Najla Said was born with a lot of energy. Constantly searching for a place to channel it, she tried every sport/dance/activity that was made available to her as a young child, only to discover early on that the ones she enjoyed the most and seemed to excel at (dance, gymnastics, yoga, and running) were destroying her extremely hypermobile body. While studying acting in New York City in 1996, she was advised by her teachers to try Pilates, Alexander Technique and martial arts in order to build the strength and stamina she would need for a career on stage. After 8 years of private sessions and countless classes, she was certified to teach Classical Pilates in 2004 and has been constantly teaching and learning since. Having attempted to return to yoga safely with her Pilates knowledge in the past few years, she found she wanted to know more, and naturally gravitated toward Yoga Tune UpĀ®, in which she was certified in 2012. Her memoir, "Looking for Palestine: Growing Up Confused in An Arab-American Family" will be published by Riverhead Books (a division of Penguin) on August 1, 2013.
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