To answer the question how can we move better we need to start with fascia.
What is fascia
“Fascia is the biological fabric that holds us together, the connective tissue network of our bodies.”, says Tom Myers, one of the leading experts on fascia in the world and author of Anatomy Trains. We are about 70 trillion cells and fascia is the 3D spider web of fibrous, gluey, and wet proteins that binds all these cells together in their proper placement.
Apart from defining our structure, fascia is also a sensory organ. There are tons of sensory nerves in fascia, maybe around six times as many sensors in the fascia than there are in the muscles. So we are really sensing our fascia a lot from minute to minute. We don’t have an awareness of that, it’s in our subconscious awareness for the most part.
Why is this important for movement
Tom Myers explains answers that question by dividing the way we move our bodies in 3 groups.
The Number 1 areas are parts of our body that can do a certain movement easily and comfortably. “For example, says Myers, I can put my arms anywhere in front of my body. But if you ask me to clasp my hands behind my back, one from above the shoulder, the other one from below, I can put my hands on my back easily and I can with a little stretch interlock my fingers. And that little stretch will go into Number 2 areas.”
Number 2 areas are movements that we wouldn’t normally do, that are not part of our daily movement repertoire. Nevertheless, these movements are possible if we are directed into them. And those are the areas that we work in yoga, the Number 2 areas.
We also have Number 3 areas in our body. And those are the areas that we never move. “They move through space, says Tom Myers, but they don’t move relative to each other so they don’t stimulate those nerve endings in the fascia, they don’t get represented on your brain. And if they are not represented on your brain, you can’t organise a move. If you can’t feel it, you can’t move it. It’s a law of the nervous system.”
How does yoga help
Yoga forces us to feel those areas that we haven’t been feeling and therefore they start getting registered on our brain. Then we can start to organise movement in them. So, these Number 3 areas become Number 2 areas. And Number 2 areas then become the familiar Number 1 areas that we can move into.
So if you wish wake up parts of your body that have maybe fallen asleep, if you would like to stimulate the nerve endings in your fascia and to move up from Number 3 and Number 2 to Number 1 areas, I will be offering new weekly yoga classes from January, 10th.
Stay tuned!
Related articles:
What does it mean to be in balance
Why doing more in yoga is not serving you well
Photo by Yogendra Singh from Pexels
