It happened again…

I woke up with an incredibly tight neck, I could barely move it! Have you ever had that? I couldn’t even function! Off work for a couple days, unable to do shoulder checks so no driving around for me. Errands didn’t get done either. I could barely take care of myself, let alone take care of the kids.

In cases like these, it’s best to see a trusted Medical Professional, as they may want to run some tests to rule out any abnormalities. As for me, everything looked good and was within normal limits. Great! But still didn’t feel great…

Everyone around me was telling me I had to rest…that I had to completely stop.

Rest, what’s that?

I felt guilty! Sooooo guilty, of having to do absolutely nothing! As a busy bee, this drove me bonkers! My husband teased me about having no choice but to slow down and take time for myself.

I didn’t know how to, and what I had done to get me to that point. Absolutely no idea. I must have slept funny…or something.

It turns out that something…was fascia!

To get a good visual, fascia is a 3D spider web of connective tissue in our body. It interconnects every single cell in our body. It’s the only system that is in contact and communicates to all other systems in the entire body.

A fascial tension in one area of our body can affect the entire fascia matrix, as it’s one continuous piece from head to toe. Tight clamped down fascia is like pulling a blanket, it affects the entire blanket. So we may feel pain in our neck, but the root cause could be coming from somewhere else completely… like from tight fascia in your ankle.

Healthy fascia is the answer to our optimal health and wellbeing! It has an immense impact on how well our body functions, including our mind.

To stay healthy, lubricated and pliable, fascia absolutely loves self-care! As it turns out, gentle movements (not that high intensity stuff!) done everyday is best for fascia health. Movement is medicine for our body, mind and soul… it’s also a wonderful way to relieve our everyday stresses!

When choosing an activity, mindfulness is key; the go-to ones are fluid and not too intense, especially to keep our fascia happy. The priority is low intensity movement like walking, swimming and yoga. These help avoid more tension in the body.

One thing to note is that our magical fascia is a copy-paste of your entire life, which accumulates tension overtime. And as the tightness accumulates, it becomes hard like cement. With time, this does a number on our body and mind; reducing our range of motion, having a hard time with regular daily tasks and affecting how we feel.

Giving ourselves permission to stretch our fascia is also wonderful. To stretch and release fascia, it takes a little bit longer than the 20-30 seconds to stretch muscles. It takes more or less 3-5 minutes to release a layer of dysfunction in our fascia. It’s a journey, but it’s soo worth it!

Yoga is a wonderful way to do that, as every posture is designed to release specific lines of fascia. Yin and Restorative Yoga are ideal, as it not only releases the fascia but it also calms the nervous system, which go together hand in hand.

Fascia doesn’t like stress! If our fascia or nervous system is jacked up, it affects the other one. So staying zen keeps them both at bay… is a win-win. And by doing so, it also reduces the cortisol level (the stress hormone) in the body, as well as our inflammation. Both of which, when chronic, contribute to dis-ease, pain and tension in the body.

The untangling of fascia is hard to describe in words. It’s a release that feels a bit like butterflies fluttering somewhere in our body or the feeling of one tiny bubble popping (exactly like bubble wrap popping!) It’s one of those things we have to feel for ourselves…but once experienced, those types of sensations are easy to pinpoint!

Fascia release is thirsty work! Let’s not forget our water bottle! Hydration is super important since our body is mostly water, and so is fascia! Fascia is made up of mostly water, collagen and gray matter. Every one of our 100 trillion cells need water also, to stay in optimal health too. Good hydration throughout your day is a must. As fascia is released, the tissue also releases toxins that have been trapped too. So drink up to flush those out!

One more thing! Fascia doesn’t like sugar, preservatives and chemicals! This is just another reason why eating clean and organically is a must. As we eliminate the processed junk and chemicals from our diets, we may notice pain and tension melt away! Woohoo!

Join me in giving our beautiful fascia the attention it deserves! Because happy fascia means a healthy body and mind. And offering our fascia some love and self-care starting today, is a wonderful return on investment for the future!

It’s a journey, but caring for our fascia is a priority to stay healthy and well! Let’s do this!