Posture Update & Tools I've Been Loving!

My back has been flaring with pain for the last few months. My poor posture + bad mechanics working over my clients sent me into a bad cycle. Pain that made me nervous to go on my last two international trips and had me considering cancelling client appointments. I knew this needed to be corrected because my pain was coming back every time I would stand over clients.

On one really bad pain day, I took some pictures of myself and my back while standing. I was so horrified at not only the pain, but how tense and uncomfortable my back looked. That started me down a rabbit hole of research, and nothing has been the same since.

I'm 4 ish months in now, and my pain gets better every day. This very personal, sometimes emotional, very consuming journey has given me a new appreciation for my body and my health.

It has also helped me to connect with and understand my body as a whole system in a very new way. I tend to be an information absorber....I am in random Reddit subs and Facebook groups and go down seemingly obscure rabbit holes. Providers (massage therapists, estheticians, Reiki masters, etc) have given me tidbits over the years that helped me understand the full picture of my body and my health.

Anyways...addressing my pain by correcting my posture has had a profound impact in pretty much every aspect of my life. Myofascial release and fascia work has been the key, when back exercises, chest openers, stretching, lifting & yoga either didn't improve my pain/posture or even made things worse. This has been YEARS of being self-conscious of my posture, and trying to force my shoulders back (which has also made things worse).

So now I can't shut up about fascia, and while my posture was admittedly an exacerbated version of Modern Day Posture, we all have some version of this unless you are intentionally working on your body daily (in my humble opinion). Now that I realize what I am seeing and feeling, I see some version of fascia restriction in every client I see.  

We are TIGHT people. And we are anxious. Understandably so. The more I learn about the nervous system and how deeply connected it is to our fascia, I feel this is a critical piece of the conversation that we are not mentioning in many areas of treatment. 

When we are chronically anxious or in flight or flight, our body is braced. Our fascia clamps down to hold us in that position.  In my experience, I think this creates a cycle where the body is not physically safe/relaxed, so the nervous system cannot relax. The nervous system cannot relax, so the body cannot relax or un-tense.  

Also, as someone who has often been anxious in many ways (overthinking, ruminating, decision avoidance), I have found that myofascial release is like a force-button to take the nervous system down a notch when deep breathing, yoga, meditation just isn't quite enough. 

1. Creating a safe and comfy space is key, in my opinion. To me, this means clean, cozy, with special items, organized in a cutesy way. For me, I think this helps my mind relax so I'm not thinking about all the other tasks I need to do. For me that was the green and gold mat and also the grey socks. 

You don't reset the nervous system.  You reset everything else in your life so your nervous system is safe enough to settle down.

Tools that have been a game-changer for me:

I feel like I need to mention this is not a list to go out and buy. I think any combination of tools can be helpful. I have been gifted a lot of these things over the years, some I picked up in thrift stores (yoga block).  

1. Lacrosse ball (or tennis ball): Great for hard to reach spots on the back, for when your hands get tired. A ball of any size works, this is just what I have.
2. Foam Roller: Any kind. Long, short, smooth, or textured.  
3. Accu-pressure mat:Trying to build this habit daily. I like sitting on the couch with this mat under my feet. I can feel twitches all up and down my legs as things wake up.  
4. Gua sha...for more than just fluid on the face! Great for body scraping, for digging into hard to reach spots.
5. Castor oil: Known for penetrating deeply and softening tissues, this has really helped me with super dense knots or bands of fascia like my scalp or my neck.
6. Hangover Cap...a longtime favorite of mine. Great for migraines, sometimes as pressure and fluid shifted as certain parts of my body loosened, I could feel some pressure in my head and I worried it would progress to a migraine.  Continuous body work and the cap really helped on those days.
7. Yoga blocks, mat, bolster, straps. These are tools and things I've accumulated over like 10 years.  It was nice to look at my little shelf (Facebook Marketplace!!) and connect these tools that were so healing to special people or memories over my life!
8. Bristle brush & Tiger Balm: Long time faves of mine. I think I have actually always been so tight that the dry brushing was not doing anything for me.  It's not really a habit I am working on at the moment but when I get to a maintenance phase I think this will become a daily habit.
9. Daily supplements: This was a habit I was very focused on in past months.  Everything has really been on pause as I work through the tension and so much else, but this will be part of my maintenance phase.  It feels like my body is becoming more and more efficient so my reasoning for choosing these is not necessarily a concern anymore, which is also why they are on pause.  

While you don't really need to purchase anything new to work on your fascia or your body in general, I made a list on Amazon to shop if you're looking to stock up on my favorite tools!