Shannon Hershman, founder of Be Well My Body, is a retired professional dancer who overcame ankylosing spondylitis—an autoimmune disease that once caused chronic inflammation, debilitating pain, and restricted movement. Through dedicated study, training, and a transformative shift in diet and lifestyle, she successfully reversed her condition.

What once felt like a challenge, Shannon now sees as a profound gift. Her journey led her to a deeper understanding of how the musculoskeletal system is intricately connected to overall well-being. As an expert in fascial release techniques, she shares her knowledge to help others relieve pain and restore mobility.

Here are her most valuable tips for keeping your body strong, flexible, and pain-free.

Fascial Release Work

Fascial release techniques, such as foam rolling, massage, and Targeted Vibrational Therapy, help break up adhesions in the tissue, allowing muscles and surrounding structures to glide smoothly over one another. This fluid movement is essential for optimal flexibility and pain-free motion.

As we age, our bodies naturally stiffen, making everyday movements—like getting up and down from the floor—more challenging. Muscle tightness can arise from a variety of factors, including past injuries, inactivity, overuse, poor posture, emotional stress, hydration levels, and even nutrition. When muscles become thick and bound, they lose their full range of motion, impacting alignment, posture, joint health, mobility, strength, and balance—ultimately increasing the risk of injury. In fact, overly tight muscles can overstimulate the sympathetic nervous system, creating a vicious cycle of tension and stress.

One of the greatest benefits of foam rolling is its accessibility—this powerful self-care practice can be done anytime, saving both time and money compared to seeing countless massage therapists, chiropractors, acupuncturists, and more. Incorporating fascial release into your routine is one of the most effective ways to prevent and relieve aches and pains, keeping your body strong, mobile, and resilient.

Flexibility

Once you’ve released the “knots” or fascial adhesions in the tissue, it’s essential to restore the muscle’s potential for length and flexibility. Stretching alone, without fascia release techniques, may not fully address adhesions trapped in the tissue, limiting the muscle’s ability to reach its full range of motion. Tight muscles—connected to bones via tendons—pull on the skeleton, causing misalignment and decreasing joint space, which can lead to injury.

As we age, maintaining flexibility becomes crucial for effortless movement. Techniques like stretching, Yamuna Body Rolling®, and Fascia Stretch Therapy™ are excellent for preserving flexibility and ensuring your body remains mobile and resilient.

Mobility

Mobility is the ability to move freely and easily. You want to translate your flexibility into full-body, large-range movements. This isn’t about isolating individual body parts; it’s about engaging the entire body across fascial nets. The fascial system is a complex network of connective tissue that surrounds and penetrates every structure in the body—muscles, bones, organs, and even nerves. 

Tight fascia can disrupt bone alignment, create adhesions in organs, and pinch nerves, all of which hinder fluid movement and overall mobility.

For optimal function, it’s essential that all parts of the body work together in harmony, facilitating smooth, efficient movement.

Effective mobility practices include, but are not limited to, Pilates, yoga, dance, and martial arts. Anything that involves dynamic, full-body movement will help you maintain peak form and vitality. Simple exercises like deep squats, lunges, the 90/90 stretch, and downward dog are excellent for improving mobility.

Strength Training  

In addition to improving mobility, build strength within those expanded ranges of motion. Flexibility alone isn’t enough—without the strength to support it, you risk injury. True functional movement isn’t about isolating muscle groups in the gym; it’s about engaging the entire body. To achieve this, combine mobility work with strength training. Functional exercises like squats, lunges, deadlifts, and push-ups are excellent choices, allowing you to progressively increase weight load over time. Additionally, Pilates and yoga are fantastic for seamlessly blending strength and mobility. A balanced body, where flexibility and strength work in harmony, is key for long-term vitality and mobility.