About KGD Studio

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 Integrating rehabilitative services with Pilates in the Rivertowns
 

Karen Gstalder-Dring, a NY state licensed Physical Therapist, believes  in a holistic approach to rehabilitation, maintenance and prevention.  Karen has worked in a variety of traditional in-patient and out-patient  settings, including New York Presbyterian Medical Center at Columbia  University and Turner Physical Therapy in New York City.  She has run  her own private practice since 2000 where she enjoys combining her  kinesthetic background with her manual skills in a Pilates-based  rehabilitative setting.
 

Karen received a BFA in Dance from Tisch School of the Arts at NYU in  1988 and danced professionally for six years.  A dance related injury in  1986 led her to her mentor, the late Pilates Elder Kathleen Stanford Grant,  with whom she continued to study with for close to 25 years. Karen has  taught in numerous Pilates studios throughout New York City.
 

She graduated summa cum laude with a masters in physical therapy from  Long Island University in 1998, where she co-authored a research article  published in The Journal of Manual and Manipulative Medicine.
 

Karen is a member of the Pilates Method Alliance and the American Physical Therapy Association and has spent many years active in continuing education programs, most notably from the Institute of Physical Arts.
 

"Karen  is a highly experienced therapist. Working with Karen is a partnership.  She carefully listens and prescribes exercises and treatment based on  your symptoms. She is highly analytical and brings a wealth of knowledge  and practice to each session. Karen has increased my awareness and  understanding of my own movement patterns allowing me to make more  effective and long lasting changes."
-- Sue B. 

KGD Studio provides an open, restorative  environment where clients receive a personalized therapy program designed to meet their unique needs.  Each client works with Karen one-on-one for an hour session.  Progressing at their own individual rate, the client's goals are related to movement, be it at the  performance, maintenance or rehabilitative level.
 

A session at KGD Studio may involve posture evaluation, gait analysis,  balance/coordination training, neuromuscular re-education, and  cardio-vascular endurance training.
 

Common interventions may include: myofacial release, strain  counterstrain, mobilization: soft tissue, joint, and neural tissue,  muscle energy technique, ultrasound, electrical stimulation, ice and  heat therapy.
 

In most cases, Karen uses the Pilates principles and equipment combined  with her manual techniques, to achieve the desired functional outcomes.  Its this unique blend of her expertise in movement and biomechanics,  that provide her clients with such positive outcomes, enhancing their lives.   
 

"Karen  cured my extremely tenacious plantar faciaitis. She is very  knowledgeable and experienced, and was very flexible in her hours to  accommodate my schedule."
-- Phil W. 

 "I must be right. Never an aspirin. Never injured a day in my life. The  whole country, the whole world, should be doing my exercises. They'd be  happier." - Joseph Hubertus Pilates, in 1965, age 86.
 

German born Joseph Pilates, was in England at the outbreak of World  War I and was placed under forced internment. There he taught fellow  camp members the concepts and exercises developed over 20 years of  self-study and apprenticeship in yoga, Zen, and ancient Greek and Roman  physical regimens. It was at this time that he began devising the system  of original exercises known today as "matwork", or exercises done on  the floor. He called this regimen "Contrology", meaning 'the science of  control'. Transferred to another camp, he became a nurse/caretaker to  the soldiers, and it was here that he devised ‘machines’ to rehabilitate  his ‘patients’, taking springs from the beds and rigging them to create  equipment, using beer keg rings to augment resistance.  The original  mat exercises were reproduced on these ‘machines’.
 

Joseph met his wife, Clara, on the boat to America. Once in NY, they  established a studio and further developed the equipment and technique  to challenge and support their clients, many of whom were professional  dancers, to learn to move more efficiently.
 

Throughout the decades, the original six principles: concentration,  control, center, flow, precision and breathing and the equipment itself  have retained the essence of Joseph and his wife Clara’s vision.  Karen  incorporates evidenced-based practice into her use of the Pilates  technique to foster ease of movement with her clients.
 

The links below will provided you with additional information about  Joseph Pilates, his life, his work and subsequent generation of  teachers:
www.pilatesstyle.com
www.pilates.com
www.pilatesmethodalliance.org
 

"Karen  has been a tremendous asset in injury prevention. Before meeting Karen I  suffered from a string of sports related injuries; she has been an  incredible help - improving my flexibility, core strength and how my  body moves."
-- Adam R.