Meet The Team

Tanisha Ekerberg

Tanisha has been practicing Pilates since 2016. She became interested in Pilates after struggling for many years with lower back pain. Nothing seemed to work until she found Pilates. Within months the pain had faded and she had a new lease on life! After doing Pilates as a student for a couple of years, she decided to make the switch to instructing and hasn’t looked back.

Tanisha went to college for psychology, following after her mother, a well known and successful therapist. After several years, she found that being a therapist didn’t interest her that much and changed career paths. Finding that Pilates, like therapy, allows her to help people, was a great moment for her in life.

Tanisha took BASI Pilates training with Forest. She loved the comprehensive nature of BASI training and applies their whole body approach to Pilates. She recommends everyone learn, early in life, about their body and how it works.

She started work with Concord Pilates in 2021 and has enjoyed working with the team. She strives to make every session with clients fun but productive.

What motivates me:
Staying healthy is key in life. After having seen people struggle with maintaining basic fitness, resulting in physical and mental heath issues, I am a big believer that physical health = a good life!

My top fitness tips:
Consistency is key. Practicing fitness in spurts of exercise accomplishes nothing. It’s your life you are working with, so fitness should be one of the most important things you do, so put as much attention and effort as you do for your job or family.Develop a routine - it’s easier to reach your fitness goals. Engage your core in daily activities.

My fitness inspiration is:

Former Concord Pilates instructor Sarah Vespermann, who introduced me to Pilates, was a mentor to me. She guided and advised me through my training and my first client, and I owe her a ton for doing so!

My biggest challenge is:
I have injured my shoulder several times which makes doing some arm exercises difficult, but I still do them to get better!

My personal fitness achievement is:
Maintain my fitness level as I get older and the injuries of life mount up, while also trying to keep up with my son.

When I am not at work:
You will find me spending time with my family and golden retriever, taking walks, and going on adventures in the woods around my house.

Forest Konefal

Instructor/Owner

Forest discovered Pilates after suffering with neck and back issues for most of his life. Eventually he decided to try and get in shape regardless of his issues, but needed to find a safe way to do it. Enter, Pilates! Forest quickly discovered that most of his health issues were due to extreme hyper-mobility in every joint in his body.

He has since become something of a specialist in dealing with neck, back, and joint issues due to his own issues. He has spent many hours learning about the various health conditions the body can develop in order to be able to help himself and others live with lifelong conditions. While many of them can’t be cured, most, if not all, can be mitigated and lived with!

Taking BASI Pilates Teacher Training to enhance his own practice seemed natural. Since becoming an instructor, he has discovered he really enjoys helping people learn Pilates and get their health back!

What motivates me: The knowledge that if you have a physical/health problem, being out of shape, will only make it worse!

My top fitness tips: Each person is different in what they are able to do and what they need for exercise. Figuring out what exercise you can do, and then sticking with it, is key to living a healthier happier life.

My fitness inspiration is: Everyone I meet, who has a condition that causes problems in their life, but despite the issues is still out there living their life!

My mission in every session is: To ensure that clients have a safe productive session, and leave feeling better then when they came in!

My biggest challenge is:
Flexibility! Hyper-mobility can be a real issue taken to extremes. It causes many issues and pain, but giving up on fitness doesn’t work!

My personal fitness achievement is: Trying to live as normal a life as possible while dealing with a major health condition and the resulting struggles!

When I’m not at work I am:
Reading books, playing with my cat, writing, or watching detective shows!

My Top Fitness Tip:
Eat less and exercise more to lose weight! It’s that simple, if you can stick to it!

Master Instructor - Mara Sievers, PMA®-CPT

In my first career as a professional musical theater performer, I was introduced to several different movement systems, such as dance, aerobics, and strength training. When I injured my back during a performance, I found Pilates and discovered that the method works like an owner’s manual for your body. I was so amazed at how Pilates gave me the tools to understand my body so that I could protect it and not get hurt again that I began extensive training in Pilates and other forms of exercise, including yoga, body conditioning, and group fitness. In 2006, I switched careers and started teaching Pilates full-time, including leading Teacher Training courses for would-be Pilates teachers.

I moved to New Hampshire from my native Austria in 2008 and saw the need for a studio that offered Pilates the way it was intended to be taught. That’s when I opened Concord Pilates. Explaining the precision of our everyday movements and posture — and seeing someone light up because they finally have an answer for what is not working in their bodies or why they might be in pain — is one of the reasons I wake up every day. I am devoted to helping my students get to know their bodies, figure out their strengths, and find the areas that, when worked on intelligently, will make them feel great. It makes me incredibly happy when I get to work with someone who is curious, willing to listen and try things differently. When I see a client enjoy their workout and feel better because of it, I know I've done a good job.

I’ve studied and trained in both Austria and the US. I received my Pilates training through Polestar Pilates and Balanced Body and I am certified through the Pilates Method Alliance. I also completed a 200-hr Yoga Certification through YogaWorks. I love combining all my movement training to create personalized programs that remind people that working out can be easy!

I've further founded PilatesEncyclopedia.com, a page dedicated to learning more about the method and understanding it on deeper and deeper levels, as well as MakeLifeMoveBetter.com, where I offer online courses for people with various injuries, strains and pain, that help them find a movement routine to feel better.

I sold Concord Pilates in 2019 to further focus on PilatesEncyclopedia.com, but I still instruct at the studio and offer expert-level sessions.

What motivates me:
My clients’ curiosity. When I see that someone is really eager to get answers to their questions, I get fired up. You can tell, because I start to sing when I have a good time. Yes, I occasionally sing in sessions.

My top fitness tip is:
You must keep the faith in your own power to achieve your goal. If you give up, no-one, not the best instructor, not the best partner - can help you get there. But if you believe, everyone can contribute to your success. Be a believer! 

My fitness inspiration is:
Joseph Pilates, who was creative, an innovator, stubborn (he didn’t let anyone try and tell him that his method didn’t work), a fighter (he survived 2 wars), entrepreneur, and ahead of his time. And he was an immigrant just like me so I understand his drive and work ethic. 

My mission in every session is:
To explain to my students with simple words how to move from their center with less effort and more efficiency. I hope to inspire my students to move in a way that makes them feel great about themselves.

My biggest challenge is:
Patience. I wish I could put all of my ideas and plans to work immediately. I have a very creative mind. I love to see people quickly get the results they want from the exercises we’ve developed together. Paradoxically, I'm patient with others, but not so much with myself. 

My personal fitness achievement is:
Being healthier now than ever before. And the same will be true tomorrow and the day after that. The better it gets the better it gets. 

When I’m not at work I am:
In Nature. I might be relaxing with a good book or a cup of coffee, hiking, skiing, snowshoeing, or hanging out at the beach or lake. Water relaxes me like nothing else. 

My Top Fitness Tip:
Don't think of Pilates as a workout. It’s the foundation to feel great.

Continuing Education Courses:

• Pilates Adaptations for People with Scoliosis; Hadley, MA March 2018; Educators: Lise Stolze, DPT and Hagit Berdishevsky, DPT

• Oov Fundamentals in Hadley, MA September 2017; Educator: Katrina Hawley

• Introduction to MS, National Multiple Sclerosis Association