You can’t calm your nervous system when your body is holding onto stress in a place most people never heard of
Stress can cause our nervous system to go into fight-or-flight mode. We are told how stress can show up in our bodies, and countless suggestions for stress-relieving techniques, from meditation to supplements to connecting with others. But long-term stress isn’t held in the muscles… It’s in your fascia, and there is research to back up exactly why working on it can be the difference between a nervous system on fire and one that can finally be calm. To truly calm your nervous system, it’s essential to understand how stress affects us.
A Brief Explanation of Fascia
First let’s make sure we’re all on the same page about what fascia is. Fascia is the connective tissue that wraps around every nerve, muscle, blood vessel and organ in your body, it’s like the shrink wrap holding us all together. It used to be considered passive packaging, but it’s actually dynamic living tissue that constantly responds to stress, movement, and hydration. It’s been called the body’s richest sensory organ, housing over 250 million nerve endings, with sensory neurons outnumbering motor neurons 9:1 in some areas, and containing more nerve endings than your skin or muscles.
The Fascia-Nervous System Connection
Our fascia and nervous systems are not separate systems, but actually intimately interdependent. The vagus nerve, which is the body’s primary parasympathetic (rest and digest) nerve, runs through fascial tissue and acts as a two-way communication between the body and brain.
The problem lies when fascia becomes dehydrated, tight, or stiff. This stiffness within the fascia means nothing is moving smoothly as it should, creating pressure within the area, and when this happesn nerve signals cannot travel efficiently. For example, people with chronic low back pain have measurably thicker and stiffer fascia, which very literally slows down nerve conduction. With these slowed signals, this can keep the nervous system stuck in a fight-or-flight mode.
When the flow between the fascia stops, pain receptors become more irritated and pain increases, which perpetuates the stress cycle. No matter the meditation, breathwork, or other stress-relieving practices you put into play, if your fascia is stuck, the nervous system will still be on fire.
What Can Be Done to Release Fascia
This isn’t to say stress-relieving practices like spending time in nature and taking a break from social media aren’t helpful, but if your fascia is holding on, then let’s look at what we can add to our stress-relieving practice.
Myofascial release is a form of hands-on physical therapy and can be done on yourself with a foam roller or other myofascial tools, and is a great way to reduce the pressure built up within your connective tissue. When adding slow, sustained pressure on fascial tissues, it stimulates the mechanoreceptors in the fascia, which lowers the sympathetic nervous system activity and increases the parasympathetic activation we’re looking for. Another study in 2024 found that myofascial release showed a measurable decline in heart rate and increased parasympathetic activity compared to passive limb movement.
And don’t discount that breathwork, when, in addition to fascial work, the effects are amplified, thanks to the vagus nerve modulating respiratory pattern and slow exhalation directly increasing the parasympathetic tone.
Related: From Stiff to Serene
Why FST in Particular is Effective to Calm Your Nervous System
Fascial stretch therapy (FST) focuses on the nervous system more comprehensively than myofascial release, simply because it works along the entire fascial lines and not just one muscle or area. Paired with deep breathing, the traction and slow sustained holds and movements are specifically designed to activate those mechanoreceptors that signal safety to the nervous system. This is why often at the end of an FST session, clients will feel sleepy and relaxed, similar to a massage.
Related: What is Fascial Stretch Therapy? Everything You Need to Know Before Your First Session
If you’re in Toronto and want to feel the benefits of your nervous system shifting into rest-and-digest mode, follow this link here to meet me for an FST session that will leave you feeling rested, stretched, and ready to take the best nap of your life.
And if you’re not in Toronto but want to get in on fascial release? You’ll want to check out The Garden, where there’s the Relax & Release playlist to work along the same principles, slowing you down, deepening your breath, and giving your connective tissue the signal that it’s okay to let go. Plus, get access to the 2025 quarterly workshop on myofascial release with household tools.
