What are the opening hours?

Monday 09:00 - 17:00 Tuesday 09:00 - 17:00 Wednesday 09:00 - 17:00 Thursday 09:00 - 17:00 Friday 09:00 - 17:00

http://www.handsonhealing.co.za/

Hands On Healing, West Rand (2025)

08/07/2025

Tidbit Tuesday!

Scar tissue

Scar tissue is created as part of the body's natural healing response when fascia or other soft tissues are damaged. Fascia is made of collagen fibers arranged in an organized, elastic pattern that allows smooth movement and flexibility. When injured—through trauma, surgery, or repetitive strain—the body produces new collagen - rapidly - to repair the area. However, this collagen is laid down in a disorganized, dense, and less elastic pattern, forming scar tissue.

Unlike healthy fascia, scar tissue lacks proper alignment and glide, leading to adhesions —sticky spots where tissues that should move independently become stuck together. This reduces mobility, flexibility, and hydration in the fascia and can compress nerves or blood vessels nearby. Over time, if left untreated, scar tissue can create compensatory patterns throughout the body, contributing to pain, restricted movement, and dysfunction far beyond the original site of injury.

10/06/2025

Titbit Tuesday!

Collagen

Fascia’s most prolifically abundant protein molecule is collagen and it makes up about 30% of our body’s protein. It is not water soluble. Collagen provides structure and tensile strength while maintaining some elasticity. It can be found in tendons, ligaments, cartilage, intervertebral discs, skin, bone and all forms of fascia. Collagen is laid down in wound healing as well. The body is able to lay down more collagen or dissolve it as necessary where needed.

The natural production of collagen diminishes with age, which can lead to bone loss, skin changes, joint problems and decreased mobility in both humans and horses.

Please note this image is just representative and not medically accurate

03/06/2025

Titbit Tuesday!

Piezoelectricity - what is it?

Piezoelectricity is a property of certain materials, like collagen in the body, where they generate a small electric charge when they are put under pressure or stretched. In the body, when fascia (which contains collagen) is moved or compressed, it can create tiny electrical signals. These signals are thought to help with communication between cells and influence healing and tissue remodeling.

26/05/2025

Mouthful Monday!

Fascia’s Role in Trauma

Fascia, the body’s connective tissue network, plays a significant role in how we respond to both physical and emotional trauma. This intricate web of fibrous tissue envelops and supports muscles, bones, organs, and nerves, maintaining structural integrity and facilitating movement. However, when the body experiences trauma — whether through injury, emotional distress, or chronic stress — fascia is one of the first systems to react.

In response to trauma, fascia becomes tight, less pliable, and sticky. It is also the tissue responsible for the formation of scar tissue during the healing process. This stiffening creates restrictions in the tissue, which can impair movement and disrupt the body’s natural healing capacity. What’s particularly profound is fascia’s ability to store emotional imprinting. These physical restrictions can act as reservoirs for unresolved emotional experiences, making it difficult for the body to fully process or release trauma.

Over time, these fascial restrictions may contribute to a range of physical symptoms, including chronic pain, muscular dysfunction, limited mobility, fatigue, and even disturbances in digestion. These symptoms often relate to the body’s vagal response — part of the autonomic nervous system — which governs how we cope with stress and trauma. If unresolved, the body can remain in a heightened state of tension and dysregulation, manifesting physically in ways that seem unrelated to the original trauma.

By understanding fascia’s role in trauma, we begin to see the deep interconnection between our emotional health and physical well-being — and why addressing fascia can be a powerful part of holistic healing.

20/05/2025

Titbit Tuesday!

Fascia and Tensegrity

Fascia plays a key role in how the body maintains structural balance and manages stress — and one of the best ways to understand this is through the concept of tensegrity. In a tensegrity system, stability is maintained not by rigid structures alone but by a balance between continuous tension and discontinuous compression. In the body, fascia forms the continuous tension network that holds everything together, while bones act as the compression elements suspended within it.

