Balanced Birch Studio Coming to the Mill District

AMHERST — Balanced Birch Studio — a budding small business that provides experienced, individualized instruction in classical Pilates and Gyrotonic exercise — announced it is joining the diverse community at the Mill District in North Amherst this summer. Located at 77 Cowls Road in North Square, the studio is kitty corner to the Mill District General Store and Hannah’s Local Art Gallery, and across the green from Provisions.

“We are energized to collaborate with our neighbors and set our roots in our new home,” said Mary Ellen Liacos, studio owner.

Balanced Birch Studio is unique in its approach to individualized personal training for people from all walks of life. From dancers and athletes to the injured and elderly, it offers boutique physical instruction to better a person’s quality of movement, posture, and lifestyle. Balanced Birch Studio is an educational community engaging students through authentic instruction to feel reconnection to their bodies, confidence in their day-to-day movement, and growth toward personal challenges.

Balanced Birch’s founder, Mary Ellen Liacos, is a certified USPA Authentic Pilates and Gyrotonic method instructor with more than 10 years of teaching experience. She has worked with students of all levels and abilities, specializing in youth and geriatric instruction. She has extensive experience training athletes, particularly pre-professional figure skaters and dancers. She has deep knowledge coaching clients with ALS, Parkinson’s disease, and those who are postpartum or returning from surgical rehab.

“Authenticity is our specialty,” Liacos said. “It is our top priority that every client receives an educational experience stemming from the techniques that Joseph Pilates and Juliu Horvath have structured, but also embody a workout that is customized to each individual on a personal level.”

She incorporates her training as a professional dancer with her Pilates and Gyrotonic practice, integrating these methods through instruction at Balanced Birch Studio.

In addition to private, semi-private, and Pilates mat sessions, Balanced Birch also offers several master-class options for the community to partake in throughout the year. Master classes will include Integrative Life Coaching, Self-Massage, Gyrokinesis, Alexander Technique, and more.