Unbound Physical Therapy, LLC

06/23/2026

💜 The Piriformis: The Muscle Everyone Blames… But Is It Really the Problem?

Many people have heard of Piriformis Syndrome and assume the piriformis muscle is the source of their pain.

But what if the piriformis is not the problem?
What if it’s actually working overtime because it’s trying to stabilize something else?

The piriformis is a small but powerful muscle deep in the pelvis. It helps stabilize the hip, rotate the leg, and support movement. When the piriformis becomes tight, tender, or painful, it’s often because it has been compensating for restrictions elsewhere in the body.

Common areas that can influence the piriformis include:

✨ The pelvis and sacrum
✨ The psoas muscle
✨ The pelvic floor
✨ The diaphragm
✨ The lumbar spine
✨ Scar tissue and fascial restrictions
✨ Trauma patterns held within the body

As John F. Barnes often taught, the body is an interconnected fascial system.
Treating only the painful area may provide temporary relief, but if the underlying restriction remains, the piriformis may continue to tighten and protect.

One of the things I frequently observe in Myofascial Release is that when deeper restrictions begin to release, the piriformis no longer has to work so hard.

The question becomes:
Is the piriformis the problem?

Or is it the messenger telling us to look deeper?

Sometimes the area that hurts the most is not the source of the problem—it’s simply the area asking for help.

💜 Listen to the messenger.

Rowena Cua 💜
Expert JFB Myofascial Release Therapist
Trauma Informed Healing 
www.bodymfr.com

06/23/2026

💜 The Psoas: Your Body’s Deep Core Protector

The psoas is one of the most important muscles in the body, yet many people have never heard of it.

Often called the “muscle of the soul,” the psoas connects your spine to your legs and sits deep within your core, close to many vital organs and the diaphragm.
Its job isn’t just movement.

The psoas is deeply connected to survival.
When the body experiences stress, trauma, fear, injury, or prolonged emotional strain, the psoas often tightens as part of the fight, flight, or freeze response.
Over time, this protective holding pattern may contribute to:

✨ Low back pain
✨ Hip pain
✨ Pelvic floor dysfunction
✨ Poor posture
✨ Breathing restrictions
✨ Digestive issues
✨ Anxiety and nervous system dysregulation
✨ Feeling “stuck” physically or emotionally

Many people spend years stretching their psoas without lasting results.

Why?

Because a psoas that is guarding does not need to be forced to relax.

It needs to feel safe.

In John F. Barnes Myofascial Release, we recognize that the body’s restrictions are often intelligent protective responses. When sustained pressure and a safe therapeutic environment allow the nervous system to down-regulate, the psoas can begin to release naturally.

Sometimes what appears to be a “tight muscle” is actually a body that has been carrying stress for far too long.

Healing happens when the body no longer feels it has to protect itself.

💜 The goal isn’t to force the psoas to let go.
The goal is to help the body remember that it is safe enough to do so.

Rowena Cua 💜
Expert JFB Myofascial Release Therapist
Trauma Informed Healing
www.bodymfr.com

06/23/2026

👅 The Tongue: More Than Just a Muscle

Did you know your tongue is made up of 8 muscles that work together as a highly coordinated system?

But the tongue doesn’t work alone.
It is connected through fascia and muscular chains to the:
✨ Jaw (TMJ)
✨ Hyoid bone
✨ Neck
✨ Shoulders
✨ Diaphragm
✨ Pelvic floor
✨ Cranial system

The tongue is often called the “rudder” of the body because its position influences breathing, swallowing, posture, and airway development.

💜 Ideal tongue posture:
✔ Tongue resting gently on the roof of the mouth
✔ Lips closed
✔ Teeth lightly touching or slightly apart

✔ Breathing through the nose

When the tongue rests low in the mouth, the body may compensate with:
⚡ Mouth breathing
⚡ Forward head posture
⚡ Narrow palate
⚡ TMJ dysfunction
⚡ Neck tension
⚡ Sleep-disordered breathing
⚡ Snoring and airway challenges

The tongue helps shape the palate, which is also the floor of the nose.
When the tongue is not supporting the palate, the upper jaw may not develop optimally, reducing space for the airway.

This is why airway-focused dentists, myofunctional therapists, orthodontists, and John F. Barnes Myofascial Release therapists must work together.