Fascia has a variable degree of elasticity depending on its location and the specific support it provides. Its fibres are laid down in response to tension and mechanical demands. When force, load, or compression is applied to the body, fascia responds by tightening to absorb and distribute that stress. If the load is brief, the fascia returns to its original state. But with sustained stress or strain, it adapts by permanently altering its structure — becoming denser, thicker, or less elastic to provide long-term support. This adaptability helps prevent damage to tissues and assists in the transmission of force across joints and muscle chains.

Beyond structural support, fascia also facilitates the movement of essential elements within the body. It serves as a medium through which fluids, nutrients, and waste products pass between capillaries and cells. This includes the transmission of lymphatic fluid, cellular signals, and neurological input via embedded nerve endings and mechanoreceptors.

In this way, fascia is not only the body's connective "net," but also its sensory and communicative tissue — a dynamic, intelligent matrix that supports, protects, nourishes, and connects every part of us.

Please note image is representative

15/05/2025

For those who don't already know, I don't just work on equines, I work on people too! Horsey or otherwise 😝

Offering personalized, professional bodywork using a holistic approach which aims to support physical, emotional, and mental well-being through skilled, hands-on therapy that promotes healing from the inside out.

Sessions are tailor made to your individual needs and address fascia restrictions, trauma, chronic pain, tension and stress through gentle and intuitive use of multiple techniques that help restore mobility, reduce pain, and improve performance where applicable.

Read the info on the images for more information

Book your session and feel the difference!

Much love

13/05/2025

Titbit Tuesday!

Fascia’s role in sensory information

Fascia is far more than just structural tissue — it’s one of the body’s most sensitive and responsive sensory systems. Rich in nerve endings and mechanoreceptors, fascia constantly communicates with the brain and spinal cord, sending real-time information about what’s happening within the body.

This network of sensory receptors responds to both mechanical and chemical stimuli. It detects changes in pressure, tension, movement, and internal chemical environments. When fascia is stimulated — whether by movement, stretch, compression, or touch — it activates these receptors, sending signals to the central nervous system that influence posture, proprioception (the sense of body position), balance, coordination, and spatial awareness.

Fascia helps the body monitor where tissues are under strain or lacking support. It also plays a vital role in determining how much or how fast a body part can move without risking injury. In this way, fascia helps shape our flexibility, mobility, and range of motion.

Trauma, poor posture, lack of movement, overuse, or chronic tension can impair fascia’s ability to relay clear signals. This can lead to dysfunctional movement patterns or compensation in other parts of the body. Fascia treatment with Hands on Healing works by manually stimulating the fascia and providing new sensory input. This encourages the nervous system to update outdated or maladaptive patterns, helping restore more efficient movement and support healing where progress may have stalled.

In short, fascia is not just connective tissue — it’s a sensory organ that helps the body understand itself.

06/05/2025

Titbit Tuesday!

Fascia - the body's hidden framework

Fascia is the body’s framework that holds us together and gives us shape. Unlike bone or muscle, it has no clear beginning or end; weaving continuously throughout the body, surrounding and integrating every structure, creating a unified network that maintains our form.

One way to understand this is to picture it as a system of interconnected “bags”. Consider the orange pictured here: each little juice pocket, if we can call it that, is encased in its own thin "bag", and all the pockets are bundled together by a larger outer bag to form segments. The segments are then bundled together to create the whole orange. In a similar fashion, everything in the body — even every individual cell — is wrapped in fascia. These "bags" then connect to form larger fascial planes that span the body, overlapping and influencing one another. Together, they create the structure that forms our shape.

But fascia doesn’t just bind everything together — it also creates separation. It provides protective compartments that keep structures in place, much like the segments of the orange being kept apart and their juice enveloped. Consider the brain: delicate tissue that could easily be damaged by contact with the hard inner surface of the skull, yet held securely in place and protected by the meninges — specialized fascial membranes that act as both a cushion and a barrier.

Without fascia, we would fall apart. Our muscles would not stay aligned, our organs would drift, and our body would be structurally unstable. Fascia is what makes us more than a collection of parts or better yet more than a formless pile of tissue on the floor — it’s the system that gives us integrity, shape, cohesion and a physical identity. Fascia is the architecture of the body, continuously adapting and responding to the forces we place on it, while quietly shaping us from the inside out. It truly is the hidden scaffolding of the body.

29/04/2025

Titbit Tuesday!

