Here at Women’s Myofascial Of Salt Lake, one of the things that is unique about working with us is that we help you build muscles that physical therapy doesn’t even know exist. Much less need developed. 

Wait! What? 

There are muscles physical therapists don’t know about? 

Yep. 

We call those ignored-and-overlooked-and-absolutely-essential-to-the-healing-process-muscles the “softening and feeling” muscles. 

You are likely wondering, what are those? And why do I need them?

Let me tell you 🙂

How Healing Happens

Healing happens from the inside out. It requires creating an environment in which troubled tissues can heal and the body can self correct. 

This happens best when your “softening and feeling” muscles are healthy and active. 

Read More About Healing

Create Space For The Body, Mind, And Being

Can Myofascial Release Help Anxiety?

Many of us are accustomed to going through life, pushing through things. Doing all the “shoulds” and “have to’s” that are needed to run a home, keep a job, raise children, and keep up with the housework and yardwork.

It can take a lot of energy and effort to do those things. 

When we can, we try to add in things like hobbies, getting out into nature, taking time for ourselves, vacations, family activities, and visiting friends. 

Life can be a lot.

And, it can feel like a juggling act. 

Why Efforting And Doing Doesn’t Work Well

Doing all the things life requires of us takes time and energy and effort. Our “pushing through” and “efforting” muscles get really strong for most of us. We know how to just make ourselves keep going. 

You may be familiar with the concept of strong muscles and weak muscles. With the concept that muscles that should be firing, aren’t. And they need “activated”. 

This is a concept popular in traditional physical therapy and muscle activation practices. There is absolutely a time and place for this. And physical therapy is really good at the anatomical muscles, the ones in the textbooks. 

The “softening and feeling” muscles get missed. 

And they are necessary to healing. 

When the “softening and feeling” muscles are weak or inactive, the body tends to stay in a state of braced and protected. It is what many of us feel when we describe being tight or tense all of the time, like we can’t relax. Knowing instinctively, if we could, we would feel better. 

Your “softening and feeling” muscles are weak. 

Try this practice to explore the difference between tension and softening

Often bracing and protecting, with your “pushing through” and “efforting” muscles, is a way to prevent further injury or sensation of pain. Ironically, it is also what leads to the cycle that ultimately keeps you in pain.

Bracing and protecting can also be due to subconscious protective mechanisms, deep within our brain and body. The most common term for this is being in “fight or flight”. The body on high alert for danger, the muscles tensed for action, the sympathetic nervous system and a stress response activated. 

Your “softening and feeling” muscles aren’t healthy and able to help.

Build Strong “Softening” And “Feeling” Muscles

So, how do we address this need to develop healthy and active “softening and feeling” muscles?

Like developing anything else, we practice. 

There are numerous ways in the work people do with us that we help them practice using their (often weak and initially inaccessible) “softening and feeling” muscles. 

We will give you at home practices and videos to follow along with. 

Some people tell us that it feels a bit like some forms of meditation. Perhaps. We can only speak to our understanding. 

And that is that developing healthy “softening and feeling” muscles requires learning to place your attention in your body. 

Plenty of people tell us, “Oh, I do all I can to not do that! I don’t like what I feel or notice when I place my attention in my body!” 

That is a classic description of what it can feel like to have weakened “softening and feeling” muscles. 

It can be uncomfortable as they start to develop and you become aware of their capacity to inform how you move and feel. 

This is why healthy “softening and feeling” muscles are so important to the healing process. You need the information about your body that is only available through use of your “softening and feeling” muscles. 

Don’t worry if you don’t know what that means or how to do it yet. Your body knows what to do. It has just been waiting for an invitation to develop these important muscles. 

We’ll be there to help every step of the way.