Fascia - The Modern Cinderella

Once upon a time, there was ‘stuff’ that nobody understood, and it was therefore blissfully ignored in favor of its neighbors which were open to inspection and let everybody know what they were doing.

That ‘stuff’ is fascia, and its very substance gives our bodies structure and stability. Fascia surrounds every bone, every muscle, and every organ. It connects the heel to the skull in long myofascial lines. It creates slings and stirrups, and it is insinuated in the nursery rhyme ‘Dem Bones’. It double-bags the viscera and thereby reinforces the protective structure of our core muscles.

Thomas Myers has recently called the research into fascia a Cinderella story, but it certainly appears that Prince Charming is on its way with the glass slipper. Gil Hedley has an absolutely fascinating set of DVDs called ‘The Integral Anatomy Series’ in which he beautifully demonstrates the prevalence of fascia and how it interconnects every facts of body function. These DVDs are dissections of human forms, and they are done with such reverence towards the donor and the family who are behind this form that – for me – it quieted any concerns I may have had about watching it.

Watching the DVDs has opened my eyes to a completely different world of anatomy where nothing exists independently, and while I cherish my anatomy books that create such a sanitized version, where everything has a clearly defined beginning and a clearly defined end, I now marvel in the realization that any action in any part of my body may have an impact on some place seemingly distant, yet connected through fascia.