The goal isn’t just straighter teeth.
It’s better breathing, improved function, and a body that no longer has to compensate.
Sometimes the tongue isn’t weak—it may simply be restricted by fascial tension, unresolved trauma patterns, tongue ties, jaw restrictions, or compensations elsewhere in the body.

When the body finds more freedom, the tongue often does too.

✨ As above, so below. What happens in the mouth affects the entire body.

Rowena Cua
 💜
Expert JFB Myofascial Release Therapist
Trauma-Informed Healing

www.bodymfr.com

06/23/2026

Happy Father's day June 21, 2026
TAG A NEW DAD! It’s exhausting to be a breastfeeding mom. And sometimes dad (who doesn't have the "right" equipment) might feel sidelined — especially early on when it seems like the baby is nursing all the time.
But there are plenty of ways a non-breastfeeding partner can be involved while also easing some of a nursing mom's burden so she can get the rest (and self-care time) that's so needed.
Credit Sharon Mazel
https://www.facebook.com/SharonMazel/photos/a.607878383223025/696391804371682/

06/23/2026

💜 The First 12 Years Shape More Than We Realize

What if many of the patterns we struggle with as adults didn’t begin in adulthood at all?

From birth through childhood, the nervous system is constantly learning:

✨ Is the world safe?
✨ Can I trust others?
✨ Do my needs matter?
✨ Is it safe to express my emotions?
✨ Am I lovable just as I am?

Children don’t learn these lessons from lectures.

They learn through experiences.

Through touch.
Through connection.
Through presence.
Through being seen, heard, comforted, and understood.

The body and nervous system record these experiences long before we have words to explain them.

Sometimes what looks like:
• Anxiety
• People-pleasing
• Perfectionism
• Emotional avoidance
• Difficulty trusting
• Fear of vulnerability

May actually be adaptive strategies that once helped a child feel safe.

The beautiful news is that the nervous system can continue learning throughout life.

With awareness, compassion, supportive relationships, and therapies that help the body feel safe, old patterns can begin to soften.

You are not stuck with the blueprint you inherited.

Healing is the process of creating a new one.

💜 The body remembers.
💜 The nervous system adapts.
💜 Healing is possible.
Rowena Cua 💜
Expert JFB Myofascial Release Therapist
Trauma-Informed Healing
www.bodymfr.com

06/23/2026

06/23/2026

06/16/2026

💜 The Gut and Pelvic Floor: A Connection Many People Overlook

Your gut and pelvic floor are in constant communication.

When one is struggling, the other often compensates.

The pelvic floor is a group of muscles, fascia, nerves, blood vessels, and connective tissues that form the foundation of your core. It supports the bladder, bowel, reproductive organs, and works closely with the diaphragm, abdominal muscles, and nervous system.

When the gut is irritated, inflamed, restricted, or not moving well, the pelvic floor often responds.

Common connections may include:

✨ Constipation
✨ Bloating and abdominal pressure
✨ IBS symptoms
✨ Pelvic pain or pressure
✨ Urinary urgency or frequency
✨ Painful in*******se
✨ Tailbone pain
✨ Low back pain
✨ Difficulty fully relaxing the pelvic floor

The relationship works both ways.

A tight, guarded pelvic floor can affect bowel function, while digestive dysfunction can create increased tension and protection throughout the pelvic floor.

Fascia is one of the reasons this connection exists.

The fascia surrounding the intestines, abdomen, diaphragm, bladder, uterus, and pelvic floor is continuous. Restrictions in one area can create tension patterns elsewhere in the body.

The nervous system also plays a major role.

When we live in chronic stress, survival mode, or unresolved trauma, both digestion and pelvic floor function can be affected. The body may unconsciously tighten as a form of protection.

This is why healing often requires looking beyond symptoms.

Sometimes the answer isn’t only in the gut.
Sometimes it isn’t only in the pelvic floor.

The body functions as one interconnected system.

As John F. Barnes taught, when restrictions are released and the body feels safe, it can begin to return to its natural state of balance, movement, and function.

✨ The gut and pelvic floor are not separate systems.

They are part of the same story.

💜 Rowena Cua
Expert JFB Myofascial Release Therapist
Trauma-Informed Healing
www.bodymfr.com # pelvicfloordysfunction