Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/70551
COMBINING THE INTELLECTUAL AND CREATIVE MIND What we usually call consciousness is, in effect, the sleep of daily life. We go through the motions of life in a daze. We are on automatic pilot through habitual patterns that cripple us and keep us from healing and functioning at our maximum level. Viewing ourselves as "thinking brains"—whose job it is to fi gure our way through life—has mesmerized us. In fact, we are "feeling minds" who perceive sensory information through the microtubules of the myofascial system into our "computer," the brain. The brain converts this information into symbols (words and thoughts), and then sends information (energy) through the nervous system, converting these symbols into action. Our intellectual side is an important but tiny part of our mind-body awareness and wisdom. Neuroscientists estimate that our mind-body wisdom's database outperforms the intellectual, linear side on an order exceeding 10 million to one. Science, traditional therapy, and medicine have focused on the smallest part of who we are. The aim of my work is to include all aspects of our mind- body's creative healing potential. DEEPER, LONGER-LASTING RESULTS This approach to the body is not intended to replace all the valuable massage and bodywork techniques you are currently using. It is an added dimension. Other forms of massage, bodywork, and the older, more aggressive and painful form of myofascial release do not stop at the fascial barrier—that is, at the point where the client feels resistance to the stretch—and the stretch is not held long enough at the barriers. They don't engage the collagenous barrier long enough. Gentle, sustained pressure of 3–5 minutes at these barriers gives restrictions time to release and provides enough time for the piezoelectric phenomenon to occur. The ancient Greeks described collagen as the "glue producer," and this is the feeling one perceives during myofascial release. As the release occurs, it feels like glue stretching. The therapist follows this sensation with sensitive hands as it twists and turns, barrier through barrier, until an increased range of motion is accomplished. In addition to increases in range of motion, the enormous pressure on the fascial restrictions are eliminated from pain-sensitive structures, alleviating symptoms and restoring the quantity and quality of motion as well as our bodies' ability to absorb shock. The effectiveness of releasing the fascia can be understood by viewing the fascia as a handle or lever that seems to profoundly infl uence the Golgi tendon organs, the lymphatic and circulatory systems, the muscular component of spindle cells, and the position of osseous structures, as well as all the organs of the body and the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems. Health care is undergoing a massive shift, and you and I are the pioneers of an exciting change that will lead to a higher quality of care. While I certainly would not have chosen all the pain I had to endure, I now realize it was nature's way of helping me look deeper into myself. That trauma, so long ago, initiated a journey. This fascinating "inner journey" continues even today to take me to a deeper level of consciousness. John F. Barnes, PT, LMT, NCTMB, is an international lecturer, author, and expert in the area of myofascial release. He has instructed more than 75,000 therapists worldwide in his Myofascial Release Approach, and he is the author of Myofascial Release: the Search for Excellence (Rehabilitation Services, Inc., 1990) and Healing Ancient Wounds: the Renegade's Wisdom (Myofascial Release Treatment Centers & Seminars, 2000). He is an advisor for the American Back Society and is also a member of the American Physical Therapy Association. For more information, visit www.myofascialrelease.com. Celebrate ABMP's 25th anniversary and you may win a refund on your membership. ABMP.com. 93