What in the world is fascia...and how does massage help keep it nice and SMOOTH?

IMAGE [smooth legs]

So what is this 'fascia'?

Fascia is the fancy term for your connective tissue. It surrounds every part of your body, wraps around your muscles and forms the connections between your muscles. If you're a little squeamish you might not like this description but it's the same as that white film that you might have seen covering a chicken breast.

So what?

Ok....so why should we care? The connective tissue is layered, with the layers needing to slide over each other nicely to enable us to move our joints and muscles easily (and without pain). Sometimes it can get a bit caught and doesn't move properly. If you want to see a video where my cat tries to explain this please head over to Instagram here.

What causes issues with fascia/connective tissue?

Stress, muscle overuse, injury or strain and lack of blood flow can all cause the layers to get bunched up. This stops us being able to move freely and easily and can cause pain.

What can help?

Massage can help to smooth out the layers, and also release any knots that are pulling it out of alignment. It can also help to reduce stress, which can actually lubricate the payers, helping them to stay smoothly sliding over each other.

You can also help to improve this yourself through self-massage, gentle stretching, foam rolling and through meditation. If you want some tips let me know. I can post some videos to help demonstrate.

Little known fact: meditation increases nitrous oxide in the blood and this helps to lubricate between the layers, especially in dense areas of fascia such as in the lower back. So there you go - next time you have a backache you might want to see if a meditation helps!

If you want to see how this works in action though, book yourself in. There are some massage times available this week but they are going fast...!

Get in touch if you have any questions about connective tissue or want to book into a group class with a discounted £5 pass!