Is the human skeleton really linear — or is that a fundamental misunderstanding of anatomy?

In this episode, Joanne responds to a detailed YouTube comment that raises important questions about fascia, skeletal organisation, and so-called “linear” underlying structure of the bones. What follows is not a disagreement of style, but a clear challenge to biological inaccuracies that are commonly repeated in movement and manual therapy circles.

Are bones straight?
Is working to soften the tissue an advantage to everyone?
And does it always automatically restore function?

Drawing on extensive fascia research, laboratory experience, embryology and lived movement experience, Joanne unpacks why the idea of a linear skeleton collapses under scrutiny and why misunderstanding this matters for anyone involved a movement or manual practice, therapy and teaching.

This is a grounded exploration of anatomy, not a metaphor or a promotion. A reminder that living bodies are non-linear, adaptive, self-organising and unique. And that humans are not standardised mechanical frames waiting to be corrected.

If you care about fascia science, skeletal structure, functional anatomy and embodied awareness, this conversation will sharpen your thinking. It will also, no doubt, invite more questions - which are always welcome.

SIGN UP TO THE JOANNE AVISON NEWSLETTER

Simply scroll down to ‘Join Our Collective’ and pop in your details. We DON’T spam and we DO respect privacy!


FOLLOWING ON YOUTUBE?
Do join us! Start here


MORE:
My website - https://www.joanneavison.com/
My course - https://myofascialmagic.com/
My book: - https://amzn.to/3zF3SAS
Instagram - joanneavison


FREE ONLINE WEBINAR:
Free Webinar - https://myofascialmagic.com/webinar-registration


Podcast produced and edited by Megan Bay Dorman

How regulation emerges through sensation, awareness, and relational feedback, not force or control.

In this final episode of the five-part series on fascia, embodiment, and practical spirituality, Joanne explores the relationship between fascia and the nervous system, and how inner regulation can arise through lived, embodied experience, rather than necessarily needing to use conscious effort or technique.

Drawing on fascia science, somatic awareness, and relational regulation, this conversation looks at how safety, coherence, and resilience are cultivated through sensation, rhythm, and connection. Rather than trying to “manage” the nervous system, the episode invites a subtler understanding of how regulation emerges naturally when awareness is allowed to organise the system from within.

This closing episode weaves together the key themes of the series, offering a grounded perspective on inner peace as an embodied process shaped through movement, perception, and relationship, not willpower or control.

If this series has resonated, you’re warmly invited to share your reflections.

SIGN UP TO THE JOANNE AVISON NEWSLETTER

Simply scroll down to ‘Join Our Collective’ and pop in your details. We DON’T spam and we DO respect privacy!


FOLLOWING ON YOUTUBE?
Do join us! Start here


MORE:
My website - https://www.joanneavison.com/
My course - https://myofascialmagic.com/
My book: - https://amzn.to/3zF3SAS
Instagram - joanneavison


FREE ONLINE WEBINAR:
Free Webinar - https://myofascialmagic.com/webinar-registration


Podcast produced and edited by Megan Bay Dorman

How does the body organise itself into movement, perception and awareness?
In this episode, Joanne explores fascia as living geometry — not symbolic or abstract, but the organising architecture of embodied awareness…

Building on the previous episode about the energetic body, this conversation looks at sacred geometry as a biological reality rather than a spiritual overlay. Joanne reflects on fascia as a self-organising, responsive field through which structure, sensation and meaning continually arise.

From embryology to movement, from breath to healing, fascia reveals a non-linear intelligence that adapts and reorganises when awareness and safety are present — beyond mechanical models of the body.

🌀 Part of the Fascia & Spirituality series

This episode is part of a five-part series exploring how fascia shapes perception, emotional experience and inner organisation.

If this episode resonates, you’re warmly invited to share your reflections (on YouTube, our socials, or your podcast platform if it supports comments), and subscribe for the next conversation in the series.

