Devon Pipars

About Devon

Originally from Northern B.C. in Canada, Devon loves living in Rochester! She moved here from way too hot CA in June of 2023 with her husband Joe and 3 fur babies (cats named Leon, Lady, & Theo) so Joe could do his residency & fellowship in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at the Mayo Clinic. Devon was a dancer until 14, but also started Taekwon-do training at age 11, and martial arts became her primary passion. She would travel to compete in national, international, and open martial arts (all styles) tournaments until 18. Then in university, she started a yoga practice and that led her to meditation. She was taught a formal meditation practice in 2002 by the Dean of the Asolo Conservatory in Sarasota,FL while earning her MFA, and has had a practice ever since. After living in an ashram in India from 2013-2017 studying meditation and yogic philosophy with her Guru, she returned to the west and began teaching meditation, which she continues to do. Devon’s journey to Pilates was through pain. She suffered 2 severe spinal injuries, the first at age 4 to her lower back which left her with chronic pain, and the second at 23 to her upper back which required 1.5 years rehabilitating a compound fracture. As she went through life dealing with unpredictable and often prolonged periods of intense pain, she tried everything, aside from surgery, to find a solution. It wasn’t until she began a daily Pilates practice at Club Pilates in Davis, CA that she finally found a way out of the pain cycle. For the first time in her life she felt hope of living free from pain, in a body that felt strong and resilient. And having to move to Rochester was a joy- except that it had no Club Pilates. But she resigned herself to training at another local studio which disappointed and did not challenge her, or even do enough to maintain what she had hard-earned. So when she saw that a CP was going to open in Rochester she literally couldn’t wait- she called the number she found online one night expecting it to be a corporate answering machine. Instead, she heard the surprised but delighted voices of Andy and Amanda Peters who happily registered her as their very first member (at the time they hadn’t even found a location😆). And Devon was so excited and felt so passionate about CP succeeding here so she could continue to practice, she blurted out that she’d become an instructor too if they were in need. Cut to today- Devon was here for the studio door opening and she hopes to be here teaching, supporting and encouraging members until she passes away at 101 while in Diamond on the reformer.

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