The Hidden Impact of PTSD on Your Body (Even After You’ve ‘Healed’)

I thought I’d healed from my C-PTSD. Thirteen years after diagnosis, I could finally talk about my trauma without triggering. But pregnancy revealed something unexpected: PTSD physical symptoms that persisted despite all my emotional healing. Blood sugar crashes. Chronic inflammation. Unexplained fatigue. This post is about the hidden ways trauma lives in your body – and what to do about it.

I want to share something vulnerable with you.

It took me 2 years after my C-PTSD (complex post-traumatic stress disorder) diagnosis to finally start looking inward and be motivated to truly heal. This was 2 years of counselling, psychology and talk therapy that seemed to level me out during the sessions, but after the sessions I felt no different. Whilst there isn’t anything inherently bad in talk therapy (in fact it can be extremely helpful for people who need to express), it is important not to forget to treat the physical body that has been affected on a cellular level.

Whilst it’s been over 13 years now since I was given this diagnosis and it’s been 4 years since I felt confident I had integrated my trauma on a conscious level. I can speak about it openly and honestly without physical triggers – so from a conventional medicine perspective, most of my healing has been done. But, since being pregnant, I have noticed ongoing health issues that have got me searching for more answers.

I’ve consciously processed the trauma, I’ve done a lot of work to calm my nervous system. I’ve created a life that is calm and peaceful, most of the time. And I live with such purpose in my work – yet my body seems to be feeling the effects of my PTSD through ongoing inflammation and blood sugar dysregulation.

Your body isn’t broken. It learned depletion as a survival strategy.

I know there is something else underneath the surface, despite all the healing I’ve done. All the nervous system work, meditation, movement, breathwork, somatic therapy, diet and nutrition work that I’ve done – underneath it all, the missing piece is understanding a system that learnt depletion after extreme stress. Whilst I did most of these healing modalities in isolation – the missing link was integrating them, so my body could learn a new way of operating that didn’t involve depletion.

3 Ways PTSD Still Affects Your Body (Even After Emotional Healing)

Depending on the type of trauma and where a person is in their healing journey, it can affect the body differently. The earlier the healing stage, the more obvious the symptoms – for me, very early on, my symptoms manifested as physical pain and tension. As you continue to move through your healing journey, the symptoms can become less obvious and more subtle. You may not even notice them until you push your body to do something new (e.g. in pregnancy, menopause or training for something big – a big hike, a marathon etc).

This post is for you if you’ve done some healing around your trauma but still feel depleted.

1. Your stress hormone system runs quietly depleted

After years of your body producing high cortisol during trauma, the system can downregulate into a chronic low-grade depletion. This means, even if you’ve healed emotionally and feel genuinely calm, your adrenal output never really fully recovers. This means you don’t feel “stressed” but your physical body can’t meet normal metabolic demands.

How this shows up subtly:

  • You need to eat more frequently (or feel irritable, shaky or foggy)
  • Exercise feels depleting rather than energising – you crash instead of feeling good
  • You’re more sensitive to fasting, missed meals, or dietary changes than seems normal
  • Blood sugar drops, despite eating regularly or well
  • Pregnancy, illness or other physical stressors reveal something is “off” that wasn’t obvious before

Supporting research: Yehuda, R., et al. (2007). “Cortisol metabolic predictors of response to psychotherapy for symptoms of PTSD”

2. Your nervous system defaults to subtle protective states

Your vagus nerve (the longest nerve in our body that controls our nervous system) tone is lower than optimal, keeping you at 10-15% more activated than you realize – this affects your digestion, sleep, and how your body responds to food.

How this shows up:

  • You have unexplained digestive issues or food sensitivities
  • Your blood sugar responds unpredictably (even when you eat well)
  • You feel disconnected from your body signals until they’re extreme

Supporting research: Hauschildt, M., et al. (2011). “Heart rate variability in response to affective scenes in posttraumatic stress disorder”

3. Your energy production runs less efficiently

Years of stress hormones damaged your mitochondria (your energy cells), so your cells use glucose inefficiently – this means you can often burn fuel without producing proportional energy.

How this shows up:

  • You have fatigue that seems disproportionate to what you’re actually doing
  • Brain fog and poor exercise recovery are your normal
  • You function fine, but operate on a narrower margin with less resilience

Why Integration Is the Missing Piece

I was doing all the right things – eating well based on my bloodwork, meditating daily, managing my nervous system – but my skin still flared, my blood sugars still dropped, and I still crashed. The shift came when I stopped treating these as separate practices and started weaving them together: nervous system work while eating, while doing mundane tasks. Understanding which emotions needed attention and when. Laughing and connecting more intentionally. The healing wasn’t in doing more – it was in integrating what I already knew into how I actually lived.

