DailyOM: Hi, Erin! Fascia stretching might be a new concept for our students. Can you elaborate on what exactly fascia is? How is the course different from traditional stretching?
Erin Tietz: Absolutely! I love talking about fascia. Fascia is connective tissue in the body. It's literally everywhere. It's layered and woven between muscles, skin, bones, and organs. Scientists are now studying it closely, and health practitioners are diving deeper into the benefits of keeping it healthy. In the past, fascia was an afterthought, while the musculoskeletal system was the star. So we're in the infancy of scientific exploration into the mysterious world of fascia. The three main types of fascia are superficial, deep, and visceral. Each type has a unique job to do. Deep fascia encompasses each muscle, keeping them separate, but it also wraps around each muscle fiber. It provides lubrication to surfaces, making it easy for muscles to move smoothly against each other. Unfortunately, when inactivity or injury occurs, the layers between muscle and fascia start to stiffen and become dense, which is when people start to experience aches, pains, discomfort, and even dysfunction. When it comes to flexibility, the connection between muscle and fascia becomes very important. Muscles can be lengthened and shortened, but fascia doesn't work that way. Rather than lengthening a muscle to feel a stretch, the muscle is shortened, activated, and moved in the opposite direction. This sequence of events is actually the muscle affecting the fascia to make change. And because of this, the body is strengthened at the same time. It's a whole new way to move the body!
DailyOM: You have great passion for fascia bodywork. You mention in the course that fascia stretching changed your life. Can you tell us how?
Erin: When you discover a way to clear chronic pain, you want to scream it at the top of your lungs for everyone to hear! For me personally, fascia stretching took 20+ years of pain away in a very short period of time. I grew up as a dancer, and along my journey, I chronically overstretched my hamstrings, which led to a buildup of scar tissue on my ischial tuberosity (the sitting bone). I lived each day with deep pain in my gluteal area and had major dysfunction of my hamstrings. The chronic injury and pain forced me to stop dancing, and that was very emotional for me. I tried every modality to heal but without success. Eventually, I gave up and decided to figure out a way to deal with the pain for the rest of my life. That is, until I discovered fascia stretching. During my fascia training, three focused stretches changed the scar tissue, and the pain melted away. I was in shock and awe at the results, and now I strive to teach everyone so that they too may also have potential to clear their pain. It was my magic bullet! It's also important to point out that, if someone does not have pain, the work is still immensely productive. Fascia stretching prevents injuries, keeps the layers of muscle and fascia hydrated and lubricated, and it simply feels absolutely amazing!
DailyOM: Other than increased flexibility, what are some of the other benefits students can expect to experience by taking your course on fascia?
Erin: Improved neuromuscular communication, faster recovery from exercise due to better blood flow, breakdown of scar tissue, better body alignment, reduction of daily aches and pains, reduced risk of injury, and improved physical performance. Self-stretching fascia not only increases flexibility, but as you do the work, your muscles are strengthened, your core deeply connected, and your overall endurance increased. Fascia stretching also has an effect on a person's emotions in a positive way. We hold emotions in our connective tissue, oftentimes unknowingly, which can lay dormant and forgotten. It is common when fascia stretching, especially the hips, to feel a rush of emotion that can finally be processed. There is relief both physically and emotionally that will allow the student to be forever changed from the work.
DailyOM: You also mention scar tissue. How is it associated with this work?
Erin: Scar tissue is tricky because our body creates it to heal us from a wound or internal injury, but at the same time, it can be disruptive. Scar tissue is a collection of cells and collagen that takes a long time to mature after an injury has occurred. There can be a large gathering of scar tissue in one area of the body, such as after a surgery, but it can also be laid microscopically throughout muscles. Pain from scar tissue may not be present during the healing process but can show up later. Scar tissue is not innervated. Therefore, the nervous system has to work around it, like finding a detour for a street closure. Fascia stretching can literally clear old, stagnant, and dense scar tissue, providing a pathway out of chronic pain! New pathways open for more productive energy flow and nervous system communication. This was my experience. Fascia stretching changed my scar tissue and allowed me to be free from chronic pain and gain back my total leg strength and endurance.
DailyOM: The course is set up to teach a different body part each lesson. Why did you choose this particular framework?
Erin: I chose to set up the course in this way to provide a clear layout for each student to navigate incoming information. This allows the student to completely focus on one area, to learn about the advantages their body will gain, and deeply feel the difference from traditional stretching. This course is truly a whole new way in which to move the body, and it can be confusing in the beginning, but soon it will make sense and become more intuitive. There are different ways to stretch each muscle or area, and when taking the time to try each variation, the student is then able to determine which fascia stretch feels the best for their body. In Lesson 1, I teach each student how to set a strong framework with proper posture and deep core activation, with a focus on connecting to the earth. The framework sets the stage to be a strong base to safely execute the fascia stretches. Lesson 2 then begins from the top of the body with the neck, and the lessons then work down to the bottom and end with the calves and ankles. A fascia journey from head to toe!
DailyOM: How should a student use what they learn from this course as they move forward?
Erin: This will be a journey of exploration for each student's unique body. What it feels like for one person is different from the next. How each person benefits will be unique to them as well. I suggest each student use a fascia journal to write down the stretch from each lesson that felt the best for them. This will allow the student to look back and use the journal as often as they need to. It will serve as a quick reference if they need to work on a muscle that is not feeling right after a big workout or if they feel overly tight in one area, kind of like a spot treatment. Their journal as a whole is like a personalized fascia class that they can use for a full-body stretch flow to feel good and keep their fascia healthy. As the student connects with a few stretches, they can then incorporate them into a warmup before doing what they love to do, such as yoga, working out at the gym, hiking, climbing, swimming, really anything! For instance, before I take a yoga class, I always fascia stretch my glutes, hamstrings, and rib cage. It has become my go-to routine to warm up for activity.
I dream about everyone waking up each day doing fascia stretches to get them going, for people to maintain their physical health by fascia stretching, for young athletes to stretch safer to prevent injuries and amplify their talents, and for people who suffer from nagging pain to melt it away. I dream of every person stretching the fascia way. The future of stretching!
DailyOM: Thanks, Erin! If you have not tried fascia stretching, it really is a life-changer. It takes your traditional stretching exercises into a whole new realm of full-body awareness and connection that you can use for a lifetime. Until next time.
Be well,
DailyOM
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