Fascia is the organ of posture, so for yogis, knowing a bit about it is helpful. Fascia holds the body together, holds it up and at the same time separates it into parts. Fascia fibres are tough enough to support 10,000 times their ow weight but soft enough to protect delicate nerves and blood vessels. Fascia is a very simple structure. It has only 3 main parts, collagen fibres, elastin fibres and hyaluronic acid, the slippery fluid lying between the layers of fibres. Let's explore four facts about fascia.

Fact # 3 Fascia's plasticity

Fascia is plastic. If muscles are the engine of the body as they contract and relax, fascia are the brakes. Muscles can stretch but fascia cannot. Instead, layers of fibres glide across each other like skates on ice. The hyaluronic acid layer between is important to lubricate that movement. As you stretch in a yoga asana it is not your muscles that limit you. You reach your 'limit' when the fascia cannot slide any further. Fascia fibres weave and criss-cross all over the body. They are shaped by their experience of forces. Lack ofmovement causes fascia to weaken, the hyaluronic acid dries and hardens resulting in stiffness and inflexibility. Regular exercise builds strong, elastic and well-lubricated fascia. The fascia across joints (ligaments and tendons) remain strong flexible so range of movement, balance and stamina improve.

Yoga & Fascia

Source: Sara Jobling - Founder of YogaWellbeing.

Fact # 2 Fascia is super sensitive

Fascia is super sensitive. Fascia has more nerve endings than the tongue, eyes, nose and ears. Fascia is an important organ of proprioception, the ability to understand where we are in space, how we are moving, how we control our body movement and of interoception, how we register feelings of hunger, thirst, temperature, pain and more. When healthy, the sensory ability of our fascia increases and our senses of proprioception and interoception improve so we feel more present and connected. Indeed, fascia are the main conduit for most of our body's sensory stimuli. Fascia minutely detect movements and send their information to the nervous system for interpretation. This makes fascia the organ of our self-awareness and the key to our mind-body connection.

Fact # 1 - Fascia is everything

Everything in our body is fascia. Hard to believe, but it's a fact. As an embryo develops inside the womb the first structure to form is fascia. Imagine a very complex colouring book. The outline of the picture is set out and then all the pieces have to be coloured in to create the final image. Fascia forms the outline of the baby while the cells that make the heart, lungs and brain and so on are gradually 'coloured' into the outline. Every organ, bone, tendon, ligament and muscle is made of fascia. Fascia with added calcium becomes bone and muscle cells develop in fascia to create muscles. The widespread presence of fascia means it is the biggest organ of the body.

Fact # 4 Fascia loves yoga

Fascia love yoga practices. The systematic stretching involving multiple directions ofmovement and constant changes of forces are perfect for improving the health of our fascia. Yoga Practices stimulate an increase in fibre strength, compression (tone) and elasticity.

It is estimated that there are a staggering 84,000 yoga postures. What makes yoga asanas such an all-round beneficial practice is this vast variety of postures targeting every part of the fascia and involve every possible type of movement. Practicing a mixture of postures has a more positive impact on more of the fascia than the repetitive exercise such as running or swimming.