THE FASCIAL PROTECTOR: THE EMOTIONAL DIVIDE
Fascia keeps us together in recognizable form. It is a tough, stiff, elastic connective tissue that is the protector – the foundation of our energy force, all our other systems in the human body. This fascial net serves as a barrier from the outside world against pathogens and transmits immediate feedback to your brain about your surroundings.
In Yoga we practice mindful meditation and asanas to bring peace and harmony to our state of physical and mental being. As a teacher, coach, and student of Yoga sometimes I find my own practice just isn’t enough to heal my body from the constant compression and mileage I place on my structure day after day. Sometimes, it needs a little more TLC.
As an advocate for an integrated approach and what practitioners are now calling, “structural integration,” it’s no wonder the fascia has gained traction within the medical and holistic communities.
Have you ever thought of the connection of our emotions and thoughts connected to our fasica system?
As we know we have well over 16,000 thousand thoughts per day and that can (and does) affect our bodies. Emotion can be stored as a memory within the body cells and when emotions become trapped within the tissue energy can become blocked, when left can result in physical symptoms, like pain and discomfort, anxiety and interrupted ease, throwing our fascial connections and relationships to our bones, joints, muscles and organs off balance.
In these instances your body is in a self perpetuating cycle. i.e. your mind starts to affect your body and vice versa and thus to break the cycle, we need to change our thought pattern, we need an intervention.
This past week, I spent a few hours with an amazing holistic practitioner, located in Vancouver. Robin Turner is a registered Kinesiologist, who specializes in Fascial Stretch Therapy (FST). Over the course of both our conversation and my own FST treatment we discussed the importance of whole body breathing, emotional restrictions in our tissue,
all of which is connected to the fascia system and reflex receptors.
With any deep bodywork there is a potential to release some emotions or memories stored in the tissue. This is a great opportunity to probe your mind and reconcile with any pent up unresolved thoughts that affect your optimal well being. The slow FST dance your coach takes you through stretches, not only fascia, but also alters the collagen and softens the viscosity, causing greater ease in movement and less pain in your daily existence.
The principles and ideology behind Fascia Stretch Therapy and Yoga are very familiar and they share many commonalities. As part of our own path and duality of life we must understand that the stress we place on our minds and bodies require a balance of this duality (ying and yang), and it is in these lessons where we learn to navigate our path to better, more mobile health and wellness.
Much like after Yoga, after a session of myofascial work it is important to honor the emotions you are experiencing, embrace them and learn from them. When we do this, we open the door to not only better movement and symmetry, but a better relationship with ourselves and our surroundings.
For more information on Robin Turner, BHK, RK, CFT-1 and FST, please visit : Body Engineering Personal Fitness Inc. at www.bepersonalfitness.com
