surface of what Pilates could do to help students transform their bodies, she searched for a broader and deeper training to expand her expertise. Elaine has since become a STOTT PILTATES™ Certified Instructor.

Elaine is an avid student of nutrition and has taken courses in natural foods, traditional diets, and strongly advocates locally sourced, whole foods. She has been a volunteer manager of the Chelsea Farmer’s Market, bringing local chefs, musicians and, most importantly, organic food producers to make great healthy food easy for people to purchase and enjoy at home. She is a member of the Chelsea Wellness Coalition, which is charged with developing a plan to create a city-wide model of wellness activities and programs within the community. She coordinated a free, outdoor yoga program and a 10,000 steps a day walking program in the summer of 2011 to encourage community members to “move more”, one of the Coalition’s four pillars of wellness.

Together, these fitness and wellness modalities have allowed Elaine to teach and meld fitness and knowledge of the body and its systems through the lens of the client’s training program into a unique vision of whole-life wellness.