What is Fascia?
Myofascial Release Therapy
Think of the transparent tissue you see when you remove the skin of a chicken. That transparent film is fascia; our bodies are made of different types of fascia some is very fine, some fascia is very dense making up our muscular system, skin, ligaments, tendons to organs including the brain and heart. Fascia is designed to move our bodies and allow healthy function of our systems it is filled with the nervous system.
Fascia is highly sensitive as it is full of nerve cells, sensitive to every hormone in your system. With every repetitive functional movement, the fascia reacts to every bump, bruise, physical and emotional trauma.
Scar tissue is damaged fascia and in many cases unavoidable if you have had an operation. Scar tissue causes a change in the fascia and in many cases chronic pain or inflammation in the body. Fascia is damaged by injury or trauma outward and inward to the body. For example, a fall, a collision, post-surgery, repetitive physical stress and auto-immune conditions such as arthritis to emotional stress all affect the fascia system.
Fascia trauma causes fascia adhesion which leads to chronic pain, a change in joint motion (scar tissue) to change in bodily functions from digestion to elimination, headaches, arthritis including osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia.
Daily movement is vital for fascia health! Even if you are injured, postoperative or live with a chronic painful condition it is vital to move and exercise when possible for fascia health. There is a massive science on using Myofascial release for chronic painful conditions and scar tissue through hands-on Myofascial therapy work.
In a Trigger Point Pilates class it is not about choreography or balancing into poses that your body may be too tight to do. The class is designed to help prepare you for action on a deep bodywork level. Teaching you exercises that ease your body by focusing on the fascia lengthening and chronic painful areas to allow the body to function again.