Today on my table…He’s lucky to be alive. He is a strong man in his late thirties. It’s been a few years since an injury that nearly cost him everything. His spinal cord was damaged from an infection in which he contracted meningitis. He lost 65 pounds during his battle with this illness. He is retired from his service in the Army, he is intelligent and when he walked in his eyes openly shared his curiosity. He’s never heard of Myofascial Release, and he is used to getting deep tissue so he’s ready, open and asking questions. 

He had a zoster infection at the base of his spine, he was diagnosed with lupus although he feels he was misdiagnosed. During this zoster infection, which is a rare but serious complication of the varicella-zoster virus, a form of shingles, his spine became inflamed. Meningitis is the inflammation and damage to the meninges: the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord as well as the cerebrospinal fluid. Symptoms he experiences create ongoing issues like spinal cord dysfunction, fascial weakness, nerve pain, and difficulty with bladder control, to name a few.

He is a big boy and strong; he played football. After the meningitis he lost weight and the sensations in his thighs, calves, ankles and mostly all of his toes. Interestingly he uses his memory of what it feels like to be in his legs to access his movements. He imagines the proprioception and neurological control of his leg movements. He believes he can feel, and he relies upon these memories to carry a current in the legs. And yet he feels nothing, numbness and like he is disconnected from his legs. He felt clumsy, and like his legs dangled beneath him.

He came into my office not knowing what to expect. After his treatment and recovery the doctor told him the tingling he was experiencing was from the nerves regrowing. After our first session he experienced nerve endings along his spine, sacrum, pelvis, femur, tibia, fibula, and the 26 bones of the feet tingling and regrowing. He has felt his movement shifting, more ability to be in his legs as they become more sturdy beneath him. He travels for over an hour and a half and is moving into his third intensive-style series. He has repeatedly said he will keep coming back because he feels it working. He is committed to change and being his best self; he knows his back, legs and glutes are contracting and firing better and he is ready for his body to change.

His right iliac (the upper butterfly wing of the hip that sets up at the SI joint) was shelved on top of his sacrum, and his right ribs and shoulder were inches posterior to his left side in significant torsion between hips and ribcage, essentially twisting his spine into scoliosis. Since his original spinal cord injury his fascia has become adhered and restricted and has held a position that has furthered his dysfunction. His legs twisted below and his spinal sacral position has been compressing the spinal cord and cutting off the innervation to his legs and feet. His pain relief and restored feeling and sensation comes from the repositioning of his pelvis and sacrum, femur, lumbar vertebrae, ribs and scapula bones.

Nerves can regrow a millimeter a day, about an inch a month. What they need is tilled ground. Neurite outgrowth needs the surrounding fascia, which is like a woven fabric, to have a loose enough weave to be able to grow through. The sol state of connective tissue is the hydrated, juicy, viscous, pliable, strong yet far-reaching and elastic state that easily moves, bends and holds when needed. Myofascial Release releases the restrictions in the connective tissues and returns it to its best self, its sol state. MFR shifts and sets bones by addressing the root cause of the symptoms. Decompressing the joints brings symmetry to joint articulations. Centering helps with coordination, balance and energy generation.

Now it's time to evaluate and remediate the differential in musculature. We want to strengthen the weak and relax the overworked, to bring balance to the torsion and unwind the spine, pelvis and legs. MFR rehydrates the adhered tissue to bring it back to its aliveness, the sol state.

Myofascial Release is a gentle, safe, highly effective advanced form of bodywork that releases the straitjacket. MFR effectively frees fascial restrictions that can have up to 2,000 psi (pounds of pressure per square inch). These adhesions and scar tissues are the body's way of fortifying and strengthening vulnerable tissue. In its best attempts, the fascia overdoes the healing process and can continue to create excessive swelling, pain and scar tissue, resulting in immobility, adhesions, masses and imbalances in alignment and joints. MFR restores symmetry and returns the optimal function of muscles and groups of muscles.

I help people get out of chronic pain and back to living their best lives.

Angela Rose is a game-changer. I’ve been through years of wear and tear—physically, mentally, and structurally—and I’ve worked with countless professionals in both medical and wellness spaces. What Angela identified and treated in one session completely exceeded my expectations. She noticed things about my posture, alignment, and fascia within minutes—things no doctor or specialist had ever caught. After just one treatment, I felt more aligned, more awake in my body, and even began regaining sensation in areas that had been dulled for years.

Angela doesn’t just treat symptoms—she reads your body like a map and gets right to the root. Her understanding of fascia, nerve function, and structural alignment is on another level. She’s professional, intuitive, and incredibly skilled at making you feel safe while working through some deeply stored tension and trauma.

I walked in skeptical. I walked out feeling like I found an angel with surgical-level precision and a healer’s presence. If you’re dealing with chronic pain, unexplained dysfunction, or just feel "off" and can’t figure out why—go see Angela. Your body will thank you.
—Review from the case study

Angela has been a teacher and lifelong student of the healing arts. She treats people with chronic pain patterns to help them rehabilitate from surgeries, injury and trauma. She utilizes her experience studying with Lee Joseph on Kauai, learning Swedish Massage, Connective Tissue Therapy, Neuromuscular Therapy, Structural Integration, Rolfing, Reflexology, Presence Centered Awareness Therapy, hypnosis, meditation, visualization, consciousness and psychosomatic therapies. In Thailand she studied Thai Massage and completed a six-month Zen Shiatsu apprenticeship. She has also studied Cranial Sacral Therapy, Cranial Sacral Therapy for Infants and Mothers, years with somatic yoga masters, Myofascial Rebalancing, Joint Decompression, Myofascial Release I & II, Unwinding, Fascial Pelvis, Cranial Thoracic, Women's Health, and Aquacranial on Maui and Kauai.

Angela is a Myofascial Release Therapist and an Injury Specialist. She practices at Sol Bodyworks in Grass Valley, CA.