“I need to unwind.” It wasn’t until recently that I actually thought about the true meaning of this phrase.

To relax, to settle down, to calm the mind and body. If you were to ask me what this meant 2 years ago, that’s what I would have responded with. But I’ve come to realize that there is an actual, literal unwinding that takes place when one unwinds.

Not just in the metaphorical sense, as if there is some sort of ball of wires in the mind that must get untangled in order for one to properly rest. But in the physical sense as well.

When one truly unwinds, there is an unfolding of the facial layer underneath the skin, that wraps around the entire body. From head to toe, winding around the body like a sort of serpent, there is a fascial ribbon that extends across and throughout the muscles, bones, organs and ligaments.

When one is stressed, this ribbon tightens, like a boa constrictor would. The vascular, nervous and energetic channels close up, and flow of blood, of water, of air of energy comes to a slow.

Yet when one relaxes, when the body loosens from it’s rigid posture and the mind decouples from the ideas and objects it’s often tethered to, the ribbon begins to loosen, and that which it holds begins to unwrap. The body unwinds, and true, unrestricted being, springs forth.