Trauma didn’t just happen in your mind or emotions or metabolism – it organised your entire physiology.

This is why healing from PTSD at this deeper layer requires integration. Not just nervous system work in isolation. Not just bloodwork without the somatic piece. Not just nutrition without understanding how your body learned depletion as a survival strategy.

The work I do sits at the intersection of all these layers – reading what your bloodwork reveals about survival patterns, addressing metabolism through targeted nutrition, working with fascia and nervous system so your body remembers safety, and doing all of this in relational space where your system can finally let go.

Because trauma organized your entire physiology – mind, emotions, metabolism, structure. Healing it requires working with all those layers at once, held in the kind of witness and presence your body needed then, and still needs now.

What’s Next

If this resonates with where you are in your healing journey, I’d love to hear from you. You can email me at sophia@musclesense.au or follow along as I continue to develop this integrative approach during my maternity leave.

Your Body Isn’t Broken – It’s Organised Around a Threat That’s No Longer There.

There’s a particular kind of exhaustion that comes from trying everything and still feeling stuck.

You’ve been to the GP or even the functional medicine doctor. You’ve addressed the gut issues, balanced the hormones, optimized the supplements. You’ve done therapy – sometimes for years. You understand your patterns. You can articulate exactly why you respond the way you do.

But your body? Your body is still protesting.

The chronic pain that won’t quit. The fatigue that no amount of sleep touches. The digestive issues that flare despite eating pretty well. The tension in your jaw, your shoulders, your hips – tension that’s been there so long you’ve almost forgotten what it feels like to be without it.

And underneath all of it, a quiet, persistent question: What’s wrong with me?

Here’s what I want you to hear: Nothing is wrong with you. Your body isn’t broken. It’s organized around a threat that’s no longer there.

The Difference Between Broken and Adaptive

When we talk about trauma – and I’m talking about PTSD or C-PTSD, the kind that comes from prolonged exposure to threat, neglect, or chaos – we often use language that implies something needs to be “fixed” or “healed.”

But here’s the thing: your body didn’t malfunction. It adapted. Brilliantly.

When you were in an environment where hypervigilance kept you safe, your nervous system learned to scan for danger constantly. When bracing protected you from impact (physical or emotional), your fascia learned to stay contracted. When shutting down your digestion allowed you to redirect energy toward survival, your gut learned to deprioritize rest-and-digest mode.

These weren’t failures. These were adaptive responses that kept you alive.

The problem isn’t that your body learned these patterns. The problem is that your body is still running them – even though the circumstances that required them are gone.

Your nervous system is organized around an expectation of threat. And until that organization shifts, your body will continue to behave as if the danger is still present.

What “Organized Around Threat” Actually Means

This isn’t just a metaphor. It’s physiological.

When your nervous system organizes around survival, it doesn’t just affect your thoughts or your emotions. It affects:

  • Your fascia: The connective tissue that wraps around every muscle, organ, and nerve in your body. When you’ve been in a protective stance for years – shoulders up, jaw clenched, belly tight – your fascia literally takes that shape. It restricts. It holds. It braces. And even when you consciously try to relax, your fascia remembers the shape of defense. The flow on effect of this is a tightening around your muscles, organs and nerves – they begin to not work optimally. 
  • Your metabolism: Chronic activation of the stress response disrupts your cortisol rhythms, leading to insulin resistance, blood sugar dysregulation, and systemic inflammation. Your body is in a metabolic state optimized for short-term survival – not for thriving. That’s why you can eat all the “right” foods and still feel like your metabolism is working against you. This might look like stubborn weight that just won’t budge or still feeling lethargic, despite having enough good foods in your system. 
  • Your nervous system regulation: Your autonomic nervous system – the part that controls things like heart rate, digestion, and immune response – is stuck in a pattern. Not dysregulated in the sense of chaotic, but organized around the expectation that danger is imminent. Your window of tolerance is narrow. Your baseline is vigilance. Your body doesn’t know how to rest because resting used to be dangerous.
  • Your capacity for connection: Trauma often happens in relationship. If your system learned that being seen was dangerous, that trust led to betrayal, or that closeness meant vulnerability to harm – then even now, your body will resist connection. Not because you consciously want to be isolated, but because your nervous system perceives intimacy as a threat.

This is what I mean by “organized around threat”. It’s not that you’re overreacting. It’s that your entire system is calibrated to a reality that no longer exists.

