Fascia is an entire organ system that makes up the structure of the body. If you want to lose weight and reduce pain you need to learn about this mighty organ system. As some say, health lies in your fascia. I answer the question, what is fascia and what does it have to do with your weight inside.
Balance, balance, balance, repeat the words because this is the answer you’ve been looking for. Being in alignment is the key to having an efficient metabolism, improving posture, reducing pain, and increasing your immune system.
It’s not about the extremes, about pushing your body to the max, eliminating, restricting, or hating yourself healthy. What it all comes down to is achieving balance and alignment inside your body. One big player in creating balance inside the body is a little known but mighty organ called fascia.
Some call fascia the “secret” organ as it’s quickly gaining traction in the medical world with tons of new research emerging about this powerhouse. Inside today’s podcast, I break down fascia with fascia expert Lauren Roxburgh.
Today, we break down:
- What fascia is and why it’s so important.
- The link between fascia and weight {including cellulite}
- How to tell if you have unhealthy fascia
- How to improve your fascia to create body balance.
what is fascia
Fascia is a thin layer of connective tissue that encases your complete body under your skin – like Saran wrap – wrapping around each muscle fiber, our joints, and organs. It holds the entire body together. There are four types of fascia, structural, intersectoral, visceral, and spinal. They happen to all be connected, and it’s the health of our fascia that some believe determine how the whole of our body works together.
Fascia is also the home to our lymph nodes, meridians {emotional blockage}, and nerve endings. It houses our central communication system and why it’s quickly becoming referred to as our sensory organ.
Yes, fascia is now considered an organ and the largest one to date. It wasn’t until 2007 that the first international fascia research congress was held at Harvard Medical School, bringing new awareness to the importance of this webbing system inside the body.
Remarkably, while fascia is very malleable and thin, it is mainly responsible for the shape of our bodies.
the problem with unhealthy fascia
The problem is, fascia like any organ can become diseased or damaged, leading to unhealthy fascia. Unhealthy fascia is thickened and hardened, causing all sorts of structural and alignment issues in the body including, cellulite, pain, dehydration, muscle knots, stuck emotions, and more.
Think about fascia as a sponge – when it is moist, it is malleable and flexible, allowing you to twist and turn and compress it. It has excellent movement and flexibility. But when the sponge dries out, it gets stiff and brittle and is more easily damaged.
Being considered the sensory organ, you can see how stuck, dense, compressed fascia can slow the communication of our body, causing us to feel heavy, thick, uncomfortable, and rundown.
The fantastic thing is, fascia is incredibly malleable and can self-repair with the right care
healing your fascia
When fascia becomes damaged, it acts like glue – making your body stuck and holding onto everything you want to let go of. The reason the fascia gets thick, dense, and dehydrated is that we’re not actively compressing it and releasing it daily.
But when it’s healthy, it helps you feel better overall, improving posture, reducing chronic pain, handling stress, and live in alignment. It’s called balance.
The good news, it’s not tricky to unwind your fascia and release the tension. Of course, the best place to start is your mind, releasing stored trauma and emotions that are stuck inside your body. But in addition to the mind work, here are some at-home practices that can help unwind your fascia – bringing you back to balance.
1. Self Abdominal Massage
I never used to think as self-massage as useful. One because it sounds weird and two because it feels so much better to pay someone else to do it. But there is one area, critical to our rest and digest phase {parasympathetic mode}, that can help our body relax and unwind, which is our abdominal region where the vagus nerve sits.
Stimulating the vagus nerve acts as a natural anti-inflammatory and reduces the production of proinflammatory cytokines, calming the nervous system. Here are a few videos showing how to release the vagus nerve.
2. Stretching
Anytime we compress or stretch our fascia we’re bringing it back to life. Basic yoga moves or standard stretches do the trick. Honestly, stretching does more for our body structure than any exercise combined. Remember, the fascia is responsible for our body structure. Do your stretches daily.
3. dry brushing
There may be a connection between dry brushing and cellulite. Lauren states, “I find there is a connection between dry brushing and your fascia. Your fascia is a webbing in which the lymph system and nerves live, and your blood pumps through. Wherever there’s scar tissue or knots in that webbing, you’re going to have blockages, and those things are going to make the skin on top will look more dimpled and rippled, dry brushing can help this.”
Plus, it can help move the lymphatic fluid circulating out the bad and in the good.
Here are my top resources for dry brushing:
4. Body rolling {commonly referred to as foam rolling}
I’m with Lauren on this one; I like to refer to it as body rolling over foam rolling. Because there are some places where a foam roller can’t get that need rolled just as much. That’s when you can rely on other tools like the half sphere to get the job done.
But foam rolling is probably one of the most popular ways to compress and fill that fascia with hydration. Rolling your muscles with a foam roller feels an awful lot like a home massage and acts in the same way. Rolling out tension, getting rid of the bad, and incorporating the good.
- Get the best foam rolling videos here
- My favorite foam roller
- My favorite body roller to get in all the places the foam roller can’t
5. Rebounding
Lauren talked briefly about the benefits of rebounding {you can learn more inside her latest book}. As we know, the act of movement is one of the healthiest ways to keep your fascia flexible and malleable – and a rebounder happens to be one of the most effective tools at this.
The practice of jumping on a small mini-trampoline has been shown, based on NASA studies, to be more effective than running. It’s also a low impact on the body. Not to mention rebounding is a great way to activate the lymphatic system.
Here are my favorite rebounding resources:
- A great video explaining how to rebound properly.
- My favorite rebounder purchase {and an inexpensive option}.
Resources from the show
Learn more about Lauren Roxburgh and the support she mentioned on today’s show.
- Lauren’s Website
- Follow on Instagram + Facebook
- Grab a copy of her latest book: The Power Source
- Her favorite book recommendations: Becoming Supernatural & Anatomy of Spirit
work with me
Are you ready to change your health for life? To do a complete mind, body, and soul overview that will heal your relationship with food. I want to help walk you through learning a system that will work for you.
To create your own health-style.
Will you make this year the year of your health?
Consider working one-on-one with me creating simple rhythms that will change the entire course of your life. Click here to learn more.
subscribe to the show
Don’t forget to subscribe to Simple Roots Radio to make sure you are notified as soon as another podcast comes out. Sometimes I can be a little slow to notify you, and this ensures that you get the show right on your phone to listen anytime you want!
If you have some feedback to share or an exciting shout out on your journey, leave a note in the comments below. I would love to know your reactions to the show and how you’re taking steps in owning your own story.
Finally, if you enjoyed the show, I’d love it if you’d take a minute to leave a rating and review. Through these reviews, we can work to make the show better and align more closely with the information you need to live your best life. It only takes a minute and makes a world of difference in the life of this show.
I WOULD BE SO THANKFUL IF YOU WOULD
rate and review the show
click here for instructions on how to rate and review the show
Missed an episode? Click here to listen to all of the episodes of Simple Roots Wellness.
