Your Body Holds Your History

(and your geography, your science, your music…)

(The full version of this article, written for Dukes Education's Insight Magazine, can be found here. )

Are you comfortable right now? This was my opening question to the group of educators sitting in front of me in a conference room at Wembley Stadium in January. If you were there you might be surprised to notice how often the other person takes no time at all to respond. A quick, yes! Which is the correct and polite response in our society. Sometimes just a shrug which, I suppose, means, ‘I guess so?’. Depending on the age group there will be the individual in the room who shouts, ‘No!’ (maybe exposing something interesting about the impact of psychological discomfort on physical discomfort).

But the question I am really asking is: do you know if you’re comfortable? Are you aware of how your body feels right now as you sit in a room full of people, on a hard chair facing the front, being asked to sit still, be quiet and listen (we’ll get back to this set-up in a bit). When you heard the question, did you take any time at all to check in somatically before answering?

What becomes immediately apparent is how many of us are either only dimly aware of what’s going on below our chins or dismiss all communications coming from ‘there’ almost completely. We’re so skilled at it too! Physical urges are powerful and yet we’re able to override them within the space of a moment.

Why is that?

Because we’re trained for it. From the moment we start school. Any institutional setting depends on the homogenous behaviour of a group. From a young age children are largely motivated by extrinsic rewards: If you do this, we will be pleased with you; if you do that, we will be displeased. Unfortunately a lot of the things we don’t want children (and young people) to do are the very things that their bodies and nervous systems are sending urgent signals to their brain to do NOW: run around, fidget, move away from a busy environment, go to the toilet, laugh at an adult, fight, flee, laugh and spin around, hide, defend, sleep…

Remember that set-up I mentioned before: sitting in a large group on a hard chair, facing the front, being asked to be still, keep quiet and focus? We’re so good at being in a classroom. In the example of my talk, it’s likely that even those in the group who had had a terrible time at school, masking their way through every day as a matter of sheer survival, whose bodies were even now yearning to rather be outside lifting something heavy, or in a quiet place reading the information instead of listening to it in a group - despite these many individual needs and preferences - each and every person was more or less able to sit still, be quiet and (at least feign) focus.

Such good adults, such well-repressed bodies, ready for that desk job! That’s not a judgement, that’s all of us processed through a system that was created to serve a particular kind of socio-economic need.

So, fast-forward into adulthood, is it any wonder that of the 33.7 million days of missed work per year, stress depression and anxiety account for 16.4 million - just under 50% - and musculoskeletal issues for 7.8 million, or 23%. In my experience working with hundreds of clients who arrive in my practice complaining of back pain, shoulder pain, stress, an inability to relax their bodies, poor sleep, anxiety, it’s an arbitrary line that separates psychological and emotional pain from physical (musculoskeletal) pain. I believe it’s possible to trace a significant proportion of ongoing pain to this ability of ours to sit still, be quiet and ignore our bodies to gain the extrinsic rewards we’re taught to strive for.

And some individuals must pay a much higher price than others - when 70% of effort is being used to override the urge to fidget and shout out, that’s a mere 30% left to process what’s being taught. But we don’t grade on the 70%.

It’s common now to hear that ‘sitting is killing us’. But it’s not sitting so much as ‘sitting uncomfortably in habitual hunched over postures for vast swathes of our days from childhood, doing small repetitive movements in unnatural light for abstract rewards that form our sense of self-worth… it is this type of uncomfortableness that is, perhaps not killing us, but definitely causing us considerable amounts of pain - both physical and psychological.

I have had many young adults come in to see me because they feel constantly tired and anxious; sometimes they have unexplained tingling in their extremities; they feel ‘down’. And often, the very first thing I will notice is that they aren’t breathing! Well, they are breathing so shallowly as for their breath to be almost imperceptible. (Perhaps that is how you are breathing right now? Take a moment to check in). This shallow breathing which indicates a weak diaphragm can be directly attributed to spending too much time sitting in a fixed, hunched posture. And, for teenagers especially, after feeling exhausted from sitting at school they may spend the rest of the day sitting or lying at home, with those that need it getting their dopamine or expending their testosterone through gaming. This is not their fault, it’s the reality we’ve all co-created.

