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About
Rolfing® Structural Integration
Rolfing® Structural Integration is a hands-on manipulation
developed by Ida P. Rolf that works on the connective tissue
to release, realign and balance the whole body. Rolfing
enhances your posture and freedom of movement. It can
resolve pain and discomfort from many different causes,
including back pain, repetitive motion injury, trauma, and
aging. Rolfing® is named after its founder Dr. Ida P. Rolf.
Dr. Rolf began her inquiry more than fifty years ago,
devoting her energy to creating a holistic system of soft
tissue manipulation and movement education that organized
the whole body in gravity. Dr. Rolf discovered that she
could achieve remarkable changes in posture and structure by
manipulating the body's myofascial system and eventually
named her work Structural Integration. |
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“You can
affect all functions of all the bodies by working through
the myofascial system –but this is by dealing with the whole
person.” -Ida Rolf |
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Rolfing
structural integration has the ability to dramatically alter
a person's posture and structure. Athletes, dancers,
children, business professionals, and people from all walks
of life have benefited from Rolfing. People seek Rolfing as
a way to ease pain and chronic stress, and improve
performance in their professional and daily activities.
Research has demonstrated that Rolfing creates a more
efficient use of the muscles, allows the body to conserve
energy, and creates more economical and refined patterns of
movement. Research also shows that Rolfing significantly
reduces chronic stress and changes in the body structure.
For example, a study showed that Rolfing significantly
reduced the spinal curvature of subjects with lordosis (sway
back); it also showed that Rolfing enhances neurological
functioning.
In addition to our skills as structural integrators, we are
also educators, a point Dr. Rolf stressed frequently in her
training classes. The role of teacher is something every
Rolfer takes seriously. In each session, Rolfers seek to
impart insights to clients to increase their awareness and
understanding, to help the client make the work we do their
own. Our job is to make ourselves obsolete, by empowering
our clients to take charge of their own physical and
emotional health. |
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How does
Rolfing® work?
Rolfing strives to align and balance the body’s components
until the entire system is a smoothly functioning
coordinated whole. For example, the legs are aligned to the
hips, shoulders to rib cage, the body is positioned over the
feet, and then all of these joints and related tissue is
integrated to one another. A few of the many benefits people
experience are reduced pain, an enhanced sense of body
awareness, and improved posture. |
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“Rolfers
make a life study of relating bodies and their fields to the
earth and its gravity field, and we so organize the body
that the gravity field can reinforce the body’s energy
field.” -Ida Rolf |
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These
wonderful transformations are possible because Rolfing
addresses the body’s internal system of flexible support,
otherwise known as fascia. This amazing substance surrounds
ever muscle fiber, encases all joints and even has a role in
the nervous system. Think of the fascial system as an
intricate internal guide wire network for the body. And if
one set of support wires becomes tight or out of place, the
excess tension may appear as nagging joint pain, muscle
soreness, or a postural shift. |
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“We want to
lengthen the body internally so it will have balance. We
must decide what we want to change in the tissue to give the
body balance. We sink into the tissue coaxing and seducing
it into changing.” -Ida Rolf |
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To correct
internal misalignments, a Rolfing practitioner uses mild,
direct pressure to melt or release facial holdings and allow
the body to find health through the reestablishment of
balance. It is currently believed that the slow, deep
strokes of Rolfing stimulate intra-fascial mechanoreceptors
(sensory neurons of the muscle nerve), which in turn
triggers the nervous system to reduce the tension of the
related muscles and fascia. Put another way, Rolfing allows
the brain and nervous system to “re-boot” areas of the body
that are receiving too much electrical stimulation
(chronically tight or sore muscles). And once a healthy
level of muscle contraction is established, someone’s entire
structure is free to express a pain free from. |
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“This is the
Gospel of Rolfing: When the body gets working appropriately,
the force of gravity can flow through. Then, spontaneously,
the body heals itself.” -Ida Rolf |
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What is
the Rolfing® Ten Series?
The hallmark of Rolfing Structural Integration is a
standardized “recipe” known as the Ten Series, the goal of
which is to systematically balance and optimize both the
structure (shape) and function (movement) of the entire body
over the course of ten Rolfing sessions.
