The issues in the tissues...
The idea that tissues may hold some sort of memory has become controversial topic in mainstream medicine.
During my Yin Yoga training I learned so much more about this, it all seemed to make sense of the experiences I had with clients over the years.
Many body workers and energy practitioners as well as yoga teachers and fitness instructors have, at some point in their practice, experienced moments like I did. Where our clients have a release of memory and emotion when working with the body.
I have also experienced this as a student in Yin, Restorative and Kundalini Yoga sessions.
Research has found that fascia is richly innervated with nerve endings, making it a “tissue of communication.”
Fascia , our connective tissue, has been with us from the beginning of life, when we were a tiny embryo it guided our form. It's connected to the brain and affects the nervous system, hormones and the release of vital chemicals we require within the body.
So what does "issues in the tissues" mean?
More and more people are asking me about this and trying to understand how their body's are working, talking to them and sending them messages.
Our body's, retain memories, stressful encounters, difficult emotions and traumatic events, even the thoughts and beliefs we have about ourselves, are all stored in our tissues.
The vessels we inhabit are the sum of our interactions, thought processes and emotions we have throughout our lives. We embody the way we experience and interact in our lives.
Our emotions and our memory have an effect on our fascia, and over time, these memories change the way we hold ourselves.
When I worked in healthcare, I noted how much we disconnected the mind and body, it was so far away from my own journey with autoimmunity, which was to understand the why of what was happening without layering on more medicine and more issues. The more I tried to do this the more I became unwell.
From around the age of 22 I became fascinated with the body and I was always curious to know more about how I could get better and that always led me towards helping others and understanding the deeper layers of awareness underneath the issues we all held.
In recent months this has become deeper again as I worked and understood eye movement therapy along with finding the emotional anatomy of the body. It helped me to become more aware, more compassionate, more understanding of my journey.
Think of a time where you had a physical response to something that happened to you or a maybe even "a gut feeling." Where did you feel it, were you able to fully process it or perhaps you held on to it as defence or protection?
Touch or manual therapy may “unload” the tissue, causing a change in neural input to the brain which may trigger the memory.
This mind-body connection is the link between our thoughts, attitudes, and behaviours and our physical health. I have learned through so many different modalities to understand and work with the body to support it's release, deepen awareness and allow it to come back into it's own natural flow.
I am now privileged enough to see first hand the effect of therapies and treatments such as IEMT, Reiki and root cause discussion for my clients. We begin to let go and process old emotions, memories and stories we hold, we start to understand, become more compassionate and then build a better relationship to ourselves and become ore resilient.
The famous book "the body keeps the score" is at it's essence. The body remembers and it will let you know, we just need to learn to listen.
Great article. Thank you. Always enjoy reading you. The Body Keeps the Score was an eye opener for me as is all of the work of Dr Maté.