SIGN UP TO THE JOANNE AVISON NEWSLETTER

Simply scroll down to ‘Join Our Collective’ and pop in your details. We DON’T spam and we DO respect privacy!


FOLLOWING ON YOUTUBE?
Do join us! Start here


MORE:
My website - https://www.joanneavison.com/
My course - https://myofascialmagic.com/
My book: - https://amzn.to/3zF3SAS
Instagram - joanneavison


FREE ONLINE WEBINAR:
Free Webinar - https://myofascialmagic.com/webinar-registration


Podcast produced and edited by Megan Bay Dorman

How fascia connects the energetic body, embodied awareness, and spiritual awakening — explored through lived, sensory experience.

In this episode, Joanne explores the energetic body through the living lens of fascia, embodiment, and direct experience. Rather than treating spirituality as something abstract or separate from the body, this conversation invites a grounded understanding of awakening as something sensed, relational, and embodied.

The episode reflects on fascia as a responsive field that shapes perception, movement, and inner organisation. From embryology to adult self-awareness, it explores how awareness arises through sensation, rhythm, and relationship, not effort or control.

This is episode three in a five-part series exploring fascia and practical spirituality, examining how the body communicates before thought and how subtle awareness can reshape how we inhabit ourselves.

This conversation will resonate with those interested in fascia science, somatic practice, embodied spirituality, and approaches to healing rooted in listening rather than technique.

New episodes in the series are released weekly.

Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss the next conversation!

SIGN UP TO THE JOANNE AVISON NEWSLETTER

Simply scroll down to ‘Join Our Collective’ and pop in your details. We DON’T spam and we DO respect privacy!


FOLLOWING ON YOUTUBE?
Do join us! Start here


MORE:
My website - https://www.joanneavison.com/
My course - https://myofascialmagic.com/
My book: - https://amzn.to/3zF3SAS
Instagram - joanneavison


FREE ONLINE WEBINAR:
Free Webinar - https://myofascialmagic.com/webinar-registration


Podcast produced and edited by Megan Bay Dorman

Biomotional intelligence describes how the body senses, adapts and responds before thought or analysis…

In this episode, Joanne explores how awareness, fascia and lived experience shape the body’s innate intelligence in everyday life. She looks at biomotional intelligence not as a concept to understand, but as something to practice. Through embodied awareness, presence and subtle listening, the body reveals meaning that cannot be reduced to data, mechanics or emotional labels.

Drawing on fascia therapy, somatic practice and contemplative traditions, Joanne reflects on how sensing precedes thinking, and how over-analysis can interrupt the body’s natural capacity to organise, adapt and respond.

This episode is part two of a five-part series exploring the relationship between fascia, embodiment and spirituality, created in response to your questions and growing interest in how the body communicates beyond purely mechanical models.

This conversation will be especially relevant for those interested in embodied practice, somatic therapy, mindfulness, fascia science and the cultivation of inner awareness.

If this episode resonates, you are warmly invited to share your reflections in the comments on Spotify or on the Joanne Avison YouTube channel.

Come back for episode three next week!

SIGN UP TO THE JOANNE AVISON NEWSLETTER

Simply scroll down to ‘Join Our Collective’ and pop in your details. We DON’T spam and we DO respect privacy!


FOLLOWING ON YOUTUBE?
Do join us! Start here


MORE:
My website - https://www.joanneavison.com/
My course - https://myofascialmagic.com/
My book: - https://amzn.to/3zF3SAS
Instagram - joanneavison


FREE ONLINE WEBINAR:
Free Webinar - https://myofascialmagic.com/webinar-registration


Podcast produced and edited by Megan Bay Dorman

Does fascia store emotional experience - or is there something more nuanced at play?