Why “Regulation” Isn’t Enough

If you’ve been in the wellness or personal development space for any length of time, you’ve probably heard a lot about nervous system regulation.

Breathwork. Grounding exercises. Vagal toning. Cold plunges. All the tools designed to help you shift from sympathetic (fight/flight) to parasympathetic (rest/digest).

And look – these tools can be helpful. I’m not dismissing them.

But here’s what I see over and over again: people who’ve been practicing regulation techniques for months or years and still feel fundamentally stuck. Because regulation is about managing symptoms. Recalibration is about changing the underlying organization.

Think of it this way: if your nervous system is organized around the expectation of threat, then “regulating” is like trying to calm down a smoke alarm that’s going off. You can soothe yourself in the moment. You can bring your heart rate down. You can breathe slowly and feel temporarily better.

But the alarm is still set to go off at the slightest hint of smoke – because that’s what it was designed to do.

Recalibration is about changing what the alarm considers dangerous in the first place.

It’s about updating the system so that safety is the baseline, not the exception. So that your body doesn’t have to be convinced, over and over again, that it’s okay to relax. So that connection, expansion, visibility – the things that used to feel dangerous – can finally register as safe.

The Body Remembers What the Mind Has Processed

One of the most common things I hear from clients is this: “I’ve done so much therapy. I understand my trauma. I’ve processed it. So why does my body still feel like this?”

And the answer is: because the body keeps a different kind of score.

You can cognitively understand why you respond the way you do. You can have insight into your patterns. You can even have compassion for the parts of you that are still afraid.

But if the physiology hasn’t shifted – if your fascia is still braced, if your metabolism is still in survival mode, if your nervous system is still organized around threat – then your body will continue to experience the world as dangerous, regardless of what your mind knows.

This isn’t a failure of therapy. It’s a recognition that trauma lives in layers.

The emotional processing is essential. The cognitive understanding matters. But there’s also a somatic, metabolic, structural layer that needs attention. And that’s the layer most people skip – not because they don’t want to address it, but because they don’t know it’s there. This process goes unnoticed because it is extremely unconscious. We may not fully understand it, but we do understand that something is not quite right with our body. 

What Recalibration Actually Looks Like

So what does it mean to recalibrate a nervous system that’s been organized around threat for years or decades?

It’s not a weekend workshop. It’s not a single modality. And it’s definitely not a quick fix.

It’s working at the intersection of fascia, metabolism, and nervous system – with relational safety as the foundation.

Fascia: starting by reading the physical patterns your body has held for years. Not just stretching or massage, but reading the story your body is telling through its shape and its restrictions. Where have you been bracing? What has your posture been protecting? And how do we gently, gradually, help your fascia release the shape of defense so your body can take the shape of safety? This is about helping your body experience life differently, by moving differently. 

Metabolism: We address the physiological patterns that keep you stuck in survival mode. Blood sugar regulation. Cortisol rhythms. Insulin sensitivity. Inflammation. Not just through nutrition (though that’s part of it), but through helping your body learn that it has the resources it needs – that it’s not in famine, not in crisis, not in perpetual emergency. It’s about how you eat, how and when you sleep and identifying if your HPA (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal) axis is functioning optimally. 

Nervous system: We work with the organization itself. Not just calming the nervous system in the moment, but helping it update its baseline. Teaching it, slowly and experientially, that safety is possible. That connection is safe. That expansion doesn’t equal danger. That you can be seen and still be okay.

Relational safety: And critically – because trauma so often happens in relationship – we do this work in the context of connection. Not alone. Not through an app or a protocol. But with a witness. With someone who can hold steady while your system learns to trust again.

This work can take time. Six months. A year. Sometimes longer. Because we’re not just managing symptoms – we’re reorganizing the system from the ground up. But the good news is, because of all the ground work you have done, the body shifts quickly and you see gentle, subtle results. 

What Becomes Possible

When your body finally learns that the threat is gone – not intellectually, but somatically, metabolically, structurally – something profound shifts.

Clients describe it as:

  • Finally being able to take a full breath
  • Tension patterns that have been there for years beginning to release
  • Chronic pain that starts to make sense (and then starts to ease)
  • Energy that stabilizes instead of crashing
  • Sleep that actually feels restorative
  • A gut that functions again
  • The ability to be in your body without constantly wanting to escape it
  • Relationships that feel less dangerous
  • Success that doesn’t feel like it’s going to be taken away

Not overnight. Not all at once. But gradually, cumulatively, in ways that start to compound.

And here’s what I’ve learned: when your body finally feels safe, everything else gets easier.