The front of our bodies being habitually contracted limits lung capacity and lack of movement means we are not stimulated into breathing fully. Breath rate impacts heart rate which impacts brain waves which dictates body tension… ‘not breathing’ ultimately leads to chronic tension. Chronic tension can take the form of back pain as much as it can the form of anxiety or ‘panic attacks’.

What can we do?

There are simple and not-so-simple interventions worth considering. Being aware, for example, that boys’ testosterone levels increase 7-fold between the ages of 10-15 lets us know right away that to insist they sit still when their very chemistry is demanding that they run, play fight, fidget, build and go for targets - is a cruelty. Standing desks, short, sharp bursts of activity and, perhaps most importantly, the message that what their bodies are telling them to do is natural, powerful and good and can be channelled accordingly - could all make a significant difference to mental and physical health as well as self-esteem. Being aware of the major hormonal changes in girls’ monthly cycles and the impact of each phase on physical and mental strength and capacity - something that can be clearly and precisely followed and understood - can allow for young women from puberty onwards to play to their strengths and, again, to feel empowered by those somatic experiences being taken into consideration in daily life.

Encouraging connection with the body and expression from the body, for example giving more weight to activities like singing and PE and introducing intermittent movement and task-switching are all things that could potentially fit within the education system. Installing a 30-minute-maximum requirement to sit and focus on one task, then providing a 3-5 minute fidgeting, breathing - or simply standing-up - break, might turn a few lives around.

My hope is that our children know when they are uncomfortable and have the tools and nervous system flexibility to deal with discomfort without suppressing it, or feel free to make themselves comfortable without fearing retribution. Life is not about being comfortable all the time, I know, in fact stress and discomfort are important resilience-builders and motivators - but we are faced with an epidemic of chronic pain and chronic conditions and if we start with our own relationship to our bodies and how healthy that relationship is, we can start to undo some of the damage and create different outcomes for ourselves and our loved ones.

Fascia: A Living Network of Communication

– Exploring Its Fluid Dynamics and Energy Conductivity

Fascia has long been understood as a connective tissue in the body, providing structural support and helping to maintain posture. But recent research and hands-on clinical experience are unveiling a much deeper role for this tissue. Far beyond simply a passive structural component, fascia acts as an intricate, dynamic network that communicates with the body’s tissues, nervous system, and even the mind. One of the most fascinating aspects of fascia is its fluid properties—how the water within it behaves and interacts with the body on both mechanical and energetic levels. By combining insights from somatic therapy and physics, we can begin to understand fascia as a living network of communication that uses its fluid and gel-like characteristics to conduct signals across the body, promoting both physical and emotional healing.

Fascia’s Composition: The Building Blocks of Communication

Fascia is composed of a variety of components, each contributing to its unique properties as a communication network within the body:

• Collagen fibres provide fascia with tensile strength, helping it resist stretching and deformation.

• Elastin fibres allow fascia to maintain some elasticity and flexibility.

• Ground substance, the gel-like substance made of water, glycosaminoglycans, and proteoglycans, gives fascia its ability to absorb and retain moisture. This substance is critical in facilitating the fluid dynamics of fascia.

The cells in fascia, such as fibroblasts, myofibroblasts, and mast cells, play active roles in fascia’s function. Fibroblasts produce the structural components of fascia, while myofibroblasts help contract fascia, which is essential for tissue repair. Mast cells are involved in inflammation and tissue repair. Together, these elements create a dynamic tissue capable of responding to both mechanical tension and emotional signals.

Fascia as Structured Water: A Gel-like State

One of the most exciting areas of fascia research is its fluid dynamics. Fascia’s ground substance is more than just a simple water matrix—it behaves in ways similar to what researchers have described as fourth-phase water. This term refers to water that is structured differently than typical liquid water, often existing in a gel-like, crystalline state rather than a free-flowing liquid. The concept of fourth-phase water was popularized by Gerald Pollack, who showed that water near hydrophilic surfaces can become organized, exhibiting properties that go beyond typical liquid water.

