welcome to core by crystal!

CORE (Christ Oriented Restorative Exercise) by Crystal Pilates + Yoga + Wellness is a boutique home studio located in Fredericksburg, VA. We offer mat and reformer Pilates, yoga, and TRX private and semi-private classes. Crystal Hendrix is also a Pregnancy and Postpartum Corrective Exercise Specialist. She is passionate about helping moms of all ages heal their core and pelvic floor postpartum. Crystal specializes in helping women improve diastasis recti, pelvic floor function, and building overall core strength.

Our home studio’s private setting, nestled on three acres, provides a peaceful and intimate experience to ensure personalized focus and connection to mind, body, and spirit. As a small family owned business, our goal is to help you find joy in movement and to inspire you in your wellness journey. Our mission is to glorify God through movement.

Hi there, I’m Crystal!

As a busy mom, I’m passionate about creating classes and programs for busy women who

-struggle to find a way to heal and strengthen their core after having kids

-strive to find the time in their jam-packed days to care for themselves in mind, body, and spirit

-seek the breathing room to grow in their relationship with God, practice self-care, and to be the mom they desire to be.

After having my second child, I experienced low back and hip pain, my core felt like mush, and I was constantly stressed trying to find ways to heal my postpartum body and figure out how to be a mom. The only advice I received from my doctor was to take an Advil and rest. That left me feeling discouraged and determined to figure it out myself. I knew movement is medicine and there had to be more to it than that. My experience practicing and teaching Pilates launched me into becoming an avid researcher of holistic ways to heal my core.

While I was pregnant with my third child and during that postpartum period, my Mom Core Restore program helped me to have the best birth and postpartum experience yet! I am excited to share what I’ve learned with moms in all phases of their journey.

I teach mat and reformer Pilates, Yogafaith, and am a Pregnancy and Postpartum Corrective Exercise Specialist. I’m passionate about women’s wellness and helping moms to flourish in their wellness journey and in restoring their core from the inside out. The tools of Christian yoga, Pilates, and postpartum corrective exercise fuel my teaching and aid me in helping moms improve abdominal separation (Diastasis Recti), pelvic floor dysfunction, and correct muscular imbalances common to moms.

Outside of Core by Crystal, you can usually find me homeschooling my children, reading a new book, or working with my husband on our home… tackling yet another fixer upper project.

Education and Training

AFAA Group Exercise Instructor, 2005

Bachelor of Arts, Louisiana State University, 2009

Polestar Pilates Gateway Mat, 2015

RYT-200, Yogafaith 2018

Pregnancy and Postpartum Corrective Exercise Specialist, Core Exercise Solutions 2019

Polestar Pilates Reformer, 2022

Since I love helping moms along their postpartum fitness journey, I created a free guide to get you started…

This Framework for Postpartum Fitness Guide is filled with over five pages of explanations and exercises to put you on the right path to healing your core. This is the guide I wish I had when I had my first child! My personal experience, training in yoga and Pilates, and education as a Pregnancy and Postpartum Corrective Exercise Specialist has guided me in creating this guide for you!

Success Stories

“If y’all haven’t tried a class with Crystal give it a try. I’m having a lot of stress right now and it helped. Everyday I know I will get stronger and stronger. Give Crystal’s workout a try, I bet you will really enjoy it.”

- Sandie

“This is a gal who can get your abs into shape safely. I met her at a yoga training a couple of years back and keep up with her online now.”

- Christine

“Thanks so much Crystal! I already notice a difference in my first day of trying to correct my posture!”

- Heather

“Thank you Crystal! God bless you for what you’re doing to help others through Christ. It blesses me and I appreciate it very much. You never know how much something can be helping an individual. Even if it’s just on a mental and spiritual level! I miss being strong and fit like I use to be. I just want to have that back so much. It’s hard when you feel like your body has gone a different direction and you just want to keep your youth as best you can and stay healthy and strong! 💪 Thanks for giving hope to others who really need it in their lives.”

- Katie

“Crystal is a personable and inspiring instructor. I especially enjoy her Pilates-Barre fusion class!”

- Sharilyn

“I take Pilates with Crystal on Tuesdays and it’s wonderful! She’s such a good teacher and so good at giving modifications. Pilates is hard, as I’m a larger body size. Her positive attitude and teaching keeps me coming. She’s great!

- Ceilia B.

“Crystal is very good and knowledgeable. She is one of the few instructors I’ve taken classes with that knows how to adapt the exercises for each person’s needs.”

- Peggy R.

“I enjoyed the Core Strength with Pilates and Yoga Workshop led by Crystal. I especially liked that the core workout was quick, but very effective. I was sore the next day (in a good way)! I think the emphasis on form and quality of the exercises over quantity of exercises has given me results. I would like to see her core routine implemented in more classes!”