In most dissections, cadavers are embalmed. This leaves those of us looking to view the cadaver as a model infinite time to slowly move through the landscape of the human form.

Gil Hedley's 6-Day Dissection Course took me by surprise over a decade ago. With each dissection and viewing of his video series I learn and expand my own ability to convey what lies beneath our skin to others. In an embalmed cadaver, you can see layers punctuated by fibers that you must remove to define the parts. In most dissection courses, this connective tissue is stripped away and forgotten about. In Gil's dissections however, its continuity and dynamic structure is at the forefront.

Gil made a simple model years ago he called "The Onion Tree". It is a simple way to create understanding of complex ideas so we can apply it to our reality. Gil recently said, "Simple models work. The more simple and more unrealistic the better. Models aren't developed to convey reality."

So when Gil began calling the stuff between the apparent layers we could define, he started calling the collagen matrix, "The Fuzz". However in his first video about the fuzz, people began thinking that what he showed was "bad fuzz". Yet, that "fuzz" is collagen sans the fluid aspects that make it so dynamic.

A couple of years ago I shot some brilliant footage with Gil on a cadaver we called "Ray" because his coloring of superficial fascia was glistening yellow like the sun. Ray was an un-preserved cadaver thus... no fuzz. The fluids were still apparent in his body so the collagen looked more like a liquid than fuzzy remains.

This past week, Gil presented an interactive lecture and slide show at the Fascia Congress 2012 in Vancouver. Although Gil chose not to video the event, Erik Dalton videoed a piece of his lecture and Gil let him post it. I also recorded his lecture so I hope he will at some point post that on line as well.

So what was that fuzz? It's the remnants of the collagen matrix that penetrates every layer from skin to bone. However, Gil also showed "bad fuzz" in Ray's chest and abdomen where he showed signs of surgical procedures and how adhesion penetrates multiple layers when the body has been invaded by a scalpel.

Gil's fuzz video got people moving. It got people thinking. It may not have been correct but it makes sense to a vast degree. If you don't move, fluid gets stuck and slowly becomes absent - and that further decreases movement and makes you feel stiff, achy, and old.

Gil said the quantity of fuzz showed 'time". The more fuzz, the longer it was there. Well, that's not necessarily true but to some degree, in areas where adhesion is present, there is less fluid thus, more fuzz.

Although "fuzz" is everywhere and is not only necessary, it's good, if scars, surgery, or a sedentary lifestyle describe some aspect of you, fuzz can be bad. Bottom line... MOVE daily, stay hydrated, feel, interact with your environment, sense yourself... oh, and while you are at it... MELT!!!

Thank you Gil and THANK YOU Erik Dalton for getting Gil to let you post this!! Go Gil! I can't wait to chat over another few bodies with you in San Francisco in a couple of week!!