Fascia and biotensegrity: Bio-somatic dance movement naturotherapy

This article is offered in the spirit of supporting students studying at home during the COVID-19 lockdown. It is offered as a study aid for those who may not be able to return to the studio for months but want to continue with their life-giving somatic studies at home. The article shares the properties of fascia and biotensegrity. I reflect on why somatic movement dance education and therapy is an effective approach in the world of fascial therapies. The first areas covered are sensory nerve endings found in fascia that respond to different types of movement and pressure, such as Golgi organs, Ruffini receptors, Pacini corpuscles and interstitial receptors. Other movement concepts covered are omnidirectional volume, pressure, time, stretch, gravity, ground reaction, floating bones, and chirality and counter-chirality. The article serves as an introduction to biotensegrity and why fascia innervates the parsympathetics. Of note, the article is pedagogical, primarily aimed at supporting students who are training in somatic movement dance education and therapy. Throughout the article Karin Rugman and Maisie Beth James offer experiential sensory images applying key ideas about fascia in the studio.