Meet Christina

It all started when…

Christina was fortunate to discover yoga while working in Costa Rica as an elementary school teacher in her early 20’s. There, she took yoga and meditation classes from an Indian monk. They had no common spoken language, so the instruction was very intuitive, quiet, and focused on finding peace and serenity. Following her return to the States, she was introduced to a more Westernized, athletic-oriented style of heated Baptiste Power Yoga in Cambridge, MA.

In her 30’s, after the birth of her first child, she suffered several hip and lower back injuries (including several herniated discs), which made even the seemingly simple act of walking a challenge. At the time, she did not think she would ever be able to return to the mat. As part of her recovery, she explored several paths, from doctors pushing back surgery, to a variety of “alternative” efforts. It was not until she found her way back to yoga, under the guidance of Claire Este-McDonald, that her healing began. The journey taught her much, and one of the most important lessons was that yoga can be healing on many different levels; she wanted to share this with others. She pursued her 200 hour yoga certification (based on Ashtanga & Iyengar schools) under the singular instruction of Natasha Rizopoulos, and then continued on with Natasha in her 300 hour at the Down Under School of Yoga in Brookline.  While there, she was fortunate enough to study under some of yoga’s leading lights, people like Patricia Walden, Barbara Benagh, Judith Hanson Lasater, and Julie Gudmestad.

In 2022, Christina connected with Dr. Feng Ge, an Internal Medicine and Primary Care doctor in the North Shore, and the two have been a dynamic duo ever since, co-designing and creating a wellness program for Dr. Ge's patients and practice. It was thanks to Dr. Ge's vision that Christina began her Pilates training and found the gifted Laura Berube and Polestar Pilates training, a foundation of scientific principles and interdisciplinary expertise that dives deep into anatomy, biomechanics, and therapeutic exercises.

Christina's teaching style is a compassionate, authentic, fun but challenging alignment-based practice rooted in traditional Pilates with insights from physical therapy and movement science – working from ‘skin to soul’. She brings in trainings from the Gokhale Method of posture, various meditation schools, restorative and yin yoga, encouraging her students to see yoga and pilates as an integral part of their life, on and off the mat, and is a constant learner who weaves new learnings into her lessons.

“It is through the alignment of the body that I discovered the alignment of my mind, self, and intelligence.”  – B.K.S. Iyengar

"The mind, when housed within a healthful body, possesses a glorious sense of Power!" Joseph Pilates

Christina Gardner, RYT 500, PRYT, CYT, and M. Ed., is a certified pilates apprentice (soon to be NCPT 500!) and yoga teacher in the Vinyasa, Yin & Restorative style as well as a certified kids yoga teacher. She is a student of human anatomy, nutrition, meditation, breath, and wellness. And – most importantly – she is an authentic person, a mother of two who has experienced first-hand the power of yoga and pilates as a path to recovering from injuries & pain.