Wellness

It is difficult to go throughout life without the body experiencing some kind of pain or discomfort. Whether you have injuries or trauma that flare up periodically, structural misalignment, or just regular old wear and tear, the body can and does withstand a lot. It is made to be used, and it should be! But we all need a little help from time to time in order to provide maintenance and feel good so we can keep up the physical activity. Alternative medicine and bodywork are excellent ways to take positive and proactive steps to keep your body in tip-top shape. Myofascial release is an excellent bodywork option for people who experience muscular pain or restriction, as well as their repercussions.

What is fascia?

The word fascia can be described as “a clingfilm-like substance that wraps around all our muscles and organs, offering support and reducing friction during everyday movement.” It is a connective tissue system that literally weaves around all of our bones, muscles, organs, nerves, arteries, and veins. It is a continuous system (that’s to say, it’s all connected and has no real beginning or end), and can be compared to the yarn of a sweater. Needless to say, it’s an important system for the structural integrity of the human body. It can have vast consequences when there is an issue in the system.

Causes of fascial restriction

Fascial restriction can be caused by a variety of reasons, but when it occurs, it can lead to pain and loss of mobility.

Some of the causes are physical, and thus more obvious:

Physical trauma/injury
Muscle overuse/tightness
Inflammation
Poor posture/structural alignment
Poor health

That last one is very general, but it segues into an interesting topic, the lesser-known causes of fascial restriction:

Not moving enough (having a sedentary lifestyle)
Dehydration or poor diet
Not enough good quality sleep
Stress
Mental or emotional trauma

What you can do about fascial restriction

There is a predominant idea that we have been told often, that we need to stretch sore, tight, and knotted muscles. Yet visualize a rope with a knot in it: taking it and stretching it from either end. What do you imagine? The knot getting tighter. There is an alternative school of thought that suggests that we need to take our knotted muscles and break those knots up. This, in essence, what myofascial release is.

Some common ways to deal with fascial restriction are the following:

Rolling out fascia bands on foam rollers
Using the pressure from lacrosse, tennis, or massage balls on affected areas
Yin yoga (more passive yoga poses held for 2-5 minutes, targeting specific muscles or areas)
Myofascial release deep tissue massage

Myofascial Release Technique — Photo via Pixabay

An empowered approach to health

The wonderful thing about myofascial release is that there are so many techniques that are DIY. Of the four listed above, three of those can be done to yourself by yourself. There is nothing more gratifying (and frankly, empowering) than being able to identify the issues preventing/ obstacles to you having good health and being able to manage or even improve them on your own. The trick is to be proactive with your health versus treating and dealing with the issues as they flare up or become unbearable. Just like anything mechanical, all of the individual moving parts of the body require attention and care. The fascia is another part of the body, albeit an extensive one, that requires tender loving care.

Myofascial release at Paraiso Wellness Center

At Paraiso Wellness Center, we believe that a holistic approach to health is the best way to achieve optimal health. It’s affected by a great combination of factors: diet, exercise, sleep habits, mental wellbeing, stress management, and attitude. It’s assisted by regular bodywork such as massage, chiropractic, acupressure or acupuncture, and yoga — this is where we come in. We are specialists in (and have a great deal of tools in our arsenal) to assist our patients and clients.

Myofascial release is one of the tools that we use in combination with our chiropractic work to help loosen, relax, and release the fascia surrounding muscles, skeleton system, and organs. We have found that it leads to optimal results when done with chiropractic work as the body is a complex system and it’s impossible to treat one aspect while ignoring the others.

We are excited to help you be more proactive with your health, and see the positive results on your health, happiness, and life!

Here at Paraiso Wellness Center, we are strong proponents of nature’s healing power. Having moved into the jungle years ago, we have felt the firsthand benefits of being surrounded with nature: tropical plants, trees, animals, and the big(gest) one — the ocean. Most of us recognize that feeling of peace of standing at the ocean’s edge, but what many of us don’t know are the reasons for it. Neuroscientists have pinpointed some physiological changes that happen in the human body when it is near the sea. We are so happy to live by the sea as we have felt firsthand the ocean’s benefits, and that our very own Paraiso Wellness Center is blessed with a beautiful view of the tropical Pacific Ocean.

Getting back to the basics

“We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch it we are going back from whence we came.”
– John F. Kennedy

Human beings are comprised of nearly 70% saline water, and the world’s oceans are approximately 72% of the earth’s surface. Biological anthropology tells us that humans, like all life forms, emerged millions of years ago from the sea. When we get into the water, there are a series of temporary physiological effects that occur, some almost immediately: decrease in heart rate, blood flood into essential organs, slowing of the breath. There is something so primal feeling about being in or near the ocean, it’s impossible to ignore its effects.

Stress reduction benefits

What is it about being near or in the ocean that just seems to draw out the stress from our bodies and minds? The sound, the smell, the breeze of the ocean; the immensity of it, the way it moves, and even the color; the negative ions, and how walking barefoot at the beach grounds you deeply to the earth. All of these factors contribute to the soothing and stress-relieving nature that the ocean possesses. There is a reason that so many landlocked travelers visit the ocean annually, that real estate with an ocean view is so sought-after, and that we find excuses to just get to the beach. When we are around it, it’s easier to disconnect from the stresses of this fast-paced, technological era and just be [by the sea].

Childlike feelings and freedom

If you haven’t recently played in the waves, we would highly recommend it. Whether you’re surfing, bodysurfing, or just frolicking in the white water, there is something so liberating and laughter-inducing about being in the ocean, and particularly in the waves. Remember when you were a kid, and you would stay in the water for hours, until your skin was all wrinkly and your parents had to drag you out? While most adults don’t feel that way anymore in a chlorinated pool, those same feelings are easily replicated in the ocean. Combined with the stress-relieving aspects, just being and playing in the ocean will make you feel years younger.

Inducing mindfulness

Make no mistake, being near or in the ocean can and should make you more mindful. For one thing, the ocean is not our natural environment. In fact, the majority of human adults feel a deep fear of not just the ocean, but any large, deep body of water. On one hand, if it is not allowed to get out of control, a healthy fear of the ocean can prevent any near-drowning incidents. On the other hand, being mindful of the ocean, learning to be in and around it, and developing a level of respect for the ocean, is far better. It is easy on land to live in a dreamlike-state or to be on autopilot. This is simply not a possibility in the ocean. Therefore, the ocean, when enjoyed responsibly, can itself elicit mindfulness.

Paraiso Wellness Center in Ojochal

We have been graced with a great deal of fortune in this lifetime, and we consider the location of our home and wellness center to be at the top of the list. Paraiso Wellness Center is located in Ojochal, a small town at the edge of the Talamanca mountain range in the Southern Pacific zone of Costa Rica. Our property overlooks the magnificent Pacific Ocean, and from our pool, yoga studio, and main home, we enjoy sunsets over the ocean more days than not. We can attest to the validity of all of the above-mentioned reasons why being near the ocean can be so life-changing. For these reasons and more, we are pleased to offer lodging, yoga classes, chiropractic and bodywork, and wellness retreats and workshops at the ocean-facing Paraiso Wellness Center in Costa Rica.

What is Myofascial Release?