If you’ve been around That’s the Rub for very long, you’ve probably heard us talk about fascia.
And if you’ve worked with me, you’ve definitely heard me talk about it. Grin.
Fascia is connective tissue that creates a continuous network throughout the body. It surrounds and connects muscles, bones, organs and other structures. It helps transfer force, contributes to how we sense movement and position, and plays a role in how we experience what is happening within our bodies.
But what fascinates me most about fascia isn’t simply what it is.
It’s how beautifully adaptable it is.
Your body is constantly responding to the life you’re actually living.
Sit in the same position for hours every day? Your body gets really good at sitting there.
Move through the same handful of patterns? Your body learns those patterns.
Spend weeks clenching your jaw, lifting your shoulders or bracing your glutes because life has been...well, life?
Your body notices that too.
None of this means your body is doing something wrong.
It means your body is doing exactly what bodies do: adapting.
Our bodies are constantly working toward homeostasis—maintaining the internal conditions necessary to keep us functioning while adjusting to everything happening around us.
And maintaining function doesn't necessarily mean maintaining comfort.
Your body may recruit other muscles, change the way you stand or walk, restrict movement or create tension around an area that feels like it needs a little more protection.
Sometimes those adaptations become so familiar that we don't even notice them.
Until the hip hurts.
Or the shoulder doesn't move quite as freely.
Or the neck starts complaining every time you turn your head.
Instead of immediately asking, “What's wrong with me?” I think there's a much more interesting question:
What other options can we give your body?
Massage Can Change the Conversation
Massage is one way we can begin exploring that question.
Touch, pressure and movement provide sensory information to the nervous system while bringing our awareness to areas of the body we may not have been paying much attention to.
Sometimes that creates a really interesting experience.
My hip hurts occasionally. I'll mention it during my intake and tell my therapist where I've been feeling it. Then I get on the table, and they begin working, moving and exploring the area to see what we find.
And sometimes...nothing.
No pain.
No tender spot.
Nothing somewhere else that makes me say, “THERE IT IS!”
The hip that was definitely hurting before the massage simply isn't hurting anymore.
I'd love to tell you that happens every time. It doesn't.
But when it does, I'm reminded of something I tell my clients all the time:
Sometimes the body gets caught up in its own stories and forgets to let go.
That's not meant as a literal scientific explanation. It's the language I use to describe something we see in the treatment room all the time.
Our nervous systems are constantly gathering information and making decisions about movement, tension, comfort and protection. Protection is important. Keeping us alive is, after all, pretty high on the body's priority list.
But sometimes the information changes.
Massage gives us an opportunity to offer different input through touch, pressure, movement, increased circulation and awareness.
Maybe nothing changes.
Maybe something does.
Either way, we're paying attention.
If your body has been getting your attention lately, schedule a massage and give us something to explore together.
And join me in the next article, where we'll take this conversation off the massage table and explore how movement can give your body even more options.
That’s the Rub,
Lisa