Each session focuses on freeing restrictions or holdings
trapped in a particular region of the body. A practitioner
also maintains a holistic view of the client’s entire system
during each session, thus ensuring the transformational
process evolves in a comfortable and harmonious way. |
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The Ten
Series can be divided into three distinct units.
Sessions 1-3: Called the "sleeve” sessions, numbers one
through three strive to loosen and balance surface layers of
connective tissue.
Sessions 4-7: Four through seven are referred to as “core”
sessions and examine terrain found between the bottom of the
pelvis and top of the head.
Session 8-10: “Integration” is emphasized throughout the
remaining three sessions, as eight, nine and ten provide an
opportunity for the practitioner to blend previously
established advancements, and ones yet to be made, into the
body in a way that encourages smooth movement and natural
coordination. |
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“Anyone can
take a body apart….but few can put it together.” -Ida Rolf |
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“After nine
sessions of poking, prodding, debugging, releasing
fixations, integration, uncorking, de-rotating, mashing,
etc. you come back to work superficial fascia and integrate
and stabilize the work via horizontals. This brings the work
to completion and allows the client to hold onto the gains
of the work continue in the process of transformation on
their own and take the work into their daily life.” -Jeff
Maitland |
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Who
should consider Rolfing®?
According to Dr. Rolf, all bodies have some degree of
disorder and compensation in their structure; therefore she
believed that everyone should receive Rolfing structural
integration. In fact, in her global vision, she imagined a
more evolved and structurally efficient human species as a
result of Rolfing. However, we realize that most potential
clients need more compelling reasons to undergo this
powerful transformative sequence of session. It is possible
to divide those who come to Rolfing into two groups.
“Rolfing is client directed.” -Jane Harrington |
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The first
and largest group who should consider Rolfing are those who
have a history of injury or trauma and notice that the
effects of their often minor injuries are beginning to
interfere with their everyday lives. In many cases these
individuals have tried traditional medical treatments or
exercise to reduce or counteract the long-term effects of
old injuries with varying degrees of success. This group
might include former and current athletes, musicians,
performers or those engaged in physically demanding jobs and
that choose not to accept the notion that the quality of
their lives must suffer simply because they are aging. In
fact, all adults of any age who suffer from any limiting
physical discomfort can absolutely benefit from Rolfing as
long as the pains themselves are in the neuromuscular system
and not signs of a nervous disorder or a deeper pathology.
For most of us, Rolfing combined with appropriate movement
therapy and exercise offers a long-lasting solution for
connective tissue problems. |
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“Rolfing
isn’t simple at all; Rolfing calls on the spirit of the man
to take over.” -Ida Rolf |
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The second
group are those who are on a spiritual path and who find
that their physical limitations prevent them from attaining
a higher level of spiritual or emotional peace. Frequently,
many on this path assume that the body is something to be
transcended rather than something to be honored and loved.
For these individuals, Rolfing can serve as an educational
resource which allows them a more intimate and comfortable
relationship with their physical body, which in turn allows
a greater ability to experience greater serenity.
Interestingly enough, as the body transforms physically it
transforms on other planes as well, so that, while Rolfing's
primary focus is the muscular and connective tissue system,
it frequently has an even more dramatic effect in seemingly
unrelated areas such as the spiritual. Exactly how this
happens is still a matter of much debate and speculation.
However, the results of the work were of much greater
importance than the how or why for Dr. Rolf. The genius of
Rolfing is that it can affect so many people in so many ways
and continue to reveal new possibilities for such a rich
diversity of individuals. |
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Does
Rolfing® hurt?
When most people think of Rolfing, one of the first words
that come to their mind is pain. Often, this perception is
based on anecdotal accounts of sessions performed during
Rolfing's infancy, when it tended to be often a less subtle
and more intense discipline, frequently linked to popular
emotionally intense types of therapies in the late 1960's
and early 70's. Part of this reputation can be attributed to
an often-quoted complaint of Dr. Rolf during her training
classes that her students failed to work deep enough.