Drawing on somatic healing, bodywork therapy and fascia science, Joanne looks at how our perceptions and emotional landscape influence our body’s tissue over time. But rather than framing fascia as something that simply “stores trauma,” she invites a more nuanced view of this incredible tissue as a dynamic, responsive field reflecting how we live, the way we move and what we feel.

You’ll also hear how embodiment practice and cultivating aware presence can lead to subtle yet powerful shifts in body organisation — offering pathways for healing, integration, and change.

🌀 This is the first in a new five-part series exploring the potent links between fascia, embodiment, and spirituality — created in response to your messages, questions, and growing interest in how the body adapts, remembers and responds beyond purely mechanical models.

It will be especially relevant for bodyworkers, movement teachers, therapists and anyone interested in embodied healing, holistic health and integrative bodywork.

👉 Coming next: How the body communicates before thought. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss the next conversation!

SIGN UP TO THE JOANNE AVISON NEWSLETTER

Simply scroll down to ‘Join Our Collective’ and pop in your details. We DON’T spam and we DO respect privacy!


FOLLOWING ON YOUTUBE?
Do join us! Start here


MORE:
My website - https://www.joanneavison.com/
My course - https://myofascialmagic.com/
My book: - https://amzn.to/3zF3SAS
Instagram - joanneavison


FREE ONLINE WEBINAR:
Free Webinar - https://myofascialmagic.com/webinar-registration


Podcast produced and edited by Megan Bay Dorman

Gnosis, presence and embodied awareness explored through fascia, somatic practice and living intelligence.

In this episode, Joanne reflects on gnosis as a form of knowing that is lived rather than intellectual. Through embodied awareness, breath and presence, she explores how the body reveals an innate intelligence that cannot be reduced to data or analysis.

Drawing on fascia therapy, somatic practice and spiritual traditions, this conversation invites a gentle slowing down and a return to inner listening. It is a contemplative exploration for those interested in mindfulness, embodiment practices, fascia and spiritual awareness.

SIGN UP TO THE JOANNE AVISON NEWSLETTER

Simply scroll down to ‘Join Our Collective’ and pop in your details. We DON’T spam and we DO respect privacy!


FOLLOWING ON YOUTUBE?
Do join us! Start here


MORE:
My website - https://www.joanneavison.com/
My course - https://myofascialmagic.com/
My book: - https://amzn.to/3zF3SAS
Instagram - joanneavison


FREE ONLINE WEBINAR:
Free Webinar - https://myofascialmagic.com/webinar-registration


Podcast produced and edited by Megan Bay Dorman

Joanne is joined by clinical anatomist John Sharkey to unpack why stretching, fascia and strength are so often misunderstood in modern fitness, rehabilitation and movement training. Together they examine how misread science can lead to harmful assumptions about flexibility, myofascial release and long-term tissue health.

The conversation centres on a widely discussed research paper on long-duration static stretching and strength. Joanne and John carefully clarify what the study does and does not show, exploring why increases in muscle girth do not automatically equate to functional strength, and how neural adaptation, fluid shifts and injury repair are often mistaken for true training effects.

They discuss fascia science, biomechanics, functional movement and therapeutic exercise through a clinical lens, highlighting the dangers of extrapolating extreme laboratory conditions into everyday practice. This episode challenges common flexibility myths and reframes stretching as a question of physiology, neurology and context, not force or endurance.

This conversation will be especially relevant for movement teachers, physiotherapists, manual therapists, trainers and anyone interested in fascia training, mobility exercises and therapeutic movement. It offers a grounded, nuanced perspective on how the body adapts and why better questions matter when interpreting research.

The paper discussed is ‘Influence of Long-Lasting Static Stretching on Maximal Strength, Muscle Thickness and Flexibility’, 2022.

If this episode sparks questions or reflections, we invite you to share them in the comments on our YouTube channel, where we love hearing from you and we always respond.

SIGN UP TO THE JOANNE AVISON NEWSLETTER

Simply scroll down to ‘Join Our Collective’ and pop in your details. We DON’T spam and we DO respect privacy!


