Your fascia surrounds and interpenetrates your entire body and all the systems within it. It is now being coined “the environment” of the body. If your fascia is stiff and tight, you are unable to move freely. Tight fascia also puts pressure on all your other body systems creating a variety of problems well beyond pain. Creating a resilient body means creating a body that functions well in all areas. How do you do that?
The number one recommendation from fascia researchers, as well as many other experts in the area of movement, is to move often, with variety, and to challenge yourself regularly. Life is not linear so your exercise should not be either. Linear exercise such as walking or elliptical training is not bad. In fact, walking is one of the best exercises you can incorporate into your lifestyle. But, it simply isn’t enough to create a truly resilient body.
Let’s define resiliency. According to Google, resilience means “the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties.” What does this mean functionally? It means having the ability to:
- take the stairs without difficulty.
- easily walk through grassy or uneven ground.
- quickly regain your balance after a misstep.
- catch yourself with your arms and legs if you do fall.
- reach for and carry something awkward, heavy, or moving (or all three, think child or pet).
- get down to the floor and back up, easily.
- walk for several minutes or hours.
- recover fully after an injury, surgery, or illness.
- all the offhand activities that may pop up in life.
Of course, we also must eat well, drink water, get good sleep, manage our stress, and avoid substances that are bad for us. But, most of us don’t really understand just how important movement is to our health. Or conversely, how much being sedentary affects our health negatively. Moving better in small amounts throughout the day and week can make a dramatic difference in how we feel, how we age and how we are able to handle the routine and not so routine activities of daily life.
Unfortunately we often don’t know we’ve lost our resiliency until we need it or we decide to try something we haven’t done in a long time. If you come in to the clinic, you may have seen the balance beams set up. Most people look at it and want to try it thinking “no big deal”. They are shocked when they can’t stay on the beam. If you aren’t regularly challenging your balance, it won’t be there when you need it even if its just to show off.
To help my clients create and maintain resiliency in their bodies, I offer classes that support the health of your fascia including yoga, natural movement, and fusion classes that blend the two approaches. The primary goal is to offer whole body movement that incorporates lots of variety and unique challenges for your body.
I offer an Unlimited Membership that gets you access to all live online classes and live in person classes 1 hour or less. The membership also includes recorded classes in the store where I offer over 40 recorded classes and a replay of the myofascial stretching workshop. See the membership section for more information. Or check out the store to see the recorded video options.