Decision-making becomes clearer because you’re not constantly scanning for threat. Relationships deepen because connection no longer feels dangerous. Work becomes more sustainable because your body isn’t diverting all its resources toward survival.

Something magical also happens, when your body shifts on a deeper layer, the life you’ve been trying to build becomes possible and it ends up happening, effortlessly. 

You’re Not Starting From Scratch

If you’re reading this and recognizing yourself, I want you to know: you’re not starting from scratch.

All the work you’ve already done – the therapy, the tests, the functional medicine, the nervous system practices – that all matters. You haven’t been wasting your time.

But if something still feels stuck, if your body is still protesting despite everything you’ve tried, it’s likely because there’s a layer you haven’t addressed yet.

The layer where your trauma organized your physiology. Where your nervous system shaped your metabolism. Where your body learned that survival meant staying small, staying braced, staying vigilant.

And that layer? That’s where the deepest work happens.

Not because you’re broken. But because you’re finally ready to update a system that was built for a reality you no longer live in.

Your body isn’t failing you. It’s been trying to protect you with the only tools it had. And now – finally – it’s ready to learn that the threat is gone.

Did this resonate? I’d love to know – send me an email at sophia@musclesense.au. 

Magnesium

Sleep is often underrated, yet most of us who don’t sleep well, crave sleep! Why is that? If you aren’t making sleep a priority then you may be damaging your health more than you know.

 

A good quality night’s sleep will determine the quality of not only your health but your career and relationships. Poor quality sleep may also cause:

 

  • Difficulty losing weight

  • Overeating

  • Plateau or decline in athletic performance

  • Lack of concentration

  • Lack of motivation

  • Low mood and energy levels

  • Increase risk to heart disease, stroke, Type 2 Diabetes

  • Decreased immune system

 

It may be frustrating to some when they don’t even know the reason behind their poor quality sleep. Here’s a few tips on how to get the most out of your important down-time:

 

  1. ENVIRONMENT & TEMPERATURE:

    • Creating a cool, dark, quiet space to sleep is extremely important

    • COOL: the National Sleep Foundation recommends 15-20 degrees Celcius (60-67F) for optimal sleep.Keep your room temperature cool and adjust blankets around it for comfort.

    • DARK: even small amounts of light effects our brains ability to stay asleep. This means any light from your windows or even your electronics can have a profound impact on your sleep. Buying a good quality eye mask (ask me about purchasing these) is important and blackout curtains for your room is recommended.

    • QUIET: in areas where you cannot seem to have complete silence, it is highly recommended to invest in some good quality ear plugs or a white noise app on your phone.

  1. MONITOR YOUR SLEEP:

    • It may be surprising to most people about the quality of sleep they are actually getting. It is important to know how much sleep you are getting on average and be aware of your quality of sleep.

    • A simple sleep app will help you be aware of your sleep patterns

  1. EXERCISE:

    • Your activity levels and quality of movement during the day will determine your quality of sleep at night.

    • Try to keep your exercise to early morning or early afternoon to allow for good quality of sleep.

    • Try not to substitute sleep for exercise – if you want to exercise you are better off going to bed earlier and waking earlier than stressing your body out late at night

  1. SLEEP-WAKE CYCLE:

    • Natural light exposure, particularly in the morning has great brain benefits – it will also regulate your sleep-wake cycle

    • Try going to bed and waking up at the same time each day. Your body loves to have a regular rhythm.

    • GET ENOUGH SLEEP! The recommendation for sleep duration sits between 7 and 9. Everyone’s sleep needs differ and it may also differ at different points of their life. Use the monitoring of your own sleep cycle to adjust and determine the amount of sleep that is optimal for you.

    • Napping can be beneficial at times, however, try to limit your naps to under 30-60 minutes. Napping for too long will effect your sleep.

  1. STIMULUS:

    • Try to avoid screens at night, if you must use screens limit your blue light exposure

    • “Blue light is a colour in the “visible light spectrum” that can be seen by the human eye.Blue light has a wavelength of between approximately 380nm and 500nm; making it one of the shortest, highest-energy wavelengths” – Blue Light Exposed

    • Turn off your electronics, dim your screens if possible (if you really want to reduce blue light set night shift on your phone – check Neurohacker Collective’s post on how to do so), invest in anti-blue light glasses if avoiding screen time is not possible

    • Avoid caffeine (4-6 hours) and alcohol (2 hours) before bed. Often people who can have a coffee and fall straight asleep say “coffee doesn’t affect me”. I challenge you to monitor your sleep with and without coffee after 12pm. Let me know how you go!

  1. ROUTINE:

    • Just as it is important to got to bed and wake up at the same time each day for your quality sleep, it is equally important to have a settling routine before bed.

