Neshama Healing Center

01/31/2026

Here is a wonderful step by step guide for scar tissue work at home.

🌿 How to Soften Fascia & Scar Tissue at Home

What actually works — and what to avoid

Fascia and scar tissue play a much bigger role in pain, swelling, stiffness, lymph stagnation, and restricted movement than most people realise.

If you’ve had:
• Surgery
• Injury or trauma
• C-sections or abdominal surgery
• Chronic inflammation
• Long-term stress

…your fascia may have thickened, tightened, or lost its glide.

The good news?
You can support fascia and scar tissue gently at home — without aggressive techniques.

🧠 First, understand this important truth

Fascia is living tissue.

It contains:
• Nerves
• Fluid
• Collagen & elastin fibres
• Immune and inflammatory signalling

This means fascia responds to pressure, temperature, hydration, breath, and safety signals.

It does not respond well to force.

🚨 What DOESN’T soften fascia (and can make it worse)

This is important to say clearly 👇

❌ Aggressive massage
❌ Deep digging into scars
❌ Painful foam rolling
❌ “No pain, no gain” techniques

Why?
Because pain signals cause the nervous system to guard, which makes fascia tighten further.

If it hurts — fascia will resist, not release.

🌬️ 1. Breath is foundational (often overlooked)

Fascia responds to pressure changes inside the body.

Deep, slow diaphragmatic breathing:
• Hydrates fascial layers
• Reduces guarding
• Improves tissue glide
• Supports lymph movement

✨ Try this daily:
• Inhale through the nose
• Let ribs and belly expand
• Long, slow exhale
• 5–10 breaths, several times a day

This alone can soften deep fascial restrictions over time.

🤲 2. Gentle skin-stretching (not rubbing)

Fascia responds best to slow, sustained stretch, not friction.

How:
• Place hands on skin
• Gently stretch the skin in one direction
• Hold 30–90 seconds
• Wait for a softening or warmth
• Move slowly to another direction

This is especially effective around:
• Scars
• Abdomen
• Neck
• Chest
• Hips

Think listening, not forcing.

🌿 3. Heat before touch

Warm fascia becomes more pliable.

Use:
• Warm shower
• Heat pack
• Warm bath

Apply warmth before working with fascia or scars.

Heat:
• Improves blood flow
• Increases tissue elasticity
• Reduces resistance

Cold can be helpful later — but warmth comes first when softening.

💧 4. Hydration matters more than tools

Fascia is largely water-based.

Dehydrated fascia:
• Becomes sticky
• Loses glide
• Increases pain

Support hydration by:
• Drinking water consistently
• Adding electrolytes or minerals
• Avoiding excessive caffeine

You cannot soften fascia if the body is dehydrated.

🧴 5. Scar tissue needs patience, not pressure

Scar tissue forms as protection — not a mistake.

At home, work with scars by:
• Gentle circular skin movement
• Lifting and rolling the skin (when healed)
• Using oil to reduce drag
• Very light pressure

Over time this:
• Improves sensation
• Restores movement between layers
• Reduces pulling and tightness
• Supports lymph drainage

Deep scars take months, not days.

🧠 6. Nervous system safety is key

Fascia tightens when the body feels unsafe.

Support safety by:
• Working slowly
• Breathing during touch
• Stopping before pain
• Resting afterwards

You cannot separate fascia healing from nervous system regulation.

🌱 Signs fascia is softening (good signs)

✔️ Warmth
✔️ Tingling
✔️ Gentle release
✔️ Easier movement
✔️ Reduced pulling or pain

Healing fascia feels subtle, not dramatic.

🤍 Final reminder

More force does not equal more healing.

Fascia softens through:
• Time
• Gentleness
• Consistency
• Safety

Your body responds best when it feels respected.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your healthcare provider before making changes to your diet, exercise, or health regimen.

01/09/2026

If you have recently visited my office, you may recall my discussion of toe spacers and their benefits, which extend from your feet and ankles to your knees, hips, and ultimately, your neck and shoulders. Here is the link to the spacers I recommend, an excellent self-care item that can help alleviate discomfort from head to toe. https://a.co/d/boFkLOH

Discover the ultimate solution for foot comfort with our Toe Spacers - Bunion Corrector for Women & Men, designed to provide effective relief and support for bunions and overlapping toes; these silicone gel toe separators gently align and stretch your toes, making them ideal for athletes and ever...

12/30/2025

This is beautifully written , please read. I see this a lot in my work. So grateful for my MFR training to help the reconnecting of communication with body after surgery.

We often speak of surgery as though it were a single chapter with clean edges. The date is circled on the calendar, an incision is made and closed, and a problem is addressed and resolved. The before and after are neatly divided by stitches and time. But the body does not experience surgery this way. The body experiences surgery as a shift in its inner terrain, as though a familiar landscape has been altered overnight. The river that once ran freely now curves around new terrain, learning its new shape.

