Today’s blog is the last of the Spirit of Organs series where I’ve been exploring the major organ systems across all levels of our body matrix: physical, energetic, emotional, ancestral and spiritual. Today I’ll be covering the body’s largest organ system called fascia and how it integrates our entire body matrix using the practice of Consciousness Medicine.
Fascia is made up of sheets of connective tissue located just below the skin. It surrounds and holds every organ, blood vessel, nerve fibre and muscle in place. In addition to its role in the physical body, fascia also holds emotions, transmits energy and stores ancestral trauma. It holds our life story and communicates important messages for healing. When we learn to listen to its messages we will be guided to places deep within that are calling out for attention, clearing, and support.
There are four main classifications to fascia: superficial which is found directly under the skin; deep fascia which surrounds bones, muscles, nerves and blood vessels; visceral fascia which surrounds organ cavities like the abdomen, lungs and heart; and parietal fascia in the pelvic region.
From the physical perspective fascia provides structure and support throughout the body. It holds muscles together allowing them to contract and stretch. It provides a smooth surface for muscles, joints and organs to slide against each other without creating friction or tears.
We cannot live without our fascia, since it is a kind of netting that works against gravity to keep everything in its place. Without it the fluids within us would end up at our feet, the organs would slosh together and become damaged and our muscles would turn to mush.
The main way our fascia communicates to us is through physical pain. Pain is a great indicator that we need healing. We all have experienced a physical wound and the pain that goes along with it. Fascia pain also communicates emotional, energetic and ancestral disturbances in our system. The worse it is, the deeper the issue. The more chronic it is, the more widespread it is across the body matrix.
Our fascia is communicating with us to help us heal. When we repress emotions, ignore past trauma or push through stress we are imprinting our fascia along the way. Our body never forgets the past. And if you don’t consciously work to clear old emotions, ties to the past, stored trauma, release ancestral entanglements or reduce stress then these imprints will build up over time across our fascia causing a reduction in elasticity which will lead to inflammation, pain, fatigue and restricted movement.
When this happens, you might get some relief from a massage or physical therapy, but without looking at the deeper imprints stored in your fascial layers, you will never free yourself from that pain.
For example, low back pain is a sign of a lack of support, carrying the ancestral burden, or past trauma that happened in that region of the body. Neck pain is associated with birth trauma, lack of owning your right to exist or old injuries such as whiplash. Joint pain is associated with fear of moving forward. Shoulder pain or lack of mobility such as a frozen shoulder indicates having shut down the ability to receive due to old hurts and a disruption in the connection to the life given to you by your mother. Poor posture of the upper back and the pain associated is an indication of unresolved heartbreak and results in armouring for protection. Unresolved grief or trauma can affect the entire body creating pain like that experienced with fibromyalgia or lack of mobility like MS or Parkinson’s.
Our body gives us so much information and the fascia takes the lead of that communication centre. When the pain is present then the issue has permeated all the other elements of the body matrix. Most people seek help after they have been in physical pain for quite some time. This breaks my heart, since if they had sought help when the pain started they would have a much easier time and stack the deck in their favour for full recovery.
Pain is an indicator that something isn’t working and needs to be changed. This is where a holistic approach and lifestyle analysis are essential for a successful treatment. For example, I see people who have surgery to correct an issue or go on pain medication to feel better and continue on in their life as before. This may take care of the symptoms at the moment, but unless the deeper issues are addressed, the issue will reappear somewhere else. Like a blocked pipe that is leaking. If you fix the leak without addressing the block it will just leak elsewhere as the pressure builds.
The take-home message here is that when injury, pain or illness happens this is your body’s way of letting you know the current way of being isn’t working and something needs to be changed. Otherwise, the issue will continue to escalate until it becomes chronic, irreversible or life-threatening.
Catching it early is the best way to have a successful treatment outcome. In order to do this we must really be tuned into our bodies and not ignore the signals it is giving. The body will continue to give these signals, progressively becoming louder and louder until it reaches a breaking point.
Take a moment to reflect on what your body is trying to tell you through patterns of pain, tension or injury. When you get sick with the cold or flu what part of your body is usually affected? Are you prone to sore throats, chest colds, or sinus infections? These indicate areas of weakness in your body. And even if you get sick once a year with these, it is still a good idea to be aware of this and work toward strengthening it.
