Fascia is a connective tissue that is located all throughout your body. Think of it like webbing as shown in image above. It surrounds your muscle fibers, myofibrils, joints, nerves, and more. It was once thought to be of little importance in the body until scientists starting digging further into its role and importance.
This tissue carries information all throughout the body. It contributes to movement awareness by sending sensory nerve signals. It can protect the body from feeling pain during an injury. Fascia also aids in reducing force applied to the body. Like muscle tissue, it can become tight and cause tension in the body. You may think that you have a tight muscle, when in fact it might be tight fascia laying atop the muscle.
Because everything is connected in our body’s, where are you experiencing pain is not always the root of the pain. If one area of your body feels tight, the discomfort is probably deriving from elsewhere. You can see in the image below how the body adapts and compensates to try to keep the body functioning and upright as possible.
Some techniques you can use to relieve fascial tension are meditative (intuitive) movement to promote feelings of becoming connected to your body and help relax. You may also try a self-care method using a soft massage ball to break up areas of tight fascia and get it to release. Finally, if you have a partner or therapist, they can do assisted fascia release through applying sustained pressure to a tense area to bring more awareness to it and allow the student to learn to let go and relax their body.
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