Human Garage's Garry Lineham on stress and the science of 'unwinding'

Gulf Business

a day ago

Image: Supplied
In a world where stress often feels like a constant companion and true wellbeing seems elusive, meet Garry Lineham, co-founder and head of H
Aaron
Illathu — on behalf of
Gulf Business
— spoke to Lineham during his recent trip to Dubai, where he shared insights into Human Garage's philosophy, the science behind their signature 'unwinding' process, and how alignment isn't just physical — it's emotional, chemical, and spiritual too. Through Human Garage, Lineham said he and his team aim to restore humanity's natural flow, one body at a time. Here are some excerpts from the discussion.
How did the Human Garage concept and 'fascial maneuvers' originate, particularly in response to your personal health journey?
It started from a place of performance, particularly when my body got 'into trouble'. After 20 years of pain, I went into clinical practice and managed to get myself out of pain, but it required three to five treatments a week. When Covid-19 hit, my pain flared up again. I started doing these maneuvers, and at first, it was just about relieving my own pain and being able to do it myself. As I went through a process of unwinding and unraveling trauma and stress, I found the maneuvers consistently reduced my overall stress. I had more space, more desire to laugh, and even experienced emotional breakthroughs. I initially thought I was just fixing mechanical issues, but I soon realised the primary target was stress. This also sowed the seeds for the inception of Human Garage, which I co-founded with
Cynthia Leavoy, Jason Van Blerk and Aisha Rodrique
.
You mentioned fascial manoeuvers significantly reduce biological stress. Can you elaborate on the impact and the scientific backing for this?
Fascial maneuvers reduce 75 to 90 percent of biological stress in the body within the first 7-10 minutes. We've conducted a couple of hundred anecdotal tests, and doctors worldwide have tested it, though official peer review is still pending. The reality is, if you can remove 75 per cent of your stress twice a day, your baseline stress index drops. This increases your capacity to perform, combat issues like hormonal imbalances, improves sleep, and generally enhances measurements of lifestyle. Taking stress out became the core focus.
Human Garage uses social media to engage people. How do you move people beyond seeking quick fixes for single problems towards sustained self-care?
People often look for a quick fix for a single problem, like a knee or an elbow. While fixing a single problem won't work long-term, it provides immediate pain relief and builds belief in the system. As they experience relief from one pain, they try another maneuver for another. Eventually, they realize the benefit of doing a full 15-minute or 30-minute routine. Our goal is to draw people back to self-care, helping them believe that minor, consistent actions can have long-term, multi-faceted effects.
You have a background in encryption and government data, where information is compartmentalised. How do you see this mirroring the structure of modern healthcare?
In my background, information is compartmentalized so nobody knows the whole picture, allowing control. This is what we've done in healthcare. A hundred years ago, your doctor, psychiatrist, oncologist, OBGYN, and physiotherapist might have been the same person. Today, we have over 600 specialties, and more are emerging daily. This over-specialization leads to sending people from one specialist to another, with general practitioners, who navigate these specialists, being the lowest paid and least educated. The model is completely upside down, evidenced by the all-time high rates of dysfunction, disease, and illness.
You stated that no measurement of human health is better today than it was 30 years ago. Can you expand on this?
Indeed. The only thing that was claimed to be better was living longer, but health data was altered 15 years ago by removing infant mortality from the pool, making it appear we were dying younger. We are now officially dying younger. Stress, anxiety, and all kinds of allergies, especially food allergies, are up.
Over half of children today are diagnosed or treated as if they are on a spectrum. If I ask an audience if they or someone in their immediate circle has a chronic illness, 95 per cent raise their hands, which wasn't true even five years ago. We're diagnosing symptoms instead of addressing underlying issues.
With half the doctors worldwide having left their stations since 2020, and a massive increase in people seeking help, how does Human Garage address this crisis?
We answer up to a million health questions a month through our social media channel. These aren't simple questions; they're about severe conditions like POTS or glioblastoma. People seek answers from us, Google, or ChatGPT (which has become a better diagnostic tool for them) because they can't get reasonable answers from the traditional system. We don't claim cures. Our approach is founded on the basic principle that the body heals itself. We help the body heal by giving it a better environment, reducing stress, improving movement, and breathing better.