Let's talk about fascia’s function in movement

Fascia plays a vital, often underappreciated role in how we move. This complex web of connective tissue surrounds and penetrates every muscle, bone, organ, and nerve, creating a seamless network throughout the body. One of fascia’s key functions in movement is facilitating the smooth interaction between different structures — allowing muscles, organs, and tissues to slide and glide over one another with minimal friction.

Although fascia is sometimes described as the "glue" that holds us together, it's equally important to think of it as a lubricant. It provides both structural integrity and dynamic mobility — a duality that makes fluid, coordinated movement possible. For example, consider something as fundamental as breathing. As the lungs expand and contract with each breath, they must remain connected to surrounding structures like the ribs and diaphragm to function efficiently. At the same time, they need the freedom to move against adjacent organs, such as the heart, which is also constantly in motion. Fascia allows for this delicate balance — maintaining cohesion while permitting mobility.

Because fascia is continuous and interconnected throughout the entire body, no movement ever occurs in complete isolation. When we breathe, for instance, it’s not just the ribs expanding. The diaphragm lowers, the abdominal organs shift, the abdominal wall stretches, and even the shoulders and spine may subtly adjust. This highlights fascia’s role in maintaining continuity within the body — reinforcing the idea that every part of us is linked to every other part.

In essence, fascia allows for both individuality and unity within movement. It supports, organizes, and integrates, reminding us that motion is never limited to a single muscle or joint but is instead a full-body experience. Understanding fascia’s role in this process offers insight into how we move, compensate, and adapt — and why healthy fascia is essential for balanced, efficient movement.

27/04/2025

The Forgotten Front End

How many times have you heard phrases such as “push from behind”, “you need more impulsion”, “engage the hind end”. We hear such things all the time from trainers, coaches and other equine professionals. Now before you think I’m about to say something negative about that, I’m not! Yes it is absolutely necessary for correct carriage for a horse to use, engage and push themselves forward from the hind end to get true self carriage and one cannot do this by trying to pull the head in.

What I’m here to talk about is how the front end of the horse often gets forgotten in the self carriage pursuit. Pushing the horse from behind into self carriage presumes the horse is strong and restriction free enough to lift itself through the withers and rock its weight back onto it’s hind end. But what happens if the horse is weak in its thoracic sling and core or has restrictions in the body and is unable to lift itself up at the wither? The desired effect is unachieveable if the horse physically cannot lift its withers up.

So what am I saying? I’m saying yes, horses need a strong hind end and need to use that hind end for self carriage. But don’t forget to ensure that the horse’s front end is strong, mobile and restriction free too. If you really feel you work hard at getting your horse engaged behind but getting them off the forehand is just not happening for you, consider that perhaps your horse is weak or has restrictions in front and that’s why you are both struggling to get it right. Ask your trainer or coach what you can do to practice that rock back behind AND lift in the wither, show your horse that they can lift their front end. Or get your favourite body worker out to make sure the horse's front end isn't struggling in some other way. For many horses this is the missing piece. Let’s remember the front end matters too.

22/04/2025

Titbit Tuesday!

To understand how fascia functions we first have to understand what it is. Fascia is the tissue in the body that binds everything together. It keeps cells in place, groups of cells that make structures in place (like organs, muscles, bones) and ensures that everything stays connected. Hence the commonly used term “connective tissue”. Without fascia holding us together our muscles would be detached from our bones, our skin would peel away, our bones would clatter to the floor and we would not be able to move anywhere or do anything.

In the past, fascia was seen as useless, unimportant, the stuff in the way when dissecting the body. It was cut through, taken away so that one could get to other structures. By handling fascia in this way, the importance of it was easy to miss. But times are changing and with it the realisation of just how integral fascia is to the body and how its functions are essential for movement, structural integrity and the function of other systems such as the lymphatic system.

15/02/2025

Hands On Healing is now offering Equissage sessions!

With many benefits and it's non invasive nature, consider this as a wonderful option for keeping your horse at their best 👌

Hands On Healing

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Monday	09:00 - 17:00
Tuesday	09:00 - 17:00
Wednesday	09:00 - 17:00
Thursday	09:00 - 17:00
Friday	09:00 - 17:00