Before and After Fascial Maneuvers: Two Years Later

Sometimes people ask us how long it takes to heal or what the long-term effects of fascial maneuvers are. Our movement philosophy began to evolve into what it is today about 12 years ago- which means there’s still much we don’t know! Human Garage believes the body is capable of much more than we’ve been conditioned to accept. Until we can truly study the long term effects of fascial maneuvers, we go off of the transformations we’ve witnessed so far. One of our most longstanding community members, Irazu, was introduced to our modality around five years ago, and has been regularly practicing the maneuvers for about two. This is her incredible transformation story.

WHO I AM IS NOT WHO I WAS

“For years, I dissociated from my identity. I felt formless, without a name, without a personality, floundering around. My ID, cards, mail etc read Irazu but I had no connection to it. After thyroid surgery, treatment and a sequence of traumatic event, the people closest and dearest in my life would testify – the lights were on and the “I” was not home.

When asked how old I was or the year, I had to think about it. Sometimes I would say 5, 12, 24. Sometimes I said 2011, 2014, 2017 etc. Often people would remind me that I was an adult and of such age, and I truly felt like I was a child in a floundering formless adult body. The world was big, noisy and scary and no place felt like home because I didn’t feel at home in my only vessel, the body.

I had no true concept of time. Minutes, hours, weeks, months it didn’t mean anything. I smiled out of habit but I didn’t have much feeling in my face. It wasn’t until I cried, that I could feel the outline of my face. I walked one foot in front of the other, from memory but my arms and legs felt like octopus tentacles. I walked in my skin suit of a body feeling as if sewn on backwards and sensation of a heavy hoodie sweater on backwards plunging my upper body forward.

I attempted to follow the IG daily videos of fascial maneuvers but I would stare at the screen in total daze & confusion. It wasn’t until I downloaded the Human Garage app and participated in a live zoom class that I began to grasp the concept of feeling safe with movement. Years of chronic pain and compounding traumatic patterns led to feeling to move in the body.

This community was the first time I felt safe around known and unknown people to show up as I am.

Before I would hide and pretend I was “FINE” aka the experience of Fragile, Impulsive, Neurotic and Emotional.

In the beginning I heard the importance of doing the maneuvers daily. It required so much effort to complete and I kept doing it because I felt a relief from pressure and a more relaxed perspective. I can feel and name a single emotion. Before I felt unsafe and unsupported within myself and the exterior world to feel into the overflowing of disassociated emotions. Growing up as emotionally sensitive in an environment where talking about emotion was met with frustration, denial and upset, I quickly learned to disassociate and “put a smile on” for survival. I am grateful to develop tools to heal this ancestral cycle.

Walking between maneuvers, often the physical space looked different…. I began to notice the crooked picture frames, more vibrant color in the world around me.

Before, I jumped out of bed before the sunrise moving briskly, shallowly and erratically until the experience of pain collapsed my body being too tight to move anymore.

Now, my apartment appears to have doubled in size, my stride is longer, I can go for walks with my dog and my spine has elongated. Before, I woke up in the middle of the night in unbearable pain due to increasing pressure and global burning sharp sensations that consumed any last bit of personality I had.

I can wiggle my ears and parts of my head again thanks to these fascia maneuvers. I have re-found the learning experience of love, patience and tolerance. What a beautiful journey it is everyday to meet myself where I am, no longer resist what is and I love myself unconditionally. I love and accept where I have been, where I am and focus on where I want to go.

I get to remember and re-become who I am and who I want to be and how I wish to show up in the world.

I was never broken. Misunderstood perhaps. Lost in translation often. Too many erroneous tabs open alerting danger. I feel so fortunate to experience how resilient and wonderful the body is.”

These are a few of many excerpts from Irazu’s journey, which she has documented in our community app.

Human Garage loves to witness the radical changes the fascial maneuvers initiate in people’s lives. Cases like Irazu’s are the full embodiment of our mission- to empower YOU to heal yourself! We are grateful for every testimonial, and the chance to see members of our community transform and flourish.

How has your life changed since you began doing the maneuvers?