Fascia Informed Approach to Asana

Fascia Informed Approach to Asana

Fascia is part of the connective tissue that holds the body together. Every muscle and organ are embedded in a fascial ’net’ that runs from your toes to the crown of your head. Many restrictions in movement have little to do with the muscles, and everything to do with fascial limitations. Fascia should be elastic, flexible and slippery, but as we age, fascia tends towards increasing dehydration. This results in the fascia becoming stiff and sticky. Eventually adhesions form between tissue layers and we lose our freedom of movement. This does not have to happen!

Fascia has long been considered as an almost inert tissue, like cellophane wrapping. Recent findings however, reveal that fascia should also be considered part of the endocrine system, and most strikingly, as part of the nervous system. It is the nerves embedded in the fascia that gives us our proprioception or sense of ourselves as physical beings. Recognition of fascia’s true significance and complexity is slowly spreading through the scientific and yoga communities.

This workshop will explore the latest scientific understanding of fascia, both anatomy and physiology, and how to adjust your yoga practice in order to keep your fascia happy and healthy. Above all, this practice will be playful, and accessible to all, including parents who might be sharing space with their kids, or those with little or no previous yoga experience.

We will learn and practice powerful, ‘fascially’ informed movements that will instantly improve your mood, energy, concentration, productivity and health, and can be practiced anytime, anywhere, and in less than 5 minutes. Time permitting, we will address best practices for each of the Ayurvedic Doshas for hydrating fascia.

45% discussion, 50% asana, 5% pranayama

3-4pm Deep Stretch using applied techniques with Tara Kristof

4-6 pm Part 2: Achieving More with Less

Nature abhors waste, especially wasted energy. In this workshop, we will learn to explore our poses, using less brute force, and more consciousness. In finding the most energy efficient approach to any yoga exercise, you will have to find and recruit just the right combination of muscles in just the right way. In doing so, we benefit from improved strength and stamina, healthier fascia, ligaments, tendons, and joints. With practice, we can learn how to engage the endocrine system, along with the autonomic nervous system in our asana practice with amazing results for body, mind and spirit.

40% discussion, 40% asana, 10% pranayama & 10% meditation.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Yoga Art Music (YAM Dallas), 9850 Walnut Hill Lane, Dallas, United States