Erik Waterland
Waterland Performance
Erik Waterland, DPT practices as he lives. True to himself. With a diverse background from ballet to soccer to distance running, he takes both clinical and life experiences and applies them to the patient in front of him. His holistic practice extends beyond the physical barriers to wellness, looking at all aspects needed to optimize physical performance.
Erik is a Tacoma native who happily calls Grit City home. Since beginning clinical practice in 2005, he has always done everything to provide the absolute best care to his patients. In recent years, insurance companies have made providing this exceptional level of care exceedingly difficult if not impossible in some settings. That’s why in December of 2019, Erik decided to demand better and set off on his own without looking back. Since starting Waterland Performance, he has seen how care outside the confines of insurance bureaucracy really allows patients to thrive. He is able to meet each client exactly where they’re at on that given day to provide optimal care.
He and his wife Keri are Tacoma natives, staying busy in the community through volunteering, running the trails at point defiance, and participating in local events. Erik is also employed by the University of Puget Sound’s physical therapy department as a clinical instructor/adjunct professor.
Kat Arave
Waterland Performance
Kat Arave, DPT is a Pacific Northwest native who loves where she is and what she does. Much of her time growing up was spent in the Tacoma area where she fell in love with the “small town in a big city” vibe.
She did her undergrad at Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA before graduating in 2018 from Franklin Pierce University in Goodyear, AZ with her Doctorate in Physical Therapy. Afterwards she quickly made her way home to Washington.
In her years of practice she has been able to focus on individual care for a variety of issues from postoperative care to neurological disorders. She loves the challenge of complex issues and helping patients learn to love moving again.
She enjoys the opportunity to get to know her patients and tailor PT to meet their individual needs and goals.
She lives with her husband Garrett, daughter Rena and 2 pups that keep her on her toes. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, watching Gonzaga basketball or the Seahawks, and spending time working on her new home.
Ashton Kirks
Baby Making Bodies &
Waterland Performance
Ashton Kirks, PTA believes in the transformative power of physical wellness and is dedicated to helping those around her to set and achieve performance goals. No matter where their journey is beginning from, Ashton provides the highest level of care and attention to her patients with a holistic philosophy that focuses on whole-body, long-term health results.
As a mother of two young children, Ashton is passionate about helping women stay strong during their prenatal and postpartum journeys. She understands first-hand the roles physical fitness and strength play in preventing and minimizing common pregnancy complaints, and ensuring a timely recovery in the postpartum period. These therapies are woefully underrepresented in American healthcare, and Ashton established Baby Making Bodies in 2021 to help change that.
Ashton is originally from Kansas but moved to the Pacific Northwest in 2014 where she met her husband. She has nearly a decade of clinical physical therapy experience and has been working alongside Erik Waterland, DPT since 2017. She is thrilled to be a part of Waterland Performance and support the mission of treating patients outside the restrictive guidelines of traditional insurance.
Eric Davis
Tacoma Wellness Studio
Eric Davis is a NASM Certified Personal Trainer. He has been teaching/coaching people for many years in a variety of ways and has come to understand that helping others is integral to who he is as a person. He derives great joy from assisting others striving to be more healthy and Fit for Life!” Eric left an 18 year career in education and started his personal training business, hybrED Fitness, in 2014. Then in 2021, Eric joined with co-founder Kelsey to create the Tacoma Wellness Studio and began offering group fitness classes.
Along with a variety of other courses, Eric has obtained additional certifications including, but not limited to, Barbell Rehab Methods; NASM Corrective Exercise Specialist, Senior Fitness Specialist & Fitness Nutrition Specialist; StrongFirst (SFGI); Functional Movement Systems (Level I/II) Ground Force Methods (Level I & Jr’s). Eric believes that through a combination of mobility, stability and strength people can be more robust and functional in all the things they like to do outside the gym, which in his opinion is what the gym is for in the first place.
