A Life of Movement
by Tanya Mucci, LMT
Tanya Mucci, LMT
Strength, flexibility, body awareness, and muscle memory has been a huge portion of the majority of my life. Aside from being a Licensed Massage Therapist and Certifies Pilates instructor, I am a dance instructor and choreographer. I have been involved in ballet, modern, and jazz professionally for 16 years. I am happy to say (but it hurts a little) I started my dance training 28 years ago. Lets be real, I’m not going to be a dancer for the rest of my life, although it will always be a part of my life. Movement is an addiction for me. I love the challenge with every class, performance, and creation. This is why I chose Pilates to be a part of my life years ago. First, it extended my career as a dancer and has now become part of my career. This wasn’t just a job choice but a necessity to build my career around body health and physicality. I love performing, teaching and choreographing and enjoy the success of inspiring someone somehow. I want every person I work with to gain more than just an experience. I believe that is why being an LMT and teaching Pilates has also become addicting. I love knowing I have made a positive difference in their life. Now that you know where I am coming from, I would like to educate you in my experience with Pilates.
Fundamental Movement Pilates℠ is an approach to gain postural strength, body awareness, and muscle memory. Muscle Release Therapy, MRTh® is an incredible Massage Therapy Technique tt that addresses pain, postural balance and compensation patterns. As effective as MRTh® is, in some cases the benefits seem to “not hold.” The combination of the Fundamental Movement Pilates℠ and MRTh® continues to prove an invaluable approach to rehabilitation and maintenance. I am proud to say I have seen an amazing amount of progress teaching Pilates. There is an “ah ha” moment in the Pilates studio when the person recognizes their incorrect movement patterns and how to implement change in their daily lives. My job doesn’t feel complete until there is recognizable progress. Personally I have been a Pilates student for 20 years, although Pilates as a method of pain relief and movement re-education was new for me when I started with CVWC.
Have you ever watched a child run and play? They make movement look effortless. As a youth, we take for granted the enjoyment of proper alignment and correct use of muscles. As we age, we develop bad habits and consequently some muscles become weak while others over develop. We experience a battle between strength, tension, and fatigue. This is why it becomes tiring to sit at the computer. The upper back is fighting to keep the shoulders open and the neck tenses up and the lower back starts to hurt and yadda yadda. Oh the endless battle. It is important to regain postural strength to help prevent the battle from happening. Nothing is better than when a person is finished with the Pilates class and says” Wow! I feel like I just had MRTh®!” This proves it is working. I have helped many people to regain their postural strength and release the overused muscles. There is a man who has been taking Pilates for a few months. He was a little unsure of the process. One weekend while he was out of town, the elevator was out of service and he had no choice but to use the stairs. Four flights were probably too many stairs for his multiple knee surgeries to handle. He couldn’t believe it! He was capable of walking up and down the stairs without any strain or pain in his knees. He later admitted he could have never done this without pain before strengthening in the Pilates studio. He was finally released from the over developed muscles and able to regain his strength and balance where he needed it most.
Body awareness is one of the most important aspects learned in our Pilates. What is your shoulder doing when you reach up into the cabinet? How are you sitting when you are working at your computer? This is when the “ah ha” can happen. “Oh my gosh! I didn’t know I did that with my shoulders! I probably should work on that.” I hear this quite often. Pilates can help you recognize the bad habits and the awareness to improve them. This is a life changing step. Many people tell me stories which involve the new found awareness. I have a young lady who takes Pilates classes to help keep her neck pain under control. She would improperly engage her shoulders and neck muscles during exercises. Her neck would feel better after class yet it would start to hurt again a few days later. I suggested she pay attention to her habits involving her shoulders while at home. The start of the next Pilates class she said, “I can’t believe it! I hold tension in my shoulders to do everything. I was washing the dishes and thought of what you said and released my shoulders. They must have dropped two inches! I have been making a conscious effort to release them throughout the day and my neck feels much better.” I love when I hear this. What a break through for her!
