It was my third visit to a doctor in three months.
One doc was recommending surgery for my chronic plantar fasciitis pain. At the same time, I was considering a hysterectomy to relieve the painful symptoms of fibroids and hormonal imbalances, while a holistic doctor was suspicious that my insomnia and digestive issues were a result of radiation poisoning from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear event. Mama Mia. Right?
I was in pain from head to toe, literally. I had exercise-induced migraine headaches, stiffness in my joints, crummy digestive issues, insomnia and I was notably cranky. Ask my husband. He’ll tell ya.
My world got smaller. I stopped teaching fitness classes. No more running. I barely walked the dog. I didn’t feel like being social. I wasn't myself and I was desperate to stop feeling scared about these body-wide health concerns.
I’ll never forget the day that I purged my health worries onto a chiropractor. What I learned about my body that day changed my relationship with my pain and my health. It changed my relationship with you, too.
I can still hear him say, “It’s your fascia.”
I had no idea what fascia was? Never heard of it. I'd been studying anatomy for over 20 years.
Instead of giving me a verbal answer, he asked me to bend forward and assess how far I could flex my spine.
With my arms hanging down from my shoulders, I could barely reach my knees. My hamstrings and low back felt so tight I thought something was gonna snap.
Then he asked me to stand on spikey massage balls for a minute and then re-assess my spinal flexion.
When I re-assessed, I could not believe that my hands reached all the way to the floor. My hamstrings and back felt supple. My whole body relaxed into itself.
Incredulously, I asked, “what just happened?”
He said, again, "It’s your fascia."
What is that? And, why aren’t we telling everyone about it? Everyone should know that they can help the body heal without expensive therapies, painful surgeries, and drugs.
You can turn on your body's innate ability to heal and stay well by taking care of the biggest little secret to wellness, fascia.
Twelve years later, I’m still fascinated by fascia. Twelve years later, I’m still sharing what I know with you.
The simple answers to your health concerns may be held within your fascia. When your fascia is unhealthy, as mine was twelve years ago, your organs struggle perform and your joints ache. Your muscles stiffen and sleep is a memory. You can't think and you'll do anything to feel better.
I knew intuitively, when I stepped onto those spikey massage balls that the missing link to wellness was this mysterious fascial system. Fascia is a fluid-based filament matrix that connects with and communicates to every single organ, tendon, ligament, bone and muscle. It connects every cell.
I want you to think about how you feel. Ask yourself to notice body pain, digestive upset, chronic health concerns, poor sleep patterns, headaches, and brain fog. Connect the dots and you'll see, as I did, that these health concerns are all related to the same root cause.
What is the organ that connects everything to everything else?
It's your fascia.
Care for your fascia and you’ll open the door to healing every single system, every single cell.
Big hugs,
Wendy