Block Therapy is a self-care practice that is based on the concepts of fascia decompression. This journey began for me almost 25 years ago, and I am excited to share how it works.

I first realized that the effects of gravity in our body could not only be managed, but reversed, by moving into the fascia in a spiral pattern with my hands – a technique I call Fluid Isometrics. As everything in nature is built from the Fibonacci Sequence, the spiral pattern, so too is the patterning of how the body ages or compresses over time. To tap into the seams of time allows the fascia to decompress and restore life to cells previously blocked.

For years I was focused on doing Fluid Isometrics on myself and my patients. At first this was an intuitive exploration – following the path of least resistance in my tissue, and it wasn’t too far into this journey that I realized that I was opening spaces in my body that had been deprived of blood and oxygen flow for years, and not only was I seeing the benefits in my own body, but I was also seeing the changes in others.

For years, I focused on treating patients and teaching other therapists this work, but I wanted to share how to self-care, as this technique became available to me through my own hands. I remember the first live class where this was my intention – to teach others the hand work, and although appreciated by the participants, there were many challenges that prevented them from continuing this work outside of class. I knew that if I was going to share fascia decompression with the masses, that I would have to find another way.

It was about a decade after my journey began that I had another intuitive hit. I was taking a private yoga class and my teacher was putting me into a side-lying twist over a bolster. She cautioned me that this gets very deep and to be careful. As I had been diving deeply into my body with my hands, I didn’t even feel the bolster and craved something more. Nearby on the floor was an old rectangular wooden yoga block that I had from my Iyengar Yoga days, and I reached for it and replaced the bolster with the block.

I was thrilled! I was able to use my bodyweight and gravity to get the effect that I could with my hands, diving deep into my tissue – and it was so simple and easy, yet some things needed to change. The sharp edges didn’t allow a lot of areas that needed attention to receive the benefits as it was too painful. The size and shape needed to be altered.

In time, the Block Buddy came into existence and is the main tool used for Block Therapy today.

The goal of this practice is to melt through the adhesions between the layers of fascia that hold the body in negative alignment. These adhesions block blood and oxygen flow to cells, as well as block the removal of waste away from cells. Adhesions and scar tissue are essentially the same in what they do to flow. The difference – scar tissue is created from injury or surgery, created in a moment in time, whereas adhesions are developed continually over time as the body falls from balance and surrenders to life’s forces, namely gravity.

Fascia is composed primarily of proteins, collagen and elastin. When the body is balanced and aligned, there is an equilibrium that allows for both mobility and stability. However, as the body begins to fall away from correct alignment due to unconscious posture and breath, the collagen begins to migrate to areas of need, building false walls and false floors. This stacking of collagen has the same properties of scar tissue, creating dense areas that lack flow. Gravity grips to dense tissue, and accelerates the path of compression, aging the body at a faster rate.

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Deanna Hansen - Founder

Fascia decompression is the process to take the fascia in the opposite direction to what time has done, and Block Therapy is a simple and efficient way to do this.

Adhesions and scar tissue will grip to bone with an incredible force. Driven by gravity, the spiraling down of the body over time causes the fascia to develop adhesions between its layers, with the pattern of movement becoming chaotic. Like smoke leaving a pipe, the smoke leaves the heat source in a wave, but as it moves away, it begins to spiral until eventually it turns chaotic. This is the path of how energy moves in nature and how cells get pulled away from correct alignment. The entangling is from the migration of the collagen, stacking wherever it needs to support the falling structure of an imbalanced body.

To reverse the process of compression, space needs to be put back into the tissue. With Block Therapy, this is accomplished through 3 pillars of focus.

Creating Space – decompressing fascia
Inflating Space – filling the newly created space with blood and oxygen.
Maintaining Space – supporting proper postural foundations

The act of lying on the Block is how space is initially created. Working through the entire body, each position is held for a minimum of 3 minutes. There are only two rules in Block Therapy and this is one of them. As we are essentially melting adhesions, you can’t rush melting, so time is required. Pressure over time creates heat. Also, while lying on the Block, you are instructed to slowly twist in one direction or the other to shear away the layers and access the deeper adhesions than what are on the surface. This is a key point of using this system with the goal of getting all the way to the bone where the grips are most profound.

This works in conjunction with inflating space.

The diaphragm is the muscle we should be using to pull oxygen into the body, as well as to remove waste from the body. When strong, this muscle supports the alignment of the ribcage and provides a continual massage for the organs, heart and lungs. This is the body's furnace and will keep the temperature of the tissue optimal for efficient flow. When weak, the posture of the core changes as the weight of the ribcage and everything above comes crashing down into the core space. This happens as pain, fear and stress cause you to reactively hold the breath, creating a shift in the muscles used for this function. The upper chest breath is weak in comparison, pulling in only a fraction of the oxygen, and limiting the removal of waste. It also cools the overall temperature of the body, furthering the formation of adhesions. Focusing on teaching proper breathing allows blood and oxygen to infiltrate the newly created spaces, inflating the space to bring life to the cells.

The breath is also involved in the other rule – your breath is your guide. Your breath keeps the score and knows when to freeze. If you do anything that causes you to hold your breath – that is your body letting you know that it doesn't appreciate what is happening. If you are breathing in a relaxed way, you are feeding the tissue being addressed with oxygen and supporting the healing process.

The third pillar is to teach how to maintain the space through proper postural foundations. We are like a building and if we used the body in a balanced and symmetrical way, with conscious breath, there would be no need for collagen to migrate. However, as this is not reality, we need to train the body to first release through the creation of space, then to bring life into that space, then to support that space with conscious attention.

This is the process of how Fascia Decompression works, and Block Therapy is the self-care system to accomplish this. Simple in its application, it is incredibly profound in the results and benefits. As you are moving backwards through time in your tissue, you are pulling the deeper and older parts of your life’s experience to the surface so you can address the issues from the past and release them, bringing balance and harmony into your body. Just like life, it is a journey and healing is never a straight line. You will have moments of pure joy and pleasure as you awaken the deeper parts of yourself but can also feel the challenges of the healing crises as your body works to remove toxins and waste that have been trapped deep inside the layers.

Block Therapy may not be for you. It is for those who want to take their health into their own hands, and who understand this is a journey backward through time in your tissue. This practice will bring up moments of pain and negative emotion. The benefits far outweigh the challenges as you progress, but like with anything, you will be disrupting the current pattern your cells are in to establish a healthier you. If you choose to do it, you will be in the presence of many, an incredibly supportive community, who already know the life changing benefits of this practice.

Listen to this week's episode of The Fascia Masters below.