Lisa Graham is a Balanced Body Master Instructor and the founder of Agile Monkey. Lisa has decades of experience and is known for a teaching with clarity, purpose, thoughtful ingenuity, humor and compassion. Her ability to identify and correct complex movement patterns has remarkable effects on her clients injury recovery, prevention and lasting wellbeing. Her goal is always to empower her clients to find their potential for efficient, pain-free movement regardless of age or perceived fitness level. As a skilled teacher of teachers, she is well known for her ability to clearly transmit these skills to a new generation of teachers.
Lisa chose the name Agile Monkey with the hope that we can all learn to find our inner monkey and move with ease and confidence. She’s a bit of nerd who takes her work very seriously, but also thinks that moving and learning should be fun. Learn more about Pilates, CoreAlign, Neuromuscular Re-Education and working with Lisa on the Private Training page.
Agile Monkey is an official Authorized Training Center for Balanced Body, offering comprehensive coursework in Movement Principles, Pilates and CoreAlign. Lisa Graham is one of the original Balanced Body Master Instructors selected by Nora St John at the programs inception in 2007. Lisa has been integral in the development of the Balanced Body education curriculum and materials and is truly honored to be part of the Balanced Body family. Learn more about Instructor Training.
Agile Monkey is an ever-evolving expression of Lisa’s goal to help people move better. Lisa has been teaching movement for the last thirty years, having taught all over the United States and internationally. For fifteen years Agile Monkey was located in a beautiful space in downtown Santa Cruz. What started with one instructor and a dream grew to a community of dozens of brilliant teachers, a team of amazingly innovative and supportive staff, and hundreds of wonderful, diverse, hilarious and dedicated clients. One of Lisa’s proudest accomplishments with the studio was the creation of what we often called our “tribe.” Together we became a community who laughed, cried and moved together. We showed up for one another. We changed each others lives. The downtown location closed in the spring of 2020 due to COVID but the connections of our community run strong and it will be such a joy to reconnect when it is safe to do so.
The Agile Monkey Movement Lab is based on all the same principles that have been motivating Lisa over the years, including individualized work. Over time there will be more of a focus on curriculum development, workshops and retreats. During these ever-changing times, Lisa will be available only by request and as time/space permits for in-person and/or online training, mentoring, private instruction and consultations from her private studio in Santa Cruz.
