Studio 19
About Us
Studio 19 Pilates is a classical Pilates studio located in beautiful Maple Bay, just outside of Duncan in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island.
Founded by Erin Murphy, the studio offers highly personalized private and semi-private and small group mat classes rooted in the classical work of Joseph Pilates. With over 20 years of teaching experience, Erin specializes in helping clients improve strength, mobility, and posture, including those managing injuries or continuing their progress after physiotherapy.
Sessions take place in a peaceful lakeside home studio, allowing for careful observation, hands-on guidance, and programs tailored to each client’s individual needs.
INSTRUCTOR / OWNER
Erin Murphy
Erin Murphy first discovered Pilates as a young dancer in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her dance career later took her to Montreal and then to New York City, where she began studying Pilates more intensively.
While in New York, Erin began her teacher training at The Kane School of Core Integration. She later moved to Boulder, Colorado to complete the highly respected Advanced Teacher Training Program at The Pilates Center, graduating in 2004. In 2011, she returned to complete The Pilates Center’s Master’s Program, further deepening her understanding of the classical Pilates method.
Throughout her career, Erin has continued to study with many highly respected teachers in the classical Pilates community, including Jay Grimes and Lori Coleman-Brown. These mentorships have further enriched her understanding of the depth and precision of the work developed by Joseph Pilates.
Erin is a natural teacher. Years of dance training have given her a keen eye for movement and an ability to clearly see what each body needs. Her clients often remark on her calm, encouraging approach and her gentle way of guiding them to work both safely and effectively.
Erin has been teaching Pilates for over 20 years, working with a wide range of clients—from those managing injuries or continuing after physiotherapy, to individuals seeking to improve strength, posture, and overall movement. Many of Erin’s clients come to Pilates seeking relief from chronic tightness, discomfort, or movement limitations, and value her thoughtful, individualized approach.
She is deeply committed to helping clients become stronger, healthier, and more balanced through the classical Pilates method.
After many years teaching throughout Vancouver and opening her first studio in 2015, Erin relocated with her children to the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island. She now teaches from her peaceful lakeside home studio in Maple Bay, where she offers private and semi-private and small group sessions in a focused and supportive environment.
How we do it
What is Pilates?
Pilates is a series of flowing, dynamic, mindful exercises, developed by Joseph H. Pilates to strengthen and stretch the body as well as correct physiological imbalances. Joseph Pilates developed this system through a lifetime of study focused on both human and animal movement. It applies the principles of breathing, body centering, mental concentration, movement control, precision, and flow. The Pilates system consists of both mat work and the use of unique apparatuses which employ springs to provide both resistance and assistance.
In the words of Joseph Pilates, “The Pilates Method of Body Conditioning is the complete coordination of body, mind and spirit. It develops the body uniformly, corrects posture, restores vitality, invigorates the mind and elevates the spirit.”
How we do it
Benefits of Pilates
- Improved posture
- Increased energy
- Increased flexibility
- Improved stamina
- Improved body awareness
- Injury prevention and rehabilitation
- Increased full bodied strength
- Improved breathing and circulation
- Mental clarity and stress reduction
“In 10 sessions, you will feel the difference. In 20, you will see the difference. And in 30, you’ll be on your way to having a whole new body.” – Joseph Pilates
