SOUTHAMPTON, NY —A Southampton Pilates instructor who was diagnosed with a brain tumor just two weeks before her wedding has dedicated her life today to raising awareness —and rejoicing over the miracle of every new day.
Leisa Taylor — who is also a former dancer — saw her life upended by her diagnosis.
Within 48 hours, after a regularly scheduled check-up visit with her eye doctor, Taylor underwent emergency surgery at Stony Brook University Hospital, facing complications that left her hospitalized for a month and forced her to postpone her wedding, she said.
When doctors were unable to remove the entire tumor, she was referred to the New York Proton Center, the only facility in New York State offering proton therapy, "a precise, highly targeted form of radiation therapy with fewer side effects than traditional therapy," she said
It was after her craniotomy, that Taylor turned to Pilates to begin her healing journey, using movement and performing Pilates mat exercises at home.
Taylor said she immediately fell in love with the methodology all over again, reinvigorating what was once a form of cross-training to her dance career as "a renewed path towards recovery and purpose."
She ultimately launched her own platform, LTMovement, where today, she offers virtual classes and instruction across the Hamptons.
"My perspective changed," she said. "After my own health experience, I felt hungry to help others feel empowered and more deeply connected to the marvel of their own body."
On Friday, Taylor will give back to the New York Proton Center by hosting a charity Pilates event at Canoe Place Inn in Hampton Bays, with the aim of raising awareness and support for the care that helped save her life.
LTMovement, she said, "is immensely honored" to host the fundraiser event on Friday at Canoe Place Inn — located 239 E. Montauk Hwy in Hampton Bay — in partnership with the NYPC Foundation and CPI.
"We will enjoy a sun-drenched Pilates mat class at 10 a.m. followed by a delicious breakfast, curated by CPI's new Michelin-starred executive chef, at 11 a.m.," Taylor said.
Ticket proceeds from the event directly support the NYPC Foundation, "helping patients access critical proton therapy and providing essential financial support and life-saving treatment to cancer patients in need," she said.
The event will also include goodie bags and a raffle featuring prizes from many local businesses "that have generously donated to the cause. The local community has really shown up!" Taylor said.
Speaking with Patch, Taylor recalled the moment that changed everything, forever.
"I was diagnosed in 2019 with a benign — non-cancerous — meningioma brain tumor. I had a craniotomy in 2019, followed by radiation therapy at New York Proton Center in 2022 to inactivate the tumor."
When she was first diagnosed, Taylor was just 27. "At the time, it felt like I was plopped directly into the plot of a full on rom-com fairytale. I was about to marry the love of my dreams, and my husband, then fiancé, and I had recently bought our first home. The diagnosis was an absolute shock, an abrupt interruption that instantly revealed how incredibly fragile life truly is."
Looking back on those uncertain days, Taylor said most of all, she remembers the waiting. "The agonizingly long stay in the hospital awaiting the certainty of the diagnosis — a confirmation. My stomach still drops when I visualize the moment two doctors dressed in white lab coats entered my room after my MRI. I knew immediately, before words were spoken, deep in my gut, then that the tumor was real. It was terrifying."
But even in the midst of the frightening and unknown, Taylor was wrapped in love and hope.
"My family was unwaveringly by my side. It's hard to describe the fear I felt as I kissed my fiancé and hugged my sister in my gown before the anesthesia. It crossed my mind that this might be the last time, but my family kept me positive and fighting. They were so strong. They kept me brave."
Post surgery, she said, her family and fiance alternated shifts, staying next to her hospital bed at all times — surrounding her with a veritable and impenetrable fortress of strength.
"Often, I slept and would wake up to my mom and dad or fiancé reading, scrolling, sleeping, or chatting with a nurse checking my machines or IV," Taylor said. "My sister talked and showed me funny memes, and my mom would help me shower. My husband was always there to make me laugh like only he can. I was never alone — and looking back, I think that was perhaps the single most important and loving thing they all did, as a team. They wouldn't leave me, acting as a constant shield of protection and love. I felt safe."
She added: "During my dad's shift, he would create improvised tests, pulling the coins from his pocket and encouraging me to calculate the total, or writing words with lines for missing letters, asking me to fill in the blank space. He was trying to ignite my cognition well before official rehabilitation to preserve, or maybe awaken, my mental comprehension and understanding. He kept saying, 'Life hands you a deck of cards and you choose whether you fold or play.' I decided to play."
Eventually, after one month in the hospital, Taylor was released to rehab, where she spent two weeks before being discharged home.
A few years later, one of her doctors noticed that her tumor had begun to grow again; it had been initially impossible to remove the tumor during the craniotomy, due to its location.
"That's when I made the decision for radiation therapy," Taylor said.
Despite seemingly daunting challenges, Taylor was finally able to marry the love of her life.
"Beau and I were officially married in an intimate ceremony on August 18, 2022," she said. It was the happiest day of my life, but honestly, I didn't even need the wedding. Beau had already rigorously defined the true meaning of love and partnership over and over again for me in every moment, through those hard years we tackled together. There is no doubt in my mind that he is my soulmate, my forever."
