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PA R T 3

PHOTOS COURTESY OF JOHN F. BARNES, P.T.

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Past research on the fascial system focusedon the fibrous web, because scientistsstudied anatomy on cadavers that were

dry and brittle. Those scientists were studyingnonlife. Yet, we are conceived in fluid, we devel-op in amniotic fluid and we are born in fluid.Our bodies are more than 70 percent fluid.New scientific discoveries demonstrate that thefascial system is a combination of a powerfulfibrous web surrounded by a ground substancethat is a fluid/gelatinous medium and whichprovides both the internal and external envi-ronment of every cell in the body.

Recent research shows that there is a micro-myofascial system (a tensegrity structure) withinevery cell. Within the cytoskeleton of the cell liemicrotubules of fascia that have a hollow corewithin which fluid flows. Energy, information

and consciousness flow within that fluid.Consciousness is not just in the brain, as we

were taught. My experience has shown me thatconsciousness flows through every cell of ourbodies. The fluid within and around every cellperforms the important function of being thetransport medium of oxygen, nutrients, chem-icals, hormones, toxins, energy and informationthroughout our entire being, almost instanta-neously.

When a person undergoes trauma or aninflammatory process, the fluidity of the fascialsystem dehydrates and the tissue begins to solid-ify. This solidification of the fascial system tendsto deepen and spread, creating and perpetuat-ing the negative effects you and your clientsexperience.

Myofascial rebounding is a gentle oscillating

The John F. BarnesMyofascial

Release ApproachThis exclusive three-part series by the master of myofascialrelease explores the history of myofascial release, myofascialunwinding and myofascial rebounding. Part One ran in theDecember 2006 issue; Part Two ran in the June issue.

by John F. Barnes, P.T.

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motion introduced into the client’s mind-body complex,utilizing the body’s fluid as a therapeutic force. (See side-bar, “Myofascial Rebounding in Action” page 74.)

Fascia: conductor of energyIn his book, Energy Medicine in Therapeutics and Human

Performance, James L. Oschman, Ph.D., writes,“Traditional science considers the fascia and the proteins ofthe body to be an insulator that is incapable of conductingenergy, information and consciousness. When a traditional

biologist wants to study tissue, they crush it, pulp it andput it into a centrifuge. The tissue is then spun at highvelocity to separate the solid from the fluid. The solid mate-rial is then thrown away and the fluid is studied.

“However, back in 1941 Professor Szent-Gyorgyi saidthis was an erroneous way of doing research on livingtissue. He proved… that by dehydrating the proteinsthrough the removal of water converted the proteinsfrom conductors of energy into insulators.”

Water is essential for life. Szent-Gyorgyi then statedthat by taking away the water, you are studying non-life. Keep the proteins hydrated, and they are semicon-ductors of energy. He states our body’s communicationsystem relies on water. A 10-percent change in watercontent can trigger a million-fold change in charge

transportation along a protein.Of course, the scientists of the time ignored this

important discovery because it did not fit the model ofreality they had memorized. This false and obsolete infor-mation (that the soft tissue of our body is an insulator)is still being taught in all medical, dental and therapeu-tic schools in the country.

A sea of informationRemember trauma and inflammatory processes dehy-

drate the fluid component of the fascial system. Thesefascial restrictions then exert enormous pressure on pain-sensitive structures and inhibit the vital communicationthat flows through the liquidity of the fascial systemand every cell of our body that ultimately producessymptoms and disease.

Philosopher and systems theorist Ervin Laszlo is con-sidered one of the most profound thinkers alive today.In Science and the Akashic Field: An Integral Theory ofEverything, he explains our primary reality is the quan-tum field, or zero point energy field, or what he calls theakashic field.

The akashic field, which underlies physical reality, isa vast sea of energy and information that flows throughus and the universe as a hologram. We were taught noth-ing travels faster than the speed of light; however,Russian physicists have discovered torsion waves thattravel as energy and information at more than 1 billiontimes the speed of light.

In discussing how the akashic field performs in theliving organism, Laszlo states that the living organism isnot a mere biomechanical machine, the traditional par-adigm. A living organism is dynamic and fluid with allcomponents in instant and continuous communication.This kind of instant, system-wide communication can-not be produced by the traditional view of solely physicaland chemical interactions among molecules, genes, cellsand organs. The speed with which activating processesspread throughout the body makes reliance on biochem-istry alone insufficient.

Our communication systemThe fluid within and around the microtubules of the

fascial system (the conduit of consciousness) carriesalmost instantaneous energy and information through-out, so we can function as a coordinated, balanced whole.

The fascial system is the primary communication sys-tem, with the much slower neural system a secondarysystem of conduction. Our innate intelligence flowsthrough the fascial matrix, carrying vast amounts of

Staying within the client's rhythmis important, as the release willfeel like an increased felt senseof liquidity.

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qWhen the therapist discov-ers a myofascial restriction, hegently rolls the restriction orbody part away from his ownbody. The therapist keeps hissoft hands on the body, butinstantly eliminates any pressurefrom the client’s body to allowthe fluid of the body to returnto the therapist.

The motion is not pushing; itis more like rolling a cylinderfilled with fluid. The therapistthen focuses on transmitting themotion all the way down through the client’s body.

