“We can see all the beauties of life on exhibition by that great power with which fascia is endowed. The soul of man with all the streams of pure living water seems to dwell in the fascia of his body.”
- A. T. Still, developer of osteopathy in Philosophy of Osteopathy, 1899
When I first heard this quote, I didn’t get it. How can Still equate fascia and soul? My work with the energy/fascial matrix has shown me the wisdom in Still’s words.
There is a natural progression in manual therapy from the gross to the subtle, from the fascial matrix to the energy matrix, from working on someone to working with someone, from overcoming resistance to establishing trust. As one learns to listen to the fascia, a whole new world of subtle rhythms and forces is revealed.
Fascia is soft tissue. It can be likened to a laminated sheath that surrounds everything in the body, from the smallest nerve and muscle fiber to the largest bone, muscle and organ. If we could remove everything from the body except for the fascia, we would be left with a there-dimensional matrix much like the three-dimensional, computer-generated images we see in sci-fi movies. Fascia not only binds and supports, it is also a primary communication channel in the body. In ancient Chinese texts there are allusions to qi (energy) moving through the fascia. I use the term “energy/fascial matrix” to refer to this close correlation between fascia and energy.
Effective bodywork enhances the balance and flow of energy. Effective energy work enhances tissue quality. Energy Integration was developed to unite bodywork and energy work, allowing therapists to effectively work with this energy/fascial matrix. Energy Integration provides a step-by-step introduction to energy work and its integration into bodywork.