Myofascial Release

What is Myofacial Release?

Myofascial release is a deep-tissue work whose focus is to relieve pain, resolve structural dysfunction, and improve function, mobility, and posture. “Myofascia” refers to the combined anatomical system of muscles (“myo”) and fascia. Fascia is a continuous web of connective tissue found throughout the entire body, It surrounds every muscle, nerve, blood vessel, and organ, and holds all these structures together, giving them their shape, offering support and interconnecting the body as a whole.

Myofascial release has its roots in Connective Tissue Massage (Bindegewebsmassage) which was developed by Elizabeth Dicke who lived in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s. This work consisted of light strokes whose theoretical purpose was to improve circulation in subcutaneous connective tissue, resulting in reflex action to other parts of the body, including visceral organs.

Myofascial Release to the Lower Ribcage

The term “myofascial release” was coined by Robert Ward, DO, (Doctor of Osteopathy) in the 1960s. John Barnes, PT, (Physical Therapist) adopted the term as designation for his method of freeing fascial restriction, and this is a popular form of myofascial therapy practiced today.

Another important figure in the development of myofascial therapies, and someone whose work more directly influences my own, was Ida Rolf, PhD who taught in the 1960s and 1970s. Dr. Rolf developed a ten-session series of work that she called Structural Integration and that later was trademarked as Rolfing^TM. Dr. Rolf was very influenced by osteopathic manipulation; through her ten-session series, she sought to re-establish vertical alignment in the body by manipulating fascial layers. I studied this work in 2002-2003 at the CORE^TM Institute with George Kousaleos and, upon certification, I continued my education, studying with Certified Advanced Rolfer Liz Gaggini and also studying with KMI/Anatomy Trains faculty (Tom Myers, James Earls, and Simone Lindner).

Simone Lindner, while still maintaining a busy teaching schedule with KMI, is currently serving on our faculty in the Sports Medicine Acupuncture Certification Program, where she teaches Anatomy Trains principles in the Fascial Release for Myofascial Meridians (FRMM) course. This has been an extremely rewarding experience, as I teach in the Anatomy, Palpation and Cadaver Lab in a two-day course prior to the FRMM course, where I lecture on the sinew channels discussed in the Chinese meridian system. These have much crossover with the anatomy discussed in the anatomy trains system.

After my class, Simone then teaches fascial release techniques to work with these lines to restore structural balance. I assist with this class and occasionally help relate this information into TCM language more familiar to acupuncturists. This has been a tremendous amount of fun and a very educational experience for me personally, as well as for class participants. Matt Callison (the director of SMAC) and I then follow up and review some of these techniques in the Assessment and Treatment class, which usually takes place about a month later. In this class we teach assessment of injuries and conditions and using the assessment results to build treatment protocols, primarily geared around acupuncture, but also prominently featuring myofascial release techniques.

Much of this work, in addition to work from other Structural Integration practitioners (my original teacher, George Kousaleos, and a current influence of mine, Advance Rolfer Til Luchau) has made its way into a course I am teaching at East West College of Natural Medicine. I teach many classes there, including Anatomy and Physiology, Orthopedic Evaluation, and Acupoint Anatomy, but more and more I have been teaching myofascial release techniques as part of the Tuina curriculum. The goal is to make this work accessible to acupuncture physicians in training so that they can improve the therapeutic outcome of their treatments and more deeply understand the sinew channels and how they relate to global strain patterns. To see more on this, visit my past blog post Teaching and Tuina.

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Teaching and Tuina

Structural Integration, Myofascial Release and Crossover with Tuina

Yesterday and today I gave exams for the Summer term at East West College of Natural Medicine where I am a faculty member. This term I taught some classes that I regularly teach, such as Anatomy and Physiology, Oriental Medicine Physiology, and Orthopedic Evaluation. The class I enjoyed teaching the most this term, however, was Tuina.

Myofascial Release to the Infraspinatus Muscle

Tuina is a Chinese system of clinical massage and manipulation/joint mobilization. This class allows me to draw on my clinical experience with structural integration, which I studied and practiced before going back to school for Chinese medicine and acupuncture. Many people know this work as Rolfing, as the original body of work was developed by Dr. Ida Rolf, PhD. This work uses deep tissue myofascial release applied to shortened, densified connective tissue and muscles (myo-muscle, fascia-connective tissue) with the goal of realigning the body and helping integrate movement patterns. This work is often performed in a ten-session series, with each session having a particular goal (opening restrictions in breathing, balancing the weight in the feet, etc.).

While there are many excellent schools that teach this work, many talented SI practitioners and Rolfers teach aspects of this work to therapists who want to apply it to their existing work flow. This has been my goal with teaching this work at a Chinese medicine and acupuncture program. I teach how strain patterns tend to manifest in the body, how to assess for them, and then some manual release techniques and how to include them in combination with a more integrated acupuncture treatment. What I have found is that this work syncs very well with acupuncture and Chinese medicine.

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