June is my birthday month, and it seems always to be a time of year that brings me joy, pleasure, friendship, and expansive growth. I wish the same for you! I am writing to you from the gulf coast of Florida, where this morning I sit gazing into unfamiliar greenery and listening to the sounds of birds. I came here to study John F. Barnes Myofascial Release (MFR), a physical therapy technique designed to treat the whole body system of fascia that is the cocoon for muscles, tissue, fluids, vessels, nerves, bones, and more. It holds it all. It absorbs all the forces thrown our way. It is three-dimensional, alive, pliable, and constantly adjusting itself. According to John F. Barnes the fascia is “the most powerful conductor of energy in the human body”.
My goal is to immediately incorporate myofascial techniques into my yoga classes, into my Reiki practice, and into all of my client work. Why? Based on what I know from years of working on my own body, and based on what I can glean, (when I put on my fancy Academic hat!), from the research, the fascial system is a doorway into the power of the mind-body connection, offering a path into treating the nervous system along with everything else in the body to address pain, trauma, stress, tension, and structural difficulties. Rather than forcing or directing the body into various shapes or positions, MFR allows the body to move itself into the positions that it needs to express in order to find release. Every single time I have received an MFR treatment it has been a powerful healing experience with lasting effects, and as I train, I can see that myofascial release is easily accessible to anyone ready to release pain and tension.
The mind and the body are not separate. Consciousness is so intertwined with the body that one cannot be transformed without the other. Depending on the individual and depending upon the circumstances, so many things crop up during release; emotions, memories, impressions, sensations… What has cropped up for me this week are some insights about what it is possible for me to achieve through force. MFR is a gentle technique, working only in subtle ways that the body is ready for. As soon as we began our practice labs I asked another therapist to apply the maximum amount of pressure to my psoas muscle. An impulse was telling me that she was not pressing hard enough to release it. When she resisted I asked an instructor to check her work. “You may for some reason be the most comfortable with the feeling of applying the maximum amount of force,” the instructor told me, “but that is not where you will find your growth”.
“The grey zone, the healing zone, is what is uncomfortable for you. That is where all of your healing will occur”. With only light pressure being applied to my abdomen my pelvis soon began to shift and move in beautiful waves of release. Although many see me as calm and poised, at my core it is difficult for me to relax. I fill my life to the max with activities and tasks that I am passionate about: hiking, rock climbing, yoga, social work, graduate school, bodywork training, teaching, working out… In addition to the love and the enthusiasm that all of these activities fill me with, they all possess in common one essential element: an agenda. They are all part of my personal agenda to heal, to grow, to learn, to better myself, push myself, push forward. Something about the instructor's feedback hit it home for me just how much I am constantly striving.
Until I got in my car to drive to the Albuquerque airport, it never hit me how badly I was needing time away from all this striving going on in my life. Getting caught in summer rainstorms has been like a revelation. On the beach last night the sky was full of white light, Watching the sun set behind dense clouds, throwing colors into the Gulf as its light sinks down, has been magic! Although I had gone through the trouble of buying myself a plane ticket, clearing my schedule, and bringing myself here, I did not know until I arrived into this lush, humid, rainy East coast summer that I needed THIS: to be sweaty and warm, to take my shoes off, and to forget for days about my cellphone, my laptop, my goals, and my calendar. In addition to realigning my pelvis and bringing me deep relaxation, MFR has offered me an invitation to apply less pressure. I will regret it if I do not give this a fair chance, so I am going to give it a go—instead of rushing and pushing through life, maybe just to float right in the juicy spot. 'Easing up on my force' was the secret that I needed to learn on this trip. This summer I will begin playing with gentleness, not only in bodywork, but in my approach to my studies and work. No release is ever purely physical.
Love and light, Debbie SOME UPDATES ON SUMMER OFFERINGS
My autoimmune support group will be meeting again in July at The Sweaty Buddha in Durango, CO. Please contact me directly for details. This group is open to anyone with a diagnosed autoimmune condition.*
On June 17th I will be guiding a Conscious Dance practice at the Smiley Building's Interplay Studio. $10-$15 suggested donation.*
I am offering Therapeutic Movement twice in June, on Thursday June 14th and Thursday June 28th, both at 7:00PM at Studio Soma. These are small group sessions (MAX 6!) so that you can have the personalized attention that you'd get in a private session, learn about your body & mind, and go home with individualized recommendations--but for only $20.* You must pay in advance to reserve a space.
July 21st and July 22nd is my day and a half training session for Reiki Level 1 and Self Myofascial Release in Hermosa, CO. This will be an amazing offering in an amazing place! There are three levels of attendance with different prices. No one teaches Reiki combined with myofascial release the way that I am going to teach you. This can be the foundation of a practice in bodywork or Reiki... a way to deepen your practice as a nurse, therapist, or healer... or it may be something that you seek to better understand yourself and to treat your own body. Contact me directly for information. You must pay a deposit to reserve your space.
For those in Farmington, NM: I am teaching 5 classes per week at Sage Yoga Studio including Beginners' Series, Hatha Yoga, Myofascial Yoga, and Guided Meditation. Check Sage Yoga Studio's website for schedule and details.
*For everything marked with an asterisk, an event listing exists on Facebook.