Meet the researchers! Rachelle and Nicole continue in this series of conversations with fascia researchers from around the globe. Hormones are talking to the cells that build our fascia. In this episode, researcher Dr. Katja Bartsch of Munich, Germany shares how she’s been listening in on that conversation and tells us what it means for the women on our massage tables.
Dr. Bartsch is exploring an emerging and under-studied question in her research: how do female hormones — and the drop in estrogen through menopause — affect our connective tissues? Listen as she updates us on the current findings. Rachelle and Nicole discuss how the science translates to the treatment room, and why so many women in midlife arrive at our massage tables with new pain and stiffness. The research is early and the answers aren't simple, but the questions are ones every bodyworker will want to hear.
Dr. Katja Bartsch is a sports scientist and fascia researcher at the Technical University of Munich. She is a Board-Certified Structural Integration practitioner, an E-RYT 500 yoga educator, and author of Optimizing Women's Health and Training: Embracing Female Physiology for Performance and Wellbeing (UBC Press, 2025). Dr. Bartsch teaches anatomy, fascia physiology, and female hormones in trainings and workshops across Europe, including with Yoga Medicine, and through her own platform, Kalamana Yoga (kalamanayoga.com).
Resources:
Dr. Katja Bartsch's book: Optimizing Women's Health and Training: Embracing Female Physiology for Performance and Wellbeing (UBC Press, 2025)
AnatomySCAPES continuing education: anatomyscapes.com
Journey into the MATRIX: the Fascial System dissection lab workshop in San Diego this September 15-17, 2026: anatomyscapes.com/matrix
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Anatomy Trains is a global leader in online anatomy education and also provides in-classroom certification programs for structural integration in the US, Canada, Australia, Europe, Japan, and China, as well as fresh-tissue cadaver dissection labs and weekend courses. The work of Anatomy Trains originated with founder Tom Myers, who mapped the human body into 13 myofascial meridians in his original book, currently in its fourth edition and translated into 12 languages. The principles of Anatomy Trains are used by osteopaths, physical therapists, bodyworkers, massage therapists, personal trainers, yoga, Pilates, Gyrotonics, and other body-minded manual therapists and movement professionals. Anatomy Trains inspires these practitioners to work with holistic anatomy in treating system-wide patterns to provide improved client outcomes in terms of structure and function.
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