Have you ever heard of fascia?
Most people haven’t, and those who have believe it’s just connective tissue that holds everything together. But fascia is a connective tissue that does much more than hold your body together.
It’s also integral to our entire structural alignment—it wraps and connects our muscles, bones, blood vessels, and organs. But it also does something else remarkable and helps us store emotions in the body. It’s the center of the mind-body connection.
If you’re new to this concept, it probably sounds too wild to believe, right?
Don’t worry. In this blog, we explain the link between your fascia and your emotional well-being and how fascia’s role in the body extends way beyond posture and movement.
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What Is Fascia, And How Does It Work In The Body
Fascia is an important part of our bodies, but most people do not know what it is. We like to describe it as a web that holds everything together. But fascia provides more than just structural support – it’s also involved in movement and flexibility.
When our muscles contract and relax, the fascia allows them to move smoothly without getting tangled or stuck. But fascia can sometimes do the opposite and become tight or restricted, which can cause pain or limit your range of motion. So, to prevent nagging aches and stiffness, you need to keep your fascia healthy and happy.
But what does fascia have to do with emotion and stress?
It might seem a little far out to imagine that physical “connective tissue” could be a reflection of emotions and stress levels, responding to emotions and stress levels with tightening and hardening. But your fascia actually plays quite a significant role in this aspect of our lives.
Scientific evidence shows that fascia is not only responsible for helping our muscles move and many other physical functions, but also responds to emotions and environment.
So, the next time you’re feeling stressed or emotional, remember that it’s not all in your head – it could be in your fascia too. How? Well, your myofascial tissue can become tight and restricted due to chronic emotional stress, which leads to physical symptoms like pain and discomfort, and over time this process works in a continual feedback loop.
How To Recognize Emotional Blockages In The Body
Do you ever feel like something is off inside your body, but you can’t quite put your finger on it?
Perhaps you’ve been experiencing physical symptoms like headaches, stomachaches, or muscle tension without a clear explanation. Well, it might be helpful for you to learn that these symptoms could be a manifestation of emotional blockages and past traumas in your body.
These blockages occur when we suppress or ignore our emotions, causing them to get stuck in our bodies and disrupt our natural energy flow.
It’s no secret that the emotions we harbor have a profound effect on our physical health. However, until very recently, the exact mechanism for this was still being determined. But it’s now clear that our fascia is crucial in this relationship between our mind and body.
When we don’t properly care for ourselves or experience trauma or periods of chronic stress, fascia can become tense and stiff, further exacerbating how we respond to and approach life.
That’s why self-care is so important. By taking the time to prioritize activities like yoga, meditation, myofascial release therapy sessions, or simply taking a few deep breaths, tensions in the body can be addressed before they become bigger problems.
Working with a trained myofascial release therapist can be particularly helpful in processing and releasing the “issues” trapped in your (myofascial) tissues.
How Myofascial Release Therapy Can Help Support Your Emotional Wellbeing
We often focus solely on our physical health when we take of ourselves. But what about your emotional health?
Do you feel overwhelmed by the daily challenges life throws at you?
Are difficult emotions like fear, anger, and sadness causing a feeling of stress that seems insurmountable?
If so, myofascial release therapy is an incredible tool to help reduce this chronic stress.
Stress is a natural response to challenging events and situations in life. Still, it can harm our mental and physical health when it becomes chronic. Stress can manifest in various physical symptoms, such as headaches, fatigue, muscle tension, and high blood pressure.
These symptoms occur when stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline are released into the body in response to sustained stress. Over time, chronic stress leads to more serious health problems, such as heart disease and impaired immune function.
While we commonly use myofascial release to relieve physical pain and discomfort, myofascial release also helps to “unstick” emotional energy and promote a sense of deep relaxation by targeting areas of tension in your body that correspond to difficult emotions. The therapy is especially helpful when you’re dealing with chronic stress or trauma, as it allows for the finding and resolution of pent-up emotions in a safe and controlled way.
When we release the tension in their fascia, our patients have a variety of responses, often starting with feeling stirred up and aware of sensations in their body they weren’t previously aware of. This ultimately leads to resolution of “stuckness” in the body and a sense of overall calmness and well-being. This is much different from other methods of coping with and perhaps glossing over emotions and feelings.
Clients also report feeling more emotionally balanced and centered. As you let go of physical tension, you release emotional tension as well, which profoundly impacts your sense of well-being.
But even if you don’t feel like you have any unprocessed emotions (which is rare), myofascial release therapy is a great way to counteract the effects of daily stress and overwhelm, which are difficult for anyone to avoid completely these days. Stress can accumulate quickly and impact your body in ways you might not even be consciously aware of.
We firmly believe that caring for your invisible but ever-present “emotional body” is essential for developing a healthy, dynamic mind and body.
The stretching techniques and gentle pressure we apply to the fascia during the sessions help loosen the physical restrictions that lead to and can exacerbate stress and anxiety. Our clinic is also a sanctuary, where we have a deep understanding of the nature of unresolved emotions.
The guiding goal of myofascial release therapy is to find and fix the root cause of tension and release it, resulting in total-body relaxation. Additionally, the nature of the approach we us also supports a restoration of emotional flow, resolution, and wellness.
It is a comprehensive but, most importantly, holistic and natural approach to healing and well-being that targets stress’s physical and emotional aspects. There is no other treatment quite like it.
Outside of sessions, there are some things you can do at home to reduce chronic stress and help keep your fascia healthy and happy. They include working gently with foam rollers, massage balls, and even tennis balls.
They can all help to release tension in your fascia and provide a sense of relaxation when used with specific pressures in specific ways. Too much and the body will tense and brace, too little and there will be no effect. Your therapist can help you learn how to effectively work with myofascial self treatment at home.
If you do a little bit every day, you can really positively impact your health and wellbeing. Done correctly, you can also increase your mobility, reduce pain, and improve your mood. It’s best to get a trained myofascial release expert to teach you how to do these exercises before you try and do them yourself at home.
We appreciate that life can be so busy sometimes that focusing on self-care seems impossible. But self-care doesn’t need to be time-consuming or complicated. There are plenty of simple and straightforward ways to integrate movement and myofascial release into your daily routine.
For instance, start with something simple like taking a 10-minute walk on your lunch break or spending a few minutes in the morning doing deep breathing exercises and a little softening over a foam roller.
By intentionally incorporating these small habits throughout your day, you can reap the benefits of a happier, healthier, and more balanced body and mind.
Are You Ready To Let Go?
From understanding the physical impact of emotional stress on your body and mind to exploring the potential that self-myofascial release has for ongoing relief, we hope this post has highlighted how myofascial release can be a valuable tool in releasing difficult emotions and identifying tangible ways to support your mental health.
The treatment can benefit both chronic and shorter-term stressors and help restore balance and harmony within your body’s physiological system.
Overall, you’ll be amazed at how much more energetic and vibrant you feel when your fascia moves freely and there aren’t any physical or emotional restrictions.
Who would you be without all the stress and tension in your mind and body?
Are you ready to find out? Book now.
Still not sure?
The great news is that we offer all new patients the option to come and visit us for a free “Discovery Session” at our Salt Lake City clinic to learn more about who we are and what we do before you commit to treatment. You can schedule yours here.
Michael Sudbury LMT
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