Human Garage views the body as a fluid-adaptive biological computing system. These are the fundamental concepts to understanding how to the human body works from a fascial perspective.
Perception is one of the three most dominant forces influencing our lives. The way we perceive a situation shifts our thoughts and emotions, which triggers different hormonal responses in the body.
For example, if two people come across a snake, and one of them loves snakes while the other is afraid of them, they are going to have vastly different physical responses. The one who loves snakes might produce dopamine or oxytocin, while the person with a fear of snakes would produce stress hormones like cortisol or adrenaline, experiencing a tightening throughout their body and a shutdown of their digestive system.
If perception can cause such an extreme response in the moment, how can it affect our bodies over time? The lens we wear when facing the world is based on our upbringing, societal programming, ego, emotion and desire, but it’s within our power to change.
Do you see the glass half empty or half full? Take a look at a situation that is challenging you right now. Is there another way of looking at it? Is there someone you can talk to that will provide an honest reflection or a new point of view? Shift your perception and then observe how your body, thoughts, and feelings change as a result.
THE BRAIN
The body feels, and the brain interprets and solves problems. All input from the body comes as a feeling, and the brain uses the five senses and context to make sense of that feeling. This process happens in order to solve problems that arise and take appropriate action.
We view the body as a bio-hydraulic system that balances internal and external pressure. At sea level, the average person has 14.7 pounds of atmospheric pressure per square inch acting on their body. That means that the body has to generate enough internal pressure not to be crushed by the weight of the atmosphere.
When we fly in an airplane and increase elevation, atmospheric pressure drops and our ears pop! That’s because there is more internal pressure in the body than external pressure acting on it. When we dive into the ocean, there is a limit on how deep we can go before the outside water pressure crushes us.
Understanding pressure and its impact on the body caused us to investigate the way air and fluid move through us. As blood rushes through a muscle sheath and swirls, it expands the muscle, stimulating and stabilizing movement. This is why the body is not only bio-mechanical but bio-hydraulic. Instead of stretching in one or two directions, our bodies use fluid, air, and pressure distribution to expand and relax compressed areas in multiple dimensions.
ELECTROMAGNETIC
The human body contains 50 trillion cells working in tandem with the mind, and together they form the central nervous system. Every stimulus, whether it is an internal thought or emotion, or an external sound or smell, carries a vibration through our nervous system which is interpreted by the mind.
Each cell has a negative and positive charge inside of it, averaging 1.4 volts of electricity. With 50 trillion cells, the human body generates 70 trillion volts. New scientific discoveries have led to the conclusion that we are not solid structures but rather a multitude of energy waves interacting with each other. This supports our belief that the body is an intelligent computer receiving and transmitting signals. It also contextualizes intuitive situations such as a mother’s instinctive knowledge of what her child needs, or a dog’s change in behavior from the moment its owner makes the decision to return home.
When the body is dehydrated, injured, compressed, or otherwise dysfunctional, some signals aren’t able to reach the central nervous system to be thoroughly interpreted. That’s why some people can’t see, smell, hear or feel at the same capacity as others. Human Garage has found that with the fascial maneuvers, in addition to hydration and proper supplementation, we can increase our awareness and perception.
BONES
Bones are only one part of our structural system- they float inside our fascia, which we consider the main component of our composition. The only bones in the body that naturally touch are the teeth, and those in the ribcage and ears. When bones touch elsewhere in the body because of connective tissue deterioration, is causes pain and discomfort.
Fascia can be soft and supple when relaxed, but it also has the same breaking point as steel when it is contracted. The flexible structure and strength of healthy fascia is what actually holds the body up when we stand and supports us in different positions. We believe fascia is what holds the primary structure of the body, and the magnetic density of our bones act as reference points to inform the fascia where it is in space relative to the earth.
POINTS OF CONTACT
Have you ever walked in a dark room and the only point of contact you had was your feet on the floor? When you can’t see where you’re going, your body tightens in fear because you might walk into something. But if you reach out your hand and touch a wall, your body calms down and feels safe. That’s because you’ve created three points of contact to navigate safely through the room. The more points of contact, the safer the body feels. This is incredibly important to understand when working with fascia.
When you’re underwater, under a weighted blanket, or being hugged by someone you love, you have multiple points of contact, which means your body has a lot of information to use about where it is in space. With the abundance of information, your brain doesn’t have to make calculations to stabilize or moderate movement to protect the body from external forces.
When the Human Garage clinic was open, we implemented the three-point theory by having three practitioners work on a patient at once, which would help them relax and release without pain.
If you want to test this theory, have a friend place one foot on top of yours, one hand on your arm and one on your chest. Close your eyes and feel your body. Have them slowly take away the hand on your chest and feel your body change. Then, have them put it back on. Repeat this a few times and feel how your body reacts to having three points of contact versus two. You may experience a heightened sense of awareness, because the body is no longer diverting energy to vigilance toward its environment.
During our study of the human body, we analyzed various physical positions, the dimensions and zones of the body, and counter-rotation. When observing more complex movements, we noticed people winding their bodies into the fetal position first to generate more energy and create explosive motion. This can be seen in baseball specifically when the pitcher winds up in a one-legged fetal position before throwing the ball to gather as much force possible.
In our clinic, we explored the use of the fetal position by having patients lie on one side, cross their legs and hug themselves while we manually rolled them into a ball. They would take several deep breaths in that position. Amazingly enough, deep-rooted emotions and past physical traumas would rise to the surface and release from their bodies.
The fetal position is so poignant for fascial release because it is the position we hold during the nine most transformative months of our lives in the womb. The body feels at home in this position, and holding it can both bring up memories and stimulate the healing process. While developing the fascial maneuvers, counter-rotation and the fetal position became core principles of the philosophy, with each movement winding and rotating the body to create internal pressure and release.
If you enjoyed learning more about the human body, stay tuned for the release of Human Garage’s Complete Guide to Fascial Maneuvers coming soon!