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heart-centered reflexology nanaimo

Working with the Body, Mind and Soul

Fascial Integration

'The fluid within our bodies  recapitulates its own history  with the archaic wisdom of  cellular heritage.  When one can merge consciousness with  this fluid, a completely  different order of existence emerges.'   -Emily Conrad, Life on Land

This work involves listening and sensing deep into the body to identify areas of dysregulation, pain, or blockages and working with the tissue to 'bring it back home' through attuned touch. The nature of this work is both, therapeutic and very nourishing, while also increasing body awareness. You will feel more embodied and settled afterwards. 

During our session, we are engaging with your fascia. Because when we touch the body, we touch fascia - the white connective tissue holding us together. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

What is Fascia?

Fascia is the white connective tissue that envelopes our organs, muscles, cells, nerves, blood and lymph vessels and is our largest sensory organ. It gives our body structure and is the medium within which biological functions take place, for example, nerve transmission or nutrient delivery to the cells.​

Fascia can become stiff, dry and matted when we don’t move enough or experienced injury or trauma. Or thick and dense when it makes extra fibers to support our posture and as a consequence of chronic stress.

working with the fascia nanaimo

Functions of Fascia

Structural Support

Force Transmission

Shock Absorption

Movement and Flexibility

Blood Flow

Lymphatic Drainage

Metabolic Support

Proprioception, Interoception, Nociception

Endocrine Functions

Healing and Repair

Bridge Between Body and Consciousness

Communication

Integration and Coherence

This affects muscle function. Chronically tight muscles struggle to lengthen and get the blood and oxygen supply they need, if the fascia surrounding them is contracted and dehydrated. We feel tight and achy. Our range of movement is limited.​ Our biology may also be perpetuating a false positive feedback loop between our mind and body/fascia that locks in the signals that are being send up and down the chain. For example, if we feel chronically stressed or in a flash back, we are likely locked into our primitive brain and flooded with stress hormones.

The fascia responds by contracting and tightening to get ready to fight, flee or freeze. Now the body is sending signals of danger to our brain stem via the millions of nerve receptors imbedded in the fascia and receiving confirmation from the brain of the danger. ​By working with the fascia, we can find an entry way into beginning to diffuse this false negative feedback loop.​

Restoring Tissue Hydration and Freedom

When we take care of our fascia, our whole being benefits. Restrictions and adhesions that form when fascial fibers glue together can melt and release increasing not only flexibility but releasing energy that was stuck back into the rivers of life flowing through the body. In the newly created space, hydration can return into the area and now blood and lymph can flow unimpeded, nutrients can reach the cells and waste products have a pathway of elimination.​​​

Whole Body Integration

Fascia integrates everything into a functional unit. In a sense, it is the physical medium of becoming whole. When we work with fascia in a life-affirming way, we also engage with the entire nervous system. There is a close relationship between the two. That connection may become palpable during your session. You may feel your entire nervous system shift and drop into a state of calm and self-healing through the long sustained pressure, slow strokes and gentle traction.​ This settling is foundational and directly linked to our organism being able to move into whole being integration. We are at the intersection of the physical body, emotional, mental and energy body, at the bridge of body and consciousness.

 

Are there specific areas you would like to focus on? Through listening, a sense emerges around what an area of the body may need.​ Long holds, sustained pressure, gentle traction, slow strokes? Or does the tissue need me to do nothing, so that it can do everything? This could mean 'just being with' and allowing for what wants to happen. The tissue might begin to release stuck energy through unwinding. It could mean following the movement of the fascia as it may 'pull' my hands into an area of density and restriction. You may also have a sense of what part of your body needs touch and pressue and how.

Focussing on One Area

It can be very valuable to focus on just one part of the body during a session, especially a part that has had trauma or tissue alterations due to surgery and injury. This means connecting e.g. with a knee, ankle, shoulder, scar, etc. in a deep way to thouroughly address restrictions and adhesions working through the tissue 'seams' of time in 'tissue time' to restore function and freedom of movement.

Working with Scars

This work can also address scars, gently and effectively, by helping remodel the scar tissue and re-integrate with the surrounding skin and deeper invisible tissue. The effects of scars, whether from surgeries, accidents or other trauma are often invisible. The scar can feel like a disconnected part of us. Looking at and touching it can bring up emotions. Physically, scar tissue can impact the body as a whole - block the flow of blood, lymph and energy, cause adhesions in the tissue that can cause restriction and pain in other parts of the body and block the flow of chi through meridians. The wonderful news is that collagen fibers that form the scar tissue are maliable and can be re-aligned with the healthy surrounding tissue.

Working with Fascia leads to Incremental Change

𖦹 restore space for energy to flow

𖦹 melt adhesions and restrictions

𖦹 relax tight muscles

𖦹 help desensitize nerve endings

𖦹 restore lymph and blood to flow

𖦹 boost cell energy production

𖦹 aid hydration + tissue lubrication

𖦹 improve organ function

𖦹 increase range of motion

𖦹 increase immune function

𖦹 calm + ground the nervous system

𖦹 help the body self-correct

𖦹 a safe container for the system to settle

𖦹 change your relationship with pain

𖦹 foster Mind Body Holism

𖦹 deepen body awareness

𖦹 allow emotions to be processed

𖦹 strengthen interoception + proprioception

𖦹 lay down new neuropathways from mind to the body

I would love to hear from you.

somandsoul@protonmail.com

fascia soul healing fascial integration nanaimo

A Living Being

Some say that fascia is the seat of our soul in the physical body. When we restore health in our fascia, not only do aches and pains decrease or disappear, we nourish our whole being and become more resilient and embodied. Fascia is a living organism. It moves in waves and spirals. And it responds when contacted in a way that doesn’t impose force on the tissue but that moves with it, offering just enough pressure and waiting at a barrier of resistance until the tissue yields. This can also release unprocessed emotions that were held in the fascia, and coupled with injury or trauma we experienced in an area of the body.​​

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