Fascia is a three-dimensional web of connective tissue that wraps around every muscle, organ, and nerve in your body—creating one continuous network from head to toe.
Here's what makes fascia different from muscle: Muscles contract and relax to create movement. Fascia is the packaging around those muscles—the slippery interface that allows them to slide past each other without friction. It's also the structural framework that transmits force, maintains your body's shape, and holds everything in proper position.
Think of muscles as the engine and fascia as the transmission system. Without healthy fascia, your muscles can't function properly no matter how strong they are.
When healthy, fascia is fluid and elastic, allowing frictionless movement between tissue layers. But when fascia becomes dehydrated and inactive, it transforms from a slippery gel into something sticky and rigid. Collagen fibers that should glide smoothly form adhesions—protein "knots" that bind layers together. Your tissue gets stuck.
The result: Your body locks itself into dysfunction. Rounded shoulders, forward head posture, tight hips, restricted movement—these aren't just muscular issues. They're fascial adhesions physically trapping your skeleton in poor positions.
Think of it like wet concrete hardening. Once fascia sets into these patterns, no amount of "standing up straight" will fix it. The tissue itself has changed.