Course Description
Best is that Gateway has a training structure and materials that will provide you an easy and complete introduction to Pilates. Gateway will bring you the opportunity to generate additional income and increase your knowledge.
Walk away from Gateway with a deeper understanding of the Pilates method, the ability to teach selected Pilates exercises, and the practical skills to apply correct form and sequencing.
Who is this course for
Occupational & Physical Therapists
Physiotherapists
Osteopaths
Registered Nurses
Personal Trainers / Fitness Instructors looking to incorporate Pilates into their training and portfolio
Health professionals interested in adding Pilates to their patient work
Pilates enthusiasts or prospective students who want to become familiar with the method before taking the professional leap
Why Gateway Mat?
- Practical and applicable: Gain tools you can use immediately in your rehab practice.
- Evidence-based: Learn how to combine the latest movement science with physiotherapy principles.
- Patient-focused: Support patients to build confidence by shifting from an external locus of control (relying on the clinician) to an internal locus of control (taking ownership of their own recovery). This fosters independence and long-term resilience.
- Pathway to qualifications: This course is the first step into Polestar’s internationally recognised Rehabilitation Qualification series (next intake in 2026).
Course Dates
| Location | Name | When |
|---|---|---|
| AUCKLAND CBD | Gateway Matwork | Sat 11 & Sun 12 October '25 |
Our Educators: Melanie Loveless – Physiotherapist, Clinical Pilates Instructor, NZRP, BHSc (Physiotherapy)
Melanie graduated AUT in 2000 with a Bachelors of Health Science (Physiotherapy) and has gone onto specialise in Clinical Pilates. She started her Pilates training in the UK while on a working holiday and completed exams in both APPI and Polestar Pilates.
After returning to NZ she completed the Polestar Rehabilitative series in 2007. Mel worked at several pilates studios in Auckland combining her pilates and physiotherapy skills. On moving to Rotorua she set a pilates studio as part of the physiotherapy clinic she co-owns. This has expanded significantly and provides one on one, group and mat sessions and employees a growing number of pilates instructors and physiotherapists.
Melanie has been a Polestar Mentor since 2010 and an educator for the comprehensive training course since 2012. Melanie continues to be a mentor and educator for other physiotherapists on Polestar courses throughout New Zealand and loves the challenge of teaching her peers to provide holistic physiotherapy treatment via a Pilates approach.
As a PINC (oncology) physiotherapist since 2009, working with clients affected by cancer remains a very rewarding aspect to Melanie’s work and she especially enjoys seeing the confidence clients gain from the Paddle On program.
Over the years of since buying into the business, Melanie has enjoyed combining her Pilates and Physiotherapy skills to help patients with complex biomechanical issues remain fit, active and pain-free.
Outside of work Melanie and husband Ian strive for a work/life balance by making the most of the beautiful lakes and forest with their 2 children. Having chosen to move to Rotorua for its easy accessibility to outdoor activities, they are always looking forward the next family trip.
Our Educators: Jo Hutley – Senior Polestar Educator, Mentor and Examiner
Jo began her Pilates journey back in 1996 as a client of Maree Seerden’s and instantly became a devotee of the method, describing herself as a “Pilates addict”. Having hypermobile joints and having had to give up dancing due to prolonged injuries in her teenage years, Jo found that Pilates helped her develop the joint stability to be able to move freely again. She changed vocation to Pilates Instructor in 1999 working under apprenticeship under Maree Seerden. In 2001 she trained with Polestar Pilates in the first course run in New Zealand.
Since graduating in 2002, Jo has trained as a Mentor then Educator and ever since has been an integral part of the Polestar Education team as an Educator, Mentor and Examiner.
Outside of Pilates Jo has continued to develop her movement training through Yang Tsin Su Martial Arts, TRX Suspension Training and Runity running conditioning.
Passionate about Pilates, Polestar Education and language, Jo relishes working with training instructors and mentoring them as they embark on their own Polestar Pilates journey.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Insight into Polestar Movement Concepts & Pilates Professional Ethics
Learn how to teach 18 Pilates exercises
Ability to teach the most common contraindications and precautions for each of the 18 exercises
Identify the anatomical landmarks necessary to teach Pilates
Ability to correct common faulty movement patterns
Listen to this webinar for New Zealand Physiotherapists with Dr Brent Anderson
Want to find out about innovative and evidence-based approaches to enhance your rehabilitation and movement therapy skills?
Check out this 1-hour webinar which we ran exclusively for New Zealand-based physiotherapists. Led by the internationally renowned Dr. Brent Anderson PhD, PT, OCS, founder of Polestar Pilates, this session promises to transform your approach to rehabilitation and movement therapy.
To busy to listen to this 1-hour webinar? Access a PDF form summary: click here to access and download
Or listen to the summary podcast shown!
Evidence-based Pilates for NZ Physiotherapists with Dr Brent Anderson
Gateway Testimonials
Course Format
Your course begins with three hours of online training at home, and shifts into experiential labs for collaborative learning. This is followed by the creatively and exclusively designed Polestar Gateway contact course Pilates Mat, which will not only equip students with an introductory level of Pilates teaching skills, quickly and effectively but also form the first and resourceful component of the Polestar qualification training programme.
Students will receive a Certificate of Completion at the end of the course. Please note that the Gateway course is an Intro level courses and is not a qualification course.
What if I want to continue with Mat, Reformer or Comprehensive courses?
If a student completes a Gateway course and continues with either the Mat, Reformer, or Comprehensive courses, the following further discounts apply:
| Gateway Course Completed | Polestar Course Series signed up for | Discount |
|---|---|---|
| Matwork | Mat Series | $100 |
| Matwork | Reformer Series | $100 |
| Matwork | Comprehensive Series | $150 |
DO YOU HAVE POLESTAR GATEWAY COURSE QUESTIONS OR FEEDBACK?
We would love to hear from you. Please use the form to send your message and we’ll get in touch with you as soon as possible.