Trauma

Life is anything but an easy ride. We are born into this world with challenges to overcome, and for many those challenges can start young and continue to threaten any hopes of joy or peace. To be impacted by a horrendous assault or a life changing physical injury . . . a continuous series of verbal abuses, being afraid you won’t have enough to support family, being subjected to continual aggression . . . or any number of traumas that take your breath away; the fascia patterning that results can keep you trapped in the nightmare as though it is happening in the moment, even if it was decades ago.

I remember a life changing event that happened when I was 2 years old. Prior to it, I was a confident little girl with a fiery energy. After the event I suddenly lost confidence, felt powerless and resented the fact that my life had been derailed. As much as I grew past the issue, it was embedded in my cellular memory, always creeping into my thoughts, and derailing my joy. It wasn’t until later in my life with my understanding of Fascia Decompression that I was able to let go of all the patterning that was created around this, even decades after the issue had been forgiven.

The breath is such a beautiful indicator of where we are at in this life. If strong and fully functioning, the diaphragm can pull in experience, and release what doesn’t serve. However, if the breath becomes trapped beneath the weight of an experience, it begins to freeze, accumulating more density as time goes by. The impaired muscle creates a restriction of oxygen, and a deflating of cells in the regions impacted by this weakness, causing grooves to exist in the fascia, accumulating depth, and intensity with each passing moment. The charge of emotion that was involved in the initial assault, whether big or small, becomes locked in the cells and can be triggered by any number of stimuli.

This can be life altering for many as they are living the story of the past repeatedly. The shift in the breath to a stressed breath, the automatic response to pain, fear, and stress -- breathing from the muscles of the upper chest - leaves the brain in a state of fear. No matter how safe the world around them is, they perceive danger. This has huge negative impacts on how one lives, and can cripple any joy or peace, any relationship or job, leaving the individual to live a life that is shrouded in constant pain and fear.

What is required to move past this patterning, is an understanding of how to gain back control of the diaphragm, and to release the grooves created in the fascia to build new platforms within that are based on understanding, compassion, and action. For some, this can be a seamless journey, for others, it can be treacherous at times. Also, it isn’t always the big traumas that are the hardest to overcome, sometimes the little traumas that were persistent and digging to one's feeling of worthiness can be equally damaging to how life is perceived. Either way, there is a way out.

When you melt the edges of the grooves in the body that pull you down, release the emotion and memory that was trapped in the adhesions, and breathe life and strength into new foundations, you overcome the past and learn to see each moment as a unique experience, as opposed to running the story over and over again in your mind and body. You can even go back to the moment and see the experience/s from a different lens, with understanding – even for those horrendous assaults. I read once about a woman who was repeatedly sexually abused by her father, and when he was on his deathbed, she was able to forgive from a place of compassion and understanding. Whereas up until then, she had not been able to have any successful relationships, she chose to see her father as a victim of his own experiences, passing down the torch to her, which gave her the ability to forgive and let go.

No matter what, life is hard, but we have it in ourselves to change the circumstances we exist in, one breath at a time. Also, it can take a village to provide the resources and understanding one needs to feel safe enough to move into a state of healing. This is why community is so valuable. We heal together. There are many support groups out there, and we have an amazing one for those who want to understand the benefits of Fascia Decompression and how this works assists you in moving through the past, so to feel safe in the moment and excited about your future. If you would like to check it out, join our Block Therapy Community on Facebook and become a member of this loving and supportive group.

Learn more in this week's episode of The Fascia Masters below.