The Science of Massage

Manual therapies benefit health and wellness through a known scientific and medicinal process called mechanotransduction, which simply means that a physical stimulus triggers a regulatory biochemical change that may improve wellness, and often dramatically so. Pressure, stretch, shear, and micro-vibrations are all examples of physical stimuli that, in the correct nuanced manner and range, generate positive and health-promoting changes within. Scientific knowledge about how these changes improve the lives of individuals is growing, but is still in the infancy stages as regards to clinical practice and the mainstream. Yet, fascia science, in particular, is quickly catching up and maturing regarding the wonderful and safer benefits of manual therapies.

Remarkable Fascia!

Note: Fascia researchers are busy doing the impossible - seeking a definition for this ubiquitous, intelligent, global facilitating tissue such that even the name has not yet been decided upon. Fascia is short and easy to say, so until science is ready with a formal name and definition, fascia is the term that will be used most often on this site for all of the body's connective tissue.

Meet FR:EIA (fray-ah)

​I've spent many hours in the cadaver lab assisting with fascial dissection. What was accomplished with FR:EIA astounds and humbles me.

What they accomplished here is some of the most difficult, time-consuming, complex work requiring new thinking and tremendous emotional and physical control. Then to realize this is only what a cadaver can reveal about the underlying structure of the many kinds and layers of system-supportive fascia. When you get a look at living fascia through Dr. J. C. Guimberteau's work, everything changes, yet again. But some things stand out: 

We are not machines, nor is anything within us disconnected or operating solo, which means the many separate medical disciplines must come together and begin speaking the same anatomical and signalling language and begin understanding how every system within us influences and is influenced by every other system. Western and Eastern medicine need to work together, too, in an alchemical marriage that will catapult our understanding of health and wellness such that we stop polluting our bodies, hearts, and minds, and start respecting the intelligence of the living body, which far outweighs our own, and always will. 

FR:EIA is beautifully, respectfully displayed. And, she is just the tip of the knowledge iceberg that awaits future clinicians and researchers. But you and I can begin, now, to gain new respect for ourselves and each other, through her.

~ Paula Mae, LMT

Food for Thought

Dr. Bruce Lipton, cellular biologist, said, "Consciousness is in the membrane of the cell." If this is true, then our global fascial system is our organ of consciousness, because the membranes of our cells and all other organ and tissue membranes are made of fascia.
Dr. Lipton also said, "Cell receptors are antennae - they receive signals from the environment."
A category of signals being considered are the very real frequencies our thoughts and emotions project. Most of our environment is determined by our attitude toward ourselves and each other. Potentially, the quality of the messages received from around us could affect the quality of our health within us. Research certainly seems to be pointing in that direction.
Love thy neighbor takes on holistic new meaning.

Setting The Record Straight

Muscles took the stage, credit, and blame for too long. It is time to set the record straight: Fascia-focused bodywork combined with nerve-soothing vibrational therapies is the best method for facilitating a healthier you. This is what Paula's Body Shop focuses on, and this is why her clients get the fastest, longest-lasting, and often permanent results.​

Difficult to Explain
​Understood When Experienced

Whatever the issues in your tissues
Find and fix them up at the root
​As quickly as possible
For the longest relief possible
Through innovative manual therapies
​At Paula's Body Shop