From Adelaide to EnergetiX: The Story Behind the Movement

I grew up in Adelaide, South Australia—a childhood steeped in movement. If I wasn’t playing Aussie Rules football or squash, I was camping, climbing, or simply soaking in the rhythm of the outdoors. Fitness wasn’t something we “did”—it was just part of life.

But I didn’t take the traditional path. Far from it.

In my late teens, I dreamed of becoming a radio announcer. I landed a gig shadowing one of the legends of Australian broadcasting, Vaughn Harvey, while also working in my father’s 4WD accessory business—sanding ‘roo bars by day, chasing dreams by night.

Around that time, I started weight training and became fascinated by how the body could transform with discipline and the right approach. My mother owned a women’s weight-loss franchise called Aussie Health, so I also spent time helping her package herbal supplements and guide new clients through intake. Without realizing it, I was beginning to blend science, intuition, and service.

Eventually, I left radio behind and moved to the U.S., working as a waiter while figuring out my next move. In 1991, at Gold’s Gym in Venice, I met a man who would change everything—Sam Calhoun, America’s Most Muscular Man in 1956. Sam took me under his wing, taught me the science of results-based fitness, and helped me land a job at the Los Angeles Athletic Club.

There, I found myself drawn to working with seniors—fascinated by how to support strength, longevity, and functional movement. One day, a client asked, “Have you ever considered teaching Pilates?” I hadn’t even heard of it.

Curious, I started researching. Though Pilates was developed in the 1930s, it felt decades ahead of its time—focusing on breath, control, spinal alignment, and deep core awareness. It was a breath of fresh air after years of heavy gym work.

I got certified and opened my first studio in Los Angeles—across from a little hippie grocery store called Erewhon. I taught day and night. With the support of an incredible partner, that one studio became three. We developed a nationally recognized certification program and  managed the studios together for over 20 years.

But by 2022, having taught over forty-five thousand client sessions, I felt something stirring- a quiet knowing. Something new was calling me.

It was difficult, but I stepped away from the business I had co-created. I moved to a small house I’d purchased years earlier in the eastern Mojave Desert, about one hundred and forty miles from Los Angeles.  For six months, I immersed myself in nature, movement, and meditation. I let the stillness speak.

That’s when I began to see it: Everything in nature moves in spirals. Galaxies swirl. Water flows. Trees grow in spirals. DNA coils. Even fish swim in elegant S-shaped spirals. Movement wasn’t just about reps or technique—it was sensation.

And a question landed:
What if Pilates could go deeper?
What if we could combine the precision of classical Pilates with the intelligence of sensation and the spiral patterns found in nature?

That’s when Pilates EnergetiX was born.

I had decades of classical training built into my bones, but this new system needed more. For guidance, I reached out to Mary Bowen, one of the last living students of Joseph Pilates himself. She worked with him for six years.

Mary said, “You’re on the right path. You have to set it free.”

She reminded me that Pilates was originally called Contrology, based on controlling the mind to activate the body. But now, in a time where so many are living in chronic stress and disconnection, we don’t need more control. We need collaboration—with the body, the breath, the nervous system, and with nature itself.

With Mary’s encouragement, I gave myself permission to evolve the work.

Pilates EnergetiX integrates sensory feedback tools, biotensegrity principles, and the language of sensation so that each person becomes their own best teacher. It invites clients to move in ways that de-regulate the nervous system, awaken creativity, and restore connection from the inside out.

In 2025, Pilates EnergetiX officially launched. Today, it’s a joy to teach an embodied system of movement that I truly believe is the next evolution of Pilates—one that’s not only effective, but transformative.

Movement is energy. Energy is life. And when you move in alignment with nature—spiraling, sensing, and integrating—you don’t just get a workout. You get your self back.

This is the heart of Pilates EnergetiX.
And I’m honored to share it with you.

— Nigel Sampson