(whereby in the face of imminent danger, we freeze or faint), or, especially in women, a tend-and-befriend response (whereby in the face of danger, we seek out the company of others120). Such responses are adaptive; they help us to survive, and they helped our ancestors avoid

in the morning, the discs are the most hydrated and thickest, but by bedtime at night, they are the least hydrated and thinnest.162 For this reason, stresses on the spine first thing in the morning are not recommended because the tension along the spine is already very high due to the hydration that occurs as we sleep.

Each cell’s membrane (the outer wall of the cell) is studded with tens of thousands of proteins, called integrins, that reach up into the extra-cellular spaces and connect to the fascial fibers there (see Chapter 3). These integrins sense mechanical stresses in the environment, and based upon the strength of the stress, the cell makes different

The femur’s torsion and neck angle help determine the ultimate potential range of hip-joint motion for a variety of movements.

anytime we refer to the hips or movement of the hips, we will mean movement at the hip joint or hip socket. Another anatomical term that we will use interchangeably for the hip socket is acetabulum.

We make precise movements thanks to our nervous system’s innervation of the muscles, and yet our fascia has far more nerve endings. What are they all doing? Providing feedback. This is called proprioception—we know what is going on within the body because of our nervous system’s interaction with our fascia. Within the fascia there are several kinds

Another source of tension in the joint capsule is a process called contracture, whereby the collagen of the joint capsule tightens and is remodeled into shorter strands.

We can generalize and say that muscles are elastic, which means that after the stress ends, they return to their original length, while ligaments and tendons are plastic, which means they won’t stretch very much at all; but if the stress exceeds the ability of the material to resist stretching, they will remain stretched. This is a generalization,

Is the tension you experience when you reach your edge in a yoga pose due to the makeup of your fascia? Maybe. And, just as our fascia is uniquely constructed, so too are our ligaments and joint capsules. All these tissues have the capacity to contract, and that capacity is uniquely determined by nature and nurture, by our biology and our