Is The Site Of Your Pain The Source Of Your Pain? 

core connections fascia movement Aug 28, 2019

Yes, you read that title correctly! This statement blows people’s minds and probably goes against what you’ve been taught to believe. In this episode, I go through common aches + pains that I often get questions about and little adjustments that you can make to help that pain go away. It’s fascinating what the body is capable of if you just listen to it and are aware of how it functions. You will hear a lot of important pieces that are fundamental parts of my teachings because I am here to help you not just survive in life but to thrive.

Below is going to be your one-stop-shop for all the pieces that I talk about in this episode. So be sure to listen to the whole thing first and then come back to dive in deeper to topics that I have talked about before on The Core Connections Podcast to start to connect the dots. And as always, if you have any additional questions, please, reach out and ask!!

FASCIA

First things first, we have to talk about fascia. Fascia is the whole reason this topic of conversation exists!! Now, if you have no idea what I’m talking about… here is a quick little summary of what fascia is:

“A sheath that goes around every muscle in your body. It also covers every bone, organ and nerve as it keeps everything interconnected, but also keeps everything separate at the same time. It is one tissue, one system that is designed to respond to supply and demand." - David Lesondak

If you look at what’s going on through the body from a fascial perspective, you begin to understand that you can work to improve the function of your fascia while creating more of it. You have the power to change anything in your body no matter what age. Especially when we start talking about pain.

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PELVIC FLOOR + HIPS

When I address the pelvic floor with my clients, I’m not just talking about it for the sake of it. The functionality of your pelvic floor can relate to many other ailments in your body such as the hips, core + neck.

This is where you can start to visualize the body functioning as one, but with individual parts. And how is the body functioning as one? Ding, ding, ding!! Because of fascia!! Once you start thinking of the body in this sense, you can start to create better balance through your pelvis.

The pelvis is also the place that I like to address the hips because the hips are a part of the pelvic bowl. I dive much deeper to the topic of hip function in episode 19 where I explain why Shakira was right when she said your hips don’t lie.

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LOW BACK PAIN

What if I were to tell you that the low back pain that you're experiencing isn’t coming from your low back… if you’ve read up to this point it might not be that shocking to learn that this pain is coming from somewhere else in the body. This is why I focus heavily on deep core training in my Core Rehab Program because when you learn how to connect better with your deep core, you are able to hold your body in a way that will take the pressure off of that low back.

Low back pain can also be caused by your body trying to protect itself. Why would it be protecting itself? Because you are gripping muscles that you need to work on releasing in order to tap deeper into those fascial layers. This involves a rewiring of the brain as you are teaching your body to do something different. So, yes, this will take time, but bringing awareness to it is an important first step to healing your body.

Posture also plays a major role in low back pain. In Core Rehab, I start with posture because that is the easier route to initially fix. That’s why I’m so excited to share with you my FREE Core Wellness Series where I have included the posture video straight from Core Rehab so you can begin tapping into your deep core in a correct way. This is a video I highly recommend that you re-watch as you will pick up on something different every time!One thing I see a lot when it comes to posture is the tucking of the butt. This is doing your body a big disservice by shutting off your glutes, pelvic floor + deep core layers. By not having support from your glutes or pelvic floor, your back then is what is holding your body up. The video below will teach you how to untuck your butt so you can start getting that stress off of your low back.

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NECK PAIN

I have been seeing neck pain become more and more common because of everyone looking down at their phones, tablets + computers. This all comes back to the way that you hold your body. By continuously looking down, all of that stress ends up on your neck when you should be working to lengthen your neck to help support your head. Once you lengthen your neck out of your shoulders, you will start to feel your mid-back start to fire.

I love addressing mid-back because a lot of my clients didn’t even realize that they had muscles back there! If you are one of those people, check out episode 23 where I address the importance of your mid-back and how that can make you stronger!

SHOULDER PAIN

I like to think of your shoulders like your hips + pelvis because of the many pieces involved in both. This is where we start to talk a lot about breath because of the fascia that lies underneath your rib cage. Breath helps to release tightness + restriction that you may be feeling in your chest to encourage your shoulders to open up. Mid-back plays a roll in shoulder stability as well, so if you haven’t checked out my mid-back episode I highly, highly encourage you to do so.

But notice when addressing the shoulders that not only are we addressing the back of the body, but also the front of the body. It’s about finding this balance and going deeper into your body to encourage those fascial lines to connect.

Below is a video where I show how improving your shoulder mobility could increase your core strength. What you are about to learn through my cueing can be really important to help find the wrapping of your ribs that will ultimately lead you to greater shoulder mobility and strengthen the deeper layers of your core.

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KNEE PAIN

For starters, your legs are connected to your pelvis; therefore, from our previous conversation above, knee pain can get fixed pretty quickly. Yes, there is a power in strengthening the muscles + fascia around the knees, but more important than that is checking the alignment of your pelvis. When you begin to work to realign your pelvis, the femur begins to realign as well and that knee pain will typically start to go away.

BUNIONS

I wanted to bring up the topic of bunions to bring awareness to the fact that you can work on preventing those from getting worse EVEN if you say they are genetic. To a degree, the way that we move has a little to do with genetics… but then there is this thing called epigenetics where you have the power to turn on and off genes. I talk more about this in episode 31 on how you have control over your health. But what does this have to do with bunions? I only bring it up to demonstrate that genes play a really small roll in the bunions on your feet. You can change your biomechanics because of that fascia and it starts with bringing awareness to the way your body moves + how you can improve that.

A lot of times our feet can get neglected and we can forget how important they are. Watch this video below to see what you can do through your movement + daily habits to make sure that you have happy feet!

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The material contained within is provided for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. You should seek prompt medical care for any specific health issues and consult your physician before beginning a new regiment or purchasing any product(s).