You mentioned the body is becoming more dehydrated. How does this impact health, and how do fascial maneuvers, along with other practices, address it?
The average person is 60-65 per cent water today, down from 70 per cent 30 years ago, and 80 per cent before that.
Our primary construct is water, which is the conduit for electricity and signaling through the fascia, connecting the nervous system, nerves, glands, and organs. When water and minerals are deficient, the signal cannot be carried properly. Our solutions are simple: mineralis e the body (addressing dehydration), clean up the environment, and move the body.
Fascial maneuvers are simple, non-invasive, and work with the fascia to allow the body to make decisions and move better.
How do emotional and physical trauma become stored in the body, and what does it take to truly release it?
Trauma is the body's inability to resolve a triangle: an event (physical, emotional, or perceptual insult), an attached emotion (anger, grief, fear), and a story you tell yourself about it. When the body is taken out of stress, I found personally that I could look at the event from a new angle, tell a new story, which affected my emotions, and allowed the trauma to release.
While talk therapy works on the story and emotional regulation on the emotion, the memory of trauma is stored in the fascia. When that connection is broken by factors like heavy metals or dehydration, the memory can't be resolved.
You have a unique perspective on memory, suggesting it resides in the body rather than just the brain. Can you explain this?
I believe the body is the computer, and the brain is the processor running programs. If the brain just runs the same program over and over, it's not truly intelligent. The body's real processing capacity is immense. Consider the detail with which a 112-year-old woman can recall an emotion or smell. The body is the greatest computer. If you forget a phone number, your fingers might remember it on a keyboard. The subconscious and memories are in the body; the brain is just the recall mechanism. The brain is very 'trickable', as seen in magic or advertising, but the body is not.
Can you elaborate on your belief that 'we are fascia'?
From conception, a baby begins as a ball of plasma (fascia). All nerves, tendons, glands, organs, and bones grow within and are connected by fascia. It's the intelligent casing that holds everything together, moves it, and facilitates communication. You can remove every bone, nerve, gland, tendon, or organ, but you cannot remove fascia.
Therefore, I propose that we are fascia. Our organs and systems make no sense without this 'house.' Furthermore, I suggest fascia extends into the energy field around us, enabling rapid responses like ducking before the brain is consciously aware of a threat. We need to look at the body in a new way because the current perspective isn't working.
Have you seen a shift in how mainstream medicine is viewing somatic and fascia-based healing?
Absolutely, they're flocking to it. Five years ago, few Western medicine doctors followed us; three years ago, a few world-renowned orthopedic surgeons reached out. Today, many more are adopting our methods. Younger doctors, especially, are realising the old ways aren't working and are using technology to seek better answers, engaging in research as a scientist should.
While Eastern medicine has historically been more inclusive, both Eastern and Western models are failing, prompting practitioners to look for new solutions. We estimate about a million practitioners globally are now prescribing fascial maneuvers daily, with a growing number being medical-related. Our recent tour across 11 countries and 40 events confirms this shift in engagement.
Can you share a transformative story that particularly sticks in your mind?
I was just working with actress Eva Longoria recently, and ex-footballer David Beckham also called us to work with him. I publish these transformations on social media to give people belief that it can happen, but I'm careful not to imply that I'm the only one who can do it. This whole thing is not about me. I want to do less and less of it. I love when people take care of themselves.
Even if a practitioner can only do 80 per cent of what I do, it's better to have millions doing 80 per cent than just me doing 100 per cent. I've even had people offer me hundreds of thousands of dollars to fly and see them, but I typically decline unless they are committed to helping others and sharing the information. That's worth more to me than the money.
What is the biggest challenge in getting people to believe in your approach, given that it sounds intellectually difficult to grasp?
If I explain it intellectually, it sounds hard to believe. That's why I don't do that. Instead, I get people to do it. When you feel the change in your body instantaneously – like feeling taller or straighter after a maneuver – it's hard to deny. You can argue logic, but feeling is undeniable.
I want people to develop their own belief because if it's my belief system, they'll never contribute back to the whole. The days of gurus are gone. I'm on my own journey, inspiring others, and sharing information openly. Fascial maneuvers intellectual property is free and open-source because we want to reach people fast.
Read: