The Fascinating Nature of the Fascia System in the Body

Hello all!

lol maybe you read that title and said the same thing I said when I read the word fascia for the first time, “what the heck does that mean?” Truthfully, the answer is a bit complicated, but it is something that hasn’t been extensively studied by modern medicine until the 2000s, however the concept is ancient. The first known references to fascia go back to 3000 BC.

Anyways, “Fascia forms a whole body, continuous three-dimensional matrix of structural support around our organs, muscles, joints, bones, and nerve fibers.” (1).

The Cleveland Clinic’s website lists Fascia as: “A sheath of stringy connective tissue that surrounds every structure in the body. It provides support to your organs, muscles, tendons, ligaments, tissues, nerves, joints, and bones. Fascia is one continuous layer, so it’s flexible and moves with your body.” (2)

Basically, Fascia is an interconnecting web between your WHOLE body, connecting every organ, muscle, and nerve ending together. This starts at the top of your head, and goes down to your feet. This is how when one part of the body is damaged/affected, it can hinder an opposite part of the body.

Fascia also interestingly enough has piezoelectric and semi-conductive qualities. Fascia has the ability to convert mechanical force into electrical energy, which is absolutely fascinating. To help understand how piezoelectricity works in real life applications:

“Microphones, quartz watches and inkjet printers all rely on an unusual phenomenon known as the piezoelectric effect found in various crystals, ceramics, and even bone. It was discovered by none other than French Physicist Pierre Curie, working with his older brother Jacques, who found that putting pressure on these materials created electricity (the names comes from piezein- Greek for “squeeze”).”

We will jump back into this in just a second. It also plays a vital part in transmitting hormones through your body, and is vital to literally every part of you:

“Fascia plays a key role in transmitting hormones (e.g. adrenaline, estrogen, insulin, thyroid hormones, oxytocin) and neurotransmitters (e.g. serotonin, dopamine, GABA, acetylcholine) throughout your body.”(4)

Fascia also is known to hold and store emotions. When we are stressed out, sad, or anxious, our fascia becomes tight and restricted:

“Fascia doesn’t just support physical functions - it also stores emotional energy. Stress, trauma, and intense emotions can cause fascia to tighten, leading to restrictions that impact the body’s natural flow. This phenomenon underscores the interconnected nature of our physical and emotional well-being. When stress is chronic or intense, the fascial system can become a reservoir for these emotions, leading to adhesions and restrictions. Over time, this can manifest as pain, stiffness, and a decreased range of motion.” (5)

There are “Fascia lines,” which are some of the interconnected lines of fascia. Tom Myers has done extensive research into the “myofascial meridian lines.” This describes 12 fascial lines that have been acknowledged. According to this, pain in one area of the body, can affect a completely different part, like lower back pain can lead to neck pain. (As above so below maybe?)

Anyways, with all of this random medical information, what does all of this mean? With this semi-conductive, piezoelectric, neural support interconnected web that is fascia, how does it help you?

1.) Fascia has these energetic tendencies, specifically piezoelectric. This means we can turn mechanical force (working out, taking walks, stretching, yoga, moving meditations) into electrical energy, healing your energy, and releasing trapped emotions.

2.) Working out your body is proven to strengthen neural pathways in your brain (e.g for serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin etc). However, when we also work out our body, we strengthen the fascia, strengthening our body’s ability to send hormones and vitamins/minerals to different muscles, organs, and your beautiful brain.

3.) There are ancient moving meditation techniques that have been very aware of these pathways and healing them for centuries.

4.) Fascia is shown to hold on to emotions and keep emotions “stuck.” If this is the case, you HAVE to move your body and be aware of it. This is also talked about in many books. “Issues in your tissues.”

5.) This is also a great metaphor from our friends up above. As stated, we are ONE, just like the inter-penetrating nature that is fascia. It wraps around every piece of your body, organs, tissues, nerves etc, connecting every part of you as ONE. Many pieces to form ONE being.

Fascia can also even be used to explain some other energy concepts as well, such as manifesting diseases and cancers from the stored pain in your body (which I personally believe deeply).

In conclusion, the nature of fascia is extraordinary, and much science has yet to come out about it. Since a VERY large part of our mission at jrprudence.com and soft disclosure is HEALING, start by healing your FASCIA, to start healing your whole body, as the fascia is what connects your whole body together to be ONE.

References:

(1)https://www.ideafit.com/eight-fascinating-facts-about-fascia/

(2)https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/23251-fascia

(3)https://www.aps.org/archives/publications/apsnews/201403/physicshistory.cfm

(4)https://drarielleschwartz.com/fascia-and-the-vagus-nerve-dr-arielle-schwartz/

(5)https://somersetosteopathicclinic.co.uk/unlocking-the-bodys-hidden-messages-understanding-the-fascial-system-and-stress-induced-pain/