After briefly discussing your history and goals for our work together, I will step out and let you undress to your level of comfort (bra and underwear or tank top and shorts) and you will give me a knock on the door when you’re ready.
From there I will assess your posture in standing. With a trained eye, fascial restrictions are often very visible. With the knowledge that everything in our body is made of fascia, including bones, teeth, blood vessels and nerves, think of your body like a knitted sweater. When it’s healthy, you are flexible and able to move without pain. When it becomes injured through physical or emotional trauma or repetitive strain, over time it becomes tight and dehydrated and pulls on your structure like multiple snags in your sweater. These restrictions result in asymmetrical wear and tear on various regions of your body which impacts your flexibility, causing your body to move with multiple malalignments.
Once your fascial restrictions are observed in standing, we will observe what happens when you lay on your back and take gravity out of the system. There are times when how you appear in standing is the same as how you appear when you’re laying down. Other times, this might be different. With gravity out of the equation and compensatory strategies eliminated, your true fascial restrictions will be revealed.
Similar to when your car is out of alignment and your brakes and tires start to wear improperly, so too will your body. It is for this reason, regardless of where you’re experiencing your discomfort, we will assess your pelvic alignment and observe how that may be impacting the rest of your body. The idea here is that you “find the symptoms but look elsewhere for the cause” – John F. Barnes.
After your initial assessment, we will be begin our work together. All myofascial release techniques will be sustained for a minimum of 3 to 5 mins in order to achieve lasting tissue lengthening. As with all stretching, you may experience a slight discomfort, but this should not be painful. I will trust you to give me feedback if the technique needs adjusting in order to maintain your tolerance to each technique.
Because our fascial network is like the fiber optics of the internet, pressure in one area may result in different sensations in other areas of your body. What you experience during each session is truly unique for everyone. So much information gets stuck in the fascia when it binds down. Memories, emotions and other bracing patterns get encased in the fascia and have the potential to be released with gentle sustained pressure. When they are released, this is an opportunity to eliminate those patterns that are no longer serving you and frees you to experience true and authentic healing.
Scars are of particular interest for myofascial work, regardless if they occur from a traumatic event or planned surgical procedures. In addition to the physiological implications, structurally these scars decrease nerve conduction and blood flow and internally spread like a spider web into other nearby tissue. These restrictions can result in numbness, tingling and pain that you may not be aware is a contributing factor to your other symptoms. When you are ready, we will address all scars throughout our work together.
In summary, bring your body, simple clothing, goals and an open mind and I will hold the space you need to begin your healing!
