Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/68165
that holds all the bones, organs, and joints within its embrace as well. Even so, within this unified singularity, we can see these functional meridians within the fascia. Let us examine this brand-new evidence for an alternative way of viewing how muscles function together second by second to stabilize and facilitate movement in a real body. Here we see two muscles before dissection, so that you can see the fascial "fuzz" (as we affectionately call it) between the two muscles. Is that fuzz long enough and free enough for the muscles to function separately? Here lies a central tenet of fascial and myofascial work. Trains. Many more of these new dissections showing fascial connections are available via www.anatomytrains.com, in the 2nd edition of the Anatomy Trains book (Elsevier 2009), and in video form on an upcoming (January 2010) DVD detailing these and other dissections. Thomas Myers is the founder of Anatomy Author note: thanks to Massage & Bodywork for agreeing to publish this new work. Deepest thanks to master dissector Todd Garcia for his patience and skill in realizing my conception. Thanks to photographers Ev Lehan and David Lesondak for documenting it. And thanks to you for taking the time to have a look at this difficult, but informative avenue of exploration. Here we are looking sideways at the tissue around the heart—the pericardium and mediastinal fascia that form part of the visceral bags holding the organs. In this case, the ribs have been clipped off the sternum and the sternum lifted a little so you can see the graceful connections from the back of the breast bone to the bag in which the heart is housed. nerve NOTES 1. Thomas Myers, Anatomy Trains: Myofascial Meridians for Manual and Movement Therapists (Elsevier 2001, 2009), and more information, including a DVD of these dissections, at www.anatomytrains.com. 2. Such a show, in modern garb and brilliantly done, but still controversial, can be found in Dr. John Lee's and Gunther Von Hagens's Anatomy for Beginners DVD set (www.amazon/live-autopsy- anatomy-beginnings-worlds/dp/B0014DEF44). 3. See an amazing video of structure at the cellular level in this animation by the folks at Harvard: www.studiodaily.com/main/searchlist/6850.html vein artery 4. www.gilhedley.com. 5. www.kenthealth.com. Here we see a detail of the intermuscular septum (visible in the middle of the upper images on page 38), which runs between the biceps and the triceps, including the neurovascular bundle going out to the arm. The nerves and vessels may be delicate, but the fascial sheath itself is very strong. A few minutes after this picture was taken, we were able to lift the dead weight (sorry) of the cadaver by this one strap of fascia without tearing it. connect with your colleagues on massageprofessionals.com 43