Your fascia wake up call! 

A brief introduction to how we really move.

To get straight to the point, the biomechanical model as a basis for how we move is outdated; that metaphor is incorrect.

Where the model came from

About 400 years ago, this model was devised in the Western world based on anatomical research on dead male bodies. Nothing flowed, no blood, no lymph, no fascia, everything was hard, and conclusions were drawn from this, such as:

You consist of a skeleton, bones are connected by joints, and these move because muscles pull on them. Movement was seen as a mechanical process, as if we were puppets made up of strings and hinges, with muscles acting like elastic bands to move our bodies by pulling on those bones. We still learn about origo, where a muscle begins, and insertion, where a muscle ends or where it is attached. Moving in this way means that your hinges, or joints, have to endure a lot.

As long as we stick to this biomechanical model and treat injuries in this way, we will continue on the path of pain, discomfort and joint replacement.

Don't get me wrong, it's great that we can get a new hip or knee, but what if we could prevent that? 

What if we didn't move like puppets at all?

During those studies, “that white wrapping” (fascia) was cut away and discarded because people were convinced that it got in the way of what was really important: muscles, tendons, bones, organs, etc.

The metaphor of biomechanics has become a belief and has long stood in the way of research into that wrapping.

In recent decades, a great deal of research has been conducted into fascia, what it is, where it is located in our bodies and how it functions, and especially how our fascia enables us to function, both physically and mentally.

Not all fascia has the same composition; this appears to depend on where it is located in your body and its function in that location. For example, fascia can be more crystallised, contain more collagen and therefore be firmer, like bones. In other places, it is less crystallised and contains more hyaluronic acid (and still collagen), making it “sticky” and gel-like, allowing it to flow as it does in and around muscle tissue and in and around your organs.

It would be going too far for this article to describe all the properties and functions we currently know about our fascia, as there appear to be quite a few. A lot has been written about it in the meantime, which is super interesting!  te beschrijven, het blijken er namelijk best veel te zijn. Er is ondertussen flink over geschreven, super interessant!

Experts still do not entirely agree on what can and cannot be called fascia, which leads to many interesting discussions.

What the experts do agree on is that every cell in your body is surrounded by fascia, every single cell, everywhere in your body. This is called the extra-cellular matrix.

It has been irreverently called the “soup” that surrounds and permeates everything in your body; your organs, brain, eyes, everything is located in that matrix. There is nothing empty inside your body; there are no cavities.

Let's look at fascia and movement.

Those so-called separate muscles are organised by the scalpel of anatomists; in your body, everything flows together. It is useful to know the names of those parts of your body to clarify things, but that is not how your body moves.

Our body is one whole, no origin, no insertion, but one thing becomes another and the other becomes another, etc. We are one big whole, a continuum.

Your brain and nervous system know nothing about separate muscles, but they do know about movement.

What we now know, simply put, is that we move through our fascia, which works together with our muscle tissue.

The fascia moves us through ripples, wave movements throughout your entire body, distributing the pressure of the movements you make across your entire body. So not through leverage, not biomechanics, but biomotion.

Your fascia contains your resilience, which is essential for walking, running, jumping, etc., in short, for all your investments. Fascia loves rhythm and bounce, springy movements, and all movement based on walking, in a broad sense. 

All your tissue is shaped like DNA is depicted, in diagonal lines, spirals; your resilience lies in those shapes. There are no straight lines in your body.

The communication to move is also done by your fascia, at lightning speed; you haven't even decided that you need to pull your child away from that oncoming car, and you've already done it. Fascia reacts faster than your brain, and thank goodness for that!

When you stretch, the tissue retracts to protect you; this is a physiological reaction, and your muscle tissue ultimately becomes stiffer and loses its resilience. 

You cannot grow more muscle cells lengthwise, nor do those cells become longer. 

What you can do is restore your muscles to their natural length (which is different for everyone) by, for example, rolling out your fascia or lengthening it through the way you move, which is slightly different from stretching.

So take good care of your fascia so that it remains supple and hydrated and everything in your body can function properly.

If you master this way of moving again, it will result in a resilient body, literally and figuratively. Moving becomes easier and requires less effort, and the risk of injury is greatly reduced, which makes us all happy, doesn't it?

A few simple tips:

Start the day by yawning with your whole body, imitating your cat or dog. Let your body guide you. Do this for a minute or two.

When standing and walking, keep your knees slightly bent, so they are always unlocked, and feel what happens when you tighten your gain just a little bit more.

Throughout the day, put on some nice music and gently bounce to the beat. Even if it's so subtle that your colleagues in the office don't notice, it still has an effect on your fascia.

Of course, you can also come and do Fascia Pilates Plus classes with me. You can find more information at CoreBiz.nl.

