About Mary Ann
Mary Ann has developed a unique method called neuromuscular patterning. This approach combines active movement exercises with hands-on guidance, engaging clients’ curiosity to achieve better results. Her method is informed by a variety of somatic movement training disciplines, including Laban movement analysis, Rolfing® movement integration, Body-Mind Centering®, craniosacral therapy, Hakomi, and her graduate studies in somatic psychology.
Mary Ann is passionate about both practicing and teaching core stabilization exercises, which she integrates into her structural integration bodywork. Her lessons are easy to understand, making her approach popular among clients and students alike. They often express how rejuvenated, aligned, and balanced they feel after private sessions and movement classes. Engaged clients appreciate the immediate and long-lasting results of her core activation and kinesiology-based methods, which help enhance performance in their daily activities.
The block lady
EMS Press Art and Illustrations
She has created many graphic and illustrations to provide students with clear visuals of her concepts and anatomically accurate images. As a graduate of the Rolf Institute in 1986, Mary Ann offers her unique perspective on structural integration through the "Core Stabilization in Pain-Free Posture" program. The "block lady" image is Mary Ann's interpretation of the Rolfing block logo, illustrating a joint neutral alignment through the vertical stacking of the major body masses and bony segments.
The Muscle Models
Driven by a strong passion for life-sized and flexible models of human anatomy, Mary Ann developed the Muscle Models to enhance an understanding of musculoskeletal anatomy in her courses.
The Muscle Models improve comprehension for both students and clients. These models attach to skeletons like life-sized puzzle pieces, greatly enriching the educational experience.
From 2012 to the pandemic, Mary Ann taught a dance kinesiology course in the Professional Training Program for the Frequent Flyers Productions, an aerial dance company and school in Boulder, Colorado. This course provides aerial students with a basic understanding of joint and muscle function with the goals of enhancing movement efficiency and performance skills with improved muscular control and precision.
Each dance kinesiology course began with private movement assessments for each student in which Mary Ann identified personal strengths and chronic movement issues or injuries for each student. The movement assessments help students prevent injuries by addressing their individual physical challenges and developing their unique abilities.
As a writer, Mary Ann is a recognized expert in her field and has contributed numerous articles to Massage and Bodywork Magazine, including "Somatic Anatomy" and "The Science of Movement." She also co-authored the textbook Teaching Massage (2008) and is the self-publisher of Somatic Patterning (EMS Press, 2014, 414 pps). Her award-winning Therapeutic Kinesiology (Pearson, 2012, 768 pps.) is a comprehensive resource that combines kinesiology, palpation, and body mechanics specifically for massage therapists
Pearson Publishing discontinued its massage therapy product line in 2019. Consequently, this text and many other massage textbooks published by it are no longer available, although used copies can still be found on the internet.