Shannon Bynum Adams

Founder & Co-Owner

Shannon Bynum Adams, NCPT® is a nationally acclaimed trainer and wellness consultant. After learning the healing and corrective benefits of the work post orthopedic surgeries – including two hip replacements, she founded Urban Body San Jose in 2016 as the only boutique studio featuring both Classical Pilates and The GYROTONIC® Method in Northern California’s largest city.  Mrs. Adams is a fully comprehensive Nationally Certified Pilates Teacher, licensed in both GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® Methods, certified in all the specialized equipment (Archway, Leg Extension Unit, Jumping Stretching Board, and Gyrotoner) and many specialized application courses in the Method including the therapeutic Applications for the Shoulder and Pelvis, Gyrotonic Level 2, Applications for Dancers, Gyrotonic Musical Journey, Gyrokinesis Lotus Blossom and Cardiovascular Breathing, to name a few. Shannon holds a Pre-Trainer license in both GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® Methods under the mentorship of Authorized Master Trainer Kathy Van Patten. She is also a Gyrotonic Master Trainer candidate. 

As a teacher trainer, she deeply enjoys mentoring new teachers in both modalities. Shannon is also a certified integrational nutrition and lifestyle coach, certified through the Institute for Integrate Nutrition (IIN) where she offers mentoring sessions both in person and online in addressing the whole body through health and wellness. Originally certified by Power Pilates under the mentorship of Master Teacher Allison Gonzalez, she later completed Benjamin Degenhardt’s 360® Pilates which was a course Benjamin hosted prior to launching his online educational site, 360pilates.com. 

Prior to the wellness industry, she enjoyed a decade-long professional ballet career with the former Ballet San Jose.  Mrs. Adams is known for advocacy of investing in one’s body. She has been featured in media as a wellness industry thought leader and her work has been covered widely in regional and national news stories including NBC news, ABC news, Content Magazine, Gentry Magazine, The Mercury News and Pilates Style Magazine where she was a featured cover in 2014 and again in 2018 in the March issue as the body for Benjamin Degenhardt’s feature on touch cues in the mat work. In 2019, the Silicon Valley Business Journal named Mrs. Adams among the top 100 most influential women in the region. In 2020, Urban Body San Jose was named a top wellness destination by Silicon Valley Magazine, and named a top Pilates studio by Metro Newspaper. A certified teacher in the American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum in all levels, she also works with dancers throughout the Bay Area in Classical Pilates and The Gyrotonic Method for cross-training, conditioning and rehabilitation from dance-related injury. She is also a certified trainer in Progressing Ballet Technique®. 

Mrs. Adams holds a Bachelor of Arts from California State University Fresno and has an MFA in Creative Practice with a certificate in Somatics from Saint Mary’s College where her research and thesis focused on  Somatic movement therapy, nervous system regulation, and breathwork for healing emotional and physical trauma. Shannon is also a certified mindfulness and meditation coach and enjoys teaching her students and clients how to use breath and meditation for overall health and wellness in all that we do. With an additional passion for teaching in an academic setting, Shannon has taught at Ohlone College and as an adjunct professor for Santa Clara University. 

Shannon, alongside co-owner Maria Yu and colleague Svea McMath, launched Joe's Gym at Urban Body San Jose: an educational course for clients in two parts. Urban Body San Jose proudly offers this course, the first of its kind in the industry and focuses on client learning with on-demand and Independent  Workout components, in addition to the curriculum manual created for clients seeking a deeper understanding of the Pilates method. Most recently, Shannon was invited to attend Juliu Horvath’s Master Trainer meeting in Munsterthal, Germany where she and 30 other Master Trainers from around the globe had the opportunity to learn from Juliu in his most recent Gyrokinesis creations - a career highlight and core memory that she is honored and filled with gratitude to pass on to her San Jose community. 

In her free time, she enjoys gardening and tending to her many indoor plants both at the studio and home, time with her husband and family, and being a mother to her two small children.