Foundations Blog #2

In the earlier years of the development of the Foundations course, myofascial lines of tension seemed to be a sensible direction to instruct myofascial applications around an anatomical template. Thomas Myers Anatomy Trains was seminal.

As Myers indicated, his understanding that he developed drew upon the work of many others.

Myers mentioned Raymond Dart. In Linus Johansson’s excellent text entitled Movement Integration; Gary Carter authored a chapter on Variations in Myofascial Slings and Continuities Chapter 17.

Carter states: “Raymond Dart explored myofascial continuities in the form of interconnected slings looping around the body….Dart, a professor of anantomy in Johannesburg, and known for his anthropolical investigations, had a single session of Alexander Technique in the late 1940’s that changed his life..

“Dart brought awareness to the double spiral arrangement of human musculature, which connects the right side of the pelvis to the shoulder and neck, diagonally around the body in sheets of connected muscular structure, where we see the beginnings of a functional myofascial arrangement.”

Dart was a precursor in understanding developmental neuromuscular movement strategies in rehabilitation.

Lines and slings became a perfectly sensible way in my mind, to construct a way to create a system that would have clinical significance.

Myers ‘Trains’ are seminal, but in no means exhaustive.

Serge Paoletti was another osteopath that penned a comprehensive text for the time called The Fascia: Anatomy, Dysfunction and Treatment, Eastland Press, Seattle, Wa., English edition 2006.

Paoletti inked some of the most incisive drawings for me of the time.

His lines or as Paoletti referred to ‘chains’ parallelled and diverged from Myers.

Each had focal points where we could maximize effect when applying technique to a longer line of ‘relationship’.

Paoletti also demonstrated how joints and diaphragms (transverse planar convex and concave compartments) were interfaced with chains, slings and lines.

‘Trains’, chains, lines, slings’ allowed for one to view relationship of the fascial fabric in terms of global relational components. It gave a ‘rubric’, an ‘algorithm’, to explore how one structure along a line can effect is relational components.

Thus Day 1 of the Foundation course places emphasis upon what I term ‘cardinal lines’.

Myers terms these as SBL Superficial Back Line, SFL Superficial Front Line and LL Lateral Line.

I prefer to be a tad more generic, and use anterior, posterior and lateral.

Thus Day 1 of Foundations educated the practitioner in direct myofascial application methods applied to the cardinal posterior and anterior lines.

What is significant regarding these lines is the variety of soft-tissue structures that inhabit the line; muscle, myofascial, ligament, tendon and joint.

Each require a variation or modification of application to affect each structure. Tendon responds to firmer application then superficial fascia. Ligaments respond to ‘strumming’.

Fascia always deems to like tangential force. And this is used in a combination of compressive and tensional manner with always a regard for autonomic nervous system response.