Meet Our Team

Passion and dedication drive our team of extraordinary professionals.  We are devoted to helping you achieve the changes you seek in your mind and body. Come join us!

Our Mission:

What we believe most at Reston Pilates is that “Movement Heals.” This belief resonates at the heart of our studio, our programs, classes, and in how we choose our teachers. It is our mission to provide an open, nurturing, highly empathetic and compassionate environment so every student who walks in our doors feels safe and supported in reaching their goals. By helping our students restore functional movement in a vibrant and healthy body we are living our mission with every class and session, and that’s what we are most dedicated to!

Vision:

Reston Pilates is a community of teachers and students dedicated to creating healthy lives - mind, body and spirit. Through our passion for movement, and our belief that movement heals, we strive to educate our community and restore people’s faith that anything is possible, that health is possible, that feeling better is possible.  

Jodi Rakoff, Owner

Pilates literally changed Jodi's life.

As a mother of two who was more than 60 pounds overweight, Jodi found herself in her mid-twenties heavier than ever and suffering from lower back problems.  Through a healthy diet and a dedicated exercise program she was able to lose the extra pounds, but all of the weight had put a great deal of strain and pressure on her lower back.  She thought she had slowly healed, but one morning she woke up and was unable to walk.  The MRI results showed that she had herniated a disk in her spine and her doctor recommended surgery.  The surgery helped her pain, but as a result of years of compensation her right leg was weak and she developed Sacroiliac Dysfunction and had nerve damage in her right leg.  It was at this point that Jodi discovered Pilates.  Because of Pilates she was able to regain stability, build strength and increase her flexibility—not only in her back, but also in all of her body.  Her doctor had told her she would probably never run again—but her body is stronger now than ever before and she is not only running again—she is running marathons!

Jodi has been teaching Pilates since 2004.  She has comprehensive certifications through both BASI and Power Pilates. Jodi is also a RRCA Certified Running Coach. She has helped runners, from the novice to the elite achieve personal goals.

Jodi believes that movement heals and that through Pilates we can all connect with our inner strength and live healthy, active lives.  She is a passionate and grateful teacher.  Her love of Pilates is what inspired her to open Reston Pilates in 2010.

Jessica Hofheimer 

Jessica is a passionate, dedicated and driven mother of three who believes that we should all make the time every day to move our bodies in some way.  To make ourselves stronger from the inside out.

For many years Jessica has been a runner, but until she discovered Pilates, she would often be plagued by lower back pain and achy joints.  When her sister Jodi introduced her to the exercises, she began to be more mindful about her posture and more intentional with the way she moved her body, especially while running.  The result was incredible—her self-awareness increased and she became stronger and more flexible.  Her running efficiency and speed improved greatly.  She likes to think of Pilates as the "fountain of youth" (if there is such a thing) and truly believes that it can improve the quality of everyone's lives.

She is a certified mat instructor through Power Pilates and is also an RRCA Certified Running Coach.  She loves to talk about running and Pilates on her blog Pace of Me.  Jessica is proud to be an Ambassador for Lululemon and loves leading the weekly Running and Pilates club at the studio with her sister Jodi.  She enjoys talking with others about running and Pilates and hopes to help them to achieve their goals and inspire them to make time for themselves and to take care of their bodies.

Jennifer E. Borja

Jennifer has always been interested in the movement of the body.  As a child, and up into her teen years, Jennifer studied dance...classical ballet and jazz.  In high school, she developed her love of running.  She studied University abroad, married, and had two children.  

Jennifer discovered Pilates in the 1990s and began practicing on her own.  Her life with her family has moved her throughout Asia and finally settled her in the DC Metro Area.  Throughout the many moves the two areas of fitness Jennifer returned to time-and-time-again were Pilates and Running.  Jennifer met Jodi Rakoff, who inspired her to pursue her instructor certification in Pilates.  She is now a certified Power Pilates Instructor and looking forward to continuing with additional Pilates and/or Running certifications.  She hopes to inspire others through her instruction and their practice.

Monica Buroker

Monica Buroker has been a fan of Pilates since having her third child almost four years ago.  Feeling like her abs would never come back after three pregnancies, she found Pilates mat classes to be an incredible help.  It was at this time that she met Jodi Rakoff, who taught the mat class and encouraged her to try the full Pilates experience with the equipment.  One lesson was all it took to feel that this was a completely different approach to exercise, yet strangely familiar and absolutely appealing at the same time.  Monica was a gymnast growing up and then spent two years learning Tae Kwon Do where she earned her red belt.  She loved the focus, concentration, flow, strength and flexibility that the sport demanded, but realized she did not like to fight!  She then turned to running and general fitness classes to stay healthy and strong.  Pilates came at the perfect time when she was ready for a new challenge with her decidedly different post-baby body.  It was a match made in heaven and changed her life.  She came to realize that not only did she love to do Pilates, but wanted to share her enthusiasm with others and become a teacher.  She is mat certified by both Power Pilates and Equinox.  She has continued her complete certification of Classical Pilates at Equinox.  Monica resides in Vienna, VA and lives with her husband, Brian and their three kids.