On the Alteayoga facebook page, I re-posted a piece from Dr. Mercola’s web site in which fascia is thoughtfully discussed. I suggest that you pop over and read it, then come back here.
Summing up:
Fascia makes up about 20% of body weight and is like a battery pack for muscles. It also transports water in the body. It seems to be tightly related to pain, especially chronic pain. Movement is the best method for relieving fascial pain.
I teach hatha yoga in a very specific way. Firstly, following the Viniyoga method, there is almost always a dynamic and a static phase for each posture. This means that you get both the flow of vinyasa-style yoga and the holds of classical yoga.
You can see that the whole posterior muscle chain is activated in this sequence. There is a clear indication of breathing. Also, there is abdominal compression. All this contributes to making this very simple sequence highly effective in moving muscles and, ergo, fascia.
I design my classes with anatomy in mind. There are four kinds of yoga: Bhakti (devotion), Raja (intellect), Karma (selfless service) and Hatha (movement). I am very clearly a hatha yoga teacher, and use my deep understanding of kinesiology to design sequences within sequences all with a clear objective in mind. Loosening up the deepest layers, the bits that no one can get to, the parts that hurt but you can’t put your finger on. Yoga, specifically Viniyoga well-taught, gets to these parts.
Practise, all is coming. The Guru is within.