FOLLOWING ON YOUTUBE?
Do join us! Start here


MORE:
My website - https://www.joanneavison.com/
My course - https://myofascialmagic.com/
My book: - https://amzn.to/3zF3SAS
Instagram - joanneavison


FREE ONLINE WEBINAR:
Free Webinar - https://myofascialmagic.com/webinar-registration


Podcast produced and edited by Megan Bay Dorman

In this reflective festive episode, I explore fascia, wholeness and the magic of awareness through lived experience, embodiment and deep listening. As interest in fascia, consciousness and embodied practice continues to grow, I invite you to look beyond data and analysis and return to the body as an already whole, living system.

Drawing on more than thirty years of work in anatomy, embryology, manual therapy and movement education, I reflect on fascia as the medium through which awareness is expressed. Rather than seeing the body as a collection of parts to be fixed or optimised, this episode speaks to fascia as the connective field through which sensation, perception and meaning arise. 

This exploration weaves together moments from my own life, reflections on modern measurement and technology, and a deeper inquiry into what it means to be embodied and aware. From embryonic development and cellular continuity to breath, sound and subtle movement, I explore how awareness is not something we need to acquire, but something we can learn to notice and trust again.

This episode is an invitation to slow down, sense more clearly and reconnect with the quiet intelligence that is already present within your living body. 

I hope you get a few moments to reflect and enjoy being you during the festive season, and as we greet the New Year.

SIGN UP TO THE JOANNE AVISON NEWSLETTER

Simply scroll down to ‘Join Our Collective’ and pop in your details. We DON’T spam and we DO respect privacy!


FOLLOWING ON YOUTUBE?
Do join us! Start here


MORE:
My website - https://www.joanneavison.com/
My course - https://myofascialmagic.com/
My book: - https://amzn.to/3zF3SAS
Instagram - joanneavison


FREE ONLINE WEBINAR:
Free Webinar - https://myofascialmagic.com/webinar-registration


Podcast produced and edited by Megan Bay Dorman

In this episode, Joanne and Paul explore why prehab, not rehab, is the missing foundation in modern fitness, functional training, mobility and long-term movement health. If longevity matters to you, how you move now matters more than how hard you train.

They unpack why so many people get injured while exercising, how fascia training and mobility work are often misunderstood, and why the body adapts to the shapes and stresses we repeat over time. From gym culture and sports conditioning to rehabilitation exercises and therapeutic movement, this conversation questions whether current training models truly support resilience, adaptability and whole-body intelligence.

The discussion moves into somatic movement, micro movement medicine and the living fascial matrix. Joanne and Paul explore why linear thinking in training creates shear, restriction and injury, and why the human body is not built on mechanical levers but on continuous, responsive tissue. Drawing on decades of experience across physical therapy, rehabilitation, martial arts and movement education, they show how subtle, intelligent movement restores function far more effectively than force or repetition.

This episode is especially relevant for movement teachers, physiotherapists, personal trainers, coaches and anyone interested in functional fitness, therapeutic exercise and longevity. It offers a clear reframe of prehab as an ongoing relationship with the body, not something reserved for injury prevention alone.

If you want to learn how this approach can transform your professional practice or your own movement for life, explore the Myofascial Magic In Action courses here:  www.myofascialmagic.com

SIGN UP TO THE JOANNE AVISON NEWSLETTER

Simply scroll down to ‘Join Our Collective’ and pop in your details. We DON’T spam and we DO respect privacy!


FOLLOWING ON YOUTUBE?
Do join us! Start here


MORE:
My website - https://www.joanneavison.com/
My course - https://myofascialmagic.com/
My book: - https://amzn.to/3zF3SAS
Instagram - joanneavison


FREE ONLINE WEBINAR:
Free Webinar - https://myofascialmagic.com/webinar-registration


Podcast produced and edited by Megan Bay Dorman