In A Nutshell

Paula discovered early on that switching focus, away from muscle-soothing toward debris-clearing, dramatically improved client outcomes. Dramatically. Typical debris of the connective tissue is known as adhesions, or secondary scar tissue. Atypical debris is a form of "congestion" similar to what our sinuses can suffer from, and it gets stuck in fascia's web and fluids, mostly of the superficial fascia, not in muscle's striations.
Therefore, Paula's massage therapy is actually Fasciae Therapy. 
  • It feels different.
  • It lasts significantly longer.
  • It is often inadvertently curative.
  • It requires cooperative communication and collaboration between therapist and client.
  • It reduces the need for frequent or traditional massage, with the exception of emotional stress.

Methods

All methods must be customized to account for the unique properties of fascia, which are also unique from person to person. Paula customizes the following methods, elevating them in innovative ways to be more efficient and effective:
  • Palpation
  • Traditional Hands on techniques: Swedish, Neuromuscular (NMT), Medical, Connective Tissue, Reflexology, and Shiatsu 
  • Tok Sen (hammer massage)
  • Gua Sha (gentle, smooth scraping)
  • Cupping (non-static vacuum therapy) 
  • BioSyntonie (subtle vibrational therapy)

Modern vs. Ancient Methods

​Modern methods are fine, but often the ancient ways work better.
Paula evaluates all methods to discover their underlying principles, then enhances their use based on those principles combined with her knowledge of fascia. This evaluation cannot be done through traditional reductionist science - that only works with complicated problems. Health problems are complex, not complicated. Solving complex problems means understanding the simplicity underneath, first. The ancients focused simply on what worked, but became dogmatic in their imagined stories about how they worked. Paula encourages modern scientists to dismiss the dogma and get to work discovering the true mechanisms of ancient methods, so that more people can be helped.

Fun with Fascia Definitions

Connective Tissue is an umbrella term for all of the various fascia in the body.
The plural of fascia is fasciae.
​Fascia has nothing to do with fascism!
Science is still arguing about the official name, defining characteristics, and whether or not it's an organ system (it is).
The fasciae are organ-like in that they make up a single, intelligent, multi-faceted, vital structure. The fascia organ is a web-and-scaffold plasma communication structure that literally connects, separates, coordinates, and nourishes everything else in the body inclusive from skin through bone, head to toe. The fasciae could be compared to today's Internet: A global web intelligently connected to everything and often communicating wirelessly. And just like the World Wide Web - and the feminine side of nature - the quality and integrity of our fasciae and its connections matter the most!

Muscle vs. Fascia

​Traditional massage, physical and sports therapy, and most fitness programs continue to focus on muscles, and that's exactly why they don't get the sometimes other-worldly healing results of the fascia-oriented therapies. When we shift gears and see muscles for what they truly are: workhorses that are too often already overworked, it wisely changes the bodywork conversation for the better. Our muscles, just like all our organs, glands, vasculature, etc. are highly dependent upon the quality and integrity of their support structures: their associated fascia. IOW: The healthier the fasciae, whether superficial or deep, the healthier everything else. That makes our connective tissue a lot more important than what most doctors and clinicians are taught: as if it were inert wrapping paper.

The Missing Link in Bodywork Education and Practice 

When we switch focus from muscles to connective tissue, we exit the realm of healing by relaxation (which is marvelous for emotional issues, but offers only temporary relief from more physical issues,) and enter the fascinating and complex world of healing by clearing obstructions (congestions, adhesions, stuck inflammations, sharp calcifications, and metabolic crystallizations) in the connective tissue, which is responsible for supporting all systems of the body. The science is new ... but the clinical work is old for those who explore beyond muscle indoctrination.

Interestingly, removing the fascial obstruction is not much different than removing a stubborn clog from a drain pipe: The waters flow on their own. In this case, the blood, lymph, and plasma-like fascial fluids are more free to flow, restoring overall health and wellness, naturally allowing the muscles to relax on their own, assuming no underlying bone issues. Our bodies do not contain inert pipes, however. Over time, the fascia will find and create detours that may lead to restrictions and compensations that start a slow domino-effect to pain and limited range-of-motion. Circulation-wise, if unable to detour, localized edema may result.

There’s no magic in this. It’s fluid engineering within a closed system under pressure, something we need science to start studying in live tissues, so that I don’t have to use plumbing analogies to help explain mechanisms!

Paradigm Shift

Telling people that manual therapy should be about connective tissue and not muscles, sounds as heretical as any new concept before it's accepted. Thankfully, devoted scientists and clinicians throughout the world are working to mainstream the benefits of understanding and respecting the connective tissue of the body. For an example of their wonderful work, set aside some time for this awesome video:

The case of the groin pull that was not, and other pseudo muscular pains

The clearest example of how connective tissue issues can mimic muscle pain is in the case of the pregnant and near birthing client who presented with a pulled groin (adductor) muscle. Noticing through palpation that there was  "congestive clotting" within the superficial connective tissue in the same hip, but opposite of the pain and on the other side of the hip joint, Paula set about clearing that congestion, and the groin pull pain disappeared!

The most common example of pseudo muscle pain (and pseudo arthritic pain) comes from crystallizations where tendons attach on the bone - whether at the joint or on the body of the bone. The condition is called calcific tendonitis, and it is difficult for medical professionals to diagnose except in the shoulder, and only when it is severe enough to show up on x-ray. Paula, however, is able to palpate for these crystals almost anywhere in the body, break them down without doing harm, and voila! The muscles automatically relax and let go! 

​Fascia Research Highlights

Connective tissue cannot be understood through traditional reductive science. The whole must be considered in living tissue and in collaboration with skilled clinicians. Dr. JC Guimberteau, retired plastic surgeon, has offered live filming of this most brilliant and amazing tissue that offers great promise to the future of modern medicine. You can view it in his DVD titled, "Strolling Under The Skin" or read about it in his book, "Architecture of Human Living Fascia" with contributing language editor, Paula Mae (Moerland). 
Follow: www.fasciaresearchsociety.org for news of current and future congresses and to support this important research.
Read: How a Mysterious Body Part Called Fascia is Challenging Medicine
Fascial Manipulation, foreword by Robert Schleip, PhD, Director of Fascia Research Project, Ulm University, Germany. Dr. Schleip summarizes the importance of the body of work by Stecco and Stecco and also talks about why this important tissue has been overlooked for so long.
​This video highlights the appreciation of the Stecco family work in both fascia research and clinical application. Paula has worked with Dr. Antonio Stecco in the cadaver lab as his assistant and enjoyed sharing ideas with him. Paula's connective tissue therapy is somewhat similar in results to the Stecco brand of fascial manipulation, both enjoying fast, effective, and longer-term results.