The Onion Tree

Anatomist and theologian Gil Hedley, PhD., founder of Somanautics and Integral Anatomy, has been a profound teacher of mine. His layer by layer approach in dissection brings new meaning to whole-body connection and the inherent links from skin to bone.

In his human dissection labs, I have had the opportunity to explore the inner workings of the human body first hand. This has allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of the connective tissue and connect what I sense in the body through my hands-on practice.

Each layer or depth of the body has a different composition. Some superficial layers have more liquidly fatty composition, while the mid-fascial layers are more collagenous and firm. Organs have a different texture, vibration, and composition as well. In a living body, the connective tissue layers are harder to define because of the presence of fluid.

Just as a river moves over rocks, the fluid within our fascial layers flows around lingering restrictions left from habitual postures, injuries, scars, etc. This creates a history in the body like the rings of a tree or the layers of an onion. Gil shows images and impressions of this "onion-tree" as he has coined the term and shows how to view the body by the connections first, then describing each part.

In a cadaver, evidence of a once moving, dynamic fluid system remains, like a water mark. By removing the skin, we can see what lies underneath: a snap-shot or abstraction that demonstrates some physical realities of the body's history. Our body’s wisdom is in our fascia.

In his video series "Integral Anatomy" (Can be seen at http://store.meltmethod.com and www.integralanatomy.com ) he shows each layer, and what connects and support each specific structure. It's quite impressive. A must for any bodyworker to view.

Fascia: The Old View
For many years, fascia was collectively seen as a passive, fibrous container enveloping all the active components of the body. It was viewed as an accessory system that was an inactive fiber, or packing material, providing passive cushioning and support.

In dissection and anatomical study, the superficial and deep fascia was removed with the intention to define and study the body's anatomical structures or parts. The fascia was merely tossed in the bucket in order to get to the organs, muscles, nerves, bones etc. This approach to anatomy has given us the false impression that what we feel below the skin is muscle.

The basic flaw of the study of anatomy is the continued focus on the body's familiar systems, such as the muscles and organs, without proper regard for the vital connection that creates overall function and efficiency. Studying the parts without ultimately studying their integration compromises our understanding.


Fascia: The New View

How can we define movement, function, and structure
without investigating the body's interconnection?

The new view of the connective tissue was, and still is, loosely described in anatomical text. The newest connective tissue research takes thousands of years of literature and turns it inside out. I often equate it to the discoveries that the earth is round and it is not the center of the universe.

The body is made up of electrical systems with electrical currents, or energy, running within us. After years of working with this tissue in my private practice, I believe it is within the fluid-fascia matrix that the energy body exists. Cell biologists are speculating that this tissue can transmit vibration all the way down to the intracellular compartments of every molecule in our body—all the way to our DNA (Greenwood, The Unbroken Field).

The superficial fascia is like a super conductor/antenna that allows us to tune into the vibrations of our environment. This fluid system is able to transmit and receive energy via vibrational patterns and gliding filaments throughout our entire body. It allows us to experience connections from head-to-toe within our body and throughout the world around us, including people with whom we come in contact. When we get a good vibe about someone, it is likely that his or her body vibrations are running at the same frequency as our own.

This fluid, vibrational function of the connective tissue is at the heart of the body's homeostasis regulating system. Regardless of the challenges we place upon our body, the body is always communicating—sending and receiving information via the connective tissue. This vibrational communication allows the body to support, protect, and stabilize itself without our conscious control, so the body can endure the conscious choices we place upon it.

When necessary, the body compensates so that the primary functions (such as blood flow and organ function) can be performed without being inhibited. For example, the body will inhibit muscular connection to shut down muscle contraction so surrounding tissues can repair. The body does not fail us. We neglect to listen to the signals in the body that tell us something is out of balance in the first place.

If we do not listen, and the body has to keep compensating, we don't notice until we feel pain. Once pain occurs, the compensatory patterns already run deep. The pain is caused by a pattern that is compensating for a root imbalance that is at risk of inhibiting vital functioning.

More to come on this topic and others for those of you curious about how things connect under the skin~