As fascia reminds us, everything is connected. I was reminded of how important this concept is to healing movement when I attended a conference last year Gil Hedley, Ph.D., a doctor known for promoting a sacred appreciation for what’s inside of our bodies.
Gil provided us one of his close looks at the human body’s interior. We focused on fascia, the connective tissue woven throughout our bodies. Then he brought this into the political space: first, he showed our country’s 50 states as blue and red to represent concentrations of Democrats and Republicans. Then, he showed the same map with the two colors blended by percentage.
We were left with an image built out of many shades of purple. Gone were the stark reds and blues.
As we viewed images and videos of the different layers of fascia, I was so humbled. I was reminded that all of these layers are one — and yet, nature enables our body’s parts to also move separately, in different directions and ways.
And as Gil reminded us, this is happening all around us — not just in our bodies, but in politics, in our families, among our peers, and so on.
As you go through your day, take a little time with healing movement to remind yourself of this connectedness. Do it with a stretch: raise your arm over your head, for example, and feel the gentle pull that creates in other areas of your body.
Relax into the motion. Mind your movement. Feel the connections. And be humbled.
Lea Burke is Iowa’s first Essentrics instructor and offers healing movement classes and guidance through EPIC and in her hometown of Burlington. She is also EPIC’s enrollment coordinator. You can reach Lea at [email protected].
