Susannah Steers – Age 58

About me

Susannah Steers is the owner of Moving Spirit Pilates in North Vancouver, BC, and has 30+ years of experience in movement and fitness as a former dancer and pilates and integrated movement specialist.

Her own experiences through different stages of life – from a young athlete to a highly skilled dancer, to a movement professional include the impact of sports-related injuries, pregnancy, post-partum, and menopause! She gets it. She understands the life journey of the body intimately. 

She brings both her personal and professional experience to her work and has helped hundreds of clients build a sense of ease and movement through the stages of their lives. Susannah provides a safe place for her students to share their stories, to be heard, and to build trust and relationships with their bodies in a supportive and compassionate way, without judgment

How you move matters is the mission behind Susannah’s lifetime of work. Her deep care for people is embodied in her methodology of guiding each individual to find their own direction and succeed in their own goals.

Susannah is also a speaker and workshop facilitator, providing keynotes, teacher training and professional continuing education at Pilates studios, fitness conventions, and multi-disciplinary health events. Among these: Vancouver Coastal Health/Fraser Health Physiotherapy Education Day, The Vancouver Wellness Show, City of Ottawa Fitness Continuing Education Conference, Association of Complementary & Integrative Physicians of BC, National Dance Association Conference (USA).

Susannah is the host of the “Heart of Motion” podcast – an exploration of the heart, soul and science of movement. She’s your guide on a quest to understand how we can move better, feel better in our bodies and connect more deeply to our people and the world around us. She’s also co-host of the “Small Conversations for a Better World” podcast.

What do you do and why do you do it?

Movement has always been my first language. It’s where I make sense of myself, my emotions, my relationships, and my world. I started as a dancer – where every movement had meaning.

When I retired from performing and deepened into my work in Pilates and movement, I realized I was really good at meeting people wherever they were and guiding them toward movement that was meaningful for them in their lives. It’s never been about the traditional definition of fitness or performance for me. Instead, it’s about “How are you living in your body right now? How are you connecting to yourself and the world? Where do you want to be/go?” And then, I work with them to find a path that works. We can access those things powerfully through movement practice – bringing awareness to patterns and habits and introducing new strategies. I love people, and I love seeing them surprised and excited when they realize what they are capable of, even though they may not have imagined it for themselves.

What changed for you after age 50?

I have enjoyed being able to sink more deeply into my own wisdom, and have found a gentler, more compassionate discipline in my self-care (instead of the bullying self-talk of years past). I am finding more meaningful relationships in my community, and enjoying mentoring others in new ways. 

What would you tell the 20 or 30-year-old YOU?

• Take time to fully experience where you are right now.
• Don’t sweat the small stuff.
• Lean into your relationships with friends and family. They feed you and support you more than you know.

What do you think you’ll tell yourself in retrospect at the end of your life?

I think I would be happy to say that I think I’ve made a difference. Not a big, global “wow look at that” kind of difference – but a difference in many people’s lives – that helped them live better and enjoy their lives more fully. It’s the connections that have meant the most – the relationships between people, inside families, in relationship with communities and the planet. I’d like to think I’ve opened perspectives and created possibilities.

What impact do you think increased visibility can have on your business?

I’m starting to see a greater awareness about self-care around me now. Less of the bubble baths and wine variety – and more of the gentle discipline to do the things we know need to happen for us to have our desired impact on the world. Whether we’re caretaking, running businesses, performing as athletes or CEOs, or whatever – we all have things we know give us the capacity to do what we do.

I’d like to think that increased visibility will help more people to realize that embodied self-care is a way to support whole-person health and gives us a pathway toward improving our own lives, families, and communities.

Who or what inspires you and why?

People who are able to lead with passion, empathy, intelligence, and care will always inspire me. Quiet confidence, and consistency are interesting to me in that they are sustainable over years – not as flash in the pan moments. I appreciate it when people realize that every action we make has an imprint – so they take care with the imprints we leave. 

Something else I’d like to share

My podcast – Small Conversations for a Better World. And a few new things I’m creating that I will share soon.