Fascia: What It Is, Why It Gets Tight and How Resilo Can Help

Have you ever stretched, massaged or rested a painful area of your body, only to find that the discomfort keeps coming back? Perhaps your shoulders always feel tight. Maybe your hips feel restricted, your back aches, an old injury still bothers you, or you simply feel as though your body has become stiffer than it used to be. You may have heard the word fascia mentioned in yoga, physiotherapy, massage or fitness circles, but what exactly is fascia, and why does it matter so much when we are thinking about pain, stiffness and movement?

The answer is fascinating.

What exactly is fascia?

Fascia is a network of connective tissue that runs throughout your entire body. It surrounds and supports muscles, bones, organs, nerves, blood vessels, tendons and ligaments, helping everything within you to connect and move together. It is sometimes described as a three dimensional web because it is not simply located in one particular place. It extends throughout the body, creating relationships between different areas.

This is one reason that the place where you feel discomfort is not always the place where the underlying restriction began. Your body is beautifully interconnected. A restriction around your hip may influence how you move through your lower back. Tension around your shoulders may be affected by your posture, breathing or the way you use your arms. An old injury can sometimes continue to influence the way your body moves long after the original injury has healed.

This is where fascia becomes particularly interesting.

What happens when fascia becomes tight?

Healthy fascia is designed to be supple and adaptable. It needs to be able to glide as we move, but our bodies experience a huge amount throughout our lives. We sit for long periods. We repeat the same movements. We exercise. We have accidents and injuries. We experience stress. We sleep in different positions. We grow older. Sometimes we simply ask a particular part of our body to do far more work than another.

Over time, areas of the fascial system can become less mobile and tissues can feel tight, restricted or uncomfortable. You might notice a deep ache, stiffness, a persistent knot, restricted movement or the feeling that one particular area simply never seems to completely let go and sometimes stretching the area does not seem to be enough.

Why does stretching not always solve the problem?

Stretching is wonderful for the body and I absolutely encourage movement and mobility. Yoga, gentle stretching and regular exercise can all be valuable ways of supporting healthy movement but sometimes the body needs something different. If you have been stretching the same area for months and it keeps becoming tight again, it may be worth looking beyond the muscle itself and considering the wider network of tissues and movement patterns involved. This is one of the reasons I became so fascinated by fascia.

I discovered Resilo after experiencing it myself, following years of chronic back pain that had been with me since I was fifteen. The treatment made such a difference to my own body that I wanted to understand how it worked and eventually trained in it myself. Today, I am one of only 12 Senior Resilo Specialists in the world. (Prittie Yoga)

So what is Resilo?

Resilo® is a gentle soft tissue and reflex therapy that works with the body's fascial system. Rather than using force, the treatment uses specific wave like movements through the body. The intention is to identify areas where the tissues and fascia are restricted and encourage greater freedom of movement. The treatment is performed fully clothed and is non invasive and this is one of the things I love about Resilo. Being clothes often makes people more comfortable and the style of treatment means your body is being forced into submission. There is no need to battle with your body! Instead, we work with it.

I use specific body testing to identify areas of restricted movement and then work with the body's responses through gentle, specialised movements, because the body is interconnected, I am not simply looking at the place that hurts. I am looking at the body as a whole.

Could Resilo be suitable for you?

Resilo may be worth exploring if you experience ongoing stiffness, muscular tension, restricted movement, recurring aches or discomfort following an old injury. Clients come to me with all sorts of reasons for seeking treatment. Some arrive because they have been living with pain for a long time. Others simply know that something in their body does not feel quite right. You do not have to be an athlete or a dramatic injury and you do not have to wait until your body is shouting before you listen to it.

Sometimes the most useful question is simply:

“Why does my body keep holding tension here?”

That is where the detective work begins.

What happens during a Resilo treatment?

You remain fully clothed and comfortable throughout your session. I begin by looking at how your body is moving and where there may be restrictions. From there, I use the Resilo technique to work with the fascial and soft tissue system. The movements are gentle and wave like rather than forceful. Some people find the treatment deeply relaxing. Others notice changes in their movement during or immediately after the session. Every body responds differently, so I never promise a particular outcome.

What I can promise is that I will listen carefully to your body and work with what I find rather than imposing a one size fits all treatment and because I also have a background in yoga and Energy Medicine, I bring those perspectives into the way I observe and understand the body.

Fascia and the nervous system

There is another reason I find this work so fascinating. When the body has experienced pain, injury or prolonged physical stress, it can develop protective patterns of tension. Sometimes those patterns remain long after the original problem has changed. This is why I am interested not only in where the body hurts, but also in how the whole person is moving, breathing and responding.

Resilo is not about forcing the body to change; it is about creating the conditions for greater ease.

Sometimes the body simply needs the opportunity to stop bracing.

You don't have to live with a body that constantly feels tight

We often become very good at adapting to discomfort and we learn which movement will hurt. We stop doing certain things.

We tell ourselves that it is simply our age.

We stretch a little.

We take a painkiller.

We carry on.

And then one day we realise that we cannot remember what it felt like to move without thinking about the discomfort.

That does not necessarily mean that something is seriously wrong. But it can be a beautiful invitation to become curious about your body again.

Your body is constantly communicating with you.

Sometimes it speaks through pain.

Sometimes through stiffness.

Sometimes through fatigue.

And sometimes simply through that quiet feeling that something could be easier.

Ready to explore what your body is holding?

If you are in Egham, Thorpe, Virginia Water, Chertsey, Staines or the surrounding Surrey area and you would like to explore Resilo for yourself, I would love to welcome you into my cabin studio. I offer Resilo treatments from my peaceful studio in Egham, Surrey, where each session is completely individual to you and your body.

I recommend beginning with two appointments so that we have the opportunity to see how your body responds to the treatment. Your first two appointments are currently £90 in total, with the second treatment complementary. Follow up treatments are £60, with treatment packages also available. (Prittie Yoga)

You can read more about Resilo, see how the treatment works and book your appointment here:

Explore Resilo with Emily at Prittie Yoga

Alternatively, feel free to give me a call 07852 100292

Warm wishes,

Emily