    • Plan your next day, read a book or have a bath before bed.

    • Avoid social media, this may cause more stress for your sleep!

If you have:

  • ongoing persistent pain

  • a decline or plateau in your cognitive function

  • a decline or plateau in athletic performance

 

Then commit to introducing ONE of these tips into your life. Begin with SMALL changes and implement these tips for a few months to get your sleep back on track. Slowly introduce changes each week but don’t overload yourself. It’s hard for us to know how good we can really feel when we have never felt it. Commit to 30 days of improving your sleep and notice the change in your business, your relationships and your workouts!

Is Poor Sleep Impacting Your Success?

Sleep is often underrated, yet most of us who don’t sleep well, crave sleep! Why is that? If you aren’t making sleep a priority then you may be damaging your health more than you know.

 

A good quality night’s sleep will determine the quality of not only your health but your career and relationships. Poor quality sleep may also cause:

 

  • Difficulty losing weight

  • Overeating

  • Plateau or decline in athletic performance

  • Lack of concentration

  • Lack of motivation

  • Low mood and energy levels

  • Increase risk to heart disease, stroke, Type 2 Diabetes

  • Decreased immune system

 

It may be frustrating to some when they don’t even know the reason behind their poor quality sleep. Here’s a few tips on how to get the most out of your important down-time:

 

  1. ENVIRONMENT & TEMPERATURE:

    • Creating a cool, dark, quiet space to sleep is extremely important

    • COOL: the National Sleep Foundation recommends 15-20 degrees Celcius (60-67F) for optimal sleep.Keep your room temperature cool and adjust blankets around it for comfort.

    • DARK: even small amounts of light effects our brains ability to stay asleep. This means any light from your windows or even your electronics can have a profound impact on your sleep. Buying a good quality eye mask (ask me about purchasing these) is important and blackout curtains for your room is recommended.

    • QUIET: in areas where you cannot seem to have complete silence, it is highly recommended to invest in some good quality ear plugs or a white noise app on your phone.

  1. MONITOR YOUR SLEEP:

    • It may be surprising to most people about the quality of sleep they are actually getting. It is important to know how much sleep you are getting on average and be aware of your quality of sleep.

    • A simple sleep app will help you be aware of your sleep patterns

  1. EXERCISE:

    • Your activity levels and quality of movement during the day will determine your quality of sleep at night.

    • Try to keep your exercise to early morning or early afternoon to allow for good quality of sleep.

    • Try not to substitute sleep for exercise – if you want to exercise you are better off going to bed earlier and waking earlier than stressing your body out late at night

  1. SLEEP-WAKE CYCLE:

    • Natural light exposure, particularly in the morning has great brain benefits – it will also regulate your sleep-wake cycle

    • Try going to bed and waking up at the same time each day. Your body loves to have a regular rhythm.

    • GET ENOUGH SLEEP! The recommendation for sleep duration sits between 7 and 9. Everyone’s sleep needs differ and it may also differ at different points of their life. Use the monitoring of your own sleep cycle to adjust and determine the amount of sleep that is optimal for you.

    • Napping can be beneficial at times, however, try to limit your naps to under 30-60 minutes. Napping for too long will effect your sleep.

  1. STIMULUS:

    • Try to avoid screens at night, if you must use screens limit your blue light exposure

    • “Blue light is a colour in the “visible light spectrum” that can be seen by the human eye.Blue light has a wavelength of between approximately 380nm and 500nm; making it one of the shortest, highest-energy wavelengths” – Blue Light Exposed

    • Turn off your electronics, dim your screens if possible (if you really want to reduce blue light set night shift on your phone – check Neurohacker Collective’s post on how to do so), invest in anti-blue light glasses if avoiding screen time is not possible

    • Avoid caffeine (4-6 hours) and alcohol (2 hours) before bed. Often people who can have a coffee and fall straight asleep say “coffee doesn’t affect me”. I challenge you to monitor your sleep with and without coffee after 12pm. Let me know how you go!

  1. ROUTINE:

    • Just as it is important to got to bed and wake up at the same time each day for your quality sleep, it is equally important to have a settling routine before bed.

    • Plan your next day, read a book or have a bath before bed.

    • Avoid social media, this may cause more stress for your sleep!

If you have:

  • ongoing persistent pain

  • a decline or plateau in your cognitive function

  • a decline or plateau in athletic performance

 

Then commit to introducing ONE of these tips into your life. Begin with SMALL changes and implement these tips for a few months to get your sleep back on track. Slowly introduce changes each week but don’t overload yourself. It’s hard for us to know how good we can really feel when we have never felt it. Commit to 30 days of improving your sleep and notice the change in your business, your relationships and your workouts!