In this first interview, I talk to Embodied Expert Linda de Wolf. This multi-passionate Pilates Practitioner is an inspiration to me because she knows so much about the body and how to tune into it in so many different ways. With her enthusiasm and knowledge, she manages to remind me how important our bodies are, and how resilient and flexible they can be. On the one hand, we take it for granted and that has an impact, but on the other hand, our bodies are so beautifully constructed that with love, attention and very simple exercises, we can quickly reconnect with our bodies and the classroom. Your body is the only home you will ever live in, from birth to death. That is why we must take good care of it. zorgen.

Stress is not in your head, it is in your nervous system...

When you have been feeling stressed, you have probably been told: “Don't worry so much and just relax, it's all in your head!”

It would be nice if it were that simple. But it is not.

The stress response is not primarily in your head but in your autonomic nervous system, in the sympathetic side to be precise.

In stressful situations, your fight-or-flight response is triggered, causing the sympathetic part of the nervous system to spring into action. This part of the nervous system releases stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol to prepare your body to fight or flee.

How often do everyday stressful situations actually lead to fighting or fleeing? Probably not very often, but when nothing happens with the stress response in your body, those substances continue to circulate and the (sympathetic) nervous system remains alert. This prevents your body from relaxing.

The psoas plays an essential role in your autonomic nervous system; your psoas instinctively kicks in during the fight-or-flight response to keep you safe and sends signals about your state of anxiety, safety and stress.

In the next stressful situation, your body remembers the previous situation and goes into full stress mode as if it were in a life-threatening situation.

At some point, your body can no longer cope with all that stress and you burn out. We call this burnout...

For people with burnout, or those under stress, it is very important to restore balance to the nervous system and reduce the stress response so that your body can relax.

In the workshop Juice Up Your Psoas we will work on topics such as:

• What can you do and not do to bring peace to your body?
• How do you know when it is becoming too much?
• How do you give your psoas a rest in terms of posture and movement so that it can do what it is meant to do?

We will be doing this and more at the Juice Up Your Psoas workshop, because peace in your body -> peace in your mind.

So #ByeByeBurnOut ®

Stress begint in je lijf; het autonome zenuwstelsel zorgt er o.a. voor dat je hartslag omhoog gaat en je ademhaling versnelt om te kunnen vluchten. Je #psoas heeft een belangrijke messenger functie voor deze reactie. Wanneer je hoog blijft ademen, dwz je schouders liften en je buik gaat naar binnen als je inademt, blijf je in de stress-reactie met allerlei nare gevolgen: een kort lontje, slaapproblemen, hyperventileren, astma en paniekaanvallen..

Wat te doen?

Ga een minuut of 10 in Constructive Rest Position liggen, je kunt ook je onderbenen op een stoel leggen zodat je geen spierspanning nodig hebt om je benen parallel te houden. In deze houding krijgt je psoas de broodnodige ontspanning om naar de rustkant van je autonome zenuwstelsel te gaan.

Laat je ribben smelten naar de grond, adem bewust naar de zijkanten en de achterkant van je borstkas en laat je buik zachtjes naar buiten gaan aan het eind van je inademing.

Voel de spanning je lijf verlaten…..

Rol daarna de spanning uit je fascia met zachte ballen en roller.

Yammie!

Yes, we are European champions! Sitting...

Hours a day, every day, at work, at school, in the waiting room, visiting friends, in the car, everywhere...
Fortunately, we also cycle a lot, which is nice and dynamic, but it's still sitting...

There must be another way. Just standing up to work, for example, certainly doesn't help: in the 1950s, employees were put on chairs because standing for long periods of time was found to be bad for the body.

So what then?

It's not about sitting or standing, but about moving..

Your body benefits most from movement,not necessarily sports or exercise, but movement.

So teach yourself new habits, incorporate movement into your day!

Fortunately, it is not very complicated to start moving more:

• Get off the tram or bus one stop (or two) earlier.
• Walk during lunch.
• Take the stairs instead of the lift or escalator.
• Instead of lounging on the sofa with a book, you can also listen to books and podcasts while walking.
• For a change, sit on a Swiss ball, which is much more active for the body than sitting on a chair.
• Sit on the floor more often; getting up and sitting down on the floor dozens of times a day is great for your body. In addition, you will automatically change position regularly when sitting on the floor, which is good for your joints and muscles; movement!
• Screw a bar between a door frame and hang from it every now and then.
• Play, roll around and romp with your children and friends on the floor, in the grass, on the beach and hang from a branch.
• Teach your body to squat again.
• Lie on your stomach (roll up a towel and place it under your hip bones to prevent your lower back from arching) to watch a film or work on your laptop.
• Build a standing desk (e.g. put your laptop on a side table on your desk or buy an Oristandhttp://oristand.co/international-orders/and alternate between standing and sitting.
• Take that meeting for a walk; you can record notes on your phone and work them out later.
• Hold meetings standing up, which also saves a lot of time because standing meetings take +/- 30% less time!
  (https://business.missouri.edu/sites/default/files/bluedorn_turban_love_1999_jap.pdf)
• Put your laptop on a low table and work sitting on the floor.

Allow your body to gradually adjust to your new habits; all of your vital functions will be grateful.