Notice
We observe how your body currently organizes itself: what it does well, what it protects, and what it has been asked to carry.
A proprioception-based movement method
Your body already knows.
We help it remember.
SUJO is an intelligent, individual approach to movement — designed to help artists and athletes rebuild trust in their bodies, from the inside out.
DiscoverSUJO↓
Movement is not a correction.
It is a conversation between your nervous system, your history, and what you want to do next.
01 — The method
What is
SUJO?
We do not force the body into position. We teach it to find a more useful sequence.
The story behind the method
Summer is the visionary behind the creation of the SUJO Method. This revolutionary exercise method arose from her expertise in mathematics, ballet, and Pilates.
Summer’s degree in mathematics from study at both Fordham and University of San Diego has guided her understanding of human movement as both structural and dynamic. She has over 20 years of experience in ballet performance and instruction with both adults and children, having studied with the School of American Ballet, Alvin Ailey at Fordham University, Steps on Broadway, New York University, Pacific Northwest Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and the California Ballet Company and School.
Summer has taught Pilates for over 10 years, incorporating alignment and holistic practices as the foundation of strength within the body.
Re-sequence
Through precise, proprioception-led movement, we reintroduce a more efficient order of engagement.
Rebuild
We make that new organization strong enough to come with you — into the studio, the concert hall, the ocean and everyday life.
Founded by former professional ballerina and mathematicianSummer Jones
02 — Your practice
SUJO
for dancers.
For the body that has always had to perform
Dance asks for extraordinary precision. SUJO helps you notice the patterns beneath it: where you grip, compensate, protect or disconnect — then gives your body a clearer way forward.
For recovering from injury, preparing for a performance, or simply coming home to your technique.
Explore dancer sessions →Summer Jones · Dance background
Summer Jones began her dance training in El Cajon at a branch of the California Ballet School. She went on to complete her education on a full scholarship at School of American Ballet in New York City. During this time she also performed in full length ballets with San Francisco Ballet, New York City Ballet and California Ballet and was ensemble with Seaworld’s City Streets.
She danced professionally with Radio City Music Hall as well as various companies in New York and San Diego including California Ballet and San Diego Dance Theatre. She earned a master’s degree in American Ballet Theatre pedagogy in the professions and higher education from New York University and is certified in all levels of the National Training Curriculum. Summer has taught ballet in positions ranging from company instructor for California Ballet Company to guest master class teacher at Cornish College of the Arts, modern and ballet teacher at the Jillana School and assistant teacher at JKO’s School at American Ballet Theatre. As a choreographer, she’s represented the United States at the International Ballet Festival in Miami. Her dance films have shown in gallery at UCSD and have been accepted into film festivals in Brazil and Germany.
Most important, Summer loves helping dancers at all stages of their educations and careers and cherishes the work as an honor and a privilege.
03 — Your instrument
SUJO
for musicians.
For the body that carries the music
Repetition is part of mastery — but it should not mean living with pain. SUJO works with the whole system behind your playing: breath, support, balance, range and the habits your body has learned around your instrument.
More freedom in your body makes more room for expression.
Explore musician sessions →04 — Your everyday movement
SUJO
for everyone.
For the body you live in, every day
You do not need to be a dancer or a musician to explore how your body moves. SUJO offers an individual approach for anyone who wants more awareness, confidence and ease in everyday movement.
We begin with your experience, your goals and the movements that matter to you.
Find your starting point →05 — The people
Who is
behind SUJO?
SUJO is a method built by practitioners who know what it means to live inside a highly trained body.
Founder · San Diego
Summer Jones
Summer is the visionary behind the creation of the SUJO Method. This revolutionary exercise method arose from her expertise in mathematics, ballet, and Pilates.
Summer’s degree in mathematics from study at both Fordham and University of San Diego has guided her understanding of human movement as both structural and dynamic. She has over 20 years of experience in ballet performance and instruction with both adults and children, having studied with the School of American Ballet, Alvin Ailey at Fordham University, Steps on Broadway, New York University, Pacific Northwest Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and the California Ballet Company and School.