*For class schedule and more information please visit: www.tacomawellnessstudio.com
Kelsey Nolta
Tacoma Wellness Studio
Kelsey Nolta is a NSCA Certified Personal Trainer, StrongFirst(SFGI) trained instructor and co-founder of the Tacoma Wellness Studio(TWS). As a NCAA 3-time women’s rowing national champion with Western Washington University, she knows what it takes to be part of a winning team. Her passion to help people has led her to become a firefighter with the Seattle Fire Department.
Kelsey co-founded Tacoma Wellness Studio with this passion and it is what brings her back to guest teach group strength classes. Kelsey loves being out in the mountains and on the weekends can be typically found mountaineering, ski touring or rock climbing.
*For class schedule and more information please visit: www.tacomawellnessstudio.com
Anna Chang
Onsight Physical Therapy
Anna Chang, PT, DPT, CPT graduated from the University of Puget Sound in 2020. She received her Certificate of Personal Training from the National Academy of Sports Medicine after PT school and then established Onsight PT LLC in October of 2021 after noticing a lack of accessibility to quality healthcare.
Originally hailing from Kansas, Anna moved to the Greater Puget Sound area in 2014 and fell in love with climbing, snowboarding, hiking–trying anything that gets her outdoors.
Anna specializes in climbing injuries and training by incorporating movement assessments, comprehensive consideration for daily activities, and tangible steps to take towards meeting climbing goals. She is the only physical therapist in the Greater Seattle area with a Grasshopper climbing wall to perform climbing assessments in real time.
Anna hopes to provide physical therapy and other healthcare services to underrepresented populations by creating a centralized space in the future
*For more information please visit: www.onsightphysicaltraining.com
Kurt Kelly
Mindfulness Meditation
Kurt Kelly is a dedicated Certified Mindfulness Meditation teacher, deeply passionate about sharing the transformative benefits of mindfulness. With over 8 years of practice, he’s experienced its profound impact on his life, guiding him to embrace the importance of being fully present as life unfolds.
The essence of mindfulness, for Kurt, lies in accessing the body’s innate wisdom through attentive, deep listening—a skill honed through dedicated practice. He firmly believes in the strength of community in achieving goals, especially in the context of mindfulness. He is a strong advocate for group meditation and shared learning experiences, knowing that these enhance our mindfulness journey.
Tacoma, Kurt’s home for over two decades, holds a special place in his heart. It’s where he’s raised his two daughters, home to his significant other, Jessica, and where his roots have firmly grounded. Apart from mindfulness advocacy, he immerses himself in various hobbies, finding solace in reading, thriving on continual learning, enjoying the rhythm of road and trail running, and finding peace amidst nature through hiking.
Kurt feels drawn to foster mindfulness, build communities around it, and make its practice accessible to all. Through teaching, sharing, and being an advocate, he’s devoted to the belief that mindfulness can significantly enrich and transform lives.
Join him in this journey towards inner peace, presence, and holistic well-being.
*Classes are Sundays at 10am. Please go to “contact us” for more information.
Joshua Gellert
Wavelength Physical Therapy and Wellness
Joshua Gellert, DPT, SCS is a board certified specialist in sports medicine with over a decade of experience treating competitive athletes from high school to professional level. He graduated with his Doctorate in Physical Therapy from New York University after receiving a BS in Exercise and Sports Science and a Minor in Sports Psychology from Western Washington University.
Joshua started his professional career at the renowned Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City before relocating to Seattle to work in the Sports Medicine Department at the University of Washington. He has been published in multiple journals and taught at the University of Washington and New York University as a master clinician. In addition, he has precepted physical therapy students and medical residents and fellows from the Family Medicine, PM&R and Orthopedic departments.
With a strong sports medicine background, curiosity and an open mind he has evolved his holistic treatment techniques in the spaces of performance, health, wellness and energetics, which have enhanced the outcomes of his patients.
A Tacoma native, he is happy to call Tacoma home again with his wife, son and dog while enjoying the bounty of beauty that only the Pacific Northwest can offer.