LET'S TALK FASCIA

In order to get a good understanding of how Structural Integration works let me give you an understanding of fascia. Fascia is your connective tissue made up of collagen. It's the tough strong tissue called the Myofascial system and matrix. Connective tissue is truly fundamental in all living beings because it is composed of mesoderm, one of the earliest stages of cell differentiation of the fertilized ovum. In fact, the first tissue fiber to develop is connective tissue. Muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones, and cartilage all have varying amounts of connective tissue.

What is does:
- Holds muscle to bone
- Holds bone to bone
- Surrounds the viscera and protects the organs
- The medium in which the immune system travels around the body
- Support network for blood vessels, lymph system and nerves
- Surrounds every muscle, bundle of muscles and every fiber.

"There is no tissue in the body that is as ubiquitous as connective tissue, and as it migrates and develops in various forms in various locations, its "connective" qualities cannot be overstated. It binds specific cells into tissue, tissue into organs, organs into systems, cements muscle to bone, ties bones to joints, wraps every nerve and every vessel, laces all internal structures firmly into place, and envelopes the body as a whole. And all these linings, wrappings, cables, and, moorings it is a continuous substance, and every single part of the body is connected to every other part by virtue of its network; every part of us is in its embrace." - Deane Juhan, Jobe's Body

Fascia is your connective tissue and is the medium in which structural integration plays. Connective tissue has multiple layers that are continuous throughout the whole body. It is your organ of support and structure and it is what holds you together in space and in gravity. It can be as strong as steel or transparent as glass, depending on its function in a particular area.

Patterns in our bodies are able to develop because muscle and connective tissue have a memory. There are nerves that allow connective tissue and muscle to remember called propriocepter nerves. Because of the memory, the chronic shortening of a muscle can go unnoticed for many years, until it causes discomfort in our body and our way of life. It is these patterns that are addressed in the educational, as well as the manipulative facets of Structural Integration work.