Fascia is a thin casing of connective tissue primarily collagen that surrounds and holds every organ, blood vessel, bone, nerve fiber and muscle in place. It is a continuous webbing of structure that exists from head to toe without interruption. Connective tissue structures work in sync, creating a fluid and balanced conversation between all body parts. Over the years therapists have discovered that fascia does so much more than just provide internal structure. This webbing creates stability, resistance, power, flexibility, elasticity, and above all- compensatory posture.
Fascia connects us from high to low, front to back, and right to left. It enables all of our movement by allowing muscles and organs to glide smoothly past one another.
When fascia loses pliability it sticks to underlying muscles inhibiting blood flow, limiting range of motion and causing painful knots in the muscle fibers. Over time unhealthy fascia develops adhesions, which greatly impairs flexibility in the muscle and stability in the joints.
Since fascia is highly innervated and extremely sensitive to touch, it responds quickly to the slow gentle contact of myofascial massage therapy or a mindful stretching practice. Over time as the fascia unwinds deep postural muscle tension is relaxed, holding patterns are released, range of motion is recovered, and function is restored.