In previous posts, I have talked about the quiet river system that lives beneath the skin, one that most people are never taught to notice unless something interrupts it. The lymphatic system. It does not announce itself with a pulse or rush forward with force. It moves slowly, and patiently, guided by breath, subtle movement, and a sense of safety. It is less like a current and more like a tide, responding to the rhythms of the whole body. When surgery enters this landscape, that tide is changed.

Surgery not only passes through skin and muscle, but it also crosses pathways of flow. Delicate lymphatic vessels may be cut, cauterized, or stunned. Nodes may be disturbed or asked to take on new roles. Fascia, the great connective web that binds and communicates, is opened, shifted, stitched, and often healed into unfamiliar patterns. Nerves that once spoke freely may soften their voice or change their language altogether. The body reorganizes itself around the experience because survival demands adaptation.

Unlike blood vessels, lymphatic vessels are not always repaired or reconnected. The body compensates as it always does, finding alternate routes, creating workarounds, and learning how to carry on. But adaptation does not always come with ease.

Scar tissue, so often treated as a surface concern, tells a much deeper story. A scar is not simply healed skin; it is a place where layers that once glided now hesitate. Where fascia holds more tightly, and where lymph slows, reroutes, or pools. When a familiar pathway is disrupted, the body does not panic. It listens. Like water meeting an obstacle, it softens and begins to trace new lines through the landscape. Swelling that gathers in unexpected places is not a mistake. It is a quiet act of problem-solving, guided by survival and care.

This is why someone can say, even years after a C-section, an appendectomy, breast surgery, orthopedic repair, or abdominal procedure, “I healed, but I was never the same.”

So here is something to think about. The lymphatic system does not exist alone. It is woven deeply into the nervous system. Surgery is not only a mechanical event but also a biological and neurological one. The body remembers the invasion, the anesthesia, the vulnerability, even when the mind has moved on. If the nervous system remains protective, lymphatic vessels remain guarded. Flow slows. Inflammation lingers, and the tissues struggle.

This is why aggressive approaches often fall flat in post-surgical bodies. The system does not need to be forced open; it requires touch that reassures the nervous system that it is no longer under threat.

The good news is this. While scars cannot be erased, function can be restored. Communication can be reestablished, and flow can improve. The body is not broken; it is adaptive, responsive, and profoundly wise. Given the right conditions, the lymphatic system can learn new pathways, rehydrate tissues, and relieve the burden it has been quietly carrying for years.

Healing is not about undoing what was done. It is about listening to what changed. It is about restoring movement to the quiet rivers beneath the skin and honoring the tissues that adapted to protect you. This is where a bodyworker trained in fascia and lymphatic work becomes essential. Not to force the body back into shape, but to understand its language. To recognize where flow has slowed, where fascia is holding history, and where the nervous system is still standing guard. With a skilled, patient, and informed touch, the body is reminded that it no longer has to brace and that it is once again allowed to move toward ease.

body artisans

12/17/2025

For those of you that would love to support and bless Emma and baby boy Kunz, here is her Babylist gift registry 🤍

Visit Emma and Stephen Kunz’s Baby Registry on Babylist. To raise a child it takes a village. Thanks for being part of ours!

12/15/2025

Healing in progress — stay on the trail.
Pain is not punishment; it’s guidance.
It calls us to adjust, to listen, to receive support.
Pain creates change.
Change creates growth.
Lean into it.
✨ Healing is happening ✨

12/03/2025

I know it is hard to see the amazing creativity of Minnesota Rust, but once again Andrea Stordahl has out done herself. Make sure to take a closer look when you come in ❄️

09/24/2025

John F. Barnes MFR Quantum Leap session in Sedona has been phenomenal! With 170 people in attendance you can imagine the energy!

09/23/2025

Day 1 of my single class Quantum Leap was exceptional! I am grateful for this MFR training. I will return to the office on Monday prepared to work and utilize the new techniques I’ve learned here in Sedona!

Please contact Katie or Natalie with your bodywork needs!

07/17/2025

LeAnna will be out of the office from July 18-27, attending classes in the Cities. She will be taking John F. Barnes MyoFascial Release classes, specifically Cervical-Thoracic MFR, Myofascial Rebounding, and Fascial Cranium. Please contact Katie or Natalie for your wellness needs during this time. Thank you for your understanding. LeAnna looks forward to utilizing her new skills and techniques upon her return.

05/15/2025

If you have sent me a DM or VM and I haven’t gotten back to you it is because I have no space from now until mid August. I have a cancellation list but that is at capacity. I am booking September and if you would like to get on the books please text me at 218.280.0971 .
Thank you for your understanding and patience 🤍
Leanna