Get ready my friend! If you’re willing to summon a little gumption and grit in order to try this powerful at home technique, you just might start breathing easier, free your rib cage from your diaphragm fascia (which means improved thoracic mobility, at least distally or at the lower end) and help some of your most important organs move better and receive blood and nerve communication.
I’m teaching you one simple way to release your diaphragm fascia at home.
For the best results, PLEASE watch the video demo in combination with reading the following about WHY to do this and HOW to do it safely.
WHY should you release your diaphragm fascia?
First of all, let’s talk about some anatomy.
While the focus here is on the diaphragm fascia (so you can breathe better), what we’re actually going after here is the fascial JUNCTION at the lower ribs. To read more about how important fascial functions are, click here to watch a video I made for you on this (it’ll help you get the MOST out of all your fascia release efforts, not just this one).
The fascial junction along the front (anterior) of your 12th ribs (left and right) include the fascia wrapping the ribs, sternum, the diaphragm fascia, potentially some lung fascia, liver fascia (on the right), stomach and spleen fascia (on the left); we’re also contacting the linea alba, rectus abdominis, internal obliques and maybe even the transverse abdominis fascia; not to mention the fascia wrapping the many arteries and nerves here. I mean – wow!
There’s just SO MUCH fascia here.
Since fascial junctions get the most congested, that means this is one of the richest areas for exploration and feeling better in your body.
Use this fascia release technique to experience:
- Better breathing – your ribs will expand and contract with less effort and more fluidity.
- Improved mobility in your thoracic region – if your ribs are stuck to your liver and stomach fascia or your diaphragm fascia, you won’t be breathing or moving well here since all that fascia is tacked down instead of fluid and mobile.
- Improved liver, stomach, spleen and lung function – these organs need fresh blood and good nerve communication, in addition to needing good mobility.
- Conscious awareness of the state of your liver and stomach/spleen – if these areas are particularly tender, it indicates unhealthy tissue which might be due to toxicity or stressed organs. Please consult a doctor if you think anything serious is going on. This isn’t meant to replace medical evaluations or act as a diagnostics tool, but it could alert you to something important.
- Better vagal nerve tone and nerve communication between your gut and brain – the primary nerve communicating to your brain from your gut is the vagus nerve, which runs near where we’re working and could perform better with more blood and space, which fascia release provides.
How to get the most out of this technique:
- USE CAUTION – please be careful doing this! Please go slowly, and if you ever question what you’re doing or wonder if it’s safe, stop and consult a professional (such as a Myan abdominal massage therapist or anyone that has been trained to do visceral manipulation).
- Use the PADS of your fingertips as your primary tool. DON’T use your finger TIPS, which could poke an artery/nerve or cause internal distress. Try to create a FLAT surface with your fingers, and use them together as one tool.
- Watch the video for the full demo.
- GO SLOWLY – move gently, slowly, with curiosity. Assess first, get to work later. First understand your terrain and create safety for yourself. THEN, you can really dig in and work the area (with intention/gentleness, not aggression please).
- Work from the middle to one side, and then do the other side. For example: start at the middle, where your linea alba is, and work right towards your liver and ascending colon. Then go back to just left of middle, and work towards your stomach/spleen and descending colon.
- For best results, combine with my self abdominal fascia release technique.
Please share your experience/results below and inspire someone else to try this! Got a question for me? Post that below and I’ll do my best to answer. Thanks for watching and I wish you better breathing and optimal vitality!
Elisha
I can not find a link to the last video. Thank you.
Hi Michelle – sorry about that, here’s the link: https://mobilitymastery.com/do-this-for-mid-back-pain-shoulder-pain-kyphosis-increased-venous-return-neck-pain-and-more/
This is awesome!! I do a lot of Bikram yoga and the standing pranayama is exactly for that purpose. If you do it properly(not many people do lol) your rinçage could be a little sore because if working the intercostales and lats… we usually do 5-7min of this breathwork at the beginning of each class which then prepares for the forward compression of standing head to knee where we such in and up with the rib cage as we round forward.. this is a great technique to give students who don’t have much muscle awareness to understand what is to be accomplished :))) thank you so much…(btw.. I learned massage in italy and learned the visceral massage… nobody really does it here in the USA ) keep up the good work and thank you!!
Hi Charisse – thanks for trying this and sharing your thoughts! Visceral massage/fascia release is SO powerful, but yeah not that many people do it here. Is it more common in Italy? I’m Italian genetically – would love to visit someday!
Hi Elisha.
Great post! I can’t find the search function on my phone to find the lat post. It used to be under the blog.
Maria
Hey Maria – thanks for alerting us, we’re changing the website a little so I’ll ask about the search function on mobile. HEre’s the lat post: https://mobilitymastery.com/do-this-for-mid-back-pain-shoulder-pain-kyphosis-increased-venous-return-neck-pain-and-more/
Thank you for a really good video, Elisha. I miss the lat video, I too think you forgot to ad it in the description.
Marie – thank you for the heads up. Here’s the link to the most recent lat demo blog/video: https://mobilitymastery.com/do-this-for-mid-back-pain-shoulder-pain-kyphosis-increased-venous-return-neck-pain-and-more/
Elisha, thanks you so much for your exercises, this is similar to the Chinese massage in your stomach and your abdominal area, but you gave it a step up of that therapy. I work a lot on my muscles and trigger points and I do not go to the chiropractor anymore, it seems that if you keep massaging, releasing and moving your fascia your body always thank you and starts to work better and releasing faster. Love the way you teach and explain everything you do. Thanks again.
Hi Patricia – YES, the fascia learns that we will take care of it, that we are paying attention and it does seem to thank us and release faster and not need as much over time. To the point that eventually it won’t hurt at all to release, and you can achieve optimization – healthy fascia that is fluid, buoyant and free. Thanks for being here, I’m glad you like the content!