Fascia Part 2: Training

image: Fascia Training Academy

Weighing in between 18-20 pounds per person, fascia is our body’s largest organ. Only recently has fascia research sparked a wildfire of new insights that challenge conventional beliefs about how the living body works. Where traditional medicine viewed the body as bits and parts, modern medicine is transitioning to the theory of the body as one continuous unit, placing high value on fascia as the source that connects.

Often described as a mesh bag that surrounds the body, it may seem messy and disorganized. On the contrary, fascia is a complex organ with diverse components to support its health and development. It has four main functions:

1. Shape: gives structure to our muscles and offers protection

2. Movement: transfers tension and energy, maintains glide between fascial and muscular layers

3. Supply: metabolizes energy, carries nutrients and fluid

4. Communication: receives and transmits stimuli through receptors and communicates with the nervous system

Previously discarded as useless, science now views fascia as one of the most mysterious and complex organs. In 2021, a Nobel prize was given for research in the study of fascial sensors under the skin that regulate temperature. Since then, researchers have identified several different communication processes that take place within fascia, that happen faster than the fastest nerve cell can perform.

Having the knowledge of fascia’s complexity and adaptability means we can take action to promote its health with how we choose to move each day. Our fascia’s shape is uniquely our own and is dynamically changing each time we use our bodies. Keeping it healthy also means moving in ways to support each of its unique functions. Here’s how specific movement correlates to each function:

1. Pulling and stretching and loading our muscles helps to shape us

2. Moving in multi-directional patterns and exploring a variety of angles helps to reach all the nooks and crannies and allows our body to find its fullest expression in movement

3. Swaying, bouncing, contracting then relaxing helps to move facial fluid through the body, hydrating and supplying it with nutrients 

4. practicing building inner awareness and moving with curiosity bolsters the mind-body connection and builds self awareness of how the body communicates

This sophisticated system, dynamic in nature, thrives on both the diversity and challenge of movement – adapting and remodeling itself thereby training the body to the ‘shape’ of us for the entirety of our lives.  

By integrating a few minutes of movement to support these functional qualities, we’ll reshape our bodies, find greater ease of movement, nourish our cells and gain a greater understanding of ourselves from the inside out.