Myofascial Bodywork
The fascial system is a layered, body-wide, multi-scale network of connective tissue. Myo- refers to the muscles of the body. Myofascial Bodywork is a manual therapy that works with fascia to communicate with the nervous system.
This therapy can change chronic pain patterns, support injury and surgery recovery, ease repetitive strain and tension and pain caused by scar tissue, and more. Myofascial Bodywork promotes a reduction in pain and tension in the body, and helps to increase freedom of movement and musculoskeletal functionality.
How is this different from massage?
One big difference is that we don't use oils in Myofascial Bodywork. The reason for this is that we want to be specific about the layers of tissues with which we are working, and how we are communicating with them. Massage uses oils to glide and soothe tissues. Without oil, we are better able to connect into fascial tissue to give specific and direct touch.
Fascial work can be slow, and so with each session, we will focus on a smaller portion of the body, rather than doing a full body treatment.
We may not spend all of our time working directly where pain and tension are felt. Often, but certainly not always, we experience pain when tissues are under strain. I will look at your body to see which structures might be causing the strain, and seek to balance the lines of tension that might be at the root.
With each technique that I do, I will ask you to move your body. This supports the possibility of creating relational movement between different muscles and other structures of the body. It also makes this work collaborative.