Fascia’s water content may exist in this structured state, which could explain why fascia doesn’t simply act as a passive fluid but as a dynamic conductor. The collagen fibers in fascia create interfaces where water can organize itself into a more structured, semi-solid state, similar to fourth-phase water. This unique property allows fascia to store and transmit electrical signals and mechanical forces, creating an information highway between different parts of the body.

This "structured" water within fascia might not only support the mechanical properties of the tissue but also its electromagnetic and energetic properties. In essence, fascia could act as a sensor and conductor of both mechanical and electrical signals. This has profound implications for our understanding of how fascia communicates with the body’s tissues, nervous system, and even the mind.

Fascia’s Role in Cell Signalling and Hydration

Fascia also contains hyaluronic acid, which plays a crucial role in maintaining tissue hydration and lubrication. This water-binding substance is essential for creating the gel-like consistency of fascia, which allows it to transmit forces, stretch, and move in response to the body’s needs. Hyaluronic acid also has cell-signaling properties, meaning it actively communicates with surrounding tissues, influencing processes such as healing and tissue repair.

The ability of fascia to regulate hydration and facilitate communication between cells makes it a living, responsive network. This could explain why fascia has the capacity to adapt to injury and trauma, as well as why therapies that focus on fascia release can facilitate healing and emotional processing. The fluid dynamics in fascia are constantly shifting, responding to both internal and external stimuli such as stress, movement, and touch.

Fascia and the Nervous System: A Bioelectrical Communication Network

Fascia is intimately connected with the nervous system, particularly the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which controls involuntary bodily functions such as heart rate, digestion, and the fight-or-flight response. Fascia is rich in sensory receptors, such as mechanoreceptors, nociceptors, and proprioceptors, which send real-time feedback to the brain about the body’s position, tension, and movement. This sensory information travels through the vagus nerve and other pathways in the nervous system, influencing everything from muscle tension to emotional states.

Because fascia can influence autonomic regulation, it can also affect heart rate and brain wave activity. For example, fascia release techniques can shift the body from a stress-response mode (sympathetic nervous system activation) into a more relaxed state (parasympathetic nervous system activation). When fascia is freed from tension, it might help lower heart rate, improve circulation, and allow for a shift in brain wave states from beta waves (associated with alertness) to alpha waves or even theta waves (associated with relaxation and deeper states of meditation).

Moreover, the electrical conductivity of fascia—its ability to transmit bioelectrical signals—could explain its role as a medium for communication between body parts, tissues, and even organs. The gel-like, structured water within fascia might enable it to conduct electrical signals across long distances in the body, facilitating communication between distant systems and contributing to the body’s homeostasis.

Fascia as a Bridge Between Physical and Emotional Healing

Given its role in both physical and energetic communication, fascia is increasingly being recognized for its potential in emotional regulation and trauma healing. Fascia is thought to store somatic memories—trapped emotional and physical experiences—much like the way water can store energy in structured states. When fascia is held in tension due to trauma, it can communicate this tension to the nervous system, which may lead to chronic pain, emotional distress, or dysfunctional body patterns.

Therapies that focus on releasing tension in fascia, such as somatic bodywork, myofascial release, and breathwork, may help to "unlock" these stored patterns. As fascia releases its stored energy and tension, it can promote a shift in both the nervous system and emotional state, allowing for healing. By working with fascia, practitioners are not only helping to release physical restrictions but are also facilitating the flow of energy and information throughout the body, supporting both emotional and physical well-being.

Conclusion: Fascia as a Dynamic, Fluid Communication System

Fascia is far more than a connective tissue—it is a living, dynamic network that functions as a communication system within the body. Its gel-like structure, enriched with fourth-phase water, hyaluronic acid, and specialized cells, allows it to transmit mechanical forces, electrical signals, and emotional energy. By understanding fascia’s fluid dynamics and its role in the nervous system, we can unlock new possibilities for therapies that address not only the physical symptoms of pain but also the deeper emotional and energetic imbalances that influence health.

As fascia continues to be explored from both a somatic and scientific perspective, we gain a deeper appreciation for the body’s interconnectedness. Fascia, in all its fluid complexity, serves as a bridge between the physical, energetic, and emotional realms, offering profound insights into how the body communicates and heals.

Blog Post Title Four

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.