Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/1102144
Ta k e 5 a n d t r y A B M P F i v e - M i n u t e M u s c l e s a t w w w. a b m p . c o m / f i v e - m i n u t e - m u s c l e s . 85 An entirely new line of study, pioneered by Donald Ingber, MD, explores tensegrity at the cellular level, where it is absolutely clear that each cell is "Velcroed" into the fascial net as transmembranous proteins hook the cell to the extracellular matrix. Each cell responds to not only its chemical milieu, but also to its mechanical surroundings. 19 Structural integration 2.0 posits that the general improvements in health we see from structural integration come from numerous body cells fi nding themselves in their happy mechanical place and starting to function without excess tensional stress, as originally designed. But passive manipulation on the table that characterized the original iteration of structural integration is not enough, if the client does not change their movement patterns when they get off the table. The 21st century has plunged us into an inactivity crisis. Structural integration 2.0 values personal and athletic training, working hand in glove with whole-body inclusion methods like yoga and whole- body exercise methods such as martial arts and Pilates (among many tone-restoring trainings). A lot of us have trouble moving enough or moving correctly, just as many of us have trouble staying still, so let us include meditation among the somatic disciplines that regulate cellular health. The vital role that nourishing movement plays in our health—from deep epigenetic changes right on out to better communication—is being shown in study after study. 20 This line of inquiry links structural integration to fi tness training and rehabilitation. 4. Fascia as a Sense Organ: Interoception Another line of research that has proceeded apace since Ida Rolf formed her theories is interoception. We now know that fascia is the richest sensory organ we have, with 100,000,000 sensory endings distributed throughout the body. 21 The brain is intensely interested in what is happening in the fascial system and gets regular (and mostly below-the- conscious-level) signals about the pressure and tension in the whole system. These receptors inform the brain how all the sheets and strings of fascia are stretched, pressured, twisted, vibrated, and sheared relative to all nearby structures. Mixed in with these nerves that tell you where you are (proprioceptors— spindles and such) are nerves that tell you how you feel—interoceptors. Interoceptive endings go to a very motivational part of the brain—the part that makes you wipe your brow, heave a sigh, open the fridge, or look for a bathroom. Messages from your guts are interoceptive, but so is the feeling that makes you shift your seat at work every once in a while. It is not pain, exactly, but it does motivate you. (And, of course, pain is also experienced through these sensory nerves. The source and progression of nociceptive signals is another area of intense study, with the biopsychosocial model and other studies indicating increased roles for the central nervous system in pain processing.) Put it all together to see the cycle: the brain listens to the fascial proprio- and interoceptors, weighs that data against previous experience, blends it with the observed world, and produces its best shot at a motor response out to the muscles. The muscles are thus tensed or relaxed in either a temporary pattern (for a task), or in a more lasting set to the muscles—seen in the everyday world as posture. This postural set in the musculature then acts on the skeleton in gravity, and the passive fascial system does its best to manage (through remodeling) the forces created by our activity in gravity, working within the limits of the system's raw materials. 22 Structural integration interrupts this cycle by reawakening the body's sense of itself, requiring "numb" places to sit up and take notice. These days, our customers often have less regulated autonomic systems, stuck in fi ght or fl ight in its various expressions. We help them toward becoming more centered and self-regulated, with resulting health in emotional expression and management. When it is more fully known, this line of inquiry, however, will link structural integration to psychology, psychophysiology, and psychoneuroimmunology. 5. Structural Integration 2.0 Seeks Integration of Extrinsic and Intrinsic Movement We need to understand how our extrinsic movement (everyday or athletic contraction of the striated muscles) builds on intrinsic movement (the physiologic movement of the cells and smooth muscle fi bers). In the embryo, the organism does only intrinsic movement—cell division and cell migration—as the organism multiplies and grows. The fi rst twitching of the voluntary muscles happens later and is usually felt by the mother as the "quickening." Structural integration 2.0 posits that the general improvements in health we see from structural integration come from numerous body cells fi nding themselves in their happy mechanical place and starting to function without excess tensional stress, as originally designed.