Fuzz, the Magic of Cadaver Dissection, and the Boston Marathon
Last week I was immersed in an Integral Anatomy course for 6 days with Gil Hedley. From 9 until 5 we dissected 4 human forms layer by layer, unwrapping gifts of philosophical marvel, anatomical wonder and spiritual enlightenment. How did all of this come from a dissection lab?
Being present with death and exploring the inner workings of the human body’s true physical form did many things to me and for me, but mostly thrust me back into the world appreciating how tremendously precious our lives are, not only as individuals, but as a whole connected universe.
There is no space in the human form. None. Everything is connected, whether strung by ligamentous tissue, gliding slippery surfaces, or spider webby fuzz; there is no airy space.
“Fuzz” is what Gil has defined as the etherial like tissue that lives between layers of fascia. It is a filmy fascia that creates a sliding surface for other tissues to glide amongst one another. In the living, the stiffer the fuzz, the stiffer the body. The more we nurture and massage our fuzz, the more mobile and functional we feel and become. The wonderful thing about fuzz is that you can’t see it until you start to pull things apart. As you brush against it with a scalpel or even your finger, it seems to disappear. Like a spider web, its integrity diminishes and the tissue layers are no longer connected. But just because you may no longer see it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t or didn’t exist. It still was and is the tissue that holds us together and is part of what connects us from one layer to the next.
So, how is it that our bodies, our forms, our glowing life force energies actually stop at the skin surface? Are there layers that exist beyond the skin?
Yes! I believe that there are. We are as interconnected to the space and world around us as we are within our bodies. “We are the world.” Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie were so right on. We literally ARE the world. Is it so far fetched to think that we are all interconnected by some kind of fuzzy fractal-like tissue, electricity, or energy? Just because we might not be able to see it, doesn’t mean it isn’t there allowing us to glide and interweave amongst one another, other living things and our nurturing earth, sun, moon and stars. Aren’t we all making up one large body? Aren’t’ we all living from and contributing to the function of our planet and universe?
So, how is it that we reap our earth, soil our waters and scar human beings living right amongst us?
Coming out of such a warm and fuzzy loving bubble created by Gil and my fellow *somanauts this past week, re-integration seemed a little scary, but I knew that my energetic high would blossom, spread to those around me and propel me into my teaching. That being said, it feels terribly sad that this high and feeling of being deeply connected to myself and every human neighbor isn’t felt by everyone or even most of the planet. The devastation that has just occurred towards the marathon community in Boston threw me for a loop. Is the fear of being connected and the fear of community so strong for some that they must tear these ideas down by destroying life? My week long experience leads me to believe that if people were experiencing their bodies, connecting to their bodies, exploring deep within their bodies; this destruction of life would not occur. When we dig down deep; heck, even shallow, just underneath the skin, we are not only the same, but we are one. We are interconnected just as the layers of the human form are connected with “fuzz.” We can pretend it isn’t there, ignore its importance and become stiff, rigid and disconnected; or we can visualize it, massage, love and nurture it, so that it takes form and functions in the harmonious connective way true to its inherent design.
Sending love, light, prayer and healing energy to the Boston Marathon runners, community and to all of us.
*(Like the astronaut who navigates outer space, the somanaut is dedicated to exploring the inner space of human form ~ Gil Hedley)
