We all experience days when we get so wound up from the pressures of life, that our bodies feel like they need to be stretched.

Muscle stiffness from sitting at desks, slouching on the sofa, stress, anxiety, and lack of sleep – or even from pain or injury – make us all feel desperate for some respite. I hadn’t heard of Fasciatherapy before I went to meet Hélène, writes Victoria Birch. But as I lay down on the bed, her hypnotic, calming voice instantly relaxed me.

She gently cupped her hands under my arm pits and lightly stretched, bizarrely causing a tingling sensation in my tummy.

But as Hélène explained the treatment, it suddenly made sense. Fasciatherapy is a soft tissue therapy consisting of gentle pressure and stretching the body’s connective tissues, called the fascia, that forms a web which covers, links, and separates all the parts of your body, relieving tension.

Hélène worked around my body, but not in any specific order, instead unravelling the path of the tensions that she is able to tune in to, through her touch, stimulating lymph flow, revitalising organs, oiling joins and relaxing muscles.

The tingles moved all over the body, putting me into a trance-like state where my brain was struggling to think to anything of great significance, and Hélène’s presence and touch was surprisingly comforting and soothing.

At the end of the session I didn’t want to get up. It had well and truly zapped me.

Hélène told me that as patients relax, they can often experience changes from feeling emotional, alive, positive or calm.

On a personal level, I felt like I was in a dream and was struggling to wake up.

I walked around in a daze for a good half an hour, before being alert enough to drive home.

For further details contact Hélène on 07958 694 644, helene@tuningbodyandmind.co.uk. www.tuningbodyandmind.co.uk Hélène also works from the Bagnall Centre for Integrated Healthcare in Chesham, 01494 791288.

 

Tips from Hélène

– an exercise to stretch out fluidly when tense or stiff: This is particularly effective if you sit at a computer and can be done relatively discreetly.

Sit comfortably on the edge of a chair, in a relaxed posture neither too straight nor slouching. With hands palms down on your thighs, take a moment to focus in, feeling areas of tension and releasing them as best you can.

With minimum muscular input, begin to move your body forward very slowly as though you are aiming to touch something in front of you with your chest and tummy, gently stretching your body into an opened posture, your neck relaxed (this should take 15 secs). When you feel a stretch in your whole body, stop and wait until you feel that you want to move back in the opposite direction. Follow that impulse and slowly move back towards the back of the chair (15 secs) without overstretching, and wait again. Repeat this at least 3 times, observing each time that you can go a little bit further.

Notice an ‘up’ and ‘outward’ movement as you move forward, and a ‘down’ and ‘inward’ movement as you move back, creating a rhythm of opening up and closing, legs and arms included, like a whole body breath. When you stop, take a moment to enjoy the effects.