Recently, I’ve been thinking about my face. A lot. Maybe it’s the uptick in Zoom meetings I’ve had as of late, or perhaps the fact of ‘snatched’ entering the common vernacular. Whatever the case, I’ve found something new to be self-conscious of. (Isn’t it wonderful being a woman?) And while religiously ice rolling my face and paring back on inflammatory foods has done a whole lot of good, I’m ready to level up. Enter: the deep dive into myofascial work I desperately needed.
This journey into myofascial therapy feels like the ultimate beauty secret waiting to be uncovered. Not only does it promise to release tension and improve circulation, but it also offers a holistic approach to rejuvenation that goes beyond the surface. As I explore how this work can enhance my facial symmetry and overall glow, I’ve also learned that myofascial therapy goes even deeper. It’s not only a way to elevate your self-care routine, but a resource to lean upon when you need an emotional release. Whether you’re moving through trauma or grief or simply wanting a glow-up, myofascial therapy might just be the workout your body and mind has been craving.
Featured image from our interview with Janessa Leoné by Teal Thomsen.
Myofascial Work: Why This Healing Modality Is Worth Exploring
To learn more, I spoke with Brooke Taylor, founder of The Road, an Austin-based haven for all things cosmetic acupuncture and natural alternatives for health, skincare, and well-being. Taylor has become our go-to for understanding the power behind Eastern therapies and modes of healing. So before I went (back to) the filler and Botox route, I decided it was worth better understanding the power myofascial work could have on both my beauty and wellness as a whole.
Brooke Taylor LAc, MAcOM
Brooke created The Road in Austin, Texas to share her experience in holistic skincare, acupuncture and Chinese medicine to nurture our own innate healing responses. Previously an esthetician and global skincare educator and brand manager, she pursued her masters in Chinese medicine to help heal others on a deeper level.
What is myofascial release therapy?
Myofascial release therapy focuses on a gentle manual release of bound fascia tissue to relieve pain, often related to the back, neck, jaw, and hips, though anywhere on the body can experience fascia restrictions. Healthy fascia would feel pliable and elastic, while bound fascia restricts movement and contributes to pain points. This method often works with trigger points to unwind the tissue.
Alternatively, many practitioners prefer the work of assisted movement with resistance to help restore healthy fascia. This method relies on the practitioner exploring through passive movement to find your ‘stuck’ areas, then guiding you to work through a range of motion with resistance, reorganizing the fascia. With this technique, the muscle follows the fascia, allowing more mobility, less tension and pain.
The Impact of Lifestyle on Our Bodies
I often see the status of fascia and tension by viewing symmetry. When fascia is bound in structures around the neck, shoulders and head, we see this increasing the downward pull in the face that we often attribute to gravity and aging.
With more than one muscle group involved, we can experience a cascade effect where tightness in one area creates compensation or weakness in another.
When I view clients resting on my table face up, I see shoulders rolled inward (up off the table), one shoulder much higher than the other, or both pulled up near the ears, and I see one foot rolled out or in much further, signaling the hips.
This is often from our lifestyle—desk work with arms elevated for a computer, sitting most of the day, texting with head forward, carrying a child on one side, sleeping on our side or stomach. I will often see a client’s head resting tilted strongly to one side. I gently adjust the head to ‘straight’, and I can feel the pull on the back of the neck at the occiput going down to the traps. I can see jaw asymmetry in the face, or pulling to one side, but this requires a little deeper dive into the jaw mechanics. Importantly, tight fascia in the scalp can impede hair growth from poor circulation, with the forehead, we have tension headaches, wrinkles, and one eyebrow up higher or lower.
Benefits of Myofascial Work
The benefits of optimizing fascia health would be seen in many of the markers of aging well:
- Being able to use your body optimally, without pain or discomfort.
- Less sagging, eye tension, or deeper lines.
We have a saying in Chinese medicine: where there is flow, there is no ‘dis-ease’. This perfectly reflects why we want our fascia to be harmonized.
An amazing benefit many experience through this work is a release of stuck emotions. You’ve probably heard of people having emotional releases through yoga and pelvic floor work. In terms of Chinese medicine, different emotions relate to different areas of the body. So someone with rolled in shoulders might be protecting their heart from a hurt or trauma. Releasing this area might help transmute grief, and so on.