Summer has taught Pilates for over 10 years, incorporating alignment and holistic practices as the foundation of strength within the body.
Instructor · Canary Islands
Hannah Wilcox
Former professional ballerina and freediving coach. Hannah brings SUJO into a practice shaped by breath, resilience and a deep respect for the individual body.
06 — Client stories
In their
own words.
Six people describe pain, interruption, return and the possibilities they found through working with Summer.
“One day I was in the bathtub, and I almost couldn’t get out. I got a neurological disease called neuromyelitis optica, a demyelinating disease of the spine. I eventually had balance and weakness problems and damage to my spine that caused constant pain. I was stiff, in constant pain; to get out of the car, I had to lift my leg.
When doctors don’t know how to fix you, they just tell you, ‘Sorry, medicine doesn’t know this.’ Summer is like if you knew some old, great giant of medicine, back when they were still figuring things out. As a doctor, knowing what would be expected from a person with ALS, it’s flabbergasting—really, really surprising. If anybody is injured, or getting older and feeling stiff, you don’t have to stay that way.”
“I started ballet at six and danced until I was about 16. I pulled my hip flexor in seventh grade and was out for two months. I did physical therapy and iontophoresis, but I was injured a lot—dancing always hurt me. Eventually I stopped dancing. That was heartbreaking; it was a huge part of who I was.
Since I started the SUJO Method, for the first time, parts of ballet didn’t hurt, which was kind of miraculous. It was so fun again. I’ve never heard anyone talk about the body the way Summer does. If dancing has hurt you, despite your love for it and how happy it makes you, it doesn’t have to.”
“I had very little flexibility and, as a result, I constantly had torn muscles. Summer has really taken the time to develop her own method. The result is pretty extraordinary.”
“I was incredibly active—I ran competitively from grade school through high school. Then a woman going about 60 miles an hour hit us from behind, and imaging showed that my spine had been broken. I was in pain all the time; picking up my son was excruciating. I couldn’t sit down and play with him, and I was terrified I wouldn’t reach him before he got to something dangerous. I went to anybody who said they could help, all to relatively no avail.
Someone who knew Summer saw me hobbling around the office and said, ‘Just take your lunch break and go see her.’ Summer showed me how to push a stroller and pick up my son. It wasn’t generic exercises—it was, ‘What are you doing every day?’ Since I’ve started seeing Summer, I am pain-free. I get to bike with my son, jump on the floor, lift him, and swing him around like every parent should. I never imagined my life would look like this again. Don’t accept constant pain as the life you have to live. Find a different way.”
“I had such luck in how I came to find Summer and her work. I’m forever grateful for the way SUJO has changed my physical body, but maybe more importantly my relationship to my body. As a former professional ballet dancer of 15 years, I can say with confidence and without exaggeration that Summer helped me change the course of my entire career. Year after year continuing to learn SUJO meant continuing to find joy in the arts!”
“I was a diver and a Navy SEAL. It started with falling and tripping. After nine days of tests, they told me I had Lou Gehrig’s disease, or ALS. Everything went downhill: I couldn’t use my hands and could hardly move my legs. I was lying in bed doing nothing, just waiting to die.
Since working with Summer, I can use and lift my hands, put them over my head, and I seem to be breathing more easily. I pulled myself up against the kitchen counter for the first time in about five and a half years. The doctors don’t believe I’m bending, lifting my legs, moving my arms and hands, and breathing better. They told me I had two to three years to live; here it is six years later. I’m not ready to die yet. My family loves that I can open my own beer can now. You should try everything you possibly can. I’ve tried a lot of things, and this is the best I’ve seen so far.”
These testimonials describe individual experiences. They are not medical advice, and outcomes vary.
07 — Begin a conversation
What would change
if your body felt
on your side?
Tell us a little about your practice, your history and what you would like to return to. We will point you toward the most fitting first step.