Pouring Water on Stone
Water and myofascial release are required for fascial fluidity. Water is the second as well as the first most vital nutrient our fascia and body needs to survive and function efficiently. The first vital nutrient is oxygen and because it is also a major component of water, it links water to the first and second place position. Water in its normal state flows effortlessly and is also very powerful. The flow or “fluidity” is also the key factor in the ground substance of fascia as well. Just like water on the earth that has many phases of consistency, so does Fascia’s ground substance. Water on land can solidify, turning into ice, just like the ground substance can solidify and become as rigid and firm like bones. The flow and fluidity of our fluid systems internally also supports many of the body systems and functions like the neurological system, cardiovascular system, and muscular systems to name a few. When we become dehydrated we become rigid, inflexibility and in a sense begin to turn to stone. Think of how pictures of the earth in areas of drought appear. The earth seems to shrivel and harden like a dried raisin with deep fissures and cracks which become hard as stone but once was soft, subtle and flowing. Then as the water finally come the earth in the form of rain, the dehydrated land cannot absorb the water because the effects of the drought have caused the surface to shrink and shrivel up. This happens in the human body as our ground substance begins to solidify. When fascia becomes injured and dehydrated, it is unable to absorb the proper water and nutrients unless it is returned to its normal state of fluidity. I believe this is why my mentor John F. Barnes calls it “Pouring Water on a Stone”. If the ground substance is solidified and dehydrated, it cannot take on the ever so vital life source of water or even oxygen and other nutrients. We can consume all the vitamins, fluids etc and still walk around dehydrated, tight, rigid and in most cases pain or a dysfunction in one of the many body systems that rely on fluidity.
Water and MFR maintain Fascia’s Fluidity
However we are very fortunate we do get a voice and a choice in the fluidity of our body unlike the earth that in most cases doesn’t get an option to prevent droughts and say in when the rains come, We are fortunate however with regards to our body having the ability to regain and remain fluid. The pivotal factor is force. Forcing the fascia is like the flash floods that follow droughts. When the ground substance of fascia has solidified there is only one manner in which the fascia can return to its desired fluid state and that is by gentle sustained pressure applied at the barrier of the restriction and held for 5 minutes or longer and never forced. This unique authentic way of healing and maintaining the fascia’s fluidity is by receiving Myofascial Release and not just any kind of Myofascial Release but the John F Barnes Approach! As a Myofascial Release therapist we are taught that the unique factor of time and patience are the factors in maintaining or returning the fascia to a fluid state. Also we are not only taught never to force but are dedication to never forcing it. I am dedicated to helping clients actually heal in this safe method and see the John Barnes’ method as the only method. The Barnes method is becoming more and more the standard of not only how I deliver health care today but how it will be the standard for all of health care in the future. So as you pick up that glass and take another drink of the vital life nutrient, water, considering picking up the phone or going on line and calling Myofascial Release and Wellness of Tampa Bay because the fluidity of your fascia depends up on it.
The below links are some additional articles further describing fascia, dehydration and myofascial release.
https://massagemag.com/massage-blog/myofascial-release/2009/04/15/pouring-water-on-a-stone/#comments