Massage, SI & Your Lymph

Lymph…..It’s a colorless liquid that is the sewage system of your body. It’s primary job is to get rid of cellular waste helping the body heal.

If you have chronic, ongoing pain, you have a lymph issue…

One thing that Lorena and I have in common is we share the passion of helping our clients restore the body back to balance so it can heal itself. We look closely at, and help, the lymphatic system as it is our “sewage system” getting rid of cellular waste. If we get ‘kinks’ in lymphatic sewage pipeline – this waste builds up causing inflammation and pain.

Better lymph flow = better chance of your body healing itself

So, we can do this in different ways. I can help you with Structural Integration (SI) and Lorena with Remedial Massage, including lymphatic drainage. Structural Integration aids with aligning your fascial tissues that wraps pretty much everywhere including nerves, blood vessles, muscles, organs, fat cells and particularly the lymphatic system.
 
As some of you have experienced SI makes you feel “lighter”, “taller”, “softer” and sometimes it can make you feel completely exhausted. This is sometimes your sewage system flowing as it should, eliminating cellular waste that you’ve been holding onto for a long while. But the most important thing SI does, is it gets you breathing more deeply into your diaphragm!
 
Once we are aligned and breathing deeply – we may feel great, but there’s one other thing…in order for the lymph to flow and prevent more of these ‘kinks’ it needs movement! It’s like a pump, and without pressure it doesn’t work as effectively as it should.
 
Here, adding in Lymphatic Massage from Lorena allows for more movement of your lymphatics helping you stay aligned, balanced and restored.
 

I was in pain for a number of years and whilst SI helped me immensely, I still needed that de-stress time and flow that Lorena’s massages provided me with. Combination of both SI & Remedial Massage is a match made in heaven.

It’s not ALL just about preventing that potential hip replacement in the future – it’s about you feeling your absolute BEST in the present moment. I hope we can help get you closer to this feeling.

Have any questions? Get in contact with us!

Sophia x

What No One Tells You About Your Shoulder Pain

Shoulder pain is very rarely a shoulder problem. Persistent shoulder pain or injuries could be a sign of a postural imbalance throughout your rib cage, pelvis or even feet!Your body does not work particular parts in isolation. When we have a restriction in the ankle joint we may see issues such as pain higher up the body. Similarly if there is restrictions of movement in the neck, we may see issues in the lower back.

A healthy fascial system distributes load throughout the entirety of the system. Prolonged exposure to stress from your job, type of exercise, poor posture, relationships or lifestyle choices will cause tension in your body. This tension over time may cause your body to distribute load inefficiently.

A perfect example is sleepy glutes that are a result from prolonged sitting. When you sit on your glutes they become inactive (and usually) and when you stand up and take these sleepy glutes into walking or exercise (particularly lifting weights) your body will start moving differently to compensate that you have no glutes! Your glutes are extremely important for hip stabilisation, without them you become tighter in other places to stabilise effectively. Often times people who move less throughout the day go to the gym and suddenly overload their fascist system and make matters even worse. This build up of stiffness, soreness and lack of natural glute activation can quickly lead to injury.


extreme soreness has become a celebrated experience in our culture, but pain is often an indication that you’ve gone too far, too fast Katy Bowman
When we experience trauma or injury to an area, the body is extremely good at doing whatever it can to keep functioning the best way it knows how. The areas of trauma or injury often become tight and restricted but the rest of your body will compensate. Add in stressors such as your job, relationships and types of exercise, pain can often surface in different areas of your body with no explanation.

Shoulder injuries are often a results of poor postural patterns taken into repetitive movement. Some times we can create change and provide relief by focusing on the shoulder through massage or physio, however, if you are getting treatment for your shoulder injury and your therapist has not looked more globally – you may not see long term results.


Structural Bodywork at Muscle Sense aims at treating your whole body, not just symptoms. Do you want to get back to pain free movements that you love? If your niggling shoulder isn’t getting any better, it might be time to take some time to commit to some different treatment. 

Structural Integration 12-Series

Our therapist Sophia has completed her 31-Day intense training and is now a FULLY qualified Structural Integration Practitioner!

Natalie & Sophia at Anatomy Trains Headquarters in Fremantle, WA.

Natalie & Sophia are the FIRST Structural Integration Practitioners in South Australia!

So what does this mean?

Sophia will now be offering what is known as the Structural Integration 12-Series.

What is STRUCTURAL INTEGRATION?