On a purely physical level, you can keep your fascia healthy, strong and pliable with diet, supplements, regular exercise and stress reduction. Supplements like B12 are great for supporting the fascia’s resilience and elasticity. If you are prone to inflammation due to an auto-immune condition for example, it is important to be aware of reducing the intake of foods that cause inflammation such as sugar, saturated fat wheat and processed foods. Omega 3 is great for helping keep inflammation down as well as giving the body the essential fatty acids it needs to function properly. Like oil to the tin man, it lubes the system.
Eating a diet rich in antioxidants or taking supplements for this is a great way to support your fascia. Antioxidants help clean up free radicals in the body that can cause toxicity, inflammation and even DNA damage. Staying hydrated is key in supporting fascia as it can become dried out and brittle which worsens conditions like myofascial pain syndrome.
Regular exercise is a great way to keep your fascia functioning optimally. Bouncing movements such as hopping, skipping and burpees boost the elastic capacity of the fascia. Exercise is also a great way to reduce stress, which is one of the biggest culprits for destroying healthy fascia. When this connective tissue is kept healthy it promotes health in everything it touches.
Once the physical body is well supported, looking at the deeper components stored in the fascia becomes more accessible and easier to release.
Emotions are stored in the fascia because our response to them is through the soft tissue and organ systems the fascia supports. For example, physical trauma causes the body to tense or become injured which can become imprinted in the facial layers. I see this with clients who have experienced sexual abuse in the past and have chronic pelvic floor pain that may not have any medical explanation, for example. The trauma has been stored in the fascia in the area and the pain is an indicator that it is ready to be addressed and released. Another example is if someone suffered the loss of a parent as a child and was not able to grieve completely and later develops pain in the fascia of the ribs, diaphragm, or shoulders.
Overwhelming emotions will have a negative effect on the organs of the body too. For example: anger will stress out the liver, unresolved grief will affect the lungs, and chronic anxiety will weaken the heart. The fascia will try to hold space for this stress and will store both the emotional and physical imprint weakening it.
From the energy body perspective, fascia stores kinetic energy as potential energy. These are the subatomic vibrational frequencies within us. The amount of energy the fascia holds will be directly proportional to the amount of life force energy available to a person. Life force energy supports our consciousness and is the template our physical body is built upon. Our access to this eternal supply of pure frequency energy is gifted to us at birth by our parents. Which connects us to our family soul, the collective energy the ancestral past holds.
If we are carrying the ancestral burden, and have unresolved emotions or scars in our energetic body then our life force energy becomes diminished. Our fascia will mirror this and as it weakens so does our ability to hold full life force energy across our entire body matrix. This will weaken our ability to manifest the life we want and bring forward a tendency to replay the old pattern of hurt and pain.
The weak points of the fascia will begin to communicate with us about where we need to focus on healing, self-care or making positive changes in our lives. These messages are transmitted long before an issue becomes serious. If we only stop, tune in and listen. Rather than push through the pain, I encourage you to take a moment to reflect on what your body is trying to tell you. And seek treatment early rather than waiting until it gets bad enough that it diminishes your quality of life.
This is self-care maintenance. When done well you will set yourself up for a longer, healthier and happier life. For example, don’t wait until your back hurts before you get a massage. Schedule regular bodywork sessions or take up an activity that allows for strengthening and stretching like Pilates for example. Rather than calling a counsellor when you are at rock bottom, schedule regular positive mental health activities which can include therapy sessions, time in nature, connection with like-minded people or exercise to stay in balance. Attend a healing workshop, retreat or course in something you’re interested in like consciousness medicine or family constellations, like what I offer.
If you get a sense that what you are experiencing has a deeper connection, seek out the support you need on a 1:1 basis from a practitioner who takes a holistic approach, such as myself. The sooner you get treatment for what ails you the less of a long-term impact it will have on you and the sooner you can create a happy, healthy, pain-free and full abundant life.
So take a moment to be grateful to your fascia for holding you together day in and day out. As you bring the frequency of gratitude in, you will be able to hear the messages it has for you more clearly. And act from a place of self-love to address the things that weaken you and bring forward your full strength and self-empowerment.
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