Chances are you’ve heard about fascia and its importance in the human body – But how do we take this information and apply it to our training sessions with clients? – Kate Strozak
Fascia is a connective tissue that runs continuously throughout the entire body. According to the International Congress of Fascial Research, the fascial system:
“…consists of the three-dimensional continuum of soft, collagen containing, loose and dense fibrous connective tissues that permeate the body. It incorporates elements such as adipose tissue, adventitiae and neurovascular sheaths, aponeuroses, deep and superficial fasciae, epineurium, joint capsules, ligaments, membranes, meninges, myofascial expansions, periostea, retinacula, septa, tendons, visceral fasciae, and all the intramuscular and intermuscular connective tissues including endo-/peri-/epimysium.
The fascial system surrounds, interweaves between, and interpenetrates all organs, muscles, bones and nerve fibers, endowing the body with a functional structure, and providing an environment that enables all body systems to operate in an integrated manner.”
Some in the field also propose that bone is calcified or mineralized fascia. Fascia is an important communication network in the body that communicates via photons. Its depth and function is remarkable!
Being aware of what fascia is and where it is located is a great start to incorporating our understanding of it in movement education and science.
Have you also ever wondered why continuously stretching what you think to be muscle tissue doesn’t consistently yield results in you or your clients?
Perhaps it’s not the muscles that need impacting but a fascial restriction that is producing sensations of tightness, restriction, or rigidity. How do you address this? I propose a whole body movement integration session with manual therapy, movement, or a combination of the two.
Some schools of fascial-based modalities advise long, sustained holds to facilitate fascial releases. Other modalities might advise movement-based techniques to promote tissue gliding and release. I’d recommend trying both and seeing how your client responds. Every body is different, so some people might respond better to one technique over another.
An example of a sustained hold would be a supine stretch over the ladder barrel where you can facilitate release of tissues in the front of the body by sustaining the position and breathing for 5 minutes.
The ladder barrel could be too extreme a range of motion for a client, in which case lying over a bolster, foam roller, or even on the ground might be more ideal. Make sure that your client is comfortable and isn’t feeling an extreme pull or tension anywhere. An example of a movement based fascial release could be book openings where you’re rotating into the position and rotating from the position in order to facilitate a release of tissues on the front of your body.
Fascia runs continuously throughout the depths of the human body, so how can we impact those deepest fascial tissues? As Joseph Pilates intuitively knew, breath!
Practicing 3 dimensional, natural breathing that embraces the movement of our rib cage and diaphragm is perhaps the most accessible way to influence the fascial system. Applying your breath to sustained holds or to movements will help reap more benefits from your intervention.
As one final thought on fascia and its role in movement, our tissues respond to the loads and demands we place upon it.
When we palpate and feel “tight tissue,” it might be there for a very good reason and not meant to be broken down or released. For example, our IT-bands. Our IT-bands have the tensional strength to lift a 2-ton car. In the human body, IT-bands support stability in the lower limbs and pelvis, help with knee tracking, and more. More so than releasing IT-bands, we could help people by addressing their methods of stability and their strategies for movement.
If you’re looking for more information on fascia there are great resources out there. The International Fascia Research Congress offers yearly conferences, many massage therapy modalities focus on fascial tissue, and you can find all of the latest research on fascia utilizing research databases such as pubmed.
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Workshop Objectives:
The process of planning this mat class involved adopting a filter of empathy and sensitivity towards domestic trauma abuse victims. As one of my clients who is an MD said, “We all have suffered our own trauma at some point in our lives.” Although this is true, I have never personally experienced the level of trauma as that of a CORA client. I reached out to a few friends and colleagues who have, as well as to Pilates teachers on “The Contemporary Pilates Haven” Facebook group who have had experience working with victims of domestic abuse. Excellent advice came from all of these sources.
One member of this Facebook group recommended the book, The Body Keeps The Score, by Bessel Van der Kolk M.D. This excellent read was particularly helpful in understanding the current neuroscience research involving trauma and pointed towards the successful use of Yoga and Pilates as tools whereby the individual can experience the self as finally being seen and heard, a state of being that often disappears from the psyche of the abused.
In other words, just to be, as opposed to not be, (think Shakespeare), is an essential step for the individual to experience as she/he negotiates a path towards freedom.
I had to design a Pilates Mat class that delayed supine, prone and quadruped positions on the mat as these positions would likely be triggers that could land the participant in a real moment of re-lived trauma crisis. These positions would need to be introduced in a manner where the participant felt an organic sequencing that got them there with a sense of self efficacy and power.
As opposed to a list of exercises to teach, here is where the six Polestar Pilates Principles of Movement helped me to design an appropriate class. Breath, Axial Elongation and Core Control, Spine Articulation and Mobility, Head Neck and Shoulder Organization, Alignment and Weight Bearing of the Extremities, and Movement Integration.
The class started sitting on stools where we mobilized the feet using blue mini balls, and breath and spine movement exploration using Therabands. We progressed to standing for mobility and balance exercises in the spine and extremities using the wall and the floor for support, followed by supine, prone and quadruped exercises with feet against the wall. We returned to standing in a circle with some group movement, folk dance style. In one of the groups we also did an improvisation using the mirror exercise where, working in partners with palms held up and facing each other but without touching palms, the duo moves together as if looking in a mirror. Many of us movement teachers may have done this sometime in our past, but none of the CORA staff members had ever done this exercise before. They loved it!
Aside from the stools, blue mini balls and Therabands, the only other small props I used were partially inflated squishy balls for proprioceptive feedback through the hands, and upper and lower back while doing exercises standing at the wall and in supine. The use of balls for the wall exercises was important because it brought an element of play to the experience and would hopefully avoid a trigger experience of abuse.
We addressed all of the Polestar Principles during this class, and as is so often the case, each exercise hit on many Principles simultaneously.
During the discussion afterwards, I asked the staff members for feedback as to how, or even if, they thought what they had just experienced might be beneficial for their clients. They all commented on the awareness of breath as a huge benefit for bringing the self into the present. I had introduced the statement, “breath is a tool, not a rule” to the group as we explored mobility through all the movement planes, changing where to inhale and exhale. They found this particularly on point as it facilitated each of them to feel positive change in their movement where there had initially been some discomfort. They commented that this might be a first concrete step for many of their clients to feel less invisible. After all, the successful change was generated by the self and not an outside force. Not surprisingly, they also saw the value for their clients in the group and partner generated movement at the end of class as it provided community support.
As of this writing, the CORA Safe House Curriculum Director has indicated that she would like to find a way to incorporate Pilates into the early evening programming. Some of the therapists are considering ways to bring Pilates into their group sessions. These are a group of dedicated, underpaid non-profit organization employees working to improve the lives of their clients. Although no ongoing relationship between myself and CORA has been established, and it may take awhile to solidify some plans, I believe that we will find a way to make something work. Stay tuned!
