Bilateral Symmetry isn’t so much: harnessing the “new antomy” in movement as healing.

This year’s British Fascia Symposium will celebrate movement as healing, with “the new anatomy” as a key theme. Join me in conversation with Neil Theise and Graham Scarr as we set the stage for this global event with presentations covering the most contemporary views of anatomy, looking deeply into the spirit of the cell, the language of complexity, and the crux of decussation.

Yes, that last one is the subject of my presentation: we may be classified as bilaterian (bilaterally symmetrical), but that story contains a major plot twist. I’ll be exploring how the rise of the vertebrate is a journey of swirling symmetry and how our nervous system shows the twirling tale as a series of crossovers that give rise to how we experience our bodies at every level.

Why is all this complexity and crossover so “new” when anatomy is older than the history books? Our hive mind has been obsessed with three-dimensional models for centuries. Now that we're coming to understand the full story of human development, it's time to embrace a multi-disciplinary view. That view considers the human not just from birth into adulthood… not merely from fertilisation… or even the epigenetic influence of family behaviour across the generations... but the long arc of species evolution.

One of the remaining mysteries of the brain is the contralateral organization of the forebrain with the itinerant crossings of its major afferent (sensory) and efferent (motor) connections. These crossings are known as decussations, from the Latin ‘dec’ for ten, the X shape underpinning our central nervous system organisation. 

Two relatively recent studies by Kinsbourne and de Lussanet, have proposed that the forebrain – and its neural continuities through the optic chiasm – is rotated by 180° with respect to the rest of the body, giving rise to the large-scale decussation pattern at play throughout the spectrum of organ systems. Join us at BFS to learn more about these associated theories and much more about the potential practical applications in our movement spaces!

Allow yourself the time and headspace to consider evolutionary development and how that beyond-big-picture story has the potential to revolutionise our self-awareness. 

Other topics in this year’s BFS: Working with Light Touch; Scars and Adhesions, and Movement is Therapy. Our team of presenters comprise some of the finest minds in the fascia community, and we will deep-dive with them into these fascinating topics through discussion and presentation, research and movement.

This year, we highlight the huge shifts happening in our understanding of fascia and how they inform our approach as therapists and movement educators. These are exciting times! Join the British Fascia Symposium, presented by The Fascia Hub, as we explore the 21st-century body. As always, we present a series of fascinating, content-rich presentations from the movers and shakers in the world of fascia, delivered via the easy-to-use Whova platform, which enables engagement and conversation between attendees and presenters, breakout rooms, and sharing of resources. Join us!

For more information and to book: https://thefasciahub.com/bfs-2024