About me and Movement For Living Well

A woman in black workout attire holding a textured massage ball while demonstrating a stretch.

My name is Stephanie Ross-Russell. I am a movement teacher based in Lagos, Portugal, where I run Movement For Living Well from the MOVE Studio.

I have been teaching for over 30 years, working with students across the UK, Portugal and around the world.

My background is in contemporary dance, Pilates, Dynamic Hatha Yoga, and FAMO Fascia Movement®, a fascia-informed practice which has become the thread that connects everything I teach.

〝I believe movement is one of the most powerful things you can do for yourself〞

30+ years teaching

UKPortugalWorldwide

From principal dancer

London Contemporary Dance Theatre

Fascia pioneer

Among first to bring FAMO® to the UK

Senior educator

Training teachers internationally

Two women practicing yoga together, one with short reddish hair wearing a striped shirt and the other with short light brown hair wearing a black top, in an indoor yoga studio.
Two women practicing yoga together, one with short reddish hair wearing a striped shirt and the other with short light brown hair wearing a black top, in an indoor yoga studio.

Three decades of study, performance, and practice

I was trained in Pilates by Alan Herdman, Iyengar-based Dynamic Hatha Yoga with Carlos Rui Ferreira, Classical Pilates with Catarina Palma, and FAMO Fascia Movement® with art-of-motion. Despite decades of experience, I remain a student — genuinely curious, continually learning and always looking to deepen my understanding.

I am a Senior Educator for art-of-motion and teach Anatomy Trains in Motion and FAMO® courses internationally.

But credentials only tell part of the story. What I bring to class is also thirty years of living in a body of dancing professionally, sustaining injuries, recovering, going through IVF and subsequently a triplet pregnancy, and discovering, slowly and with great interest, what it actually means to move well.

Not a fitness programme, but a practice that builds week by week.

Movement For Living Well asks you to pay attention: to how your body feels, to where you hold tension, to what becomes possible when you stop muscling through.

My students range from complete beginners to professional movement teachers. What they share is curiosity, and a wish to move well and feel well long term.

  • "I’m loving this term and have yet again learnt so much. I’m still trying to get my head around the fact that you can teach nearly the same thing every week so differently."

    Claire

  • "I have also been meaning to say how helpful I have been finding your cues in both yoga and pilates regarding the integration of the pelvic floor into every movement."

    Jane

  • “I just wanted to say thank you for all of your direction. My movement has changed dramatically and progressively over the 3-4 years that I have attended your classes. "

    Justin

Continue exploring

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More about Stephanie

Read the full story →

A woman with red hair and glasses is lying on the floor, writing in a notebook with a pen.

More about the Movement

Learn the philosophy & fascia →

A woman in a black tank top instructs a group of women doing yoga on mats in a studio.

COME AND MEET ME

Now you know my story

The best way to understand what I teach is to experience it. Join a class in Lagos or online, and let's begin.

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