When exploring human perception, the metaphor of an iceberg becomes useful. The classical understanding of perception in Western culture is an extroception model that involves the five senses. Our culture operates with the perception that reality is exterior to us, therefore, only that what we can see, hear, taste, touch, and smell is ‘real.’ Using our metaphor, this level of perception is ‘the tip of the iceberg.’
Beneath the tip of the iceberg, there are deeper realms of perception. In the previous article, we explored the purpose and value of the human fascial system as an organ of awareness. Our fascial living matrix provides body-wide communication more than three times faster than the nervous system. Interoception, the sense of knowing what is happening inside the body combines both structural awareness and other inwardly directed awareness.
As we explore more of our perceptual abilities, we dive towards a third, deeper realm called the extrasensory, or ESP. Who among us has not felt drawn to one person, yet not drawn to a different person? Who has never had the inner sensation that someone across the room is focusing on us? Who, at some time or another, has not felt an inner knowing, perhaps even a tingly feeling that something significant has happened ….and only afterward did we receive the confirming message or phone call.
Interoceptive and extrasensory phenomena are tangible, yet not in any way related to the five senses that we regularly use to navigate our physical reality. To be human, then, involves more than five senses, and much of that ‘more’ is held in our fascial structure.
The fascial living matrix, with its almost instantaneous ability for body-wide communication, operates with the sensibilities of energy, frequency, and vibration. The Extracellular Matrix (ECM) is rich with a variety of chemical, electromagnetic, endocrine, and humoral (blood) receptors continually and unconsciously responding to a variety of body-wide needs. Mechano-and proprio-receptors support patterns of physical response ranging from a child learning to walk to the most accomplished gymnast.
A significant aspect of our interoceptive perception is fascia’s connection with the autonomic nervous system. Recalling 10th grade Biology, this system runs vital organs at an ‘automatic’ level, i.e. below conscious thought. The fascial system includes specific “connective tissue surrounding the nerves and organizing the space within the brain” (Oschman). This particular set of connective tissue is called the perineural network.
The perineural network interfaces deeply with the autonomic nervous system. When the sympathetic branch of the autonomic system is activated, the ‘fight-or-flight’ message is sent to the heart, brain, musculature, and endocrine systems. When it is time to relax, the parasympathetic branch of the autonomic system induces the ‘rest-digest’ phase. Interestingly, and to be further explored in this series, both aspects of these deep interactions can be moderated through breathing techniques.
Nikola Tesla famously stated, “If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration.” Within the universe of the human body, this line of thinking follows the human fascial system. The body generates mechanical vibrations; heart rate, blood flow, and respiration generate low-frequency vibrations. Each organ in the body produces different resonant frequencies. As an example, HeartMath Institute, with over twenty years of research, has established that the biomagnetic energy field generated by the human heart is 60 times greater than that generated by the brain.
The body also generates bioelectric fields via the piezoelectric nature and semiconductive properties of collagen in the fascia. Recognized by NIH, biofields interpenetrate within and beyond the body. These fields also interface with other energy fields generated by all forms of life, and they are accessible to various forms of magnetic and energetic healing sources. When we feel that person watching us from across the room, it is possible to infer biofield interactions.
Taking all of this into account, it is fair to say human perceptual abilities are supported via structures that are both perceptive and projective. While our five senses provide an easily accessible route to perception, the fascial living matrix provides for a deep knowingness that operates largely below conscious awareness and may be directly connected to the subconscious. Biofield activity is an energetic extension projecting outward that interacts with other fields. At this point, we reiterate that all forms of life generate such fields.
Diving more deeply into these realms and exploring the depths of the iceberg are areas for more research, of course. To inquiring minds such as mine and yours, further research would do well to follow a line of inquiry from Thomas Myers: “This ubiquitous network (the human fascial system) … begs us to question to what frequencies this biological ‘antenna’ is tuned, and how it can be tuned to a wider spectrum of frequencies or harmonized within itself.”
While we easily accept our five senses as ‘reality based,’ we can understand that our fascial system tunes us deeply into ourselves. We can also begin to integrate realities of biofield perceptions that project our perceptions into the world around us. We also have scientific knowledge that spectrums of energy, frequency, and vibration are immense fields that extend well beyond our current perceptual abilities. Much like the iceberg whose depths extend into a seemingly limitless ocean, there is much yet to explore.
References
Biofield Science and Healing: History, Terminology, and Concepts - PMC
Langlais, P. (2025). Professor Emeritus, Old Dominion University. Personal interview.
National Research Nuclear University. 2016. Scientists research effects of infrasonic vibrations in humans. https://phys.org/news/2016-10-scientists-effects-infrasonic-vibrations-humans.html
Myers, T.W (2009). Anatomy trains: Myofascial meridians for manual and movement therapists, 2nd edition. Elsevier, Limited.
Oschman, J. L. (2016). Energy medicine: The scientific basis, 2nd ed. Elsevier.