I had such a wonderful day yesterday learning all about fascia, it's role in the body and how myofascial release work can bring such benefit to clients physically, mentally and emotionally; at my myofascial release training day.
The role of myofascial release has potential to really elevate what I'm able to do as a massage therapist to bring even better results - that ultimately make you the client feel comfortable in your own skin once again. But, even as a therapy in it's own right, it can bring great relief to the body, especially for those who may find massage or the thought of massage too much, or for when massage is doing a great job for your muscles but the fascia also needs attending to.
Myofascial release is a much gentler therapy than massage as it works on the fascia rather than the muscles. Fascia is the body's shock absorber that surrounds and infuses every part of the body in a 3D web like way. The fibres of the fascia can get stuck together over time through everyday movements, poor posture, over work of particular muscles, trauma (physically and emotionally) and many other reasons.
As the fascia is all connected like a web, it is easy to see how when fascia gets stuck together, it can have an affect on other areas of the body too - you may have come across the idea that when you have a pain in your shoulder it could be originating from another area of the body, and this is why.
Working the fascia using specific, yet gentle techniques, allows for the fascia to come un-stuck and frees up the fascia so that the fluid inside it can flow freely once again. In many cases when we work one area of fascia we can see a ripple effect in the body where the fascia unwinds before our eyes.
As a bodyworker I'm really excited to be bringing Myofascial Release (MFR) therapy to my practice and would really encourage all my clients to benefit from it and see what a difference it can make in conjunction with a massage. I am therefore not only offering Myofascial Release as a stand alone treatment, but as an add on to massage appointments so that you can see for yourself how effective this technique can be.
