Feet, fabric and fascia - Introducing Sarga Bodywork
Sometimes life can make us feel a bit like a crumpled old shirt and we’d like nothing better than for someone to come along and iron us back to our old selves again, smoothing the kinks in our body and resetting our frazzled nervous system. Sarga Bodywork aims to do just that.
Using my bare feet and with the assistance of a length of fabric attached to the massage table, Sarga Bodywork delivers slow, broad, consistent, deep and therapeutic pressure that targets the fascia.
What is Fascia? Fascia is a continuous connective tissue that surrounds and supports every part of the body, essentially acting like a three-dimensional web that keeps everything in place; muscles, organs, bones, and nerves are all encased by fascia. The fascial network is rich with an estimated 250 million nerve endings, making it our richest and largest sensory network. Constantly transmitting signals to our brain from our body, it is a superhighway of felt sensation and information. Healthy fascia is smooth, slippery and flexible, but certain factors can cause fascia to become gummy and crinkle up into adhesions. These factors include a lifestyle of limited physical activity, repetitive movement that overworks one part of the body, trauma such as surgery or injury, stress-induced muscle tension, dehydration and poor sleep.
How does Sarga Bodywork target and affect the fascial network? Sarga bodywork uses a broad tool, tensegrity, minimal lubrication and intentionally directional slow strokes to engage the fascial system. By using a broad tool, my foot, deep pressure is evenly and consistently applied to a larger surface area, reducing discomfort even with firm pressure. By pulling up on the fabric with my hands while applying downward pressure with my bare foot I gain tensional force that can then be skillfully transferred onto your body. Minimal lubrication allows for my foot to grab onto the tissues beneath it and creates a slow, deeply satisfying drag across the skin which engages the mechanoreceptors embedded in the fascial network. As a result, this barefoot massage is felt deep in the body and signals of calm relaxation spread throughout the nervous system. Strokes are intentionally applied to counter patterns that create restrictions and move the body back towards a state of neutral alignment.
But… feet? Let me address some reservations about receiving a massage given with bare feet on a raised table.
Cleanliness: I wash my feet before and after every session, with the same care and attention that I do my arms and hands. I also wear a pair of sanitized, non-porous sandals during the session to ensure my feet stay clean when I’m off the massage table.
Stability: My table is rated to a maximum working weight of 800 lbs. The fabric that is securely attached to the table helps me balance and create further leverage to apply pressure. In addition to many hours of practice Sarga sessions, I engage in balance and strengthening exercises outside of work to maintain my stamina and core stability.
Intensity: As with any massage that I offer, pressure is adjusted to your comfort level and we work with a pressure scale to be able to communicate during the session and make adjustments. That said, Sarga is intended to be deep work and is better suited to clients who get regular bodywork and prefer medium to firm pressure.
Is Sarga Bodywork for you? Do you sit at a desk all day? Hunch over your devices for hours? Drive long distances? Do physical labor for a living? Carry an infant on your hip? Have a strong physical practice or play a sport with repetitive motions? A Sarga session is a full-body reset that can feel amazing for people from all walks of life.
However, there are certain conditions which contraindicate receiving Sarga Bodywork, such as acute injuries, open wounds or fragile skin, unmanaged diabetes or high blood pressure, and osteoporosis to name a few. For this reason, as with all massage, it is important that you fill out your health intake form thoroughly, so we can go over it before your session and make sure Sarga is a good fit for you.
I can’t wait to share Sarga Bodywork with you! If you’re ready to jump feet first into a Sarga Bodywork session, click here to book an appointment. For your first time, I recommend a 90 minute session. After that, 120 minute sessions allow for the opportunity to add on cupping, stretching or more detailed work on a section of your body if you so desire.
Click here to schedule your first Sarga experience with Rebeca!