Once the brain recognizes the body does not need to use the shoulders to do everything the old muscle patterns will change. The goal is to re-educate the neurological connection from the brain to the muscles. This will enable you to efficiently recruit the whole body for movement instead of powering with a couple muscles. Remember, pain is the effect of cause(s) somewhere in the body. Pilates will balance the body’s strength and flexibility for a pain free functional self. This is just one of the many examples of studio success. If this is new to you, I invite you to visit our studio and meet with a certified instructor who can assess your potential or need for Fundamental Movement Pilates℠.
"A dancer performs with passion, not technique" -Darwin Prioleau
Fundamental Movement Pilates℠ is an approach to gain postural strength, body awareness, and muscle memory. Muscle Release Therapy, MRTh® is an incredible Massage Therapy Technique tt that addresses pain, postural balance and compensation patterns. As effective as MRTh® is, in some cases the benefits seem to “not hold.” The combination of the Fundamental Movement Pilates℠ and MRTh® continues to prove an invaluable approach to rehabilitation and maintenance. I am proud to say I have seen an amazing amount of progress teaching Pilates. There is an “ah ha” moment in the Pilates studio when the person recognizes their incorrect movement patterns and how to implement change in their daily lives. My job doesn’t feel complete until there is recognizable progress. Personally I have been a Pilates student for 20 years, although Pilates as a method of pain relief and movement re-education was new for me when I started with CVWC.
Have you ever watched a child run and play? They make movement look effortless. As a youth, we take for granted the enjoyment of proper alignment and correct use of muscles. As we age, we develop bad habits and consequently some muscles become weak while others over develop. We experience a battle between strength, tension, and fatigue. This is why it becomes tiring to sit at the computer. The upper back is fighting to keep the shoulders open and the neck tenses up and the lower back starts to hurt and yadda yadda. Oh the endless battle. It is important to regain postural strength to help prevent the battle from happening. Nothing is better than when a person is finished with the Pilates class and says” Wow! I feel like I just had MRTh®!” This proves it is working. I have helped many people to regain their postural strength and release the overused muscles. There is a man who has been taking Pilates for a few months. He was a little unsure of the process. One weekend while he was out of town, the elevator was out of service and he had no choice but to use the stairs. Four flights were probably too many stairs for his multiple knee surgeries to handle. He couldn’t believe it! He was capable of walking up and down the stairs without any strain or pain in his knees. He later admitted he could have never done this without pain before strengthening in the Pilates studio. He was finally released from the over developed muscles and able to regain his strength and balance where he needed it most.
Body awareness is one of the most important aspects learned in our Pilates. What is your shoulder doing when you reach up into the cabinet? How are you sitting when you are working at your computer? This is when the “ah ha” can happen. “Oh my gosh! I didn’t know I did that with my shoulders! I probably should work on that.” I hear this quite often. Pilates can help you recognize the bad habits and the awareness to improve them. This is a life changing step. Many people tell me stories which involve the new found awareness. I have a young lady who takes Pilates classes to help keep her neck pain under control. She would improperly engage her shoulders and neck muscles during exercises. Her neck would feel better after class yet it would start to hurt again a few days later. I suggested she pay attention to her habits involving her shoulders while at home. The start of the next Pilates class she said, “I can’t believe it! I hold tension in my shoulders to do everything. I was washing the dishes and thought of what you said and released my shoulders. They must have dropped two inches! I have been making a conscious effort to release them throughout the day and my neck feels much better.” I love when I hear this. What a break through for her!
Once the brain recognizes the body does not need to use the shoulders to do everything the old muscle patterns will change. The goal is to re-educate the neurological connection from the brain to the muscles. This will enable you to efficiently recruit the whole body for movement instead of powering with a couple muscles. Remember, pain is the effect of cause(s) somewhere in the body. Pilates will balance the body’s strength and flexibility for a pain free functional self. This is just one of the many examples of studio success. If this is new to you, I invite you to visit our studio and meet with a certified instructor who can assess your potential or need for Fundamental Movement Pilates℠.
"A dancer performs with passion, not technique" -Darwin Prioleau