Structural Integration (SI) is a type of bodywork that aims to improve human biomechanical functioning as a whole rather than treatment of a particular symptom. SI was developed in the mid to late 20th century by the late Ida Rolf. Ida’s ideology was driven by the, belief that due to gravity’s unrelenting force, the human structures (aka fascia) must adapt accordingly throughout the lifecycle. Through Anatomy Trains, Thomas Myers has developed this ideology and created a 12-session protocol (known as a 12 series) of deep, slow fascial & myofascial manipulation.

What is a 12 SERIES?

The 12 Series involves 12 treatments up to 90 minutes involving deep, slow fascial manipulation with movement re-education. Our lifestyle choices from what we eat to how we do or don’t move, determines our postural habits. Sit down all day? Your tissues of your fascial system will adapt to a seated position. Spend most of your day standing? You’ll adapt to a lengthened standing position.

How can SI help you?

Sometimes we can get stuck in our regular postural positions. When we try something new, in a different position, the body is unable to cope and injuries may occur including pain, muscle tears and/or herniated discs. At times these little injuries can lead to chronic pain and become normalized with the explanation I’m just getting old. Our lifestyle, posture, emotions and character as an individual, shape our posture and some postures don’t serve us well.

The SI 12-Series aims to balance the body from the ground up starting with Session 1 that allows lift through the Superficial Front Line. The 2nd and 3rd Sessions balance the Superficial Back Line and the Lateral Lines. Session 4 enters into the lower Deep Front Line. Session 6-8 balance the breath all the way to the neck. From there we continue on to balance the other fascial lines around the breath and the Deep Front Line. The whole entirety of the fascial system is the balanced with session 9, 10 and 12 have a strong integration focus where we integrate the bodywork from previous sessions. SI is refined, intentional touch that may assist the body to move more freely and adapt to different positions.

The 12-Series is an exploration of movement and exploration of self. I want you to experience your body differently and by feeling a sense of openness you may have not felt in a long time!


 

What is Fascia?

Fascia is a complex network of connective tissues that covers every structure in the human body, from muscles and bones to organs and nerves. It plays a crucial role in providing support and stability, allowing us to move freely, and transmitting force throughout the body. However, despite its importance, fascia has often been overlooked by traditional medicine and is only recently beginning to receive the recognition it deserves.


What is Fascia Made Of?

Fascia is composed of collagen fibers, elastin fibers, and a hydrated gel-like substance that helps provide support and flexibility. The fibers are arranged in a web-like structure, with multiple layers working together to create a 3-dimensional network that surrounds and supports every structure in the body.


What Does Fascia Do?
Fascia has several key functions, including:

  1. Providing support and stability: Fascia helps to maintain the shape and stability of structures throughout the body, preventing them from collapsing or shifting out of place.

  2. Allowing movement: Fascia also provides a gliding surface for muscles, allowing them to move smoothly and freely without getting caught on other structures.

  3. Transmitting force: Finally, fascia is also responsible for transmitting force throughout the body, allowing us to move with strength and power.

Why is Fascia Important?

Fascia is important because it helps to maintain the health and function of all the structures in the body. When fascia is healthy, it provides support, stability, and ease of movement, allowing us to perform all of our daily activities without pain or restriction.
 

However, when fascia becomes stiff or restricted, it can lead to pain, decreased range of motion, and poor posture. This is often the result of trauma, injury, or repetitive stress, and can lead to a wide range of conditions, including back pain, neck pain, and headaches.

How to Care for Your Fascia

To keep your fascia healthy and functioning properly, it is important to engage in regular self-care practices, such as:

  1. Movement: Regular exercise and movement, especially low-impact activities like yoga or swimming, can help keep your fascia healthy by improving circulation and flexibility.

  2. Bodywork: bodywork such as myofascial bodywork, physio, massage or chiro can also be helpful in promoting circulation, reducing tension, and restoring mobility to the fascia.

  3. Breathwork: breathing intentionally and regularly, deeply and expansively can be very helpful to keep your fascia open

In conclusion, fascia is a vital component of the human body that plays a crucial role in our health and wellbeing. By understanding its importance and incorporating self-care practices into our daily routines, we can ensure that our fascia stays healthy and functioning properly, allowing us to live a pain-free and active life.

 

As Tom Myers, founder of Anatomy Trains, puts it:

“Are there really 600 muscles? OR only 1 muscle in 600 fascial pockets”

 
This drawing explanation is a great way to look at it:
Treating the Fascia:
When it comes to treatment of the fascia there is ongoing research around what we are actually doing to the fascia to “release” it. “Myofascial release” (myo – muscle, fascial – fascia) is a commonly used term for treatment of the fascia. According to Tom Myers, what appears to be happening is when a trained bodyworker is treating the fascia they are hydrating the fascial tissues. Imagine wetting & ringing out a dry sponge. The sponge goes from dry, brittle & stuck to moist, fluffy & moveable. This often happens in the treatment room with clients who receive fascial treatment; they look & feel taller & more open in their body.
 
