How Fascia is Affected Through Bodywork

Fascia is a three dimensional web of connective tissue that literally supports and connects everything in the body. Trauma of any kind can result in patterns of tension within the fascia that put pressure on the muscles, organs, bones, blood vessels, lymph vessels and nerves. For example, even a simple fall that occurred years prior can create adhesions around the liver that pull on the right shoulder, or inflammtion around the small intestine that now creates hip pain etc. Fascia responds to touch differently than muscle, it is largely made up of water and our work with it can be likened to pulling a rope tied to a boat through water; if you pull hard, it won't move, but if you gently work with it and allow it to move, it will. We gently follow the movement of the fascia and facilitate release. As the tissue lets go in one area there is a ripple effect, for example release in the left side of the chest may affect the right side of the neck. Some cases of pain in the leg resulting from issues in the low back can be resolved through fascial work around the sacrum and hips, as nerve fibres can become entrapped in the fascia. This type of bodywork can release a great deal of tension, allow freedom of movement, decrease pain and increase circulation. You can further the work by taking time to breathe deeply and consciously relax your body throughout each day. A restorative yoga practise can be very helpful to support fascial release as well.

Interestingly, this system also lends itself to emotional exploration. It is common for unresolved issues or feelings to present while receiving fascial work. What we think and how we feel impacts our body and health; mind and body are not separate entities. The body has a propensity to accumulate tension in areas when a particularly charged emotional reaction has occurred during a traumatic event, this could be something as seemingly minor as a fall, or a surgery, or as serious as a violent attack; any kind of trauma, no matter how meaningless it may seem, has the potential to stick around and cause dysfunction in the body. Most often the body and mind just needs a helping hand to be released. Emotional release can be very subtle, the issue doesn’t always come to the conscious mind, it simply presents in a nice deep breath and a feeling of relief as the tissue relaxes. So many physical issues can be resolved when we allow ourselves the freedom to truly undo and relax.