Block Therapy

I have to admit that I am a bit of a fascia freak, so this book spoke to me. I was honored to write this foreword. I have been a long-time student and practitioner of research, methods and active practice working with the fascia system. I have always believed that healing is dependent on the confluence of the brain and nervous system, the many energy systems of the body and the ability to adapt and respond to our environment. I have worked with posture correction and postural balance, the treatment of athletic injuries and physical and emotional trauma in my everyday practice using the fascia system as my main focus of therapy. I firmly believe that the fascia system is one of the most essential communication systems for the Body-Mind. 

I know from 35 plus years of clinical experience that emotions, pain, and trauma are stored in the fascia. When the right bodywork and specific intentional release methods are applied to the body, we can create enough space to restore the body’s natural flow. It is then that the emotions, pain and trauma can be released from the body. When this occurs, as practitioners, we get the unique opportunity to see the body heal. We get to see the body right itself. Many times, that is experienced as the release of pain - chronic or acute. Many times, it is improved with more fluid posture and movement. Often, it is experienced as decreased muscle and overall body tension, a feeling of being at ease or an increase in a sense of wellbeing. Any author willing to write about how they have taken on healing the body through the fascia system not only needs to be heard, but should be honored and respected for their research, perseverance, and commitment. It has taken pioneers in the field like Ida Rolf, Thomas Meyers, Daniel Keown, John Barnes, and John Upledger, just to name a few, to transform the way we think about the body.

This book is a very exciting, entertaining, and compassionate account of the life work of a brilliant and talented woman on a mission. Deanna Hansen has taken the complex science concepts of the fascia system and her decades of hands on bodywork, posture correction and breathwork and created this book that guides us through self-help and self-care measures that we can practice for a lifetime.

In this stressful and competitive modern society, we have fostered body tension, pain, feelings of unworthiness, self-judgment, and loss of the sacred. The principles of Fluid Isometrics and Block Therapy articulated in Unblocking Your Body is essential for reclaiming our wellness, a renewed relationship with your body, and living a joyful and liberated life.

In the process of evolving this work, Deanna has brought relief to countless clients who could not get help with their chronic pain, severe scoliosis, loss of function from injury, and recovery from surgery. She has helped countless clients improve their athletic performance and helped them love and appreciate their bodies into looking better and feeling better. In short, she has transformed their lives.

As you read this book, we will all be inspired by Deanna’s touching stories of what appear to be “miraculous” healings; yet what Deanna shows us in this book is that we are all capable of experiencing such healing miracles. Renewal is built into the very fabric of our bodies. In truth, degeneration and disease are the exception, not the norm. Even though most of us have just accepted that aging, degeneration and disease are just the way it goes, once we understand how our bodies renew themselves, by creating space, inflating space and maintaining space in our fascia, we can harness these physiological processes intentionally. 

With the use of Fluid Isometrics/Block Therapy, the fascia begins to change, the collagen and proteins begin to regenerate, and our cells get the oxygen, nutrients, blood flow, and waste removal essential to our wellness. Deanna teaches us that we can steer this process with intention, breath, and the Block. This allows us to put ourselves and our bodies back in the powerful position of driver in our transformation, rather than the passive role of passenger in our health and wellness.

A new generation of researchers coined a term for the renewal I have found in my own practice and that Deanna creates through Block Therapy called self-directed neuroplasticity or (SDN). The idea behind the term is that we direct the formation of new neural pathways and fascial fluidity. We also breakdown the old neuropathways and fascia constrictions through the quality of the experiences we cultivate. I am in total alignment that SDN will become one of the most potent and important concepts in personal transformation for the coming generation. I feel that this book will be at the forefront of that movement. Unblock your fascia, redirect neuroplasticity, change physiology, and change your life.

This valuable and easy to assimilate book will extend the reach of Deanna Hansen’s remarkable contribution to bodywork and healing far and wide. I applaud her for taking the time from her already busy schedule of workshops, classes, courses, and active practice to write it all down for us. I hope you find Deanna’s book, workshops, guidance, and instruction as enticing and exciting as I have.

Most importantly, Unblocking Your Body reawakens us to the deepest aspects of our body - the fundamental balance, openness and essence of who we are. It returns us to the happiness and freedom that are the birthright of every human being. Read these pages slowly. Take their words and practices to heart. Let them guide you and create space for the expression of the best version of yourself in the world. Believe in your ability to realize your highest potential and take inspired action. Then you will become the unblocked true expression in the world that creates a happy and healthy future for yourself and for our planet.

~ Dr. John Daugherty, DC Author of The Health Code