Have you noticed those big hard foam rollers popping up from the baskets in the yoga studio over there near the blankets and blocks? Occasionally you'll see someone grab one and start rolling around on it as a precursor to yoga class. I've noticed it doesn't look very comfortable and my preferred warm up is a good long Child's Pose. I try to ignore the over-achievers whilst burying my face in my mat and taking a short nap...
But one day, in a small class led by Karen, there was the suggestion we all grab a roller and "work on our fascia". Huh? Which body part is a fascia? Is it connected to the thigh bone? The ankle bone? Oh well, a dutiful follower of instructions, I grabbed a roller and headed back to my mat.
Fascia is the fibrous tissue stuff that surrounds all our muscles and organs. Here's a gross photo that illustrates this perfectly (think chicken leg, not human body, if that helps).It acts sort of like a rubber band in that it helps pull he muscles back into place after being elongated. Stretch and "bo-ing" back into its original spot. But sometimes an injury will occur and the springing back action will get sort of bunched up, fascia thickening, causing the body to hold onto the injury and not being able to move freely. Chronic pain is often due to a build up of thickened fascia and scar tissue. What to do?
Thin the bunched up fascia by stretching it! How to break down the bunched up spots and stretch it? Massage therapists do it and...those rollers!!! Yay! You will be happy to know that the fascia is not connected to our nervous system, so no pain receptors are located there. But keep in mind the fascia is covering our muscles which protest loudly when poked, prodded, and rolled upon too vigorously. Take it easy. Find a foam roller that has at least a little give to it. (Some are hard as cement, in my limited experience!)
In class we rolled around on those foam tubes for over an hour -- hips, thighs, calves, buttocks, back, arms... I truly hated it at first. It was a little hurt-y and my judge-y brain was yelling all kinds of "This is dumb!" insults at my body. But then I told myself to shut up and just be in the moment. I adjusted when it hurt too much and loved when it felt amazing. The only moment that truly concerned me was when we were doing upper back and my hoody got caught under the roller and and pulled my shirt taut, nearly choking me to death, but that was a wardrobe malfunction rather than any problem with the body work.
By the end of class, I was a believer. Rolling around on those foam things helps create stretchy, healthy fascia which allows us greater flexibility, improved posture, moves lymph, and clears out toxins. And you don't even break a sweat! No crazy pretzel poses to learn and hold!
Try it! You'll like it!
Namaste, donnajurene
Footnotes/Resources/Pictures of how to do it:
No comments:
Post a Comment