Anya CharnaudFascia runs throughout the whole body and some researchers believe it is the biggest single organ in the human body. Fascia’s main objective is as connective tissue that builds and joins together muscle fibres, ligaments, tendons, blood vessels, organs, capillaries, and lymph vessels. There are investigations into whether the fascia holds memories and this is where it matters for us.
When working with trauma we think about the memories that someone will remember. Mental images of an event which has happened to someone to cause them to fear for their lives, is what we conjure when we traditionally think of trauma. However, where does the non imagery based experience go? The smell, the feel, the physical pain?
An abstract from ‘Does fascia hold memories?’ by Paolo Tozzi (2014) helps to describe this phenomena.
“The idea that tissues may possess some sort of memory is a controversial topic in manual medicine, calling for research and clinical exploration. Many bodyworkers, at some point in their practice, have experienced phenomena that may be interpreted as representing a release of memory traces when working on dysfunctional tissues. This feeling may have been accompanied by some type of sensory experience, for the therapist and/or the patient. In some cases, early traumatic experiences may be recalled. When this happens, the potency of the memory may be erased or eased, along with restoration of tissue function. Hence the questions: can memories be held in the fascia? And: are these memories accessible during manual fascial work? Modern research has proposed a variety of different interpretations as to how memory might be stored in soft tissues, possibly involving other forms of information storage not exclusively processed neurologically.”
This shows that research is being conducted to explore if our body memories can be understood further. Bessel Van Der Kolk writes in his book ‘The body keeps the score’ about how our bodies will hold our experiences and that we need to acknowledge the felt emotions as well as the thought.
The facia is part of the network in the body which is linked to holding body memories. The fascia can get constricted in the body following trauma. It tightens and holds onto the physical stress that occurs at the same time as the trauma. As it’s connected internally across the whole body like a web when it tightens it constricts everywhere.
When the traumatic event occurs the fascia restricts and creates a learned ‘brace’ to threat and stress. We often talk about feeling tight in our shoulders, carrying a heavy load, but when something traumatic is resolved that weight can feel lifted. In cases of post traumatic stress that can feel continuous and the body can constrict in a more permanent way, and issues such as fibromyalgia may develop.
In 2020, a large-scale population-based study reported that mistreatment in childhood was associated with a significantly higher risk of developing fibromyalgia later in life. Another study in 2022 found that 88.2% of people with fibromyalgia had experienced childhood trauma. These studies contribute to evidence of fascial dysfunction in fibromyalgia. This shows the importance of understanding the role of the fascia in trauma, trauma memories and healing from trauma.
Interventions such as Dr David Bercelli’s Trauma release exercises help release the constricted fascia to re-learn that there is no longer a threat and to help the body heal. This is a mammalian response used in animals to reset their nervous systems following a traumatic experience. This practice engages the psoas muscle and then encourages a shaking response which relaxes the fascia and reduces the constriction of the fascia in the body. There are also things like Myofascial release, a form of physical therapy treatment where pressure is used to release the constricted fascia.
As a trauma therapist I always get my clients to engage in some form of body work alongside psychological therapy so that the memories held in the body are also honoured and bared witness too.