Stop it Therapy, We can Train the Brain 

Everyday I see people transform with Myofascial Release. MFR is a therapy that was created by John Barnes, an orthopedic physical therapist that developed the technique while working with his own personal injury. So much of what we are taught stems from a cerebral understanding of the parts. After John Barnes had years of training he had all the knowledge down, and when he was injured he discovered that what he thought the body needed was not actually what his body needed. He was weight lifting and compressed his lumbar vertebrae, he was laid out on the floor unable to move. He put his hands on his back, and out of sheer necessity, he began to touch himself gently, with a sustained pressure that didn’t push past his resistance or his pain tolerance. He was able to heal his own body by listening and gently touching with a sustained amount of pressure giving the tissue the time it needed to unwind.

At the time, many treatments focused on muscle-related pain, but Barnes recognized that the fascia could also become a major source of pain and dysfunction. He observed that when fascia becomes restricted, it could create a “bind” in the tissue, leading to pain, stiffness, and limited movement. Barnes’s approach was groundbreaking in that he proposed that fascial restrictions could be released not through aggressive force, but by applying gentle, sustained pressure to the affected areas. This idea was revolutionary because it challenged the conventional wisdom of using deep pressure and vigorous manipulation to release tight tissues.

Many healing modalities have come from the healer’s need, from their very real healing crisis. A new client came in to see me yesterday and said I must not fear death since I’ve had a death experience. Although that would be such an incredible win, to not have fear… I laughed a little and said “fear is still a visitor, and still comes to visit often. And roughly quoted Nelson Mandela, who once said courage is not the absence of fear, it’s feeling the fear and standing up, and doing it anyway. When I was young breathing was difficult for me, and still can be triggering. After having the drowning experience, I felt a pressure and load on my chest. I remember swimming off the boat at Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho’s deepest lake. The water was so deep and it would press against my chest and inhaling didn’t seem to be the hard part, it was the exhale. The letting go was so scary, my body could viscerally remember when I couldn’t get my next breath. Maybe it was faced with that feeling of death every time I had to let go of my outbreath. Still, the experience of becoming empty and the internal walls of my lungs closing in on each other especially if I try to extend my exhale and really get all the breath out elicits a sense of uh-oh, if I am paying attention and attuned to the subtleties of my inner workings.

I have a client who has been having anxiety attacks, panic attacks, they started happening after her mother died and she attributes the anxiety to her fear of death. She feels afraid often, and although her fears vary depending upon what she goes through, she was a very small girl when she was young. She was treated in a way that made her afraid of being picked on, or hurt by the bigger bullies that let her know how small she was. She made sure she got straight A’s all through school to please her parents. Her father was always berrading her about the one A-. Picking on her when she wasn’t exactly perfect, and over her life she’s developed her own self sabotaging dialogue. She stays up in bed at night picking apart the fun time she had at a party and she starts wondering how the people may have been thinking bad thoughts about her. As she analyses in a preemptive attempt to protect herself, she starts to deconstruct her own sense of security, of likability and she is left suffering. The anxiety ball winds up a little tighter. She was criticized when she was little, and as she grew into her womanhood she took on that job. She is still critical, she is also very mental, and mostly stays in a place of evaluation and judgement, it’s hard for her to listen to her body, to let go and she stays in her head. She has aspects of her body she’d like to change and has not motivated to do exercise because she judges herself for not being good at it and for how others might judge her. So she hasn’t been doing it. She’s at a great time in life, the transition into retirement. She enjoys having the time and also feels restless and idle. 

When we work together we turn attention towards her body, the internal landscape as we center and base in the sensations of her tissues. I call her attention back to what she notices in this current time. The mind has a habit of remaining busy. Imaginations of being out in the world producing, or wondering what is wrong, or what we can do better. When we notice our breath, our body in this position, the sensations we can be aware of and from this perspective root into the now, present in what is real, what we can sense, observe, touch. This time is so powerful because it gives us access to notice the mind as well, and watch instead of identifying with the thoughts & feelings. From this place we can begin to see what is happening, and from a place of equanimity we can make better choices. From this place we can decide and choose to relate to our experience from a place of acceptance and love. We can hold space for our anxiety and not identify with it. We can hold compassion for ourselves and we can let go of holding so tightly to what no longer serves us. There is a great skit from Bob Newart called Stop it Therapy. It’s on YouTube. The simplest most effective coaching, stop it. In order to change our behaviors we have to notice, and then stop it. That simple. 

When we have a complex body with intricate connections of sensations, thoughts and feelings it can be a lot to navigate. Having an experienced guide is essential to quick swift change and transformation. We have developed over time many habits and patterns in movement, standing, sitting, working that can create dysfunction. Fascia can become bound from trauma, injury, stress, repetitive negative emotions, mental and behavioral patterns. It’s important to release fascial restrictions and to retrain the body to sustain lasting relaxation and ease. 

Angela Rose is a Myofascial Release Therapist and an Injury Specialist. She works at Sol Bodyworks in Grass Valley. She treats people who have chronic pain patterns, those recovering from injury, surgery, and those who highly value having a quality life experience and want to discover more ease, pleasure and joy in their lives. She helps you get out of pain and back to doing what you love.