3-Hour Mini-Course
Fascia, Breath, and Regulation
A Systems Approach to Restoring Respiratory Mechanics
September 19, 2026 • 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM MST • Virtual only • $299
with Dr. Mark Barnes, DPT
Restrictions through the diaphragm, rib cage, thorax, neck, jaw, and related fascial continuities can influence how a person breathes, moves, loads, and adapts. This course builds on myofascial principles while introducing a contemporary systems-based framework for understanding change.
Rather than viewing fascial restriction and release as isolated tissue events, we explore them as part of a dynamic biological process involving fascia, the nervous system, breathing, movement, experience, and adaptation. What we feel beneath our hands matters, but the next question is: What is the system doing, why is it doing it, and how can we help it discover another option?
This broader perspective moves us beyond simply finding and releasing restrictions toward recognizing patterns, creating meaningful experiences of change, and helping those changes become integrated into everyday life.
Through fascia-informed assessment, hands-on intervention, breath, movement, and self-care, participants will learn to work with respiratory mechanics as part of an interconnected adaptive system.
The Bigger Shift
- From restriction to pattern.
- From release to response.
- From correction to adaptation.
- From technique to clinical reasoning.
- From therapist-driven change to active client participation.
- From the appointment to what happens between appointments.
This is not about leaving fascia behind. It is about seeing fascia within the larger adaptive system it has always been part of.
Regulate. Reboot. Renew.
Who is this for?
MFR-trained clinicians, physical therapists, occupational therapists, chiropractors, massage and manual therapists, movement professionals, and other healthcare professionals interested in fascia, breathing, movement, regulation, and whole-person care.
What you’ll learn
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Assess respiratory mechanics through a fascia-informed systems lens.
- Recognize relationships between fascial patterns, breathing, posture, movement, and nervous system state.
- Expand clinical reasoning from isolated restrictions toward whole-body adaptive patterns.
- Integrate hands-on fascial work with breath, movement, awareness, and active client participation.
- Provide practical self-care experiences that help clients continue the process of adaptation between appointments.
Course content
- Breath as an expression of the adaptive system
Explore how breathing reflects the ongoing interaction between mechanics, fascia, nervous system state, movement, perception, and environment. - Fascia and respiratory mechanics
Examine fascial continuity through the diaphragm, rib cage, thorax, neck, jaw, and related structures, and how local restrictions can participate in larger patterns. - Fascia-informed assessment
Assess rib excursion, diaphragmatic function, thoracic mobility, accessory muscle recruitment, breathing patterns, and whole-body relationships. - Hands-on myofascial intervention
Apply practical techniques to the diaphragm, intercostals, scalenes, jaw, thorax, and related fascial continuities while observing the response of the whole system. - From restriction to pattern
Move beyond asking only Where is the restriction? to understanding how and why the person may be organizing around a particular pattern. - Breath, state, and regulation
Explore the bidirectional relationship between respiratory mechanics and nervous system state and how changing one part of the system can influence the whole. - From release to adaptation
Understand tissue release as a response within a larger biological process rather than the endpoint of treatment. Integrate breath, awareness, movement, and appropriate loading to create new options for the system. - Client self-care and embodiment
Teach practical fascia-informed self-care, breath, movement, and awareness practices that allow clients to experience and reinforce change between appointments. - Integrating the approach into practice
Apply systems-based respiratory assessment and intervention within an existing MFR, manual therapy, movement, or rehabilitation practice.
Somatic Founders
Training Host
The son of John F. Barnes PT, visionary and leading expert in Myofascial Release, Mark followed in his father’s footsteps to advance and innovate care delivery with a focus on the practical application of the science of fascia and self-care programs.
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