Who might be a good candidate for MRT?
- Anyone experiencing limited mobility, muscle tension, joint pain, lymphatic drainage issues, or asymmetry.
- Athletes hoping to optimize their movements and recovery from workouts.
- Those with neuromuscular conditions causing tension.
Just about every adult [can benefit from MRT].
How does our tongue posture impact the shape of our face?
Where our tongue sits has a profound impact on face shape, starting from infancy into adulthood. The tongue is responsible for expanding the palate when we’re younger, spacing out the teeth, and even forming our bite from jaw placement.
In my practice, I view tongue posture as related to breathing, especially at night, and the ensuing symptoms range from fatigue, jaw clenching, and teeth grinding. The tongue also affects the vagus nerve, so proper use and placement of the tongue can also assist in a healthy gut/brain connection.
From an esthetic standpoint, I’m frequently asked to sort someone’s chin or for advice on what procedures will help. If we use our thumbs to explore under our chin, you’ll either notice a soft rise under your chin, or you might feel a very firm protrusion. This is your tongue muscle, and it feels protruded because it has been working hard being forced forward.
How to Practice Proper Tongue Position
The proper tongue position would be with the tip resting slightly behind your teeth, on the little ridges on the roof of your mouth, and lightly resting on the roof back to the soft palate. Recently, mewing became the rage for creating a ‘snatched’ jawline—thrusting the lower jaw slightly forward and suctioning the tongue to the roof of the mouth.
Take a little assessment of where your tongue rests, and test if you can comfortably move it into the proper position. If not, you might want to see an expert (orofacial myofascial therapist) to assess where your problem lies.
How to Exercise Your Tongue
We can exercise our tongue to help it more naturally stay lifted on the roof of the mouth, helping the jaw stay in position even while sleeping. This can reduce incidence of sleep apnea symptoms, snoring, mouth dryness from sleeping with your mouth open, and related issues around mouth breathing. So while mouth taping is literally a band-aid and helpful, you can try toning this muscle to help your jaw stay in position and your tongue out of your airway.
A few popular tongue exercises you can do include:
- Tongue circles. Run the tip of your tongue around the inside of your lips in circles clockwise, then counterclockwise for a few minutes. You might notice your tongue burning a bit from this ‘workout’, just like you would from any muscle exercise.
- Position your head over your shoulders and relax, then extend your head backward chin up, looking at the ceiling. Stick your tongue out and upward and hold for a few counts, relax and repeat a few times. If you anchor your sternum/chest with your hands, you might feel a connection down the front of your chest.
- Using a clean cloth or gloves, grasp your tongue and gently pull it forward to your comfort level, creating a light stretch. Then move your tongue to the side and hold, then the other side, and release.
- See how far you can open your mouth comfortably with a little stretch; now suction your tongue to the roof of your mouth, and open as far as you can without losing the suction, and hold! You should work up to being able to hold this posture for a couple of minutes at a time. You might notice an urge to yawn if you can have your tongue holding on the soft palate of your mouth – instant vagus nerve reset!
What is the ideal way to chew and swallow to see the greatest benefit?
I worked with Tracey Brizendine, a certified Orofacial Myology expert here in Austin post-jaw surgery that also required a tongue tie release. Part of this recovery included mandatory rehabilitation for three months to re-learn how to use my newly released tongue, and how to chew and swallow accordingly. It turns out I was never using it correctly to begin with!
She recommended focusing on chewing relying on the tongue to move food, and the jaw for gentle chewing. After chewing the food thoroughly, mindfully, you create a little bollus (or ball) with the food, move it to the back of your tongue, and then swallow with your tongue going up across the soft palate. This is how we engage rest and digest around eating. You can practice this move with saliva. You might find it inducing yawning, the perfect mode for digestion.
This way of swallowing took practice. I found I had to do nothing else but think about eating—no phone, tv or distractions. So many things came from this simple practice. I found myself enjoying simple foods more, and I was more satisfied with a smaller food portions as I ate mindfully. And yes, I unexpectedly lost weight as my digestion improved from this slower focused way of eating. In my TCM practice, I encourage my patients try not talking during one meal during the week, simply enjoying their food or the scenery.