Fascia! Fascia! Fascia! Pilates and Books Part III

Fascia! Fascia! Fascia!  Pilates and Books Part III

Thanks Ivy for being a fabulous model

The other day I was teaching a small group Pilates session, and across the room I spotted one of my clients doing something fabulous.  She was lying on the foam roller one leg was bent with her foot planted on the floor and the other was extended long and to the side as if part of an “X.”  She was circling the arm to stretch her chest.  I watched her fascinated.  Then when I asked what she was doing, because like many of my sassy clients (those are the best kind) she wasn’t doing the original exercise I had suggested.  She said, “I don’t know but it feels good,” and I responded with, “Well I love it!”  And then I proceeded to give her suggestions to try the arm circle with the legs switched before switching to the other arm.  Then for the rest of the day I taught this new series dubbed, “The Rachel” to people that came to The Pilates Studio.

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Why did I love it?  Well because it gave me the opportunity to talk about Tom Myers and fascia for the entire day.  I got to pull out books show pictures, talk about functional fascial lines.  Theorize why people liked a contralateral pattern on one side better than the other.  Basically Rachel gave me the opportunity to explore movement in a different way!  WAHOO! And if I had not read and reread the following three books, I may have never recognized an opportunity that gave me such satisfaction.  You see when Rachel straightened her leg she was employing fascial lines to stabilize herself on an unstable base.  She was turning what could have been a simple shoulder mobilization exercise into a fascial extravaganza!!!!

Where did I learn about the goo or glue that connects us, from Tom Myers of course.   About five years ago I had one of those weeks in which three different people who didn’t know each other suggested that I read, Anatomy Trains.   It felt like a sign of sorts, or really good marketing, (but I’m pretty sure none of these people knew Tom Myers either).  I jumped on Amazon and ordered the book, and within the first few pages of reading the book, I was back online looking for a course that Tom Myers was teaching.  His writing is so very clear and he was looking at the body differently.  He was explaining anatomically why movement is a whole body experience.   Already, I knew that simply stretching the hamstrings wouldn’t create flexibility.  I knew the the puzzle was more complicated, but it wasn’t until I read Anatomy Trains that I had a road map of the body that explained why.

I couldn't find pictures online, so I snapped a picture of my own copies

A year after I read Anatomy Trains, I was enrolled in Body Language a 200 hour course with non other than Tom Myers.  This course used the book Body³ A collection of articles that started at the bottom of the feet and worked its way up.  This book explained to me the relationship of the Piriformis to the Psoas.  This book explained breath in a way that I hadn’t heard before.  The pliability of the ribcage, the connection of the diaphragm to the Psoas, the abdominal balloon.  This book pulled me away from referencing muscles as tight or loose, and instead as locked.  There are so many studies out there about stretching and whether its good or bad…Well Body³ taught me when to stretch muscles and when to leave them alone.  The studies conflict because not all stretching is alike…

After reading these two books I was hooked!  I mean really really hooked, and thus of course I had to buy Tom Myers next collection of articles entitled, The Anatomist’s Corner.  There are so many great parts to this book.  In it Tom Myers contextualizes his thoughts about Anatomy with a review of the earliest anatomist’s thoughts.  This book has my favorite article, “Psoas Psubstitutes” (the world’s best title).  The Anatomist’s Corner completed the reframing of the way I think about strengthening the body.  Tom Myers who also studied with Buckminster Fuller (How cool is that?????) is one of the many visionaries that changed the way I think about movement.  I will be forever grateful for his ability to contextualize his thoughts within the world that we live,  he is more than an anatomist, he is a philosopher and teacher.

Now that we have reviewed some of the work of Tom Myers,  it is time to think about next week and the way that visual imagery assists in movement instruction, pattern acquisition, and of course in the connection between artistry and function.  Eric Franklin has written the books that I’ll review next week.

As always if you have interest in buying any of these books feel free to visit The Pilates Studio’s Amazon Store.

Katrina Hawley C.M.A, R.S.M.E

Co-director of The Pilates Studio