When the Body Lets Go of More Than Tension
Sometimes, in the middle of a session, something unexpected happens.
A client starts crying. Not from pain: something else. Or their leg starts shaking. Or they suddenly feel angry, or sad, or scared, and they don't know why.
This is called somatic release. It's not unusual, and it's not a problem.
What's actually happening
Fascia doesn't just hold physical tension: it holds everything.
When you experience something overwhelming: an injury, a surgery, a car accident, a moment of fear or grief: your body responds. Muscles contract. Fascia locks down. The nervous system shifts into protection mode.
If that response never fully completes, it gets stored. The tissue remembers what the mind may have moved on from.
Fascia contains more sensory receptors than almost any other tissue in the body. It's constantly communicating with your nervous system. When fascia that's been locked down for years finally softens, sometimes what it was holding comes up too.
What it looks like
It's different for everyone:
Unexpected emotion: tears, anger, grief, relief: without a clear "reason"
Trembling or shaking
Heat or cold moving through an area
Sudden memories or images
A feeling of heaviness lifting
Changes in breath
Fatigue afterward, or unusual energy
Plenty of sessions have none of this. When it does happen, it's just part of the process.
Why MFR specifically
Most bodywork moves fast: kneading, stroking, pressure that comes and goes.
Myofascial release is slow. I hold pressure for minutes, not seconds. That gives the tissue time to soften, but it also gives the nervous system time to let its guard down.
When the body stops guarding, sometimes what it was guarding against comes through.
What I do when this happens
I keep working unless you want me to stop. I don't try to interpret what's happening or tell you what it means. Afterward, we can talk about it or not.
What you might feel after
People often describe feeling lighter or clearer. Sometimes there's tiredness. Sometimes soreness: tissue that's been still for years finally moving.
A note on scope
I'm not a psychotherapist. I don't analyze what comes up or connect it to your history.
I work with tissue. If emotion surfaces, that's the body's process. Some people find it useful to work with a therapist alongside bodywork, especially if they're processing trauma. That's not required.
The body keeps the score
You've probably heard that phrase. Trauma, stress, overwhelm: it lives in the tissue.
The body also knows how to release it, when given the chance. That's what this work can do: not forcing anything, just enough safety and enough time for what needs to happen to happen.
Book a session — or reach out if you have questions.
