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Hi Bernie,
Yoga teachers talk a lot about first squeezing an area and then by relaxing it we can pump clean(fresh) blood to that area. Same goes for yin yoga teachers who says the same thing for chi.
1/ How can the new blood be clean? What is clean?
2/ Why is clean blood good?
3/ Regarding to chi, is relaxation after compression good for chi deficiency or stagnation?
4/ Can we say the same thing (if it is correct) for tension too?
1 & 2) Don't think of it as "clean" fluids, but "fresher" fluids. Note, I am not saying "blood" here. It is highly unlikely that you have old, stale blood pooled in your tissues, but we are ~60% water and water takes on different states in the body. It is usually in a gel-like state (think jello) or a liquid, solution state (called "sol"). It is useful to have these states alternate: in a sol state, macro-molecules can migrate through the tissue, bringing nutrients to the cells and allowing toxic materials to be taken away. Robert Schleip writes about how this transition in our fascia can help reduce the amount of destructive free radicals we have: when the water is in its gel state, free radicals build up through normal cellular metabolism but they are "trapped" in the gel: when the water switches to a sol state (through yoga, or massage or other forms of exercise), the free radicals are flushed out as the water moves out, and are deactivated by our immune system and lymphatic system. When the water re-gels, it is "fresher" than the older water. (see his write up on a Fascia Congress.)
What I was trying to ask in 4th question was that if compression helps switch the state of water substance, can the tension do the same. However following your answer I get that it is true for both tension and compression.
In the article you shared there is this paragraph which reads:
"This new perspective inspired several of the attending manual therapists to orient their manual techniques on the perceived (or imagined) fluid shear around the cells. Adjustment of speed then seems to be even more important than directional precision or regulation of force."
I am not sure what is meant by adjustment of speed here. What should I understand by that?
