For many it’s the season for gifting, and I want to share a very special gift with you, dear Listener! John Sharkey and Mark Flannigan have just released a gold standard, peer-reviewed research paper which seeks to move us towards an interdisciplinary definition of fascia, particularly for the benefit of all fascia-focused movement and manual practitioners. It’s an incredible and important piece of work, so I couldn’t resist sharing it with you in this special episode. Every movement instructor and manual practitioner I meet seeks to help others to move better and feel better. We all strive to do our best within our respective modalities and “scope of practice”. Yet we find the definition of fascia elusive – because it is. It’s elusive to us, to the medical professions and to our clients, when we try to translate what we’re doing and why.  Learning about fascia and myofascial behaviours is rapidly becoming essential to all practitioners. Yet where do we start, if we don’t have a definition that makes sense to us all? In this brand new paper these esteemed authors offer some brilliant insights and answers, which I attempt to describe and slightly “storify” for you here, so that regardless of your modality or familiarity with reading research, you’ll feel inspired and confident to sit down and read it. If you only want a general overview – and can’t wait to read the actual piece – then stop at the 26:10 minute mark – and go to the paper from there. If you’d enjoy the deeper insights, then keep on to the cliff-hanger at the end! Either way – please gift yourself the paper and ENJOY!!  With love and light, Joanne   READ THE PAPER ‘Towards a Paramedical Interdisciplinary Definition of Fascia Supporting Practitioners Offering Fascia-Focused Therapies’ – John Sharkey, Mark Flannigan. Published in the International Journal of Anatomy and Applied Physiology (IJAAP) - ISSN: 2572-7451 Shared with kind permission of John Sharkey and Mark Flannigan.  Podcast produced and edited by Megan Bay Dorman SIGN UP TO MY NEWSLETTER Simply scroll down to ‘Join Our Collective’ and pop in your details. We DON’T spam and we DO respect privacy! FOLLOW ME Instagram Facebook FREE TRAINING! How Yoga & Pilates Instructors Are Using 5 Key ‘Game-Changers’ To Transform Their Teaching And Have A Greater Impact On Their Client’s Lives - WITHOUT Having To Gain Any Extra Qualifications Or Spend Years Relearning