How to unwind your body and mind

Fascial Unwinding is something I worked out for myself a couple of decades ago, trying to heal my back pain. I had never heard of it, and called it ‘Body Unwinding’ because that is what it felt like was happening.  Years later I found out that many therapeutic modalities include this fascinating method of self-healing; what I believe to be the body taking the opportunity to recalibrate itself, let go of stuck emotions and play through old patterning held in the musculo-skeletal system.

I don’t consider myself to have back pain today, and if I find myself in pain I often use Fascial Unwinding as self-help.

I wrote an article for The Fascia Hub: What is Fascial Unwinding and how does it Work? This will give you a bit of the science around the discussion.  But for now I’m just going to ask you to try the following and see what happens:

1. Lie down comfortably, having turned off all distractions and made sure you have the place to yourself.
2. Breathe as if you could breathe into your toes and your fingers; deep, relaxed breaths.
3. Take your mind to an area of pain you would like to work on, and just focus on that area. No judgement, no agonising, no upset – just stay detached and keep your mind on that area with the intention of helping your body help itself.
4. If and when your body starts to move, just let it. Movements may be gentle, jerky, large or small – let your body do whatever it wants to. If you start to roll, or curl, or stretch……just let it happen.
5. Your body may not move but instead an awareness of an untangling, unwinding feeling may occur where your focus is.
6. You can stop at any time by taking your focus off the pain.
7. This process may not happen the first time, or the second – it can take us a while sometimes to allow ourselves to let go and not feel self-conscious. Keep going, and maybe bring in a big yawn and stretch as you settle down, just to help yourself relax. There is no right or wrong way to do this, so just enjoy doing whatever your body needs to do.

If you are a therapist or movement practitioner, consider joining my course on Fascial Unwinding and Energy Awareness – four days of self-care and learning how to help others, as well as other useful, related knowledge.

I wish you well trying Fascial Unwinding for yourself; it can be a powerful step on the wellness journey. *Those of you who are members of The Fascia Hub will find the recordings of our event Fascial Unwinding: the Science and the Experience, in the Members’ Area now – enjoy!