Meet Our Instructor: Dorothy Lee
You’ve all seen her well-sculpted muscles in the introduction video on our new website, now read more about our Instructor-of-the-Month Dorothy Lee! From adrenaline rushes to heartwarming stories, here are some tidbits about Dorothy you never knew!
Hey Dorothy! Tell us how you started your Pilates journey and why did you choose to become an instructor!
I started Pilates because I wanted to go back to ballet and realised all my muscles didn’t work anymore. My dance friends told me pilates was good, especially with machines; and the opportune moment came when one of them was teaching and got me to attend her classes. I got hooked since. I gradually decided to become a Pilates instructor because I was always thinking about a new job that was mobile, less desk-bound and related to movement and fitness, as I was always in some kind of sport or dance since young.
You chose Hip Rolls as our Exercise of the Month! Why Hip Rolls?
Hip rolls is a good exercise that works both for warm-ups and toning. It encompasses spinal articulation, glutes and hamstrings, which are things I love to work on…especially the glutes. Many lower body conditions have stemmed from weak or inactive glutes.
On top of teaching Pilates, you also teach other workouts! What else do you teach and how does Pilates compliment the other workouts?
I also teach Barre at WeBarre. I fell in love barre because it combines ballet, pilates and yoga moves – all the things that I do – tied in with the energy and fun of music. While the methods of teaching Pilates and Barre are very different, the barre movements require the application of pilates principles, such as alignment, engagement of the core, working specific muscle groups, etc.
Any heartwarming stories of past or present clients who have benefitted or got better from pilates?
I had a older client who came with a knee issue and was also quite hunched in posture. She was very diligent in practising exercises I gave her everyday; and in a few months, she told me her knee is much better. No longer painful when she had to walk long distances during overseas travels, and she also improved her posture from muscle release, strengthening and body awareness. She was one client who understood that she had to apply pilates to her life in order to make her body move better; and she was determined to rehab rather than go for surgery.
You just came back from USA, and you’re a self-professed theme park fanatic! Which is your favourite theme park and why?
Yes, my husband and I love theme parks, especially roller coasters, water slides and things that give the adrenalin rush. It’s a toss-up between Universal Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida and Tokyo Disney Sea. For the former, not only are the rides some of the most thrilling and fun, the whole visitor visual experience in terms of each themed section within the park is very well done. For the latter, the rides are less thrilling (except for 1), but the design, layout and visual experience in the park is fantastic (plus, it’s Japan, so the service is excellent).
What’s next on your bucket list?
My husband and I love scuba diving, so the Galapagos and Fiji have been on our bucket list for a while. Other things in the bucket list include sky-diving (at a scenic location), experiencing a flight on a stunt airplane (hopefully I don’t puke), eating at Heston Blumenthal’s ‘Fat Duck’ in the UK; trekking Machu Picchu, and visiting a real African Safari.
It’s June! Have you completed any of your 2017 resolutions or on your way to completing?
I never remember what my resolutions are, so I don’t make them.
Your ig (@dortzz) is full of food pics! What are your top 5 comfort foods?
Porridge, Hot Chinese Soups, Sliced Fish Bee Hoon, Ginger Soup/Tea (Indonesian ginger’s the best), Cereal
Number 1 guilty pleasure!
Popcorn! Keep that away from me. I devour it. Quickly. And then I spend the evening making punny jokes.
Share with us your go-to healthy food recipe
Muesli with berries, chia seeds and milk kefir.
What’s one inspirational quote you live by?
‘He is no fool, who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose’ – Jim Elliot
Dorothy teaches private and group sessions at Parkway and Novena.
