Under your skin is a bodysuit of cells, collagen and fluid that cohesively covers, separates and interpenetrates your muscle tissue. This connective tissue system is called fascia.

It’s a sticky spiderweb supporting your muscles and your organs without interruption from your head to your toes. 

Movement happens in the fascial planes when muscles and joints (each wrapped in fascia like a giftbox wrapped in cellophane) slide and glide past each other. 

This means that your range of motion is dependent on the health of your fascial system. 

In fact, research suggests that pathological tension actually happens in the fascial tissues, not the muscle tissues themselves. 

This research also suggests that keeping your fascia healthy through focused movement, gentle stretching and Myofascial Release helps downregulate pain perception globally, not just locally. 

This is my FAVORITE Myofascial Release Technique for alleviating upper back and shoulder strain. 

Try it:

➡️Stand with your back against the wall

➡️Pin the MFR ball between your upper back and the wall, placing it in the thoroughfare of tissue in between your scapula and your spine

➡️Reach your arm out in front of you, parallel to the floor

➡️Inhale and REACH further forward

➡️Exhale and PRESS your shoulder blade back against the ball

➡️Repeat 8 times 

➡️Pause before doing the second side and notice the difference between your shoulders

Want more?

✨Subscribe to my At-Home Yoga Therapeutics Service to incorporate MFR into your daily wellness routine with bite-sized classes and helpful, purposeful sequences. 

✨Attend an In-Person “Meditation and Myofascial Release” Class at Abiding Yoga in Kansas City, Missouri on Thursdays at 6:30 pm with Teacher Marie Gough.