Myofascial release is a deep-tissue work whose focus is to relieve pain, resolve structural dysfunction, and improve function, mobility, and posture. “Myofascia” refers to the combined anatomical system of muscles (“myo”) and fascia. Fascia is a continuous web of connective tissue found throughout the entire body, It surrounds every muscle, nerve, blood vessel, and organ, and holds all these structures together, giving them their shape, offering support and interconnecting the body as a whole.
Myofascial release has its roots in Connective Tissue
Massage (Bindegewebsmassage) which was developed by Elizabeth Dicke who lived
in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s. This work consisted of light strokes whose theoretical purpose was to
improve circulation in subcutaneous connective tissue, resulting in reflex
action to other parts of the body, including visceral organs.
The term “myofascial release” was coined by Robert Ward, DO,
(Doctor of Osteopathy) in the 1960s. John Barnes, PT, (Physical Therapist)
adopted the term as designation for his method of freeing fascial restriction,
and this is a popular form of myofascial therapy practiced today.
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| Myofascial Release to the Lower Ribcage |
Another important figure in the development of myofascial therapies, and someone whose work more directly influences my own, was Ida Rolf, PhD who taught in the 1960s and 1970s. Dr. Rolf developed a ten-session series of work that she called Structural Integration and that later was trademarked as RolfingTM. Dr. Rolf was very influenced by osteopathic manipulation; through her ten-session series, she sought to re-establish vertical alignment in the body by manipulating fascial layers. I studied this work in 2002-2003 at the CORETM Institute with George Kousaleos and, upon certification, I continued my education, studying with Certified Advanced Rolfer Liz Gaggini and also studying with KMI/Anatomy Trains faculty (Tom Myers, James Earls, and Simone Lindner).
Simone Lindner, while still maintaining a busy teaching
schedule with KMI, is currently serving on our faculty in the Sports Medicine
Acupuncture Certification Program, where she teaches Anatomy Trains principles
in the Fascial Release for Myofascial Meridians (FRMM) course. This has been an
extremely rewarding experience, as I teach in the Anatomy, Palpation and
Cadaver Lab in a two-day course prior to the FRMM course, where I lecture on
the sinew channels discussed in the Chinese meridian system. These have much
crossover with the anatomy discussed in the anatomy trains system.
After my class, Simone then teaches fascial release
techniques to work with these lines to restore structural balance. I assist
with this class and occasionally help relate this information into TCM language
more familiar to acupuncturists. This has been a tremendous amount of fun and a
very educational experience for me personally, as well as for class
participants. Matt Callison (the director of SMAC) and I then follow up and review
some of these techniques in the Assessment and Treatment class, which usually takes
place about a month later. In this class we teach assessment of injuries and
conditions and using the assessment results to build treatment protocols,
primarily geared around acupuncture, but also prominently featuring myofascial
release techniques.
Much of this work, in addition to work from other Structural
Integration practitioners (my original teacher, George Kousaleos, and a current
influence of mine, Advance Rolfer Til Luchau) has made its way into a course I am teaching at
East West College of Natural Medicine. I teach many classes there, including
Anatomy and Physiology, Orthopedic Evaluation, and Acupoint Anatomy, but more
and more I have been teaching myofascial release techniques as part of the
Tuina curriculum. The goal is to make this work accessible to acupuncture
physicians in training so that they can improve the therapeutic outcome of
their treatments and more deeply understand the sinew channels and how they
relate to global strain patterns. To see more on this, visit my past blog post
Teaching and Tuina.
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