Myofascial Release
Our bodies are ever-changing, highly integrated organisms that are orchestrating our external environment and our internal needs. This ability to accommodate our changing requirements is one of the healing tenets of the intelligence that is inside our body. Myofascial Release works with this intelligence to correct restriction, dysfunction, and discomfort in the body.
The connective tissue or our fascial system is a dynamic part of this orchestration because, plainly stated, fascia covers and surrounds every single cell in the body. It is a continuously growing sheath of tissue made of elastin, collagen, and “ground substance”, which works to lubricate the other two components. There are several classifications and types of fascia and recently, the definition has further changed as our understanding of this system continues to expand. It’s like a glue substance, binding things and creating pathways of information that support our necessary form and function. Imagine it looks like the clear, gelatinous tissue that resembles a spider's web and it’s doing much of the same, creating structure.
Our posture is greatly influenced by the fascial system because not only does it create more connective tissue to support excessive expenditure of energy in the body( and often pain), like reaching forward all day long, but it also repairs damage by creating scar tissue to support healing. Scar tissue is not fluid like connective tissue which supports movement, instead, it forms to inhibit movement and offer stabilization. Its restrictive nature assists the body in minimizing the opportunity for more damage but it also impacts adjacent tissues and structures, often leading to compensatory patterns. These patterns assist in healing short term but when long-held will modify patterns of movement ultimately, creating inefficiency and dysfunction.
Many people these days experience “discomforts” that don’t dissipate but instead become more exaggerated. Tension will arise because the connective tissue must support your arms reaching forward all day and does not support your arms hanging down along the side of your body. So the connective tissue now inhibits the resting position of the arms and shoulders, which means discomfort becomes part of the resting position as well as the working position. Relief becomes elusive unless we target the fascial system. The more support or repair we have needed, the more likely we are to have layers of connective tissue and/or scar tissue that are not working for us but against us.
By bringing soft, sustained touch to the connective tissue, we can correct dysfunction and discomfort that can be keeping us stuck. By adjusting the fascial system, we are correcting the pulleys and levers of our bodies and how they are supporting our needs.
