A solo offering on unsticking and freeing up the body for movement. Playing with epimysial grooves can help speed healing and increase energy in the body.

I learned epimysial grooves as Sen Lines in traditional Thai massage training with Rose Griscom of the Institute of Thai Massage. Thai practitioners say that there are “10,000 sen lines”, a numbered expression used widely in Asia to mean infinite. Scene from the Avatar cartoon series below.

I learned the Western equivalent through Functional Range Release training, the bodywork counterpart to Functional Range Conditioning (FRC).

In Thai massage we simply learned to worry as much or more about the space between the muscles as the muscles themselves. When motility is lost (this also applies to organ motility) energy grows stagnant and function goes down. Muscles that are stuck together move poorly. By investigating your sen lines, you can discover and free stuck areas.

You may also experience feeling a connection between the stuck places and far-off spots in your body that seem totally non-related. Sen lines in Thai massage all connect to an orifice – nostrils, mouth, sex organs, navel, eyes – and pass through many other things on their way there. I recommend treating any energy “release” such as farting, yawning, tears and blinking, breath changes, or the desire to shake something out through your fingers or toes as a useful reset and part of the natural unwinding.

I made this video at a time I did not give two shits about video quality or editing but was bubbling over with things to share. The sound quality vastly improves in time for all the important information, including how to use moist heat to aid in opening up your energy lines/epimysial grooves/sen lines/lines between your muscles.

You could certainly work the lines on a partner, but this video shows how to do it on your own self. Lean into the lines, use what feels good as a guide, experiment to see what’s working for you. With sen line work there are many times you will experience some pain yet notice that your muscle does not tighten up or flinch to get away. The body is saying yes while the sensation may feel spooky to the uninitiated. If however you experience the body tightening and muscles closing up to the touch that you’re using, I recommend going in more slowly and gently regardless of the accompanying sensation. Attune in this case to the body’s responses of tightening or relaxing in response to the touch you’re using.

I hope you enjoy this voyage into learning about your body’s grooves!