Jelena Petrovic - Forward Momentum

Jelena Petrovic is a Pilates pioneer in the Netherlands – as the Founder and Principal Instructor of Smartbody Amsterdam, she’s passionate about helping people realise their potential and embrace the transformative power of movement.

An unflinchingly realistic, humane approach to her work and her lifestyle are what have kept Jelena going through her studies, career, parenthood and recovery - and she isn’t slowing down any time soon.

She reminds us

“A lot of people as they get older, the cage gets tighter, they take care of themselves less because they are doing more for others. And you see it in their bodies. I don’t think of less movement and pain as a part of being older. It doesn’t have to be”.

A hurdle to Jelena’s already successful career came in 2016, ten years after opening her studio, when she was diagnosed with Breast Cancer . Although many would consider Jelena’s recovery story inspiring, she doesn’t see her experiences with cancer as a crucial part of who she is, rather they provide a lens that helps her to deepen her empathetic approach to teaching. When asked if her experiences are something she draws on in her work with Pilates clients, she simply notes “I don’t overplay it. Not manipulatively. It’s about perspective. In that sense it’s helpful. I don’t really talk about it that much. It’s more a thing that happened to me than an identity”.

Jelena, coming from a long career as a dancer, choreographer and fitness professional, knew not to underestimate how important it would be to get back to movement as a part of her treatment and recovery. “Movement saved me, mentally” she remembers. Given that her medical treatment included a full mastectomy and radiation, returning to full mobility would prove to be a challenging task.

Describing getting back into the studio Jelena says “At first, because of the cutting of the pectoral muscle, the movement of your arms is completely inhibited. It was hard to do basic tasks, like chopping vegetables.” Taking things slowly was key for her recovery. “I rehabbed myself, doing simple things each week. It took me 8 months of 5-6 days a week work to get back to good motion.”

Post recovery, Jelena found herself refining her approach to areas outside her work and rehab. “Cancer is a humbling journey” she says.

“It’s a kick in the butt in a way, for taking charge of things - to go on living even though treated, you do think that it could come back – so I’m just doing my best lifestyle wise.”

Even before her experiences with cancer, it’s evident that Jelena approached her lifestyle with longevity in mind, and this is something she brings to her work with clients too. “I’ve always felt that longevity matters, even when I was younger - I was aware that things can come back and haunt us later in life! I was never reckless or wanted to do harmful things to my body. I was hardwired to think - Is this good for me in the long term?”  An important distinction though for Jelena, is that avoiding risk taking behaviour shouldn’t mean you slip into complacency.

Jelena as a teacher has always been aiming with her work, to remain people focused, and much of her experiences with cancer and learning to value the opportunities health and movement can provide have informed her approach.  “So much of movement teaching can focus on the ‘what’ - the exercise” she says. “But I am convinced none of that is as important as working with people and how they absorb the content. The impact can be different completely if you focus on empathy and connection with people”.

“There’s a fine line between pushing yourself stupidly, and then pushing towards progress. We make mistakes, and some don’t push enough. There’s a sweet spot between over pushing and progress. You grow, but you don’t get injured.” 

As Jelena points out, challenging yourself and taking care of yourself don’t have to be mutually exclusive.  Challenging your comfort zone is by definition, though, a little uncomfortable. When asked about her own goals Jelena was characteristically right to the point. “I just want to keep moving as long as I can. If I live to my 80s, I want to keep doing what I am doing.”

Her own experiences with cancer, and those of people she cares about have sharpened her focus on having a realistic and driven approach to her life. “We don’t know how much time we have” she says. “But say statistically I am definitely likely to have say 10 years. What do I want to do with 10 years? If you don’t run away from reality, it can actually be really inspiring to realise you don’t have time to waste”.