It is important to note that treatment of the fascia (Rolfing, Myofascial Release, Structural Integration) is not the same as massage: Deep Tissue or Trigger Point therapy. Whilst the fascia is being touched & moved in massage, if there is no direct intentional connection with the fascia it may remain stuck.
 

Further studies are pointing to fascia being the missing link between a lot of ailments, health conditions, injuries, ongoing chronic pain & getting well. I have been treating the fascial system for over 4 years now and have seen some amazing results from people who have had ongoing issues that wouldn’t go away with physiotherapy, chiropractic or massage. Often times fascial treatment improves the outcomes from these other modalities.

 
A fascial system approach is an all over, holistic body approach. The results are much more long-lasting!
 
Find a Structural Integration Practitioner – Australia – here
 

Find a Structural Integration Practitioner – Worldwide – here

 

Remedial Massage vs Structural Integration, how are they different?

Should you book a Structural Integration or a Remedial session? And what are the differences?

Remedial Massage and Structural Integration are two popular techniques used for addressing pain, tension, and restricted movement in the body. Both techniques aim to improve physical function, reduce pain and discomfort, and enhance overall health and wellbeing. However, there are some key differences between Remedial Massage and Structural Integration that are worth considering when choosing a treatment approach.

 

Remedial Massage is a therapeutic massage technique that focuses on treating specific areas of the body that are experiencing pain or tension. Remedial Massage therapists use a range of techniques, including deep tissue massage, trigger point therapy, and myofascial release, to target specific areas of the body and relieve pain and discomfort. Remedial Massage is typically performed on a massage table and is designed to be a more superficial, focused treatment approach.

 

Structural Integration, on the other hand, is a more comprehensive treatment approach that aims to improve the overall alignment and balance of the body. Structural Integration practitioners use techniques such as myofascial release and movement re-education to address the underlying patterns of tension and restrictions in the body. The focus of Structural Integration is on improving the body’s overall posture and alignment, which can lead to reduced pain and improved physical function. Structural Integration typically involves a series of 12 sessions, with each session building upon the previous one to create lasting changes in the body.

 

In conclusion, both Remedial Massage and Structural Integration are effective techniques for addressing pain, tension, and restricted movement in the body. The choice between the two will depend on the individual’s specific needs and goals. If you are looking for a more focused, targeted treatment approach, Remedial Massage may be the best option for you. If, on the other hand, you are looking for a more comprehensive and longer lasting treatment approach that addresses the underlying patterns of tension in the body, Structural Integration may be a better fit. Regardless of the technique you choose, working with a skilled and experienced practitioner is the key to achieving the best possible results.

If you have a shoulder problem, you have a hip problem!

It’s a common misconception that shoulder pain only originates from problems in the shoulder itself. However, many cases of shoulder pain are actually the result of issues in other areas of the body, such as the hips. This connection is due to the interconnected nature of the fascial system, where tightness and imbalances in one area can impact other areas of the body.

 

Here’s how a hip problem can lead to shoulder pain:

 

1. Altered mechanics: If the hips are tight or not functioning properly, this can result in changes to the way we move and put stress on other parts of the body, including the shoulders. For example, tight hips can cause individuals to compensate by using their shoulders more, leading to strain and pain in the shoulder area.

 

2. Referred pain: The hips and shoulders are connected through the nervous system & fascial system, meaning that pain or discomfort in one area can be referred to another. For example, a problem in the hips such as a hip flexor strain can result in referred pain in the shoulder.

 

3. Imbalance: Tightness or imbalances in the hips can also result in imbalances in the shoulder, leading to pain and discomfort.

 
 
 

To address the connection between shoulder pain and hip problems, it’s important to take a holistic approach to treatment that considers the entire body, not just the shoulder. This may include therapy techniques such as myofascial release, breathwork, movement, and exercises to improve hip mobility and stability. Additionally, incorporating self-care practices such as regular exercise and proper posture (movement) can help to prevent and alleviate shoulder pain caused by hip problems.

 

In conclusion, if you’re experiencing shoulder pain, it’s important to consider the possibility that a hip problem may be the root cause. By working with a healthcare professional and taking a holistic approach to treatment, you can address the underlying problem and achieve long-term relief from shoulder pain.