In a soft tissue fascial bodywork session, the body’s shapes and patterns morph and unwind, influenced by the fascial chemistry shaped by our activities and stressors. This shape—consisting of form, consistency, texture, and even color—can change, affecting physiology with each sensory component. When I ask you to imagine your ears and hips spreading apart as you inhale, I’m guiding you to visualize the shape of your pelvis, creating space in the pelvic floor and lower back, while also releasing tension in the jaw and upper neck. This exercise facilitates embodiment and release, helping to free neurons that hold tension in the jaw, pelvis, and breath. It’s about becoming conscious of our physiology and releasing a nervous system that craves stable expansion.
When my hand is on your ilium and we address an iliopsoas muscle, whether tense from years at a desk, dance, or scar tissue, we’re reshaping what exists in that area. Visualization accelerates this change, empowering you to alter your physiology merely by deciding to do so. Each sense—sight, smell, hearing, touch—becomes a tool for interacting with these shapes. Ask yourself: Do the shapes in your body promote health and full capacity in life?
Consider how your feet connect with the ground. Are your toes grounded? How do your ankles move? Grounding serves as both prevention and healing for optimal nervous system function. The knees, too, offer insight: Are they evenly supported? Is the pressure and force put upon your knees evenly distributed? While you walk? Run? An interesting way in which to think about the knees: visualize an X/Y axis superimposed on the front of your knee. Where does your knee align along these perceived axes? Is your kneecap centered? Thinking of these relationships can help you understand, become grounded, and practice correct alignment.
As for the pelvis, is it truly a bowl? Visualizing it as such—supported by hip flexor “chains” like a chandelier hanging from your diaphragm—can train your brain to facilitate conscious movement there. Is this bowl level, or is it pouring out its contents? Visualization helps create more opportunities for movement awareness.
Moving to the back, belly, and chest, breathing comes into focus. Visualizing your lungs as balloons filling on all sides gives an opportunity for increased oxygen volume in your lungs. Neurons that fire together wire together; the brain responds to mental images as if they were real, physically altering its structure through neuroplasticity.
Visualization, sensory awareness, and mindfulness send signals to your body, prompting it to respond as if the desired outcome is already happening. This powerful tool can create positive changes in your physiology, biochemistry, and psychology.
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