You just have to watch the video I’ve posted above by Gil Hedley on fascia, stretching and what he calls “The Fuzz”.

“The Fuzz”?

Yes, the fuzz!

(nutshell) “The fuzz” is fascia, and it grows on us at night like moss on an old log. It needs stretching and that’s why yoga feels so darn good.

You see, I fell in love with yoga for the same reason most people fall in love with yoga. (No, it’s not so I have an excuse to prance around all day in stretchy pants instead of real clothes, although that is a definite perk!)That absolutely scrumptious feeling of juicy stretchiness after a few rounds of Surya Namaskara-ing and good ‘ol down dogging.

Aaaahh.

So what causes that feeling and why does it feel so darn delicious anyways?

Well for one thing we are feeling some stretch in our muscles wich release endorphins. Secondly we are stretching the fascia which is connective tissue that actually encases our muscles (The mossy fuzz stuff I was telling you about, it encases our muscles kinda like a thin sock on a foot.)

Here Jill Miller of Yoga Tune Up describes this process and why dynamic stretching is so important…

“When we move our bodies fully, encouraging motion into every joint and muscle fiber in the body, we aid in loosening up adhesions that regularly grow between the sliding surfaces of muscles all over our body. When we are stagnant, we literally grow internal moss all over our musculature. This “inner moss” is fascia, an important connective tissue webbing that strings our body together. However, fascia can grow like an inner scab over places in our body that are not utilized for movement. Sometimes this is helpful, for example in protecting a muscle that has been injured. However, fascia does not distinguish between an injured muscle and a “lazy” or underused muscle. It will just grow and continue to restrict movement unless it is regularly mobilized, as in a massage or specific motions that help activate heat and stretch within the muscles, tendons and connective tissues.

When we dynamically stretch away our restrictions by breaking apart our tension areas, we feel better physiologically and psychologically!”

So keep it moving and stay moss free!

Related articles

• The Web of Life (rhvillegas.wordpress.com)
• Get The Fuzz Out (youasamachine.com)