How to Feel Fascia: The Organ of the Sense of Touching

“I’ve been off training in Craniosacral therapy. The modality steeped in both anatomical science and philosophical energy does speak for itself. After 4 days I feel more vital and centrally stronger than ever before, even though I slept terribly.”

I discovered the above note in my journal, and it immediately sparked an insightful exploration into the fascinating world of fascia. 

What followed was a deep dive into its functions, origins, and it's intelligent connection to Craniosacral and Shiatsu therapy. 

This post practically wrote itself, unfolding with a sense of clarity and inspiration that illuminated the intricate beauty of fascia and its role in our well-being.

If you're curious about learning something new and captivating about this field of work, this piece will take you on a journey through the depth and intricacies of this remarkable practice.

To feel fascia, apply gentle pressure and focused awareness to areas of the body, paying attention to subtle sensations of tension and release. Fascia, the connective tissue network, responds to touch and movement, providing proprioceptive feedback essential for body awareness.

The depth at which I experience Cranio both as a practitioner and a recipient, is heartfelt and beautifully humbling. To have the ability to feel the nuanced rhythm of a system so intricate and at the core of the communication centres of our whole being is simply extraordinary. Every second of it!

Tuning into the craniosacral rhythm is effortless once experienced but not easy to sustain if you don’t have regular practice. You need to practice something that harnesses your life energy, balances it and can keep you present for long periods.

If you want to know, you’ve got to fine-tune your awareness and condition your need to do… simply listen introspectively to the rhythm. 

It’s so deeply profound, this fact that fluid - with the ability to clear gunk and emit potent chemicals that allow you to sleep better and create homeostasis- lies between membrane, within a tube along your spine and into your brain space.

The intricacies of movement involved in listening to fascia come to your awareness in a sensory energetic exchange. It’s otherworldly and at the same time completely of this world.

The Craniosacral touch is so attuned to membrane and fascia you merely have to think it to change and it can. 

Don’t tell that to a doctor though. Ha! [Insert hand-on-mouth emoji here.] They’ll dispute it with an empty rage. And that’s ok…they weren’t trained to attune to the fascia. It would seem metaphysical to me too if I had their kind of rigid training. 

Let’s not forget that up until about 20 years ago doctors were removing and discarding fascia in bin loads in cadaver studies in medical schools. They deemed it unimportant. 

With more studies conducted now, western medicine is somewhat catching up to what Eastern medicines have known for millennia. 

In the 17th century, Helkiah Crooke translated important anatomical texts from Latin into English and introduced the term fascia.

By describing fascia as the organ of the sense of touching Crooke emphasised its critical role in the body's sensory system. Fascia is a network of connective tissue that wraps around muscles, organs, and other structures, providing support and separation.

Crooke's characterisation highlights fascia's sensitivity and responsiveness to touch and movement. This tissue contains numerous nerve endings, making it a key player in proprioception. This means the body's ability to sense its position and movement in space. 

Through its extensive network, fascia helps relay sensory information to the brain, contributing to our awareness of touch, pressure, and tension.

Fascia is a network, and the "continuity of Fascia allows every cell in the body to communicate and signal in different ways, via molecules, ions, pressure, vibrations, light" (Nordin, 2023).

A lot of the work we do in Craniosacral shiatsu is called fascial unwinding. Which works to release fascial restrictions, significantly improving your body's flexibility and overall comfort. 

The gentle stimulation from these therapies activates mechanoreceptors in the fascia, which then send signals to your nervous system. Your nervous system interprets these signals as suggestions for the body to move into more relaxed and natural positions. 

This process not only alleviates physical tension but also encourages a state of deep relaxation, enhancing your body's ability to heal and maintain balance. 

By calling fascia 'the organ of the sense of touching', Crooke underscored its importance as a structural component but also as a vital sensory interface that communicates with the nervous system, enhancing our overall bodily awareness and responsiveness.

Metaphysics is often understood as the study of reality that goes beyond what is physical or observable. 

There it is! That’s why craniosacral & shiatsu aren’t just metaphysical. You CAN feel the movement of the fascia. 

It is observable if you have the right sensibility, training, practice and just enough Wu Wei (non-doing mind or a state of effortlessly aligning, achieving harmony and effectiveness without forceful effort).

Mark me! This is a quantum practice. You can experience the bending of time and space...if you're open to it. Perhaps that’s for another post another time.

So, there it is…the delicate yet powerful web of fascia integral to our sensory and proprioceptive capabilities. 

While Western medicine is gradually catching up with the ancient wisdom of Eastern practices, the true essence of Craniosacral Shiatsu lies in its ability to attune to the deep anatomy of the nervous system and subtle rhythms of the body. 

Offering a unique pathway to uncovering your inner wellness and remembering who you are.

I hope you’ve found what you’re looking for, or at the very least, are a little closer to it by reading this!

Get in touch. Let's get into your fascia and see where it takes us.

For my Melbournites click here for my booking link for Cranes & Shiats ').

For Onliners- we can do the same work together through qi gong and stretching with my online personal coaching here.

Nordin, C. R. (2023). Fascia is nothing new. In Fascia Guide.

https://fasciaguide.com/research/fascia-is-nothing-new/

McMahon, M. (2023). Perspectives on Fascia in the Media. In Moving Mountain Institute 

https://www.movingmountaininstitute.com/blog/2023/9/14/perspectives-on-fascia-in-the-media

Check out the Youtube video for a fascinating visual exploration of human fascia: Strolling Under the Skin.

A brief historical overview of the anatomy of fascia in medieval Persian medicine.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7575910/#:~:text=In the Canon of Medicine,no tissue thinner than it.