Next, the therapist tunes into the fluidity of the bodyand the fluid wave that is being generated within. Thenthe art of myofascial rebounding synchronizes with theclient’s fluid rhythm.

w Staying with the client’s rhythm is important so thatshe won’t have to go into subconscious bracing patterns.

Imagine you are holding a saucer with fluid in it. Yourgoal is to rock the saucer and fluid rhythmically back andforth, but not to spill the fluid beyond the rim of the saucer.The rim of the saucer represents the point where the client’smental protective responses would be activated.

As you flow with the client’s fluid wave, you allow it tocome back to you. You wait until the fluid wave reboundsaway from you and give it a gentle energy boost. You con-tinue to ride the wave until it returns to you, waiting forthe wave to rebound away from you, and supply a minus-cule amount of energy until you perceive a release.

The release will feel like an increase in the amplitude ofthe fluid motion or an increased felt sense of liquidity.

e You then flow with thenew increased motion or di-rection. There is full-rangeamplitude, mid-range ampli-tude (away from the edge ofthe saucer) and what I callechoing, which is very sub-tle—almost unperceivable—but very powerful. It seems toreach all the way down to thecellular level to release long-held toxins and pain.

You have all seen videos ofhurricanes that produced pow-

erful waves crashing against the shoreline, eventuallytearing down old structures. Myofascial Rebounding islike this, but without the violence. This rhythmical wave,over time, begins to release deep restrictions and pain,and flushes out trapped toxins.

r Rebounding has a lot to do with frequency andrhythmic vibration transforming the energy of the fluidsystem into resonance. Resonance is the basis of the releasethat occurs from all forms of Myofascial Release. The res-onance of our internal “liquid light” acts like a tsunami(tidal wave), washing away restrictions to decrease painand increase motion.

Myofascial Rebounding also is a reliable assessment toolfor the therapist. Over time you will feel where the bodyis soft and fluid and where it is hard and immobile.Myofascial Rebounding is then used directly or indirect-ly on the restricted area. If this does not rehydrate andrelease the area, then the body language has shown youexactly where to apply Myofascial Release and Unwindingtechniques.

Myofascial Rebounding in Actionby John F. Barnes, P.T.

information, instantly capable of storing far more infor-mation than the brain.

Traditional science’s erroneous view that the connectivetissue is just an insulator was proven wrong back in 1941;instead, the fascial system is a three-dimensional struc-tural web that holds and conducts liquid, energy andinformation.

Fear, anger, hate, anxiety, alienation and hopelessnessare not just feelings; neither are love, serenity and opti-mism. All are physiological states that profoundly affect

our health. However, as our experience has shown us,trauma, inflammation, surgery or unresolved emotionalholding patterns dehydrate and tighten the fascial sys-tem. This loss of fluid and the resultant solidification ofthe ground substance block this important communica-tion, which eventually produces the symptoms of pain,headaches, anxiety, restriction of motion and disease.

In her book The Field, Lynne McTaggart states, “Inthe near future the idea of using drugs or surgery to cureanybody will seem barbaric. It has been discovered that

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humans emit highly coherentphotons (the tiniest particlesof light.) Our DNA uses wavefrequencies of this light todrive all of the physiologicalprocesses of the mind-body.New evidence shows thebrain’s conversation with thebody are waves and frequen-cies, rather than chemical orelectrical impulses alone. Ourbrains are simply the retrievaland readout mechanism of theultimate storage medium, theforce field that surrounds usand infuses every cell of ourbodies.

“In healthy individuals, thequantum light is highly organized. People that are ill,cancer patients for instance, have lost the organization ofthis internal energy, so the subatomic communicationbetween the various parts of the body has broken down.In effect, their light is going out. It may be that all illnessis a kind of scrambling of the frequency of this energy.”

Myofascial release structurally and energetically opensand rehydrates the human fascial system for the coher-ent flow of the frequency, vibration, information and

organization necessary for thehealth and quality of life.

This exciting period poses anincredible opportunity for us togrow as human beings, while pro-viding the quality of care ourclients deserve, allowing us all tomove into authentic living andhealing.

John F. Barnes, Ph.D., P.T.,L.M.T., N.C.T.M.B., is anacknowledged expert in the area ofmyofascial release. He has instruct-ed thousands of therapistsworldwide in his Myofascial ReleaseApproach, and he is the author of

Myofascial Release: the Search for Excellence(Rehabilitation Services, Inc., 1990) and HealingAncient Wounds: The Renegade’s Wisdom (MFRTreatment Centers & Seminars, 2000). Barnes is on theCounsel of Advisors of the American Back Society, is aneditorial advisor of the Journal of Bodywork andMovement Therapies and is a member of the AmericanPhysical Therapy Association. For more information, visitwww.myofascialrelease.com.

• Science and the Akashic Field: An IntegralTheory of Everything, by Ervin Laszlo, InnerTraditions, 2004.

• The Field: The Quest for the Secret Force ofthe Universe, by Lynne McTaggart, HarperCollins, 2002.

• Energy Medicine in Therapeutics and HumanPerformance, by James Oschman, Ph.D.,Butterworth-Heinemann, 2003.

• “Breakthrough in Subtle Energies and EnergyMedicine,” by James L. Oschman, Ph.D.Bridges, Winter 2003:14, No. 4. InternationalSociety for the Study of Subtle Energies andEnergy Medicine.

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