Christine S. Bergeron Ballew, BA, MFA, PhD
Welcome to Brazos Emerge! I started Brazos Emerge to continue my passion in helping people reach their goals in wellness, leadership, and safe dance practices. I have a strong belief in inclusion and community, as the world is diverse and it takes a village to move through it and achieve our own goals.
Pilates and Movement Practices
I have been teaching Pilates since 2002 and have completed training through PhysicalMind and Balanced Body. I have worked with clients managing conditions such as fibromyalgia, scoliosis, and chronic pain, as well as professional and collegiate athletes—including professional and collegiate dancers, recreational golf and tennis players, and Olympic archers—helping them reach their performance and wellness goals. I wholeheartedly believe in Joseph Pilates' philosophy that Pilates is for everyone, should be accessible for all, and should be taught to enhance the individual, addressing their specific needs.
Based on this belief, I blend therapeutic principles with dynamic, accessible movement to create an environment where clients of all backgrounds and abilities feel supported and empowered. I am passionate about helping each person move safely and with confidence, deepen their body awareness, and achieve their wellness and fitness goals.
Personally, Pilates saved me from a major back injury that almost ended my dance career. Through physical therapy and Pilates, I strengthened weak muscles, reorganized poor movement patterns, taught other muscles to recruit to assist, and increased flexibility for ease of movement.
Leadership and Professional Development
People saw me as a leader long before I ever did. As an administrator and leader for over 20 years, I often found myself being "thrown into the deep end" with little to no leadership training. I sought out leadership opportunities, studied how my personality informed how I led others, and learned how to led in uncomfortable situations. Being a leader in the arts poses its own challenges and requires consistent advocacy. I want to change the pattern of "being thrown into the fire" and offer what I have learned and experienced to others. These experiences led me to design a teen leadership program for those in the arts.
From the outside, Brazos Emerge may lack direction and focus, but Brazos Emerge is about all my passions; Pilates, leadership, and dance education for teachers.
Lindsay Ballew, BA, MOT
Myofascial Release Practitioner
I practice myofascial release because it’s the best tool I have to help people improve their quality of life. I first came across myofascial release (MFR) in 2011, when I was working as an occupational therapist in a skilled nursing/long-term care facility here in Bryan. It seemed to me that pain was people’s primary limiting factor because, I reasoned, they could get stronger if they weren’t in so much pain. I came to my first MFR seminar with John F. Barnes, PT, with curiosity, the desire to help others, and intermittently severe, debilitating neck pain that seemed to only be getting worse. What I found was unlike anything I had experienced before. I learned that MFR is a whole person practice, with no splitting of mind/body, which I knew as true, and I was able to draw from my experience with energy work. I also learned to get very quiet, in tune with the natural healing love and wisdom of myself and the person I was working with. And, after a couple of seminars, I became free of neck pain, and it has never returned.
I now have fifteen years of experience using myofascial release with countless clients in various settings, including home health care, outpatient clinics, and skilled nursing/long-term care facilities where I have worked as an occupational therapist. To this day, I have yet to come across anything else that so effectively alleviates people’s pain.