Looking back on the proton therapy, Taylor said "the highly precise and targeted form of radiation therapy" was life-changing.
"My treatment successfully inactivated my tumor, and because of it, my life is rather ordinary in the most magical way," she said
But she's never forgotten the New York Proton Center and has committed herself to giving back to the facility that helped her to navigate a path forward to her bright future.
"The NYPC was a beautiful place for my journey. I've honestly never received care like that before, where everyone knew my name and personal story no matter where I went. They were so attentive and compassionate."
One memory, in particular, is forever etched on Taylor's heart.
"It was the first day of my 30 treatments, and I was scared. The radiation therapists strapped my head into my mask and onto the table to keep me motionless during the radiation administration, and then left the vault to watch from their room, as was protocol," she said. "I began to cry with anxiety, tears pressed tightly to my cheek, welling in the corners of my face — the mask so tight they couldn't even fall. The staff immediately halted the treatment and came into the room to see if I was okay. I still lay below the mask, strapped to the table, as one therapist began to gently rub the top of my head to calm me down, while the other two softly encouraged me to take my time. They were extremely patient, and waited with me until I was truly ready to take on treatment."
Her diagnosis and treatment changed Taylor's way of looking at life forever.
"Gratitude is now my mantra," she said. "I make it a point to realize every day the beauty of the ordinary joys this life so quietly offers — each sunrise and sunset, the ability to brush your teeth, to stand in the shower, to read a book, to take a walk or workout, to spend time with the people I love."
Taylor said that it is perhaps unfortunate that it took something so severe to awaken in her the lesson she abides by today.
"But I am flooded with gratitude in the depths of my fighting heart for the opportunity to grow and expand and fail and learn — for time. I am overwhelmingly thankful for the gifts this life has brought me: my beyond devoted, encouraging husband; selfless, treasured family; loyal friends; and even, the hard stuff. The hard moments have made me more compassionate, more vulnerable, more alive. The hard stuff has my life so much more beautiful."
Even in the midst of darkness, Taylor was able to find inner grit and determination.
"A silver lining of my radiation therapy was that it occurred during COVID, so all of my classes moved online. I made it a point to continue to teach a few classes each day between treatments — and naps — and I believe that one decision to continue teaching was the most significant choice I made for myself."
She did, in fact, make the decision "to play," following her father's advice and wisdom.
And pursuing her life's passion also helped her in immeasurable ways.
"Movement not only kept me strong; it gave me purpose. The ability to teach a class, no matter how gentle I needed it to be while undergoing treatment, made my body my friend, my tool, and in so many ways, my mode of healing. Movement was my savior because it brought me back to myself, and I felt called to share this transcendent realization with others — the early seedlings of LTMovement."
Describing LTMovement, Taylor outlined her mission and deeply seated desire to help others blossom.
"I think LTMovement is my love letter to the world," she said. "As a professional dancer and Pilates instructor, I've spent a long time discovering as a mover. LTMovement is a humble yet intentional culmination of my certifications and life experiences to research the balance, strength, and endurance of the human form. I encourage each of my students to dissolve their responsibilities, insecurities, and judgments to help them access the marvel of their own breath, and the overwhelming universe that is the vessel in which they live. We move to uncover the raw, somatic, visceral knowing that exists within all of us and to breed compassion for ourselves."
She added: "With LTMovement, I want people to drop back into their bodies and claim the hour on the mat as their own — demanding a moment of their day or week or month be dedicated to the exploration and investigation of their own power, to their ability to soften into the intuition the body so naturally communicates, and to find gratitude in their amazing capacity to move. The LT movement is connection, a return to ourselves —it's movement that lines the path home."
Taylor's greatest purpose is to guide others, through her own unique story and experience.
"I hope I help people with my classes. I hope that reconnecting people with their bodies in a space where they feel safe to explore and push enables them to feel empowered and renewed, alive. The best feedback I ever receive is that taking my classes has somehow made a student's/client's ordinary tasks more accessible — they experience fewer back issues while gardening or they now have the strength to pick up their grandchild. I just want to make their lives easier, and fuller. "
Of Friday's event, Taylor said she hopes the fundraiser "conveys the power of community, and even more — the power of a community uniting in love. I hope we can bring peace — and perhaps even just the slightest bit of relief — to those in need. Our bodies are such a beautiful gift, designed with a great resilience to overcome and to heal when we lead with love."
Today, Taylor still has regular MRI scans to monitor her tumor and ensure it is not growing.
"I hold my breath for each new scan's results and am over-the-moon with joy each time we hear good news," she said.
To others who may be hearing their own diagnosis for the first time, Taylor said: "I'm not sure if I have any advice, as each diagnosis is so unique and so different. We are all battling something. I think the one thing I might share is that you are not alone, and that you are stronger than you can imagine. Lean into gratitude and trust yourself. Keep seeing the beauty, even when it's hard. Gratitude is often where peace grows."
Looking ahead, Taylor hopes to continue teaching and sharing her passion with others. "I always want to keep learning and growing as a student of my work, and aim to continue seeking ways and modes of movement that bring my clients closer to their power."
To learn more about LTMovement, click here. For information about Friday's event, or to donate, click here.
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