The Sydney Myofascial Release Centre

09/10/2023

📚 Exploring the Fascinating Anatomy of the Cervical Spine! 🦴

🧐 Did you know that the cervical spine consists of seven vertebrae, labeled C1 to C7? Each of these vertebrae has a unique role in supporting our head and facilitating motion.

🦴 C1, also known as the "atlas," supports the skull and allows us to nod "yes." 🙆‍♂️
🦴 C2, the "axis," forms a pivot that lets us shake our heads "no." 🙅‍♀️
🦴 The other cervical vertebrae offer flexibility and stability for various neck movements.

💡 Fun fact: The cervical spine also houses the vital spinal cord, which sends messages between our brain and the rest of our body.

🤓 Understanding the cervical spine's intricate anatomy can help us appreciate its role in our everyday activities. So, take a moment to appreciate your neck, and remember to maintain good posture for a healthy spine! 🙌💆‍♀️

02/08/2023

05/06/2023

Fascinating Fascia!!

🧬 The Fascial System surrounds, infuses with, and has the potential to influence every muscle, nerve, bone, blood vessel, organ, system and cell of the body. At the same time the fascia is also connecting and protecting all of these parts.

🧬 The fascial system is a three dimensional web of connective tissue, is alive and changing according to the body’s demands. It is a network of information exchange, influencing and influenced by every cell, structure and system in the body.

🧬 In the past for many years, anatomists cut the fascia tissue off, threw it away and thought nothing of it's purpos‍️e 🤦

🧬 Robert Schleip has estimated that an adult’s fascia contains approximately 250 million nerve endings, similar to, or slightly more than the skin. For this reason, some researchers say that fascia should be considered a new organ, one that is specialised for communication about the body’s internal state.

🧬 Fascial tissue has 10 times as many sensory receptors as muscles. This means your senses of proprioception and kinesthesia are more related to the function of the fascia than to the muscles.

🧬 The superficial fascia contains nerves that specialise in sensing pressure, temperature and movement. Deep fascia is involved in the body’s sense of its position in space, and the sensing of pain.

🧬 Physical & emotional trauma, structural imbalances and leg length differences all create fascial strain.
Due to the continuity of the fascia, tension in one area of the body will affect the entire fascial system.

🧬 Fascia holds onto emotional memory. Our emotional holding patterns can affect our fascia. Emotions and tension cause us to hold our bodies in certain ways. This can cause a variey of fascia responses, including pain and dysfunction.

🧬 Due to fascias inseparable connections between muscles, it is responsible for our smooth movements.

We take our fascia for granted, like air and gravity, but fascia is crucial to our sensory experience of the world and is important in our body's elasticity and flexibility.
Fascia reminds us that everything is connected 💫

11/04/2023

The Power of Breath!

The way we breathe directly effects both core stability, posture and spinal stabilisation. But it doesn't stop there....
Every system in the body relies on oxygen, from our cognitive function to our muscles to our nervous system to digestion. Oxygen is vital to life, so why don't we not ensure we get as much of it as we can? 🤔

One indicator you're consistently not breathing properly is tension in the diaphragm.
Some common causes for diaphragm restriction are:
🫁 When stressed, we tend to take shallow breaths
🫁 When we suppress painful emotions its generally stiffening the diaphragm
🫁 Anxiety
🫁 Asthmatics
🫁 Lack of physical exercise
🫁 Long periods of sitting especially slouching

Breathing correctly has many benefits including:
✨ Calmer, Clearer mind
✨ Better Posture
✨ Stronger core
✨ More resilient body
✨ Improved Vascular System
✨ Regulation of the Sympathetic Nervous System
✨ Reduces Anxiety

So how can we help our diapragm?
🫁 We can keep our diaphragm fluid by being breathing from the belly. Called "Belly Breathin" or "Diaphragmatic Breathing".
Its that simple!

But how do we Belly Breathe?

🌬 To start... Lie on your back and place one hand on your belly just below the rib cage, and the other on your chest. this will help you to track your breathing.

🌬 Inhale slowly through your nose being conscious to inhale through to your abdomen. You should feel the hand on your belly move upwards, while the hand on your chest does not move.

🌬 Exhale slowly through your pursed lips, while tightening your abdominal muscles and pushing out as much air as you can. The hand on your belly should move down to its original position

When you can do this type of breathing well while lying down, learn to do it while sitting or standing.

So just remember to BREATHE 😏

Image Credit: Anima Mundi Apothecary

08/02/2023

A great video explaining the effect of trauma & chronic stress on the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS), the system that takes care of our automatic functions, like our heart, digestion and body temperature. But the ANS also manages our survival and stress response, scanning our environment to detect safety or danger.

When we experience trauma and chronic stress, it can keep our ANS from haelthy and regulated functioning and can keep us stuck in states of survival. 😱
Tense, tight & stiff muscles and fascia are a reflection of a dysregulated nervous system with our bodys held in fight or flight.
Working slowly with Myofascial Release helps clients down regulate their nervous system and allow opening to the healing within 💫

This video was developed as a basic introduction to a Polyvagal view of how trauma and chronic stress affect our nervous system. If you would like to watch ...

19/01/2023

A great explanation as to why you may have back pain but the source is in your foot 😏

Take a 👀 !!

From the Life 360 Health and Wellness Summit 2018by Dana Sterling Founder of Sterling Structural TherapyTo learn more click https://sterlingstructuraltherapy...