Apparently, many assumed that what she meant was that they
needed to work harder and deeper. However, we now realize
that deep work is not necessarily synonymous with physical
intensity. |
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“We have to
get down to the level where the restriction is.” -Ida Rolf |
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Several
factors determine the level of comfort or discomfort during
a Rolfing session. One is the degree of trauma in the
system; other is how long fascial distortions have been in
the client's body. Long-term distortions create more
tenacious and widespread compensatory patterns, which may
require more sustained pressure to release. Another factor
is the degree of emotional charge associated with an area of
injury or strain. Dr. Rolf made the point that during the
therapeutic process, emotional pain is often experienced
when deeply held emotional traumas and memories are brought
to surface and processed. Similarly, she reasoned, deep
touch can result in transitory experience of pain that is
healing and transformative. However, there is actually a
fair amount of variation in the level of intensity. Various
practitioners feel it is appropriate to affect the necessary
level of change. A general guideline for the vast majority
of Rolfing clients is that the intensity experienced is
transitory, moving quickly form brief intensity to a
decrease in sensation and finally to an easing of
long-standing holdings which can prove both profound and
transformative. |
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Paraphrasing
Peter Schwind, a Certified Advanced Rolfer from Munich,
Germany, "The art of Rolfing is to master a wide range of
styles of touch and know when a lighter and more intense
touch is required." Continuous communication with the client
and pacing the level of intensity are essential, profoundly
effecting the client's reaction to the transitory discomfort
when seriously restricted tissue is softened, discriminated
and reintegrated. |
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Does
Rolfing® relieve stress?
When people come to Rolfers, they frequently complain about
their high level of stress and how it affects their everyday
life. They are seeking some means of reducing their stress.
Often, they have explored allopathic means such as muscle
relaxants, painkillers, liniments, balms and other topical
treatments. When these treatments fail to achieve a
satisfactory level of improvement, those still suffering
seek other forms of relief such as exercise, meditation,
yoga, visualization and chanting. They may also seek a
myofascial and/or neuromuscular solutions and start
receiving regular massages or some other similar soft tissue
therapy. In many cases, these therapies are good at
providing transitory relief of the physical causes of
chronic stress. Those seeking a more permanent solution to
the problem are more likely to have success with Rolfing. |
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“To stand
upright is to work against gravity, and if this resistance
to the pull of gravity is defined as the force of life, it
can be said that those who expend the least amount of effort
in holding a vertical posture have the greatest potential to
direct their life energies toward some other activity.” -
from the book Zen Imagery Exercises by Shizuto Masunanga |
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What most
potential clients fail to understand is that Rolfing is not
a method which focuses on stress reduction. What the Rolfing
method does is create a higher level of integration in the
body, balancing and educating the body and the psyche. As
the body approaches balance, it is more comfortable in the
gravitational field. As the body becomes more comfortable,
physical and emotional stress diminish. This chain of events
is a more typical sequence of events as a body changes
during the Rolfing process. Ultimately, however, the results
as experienced by the client are more important than the
process. All clients experience benefits from Rolfing, an
important one for most is that they are less stressed and
more at ease in their bodies. |
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Does
Rolfing® have an emotional/psychological effect?
It is impossible to touch the physical body without touching
the emotional body. All individuals develop compensatory
patterns, ways of holding and defending against a variety of
physical and emotional insults to form. During the Rolfing
process, we offer options and new modes of physical
expression. Resultant emotional changes are quite common.
There is a well-documented "cellular memory," a memory of
experience stored in the tissue at a cellular level.
Touching the body will frequently help the client access
these physical memories encoded in the fascial (or
connective tissue) matrix. |
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“Comprehensive recognition of the human structure includes
not only the physical person but also eventually the
psychological personality – behavior, attitudes,
capacities.” -Ida Rolf |
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Anecdotal
reports of major cathartic releases during Rolfing sessions
are very common and often act as an impediment to some
individuals entering into the Rolfing process. For most
Rolfers, this catharsis is not something consciously desired
nor intended. Rather, the person is approached with
reverence and compassion. When emotionally charged areas of
the body have been identified by the client, or intuited by
the practitioner, they are normally accessed slowly and with
constant communication between the Rolfer and the client.
Sometimes, however, repressed memories or experiences will
arise for which the client and the Rolfer may not have any
advanced warning. In this situation, the goal of the Rolfer
is to provide a safe container for the release and take the
requisite time to integrate the experience into the physical
and emotional body in a way that promotes maximum resolution
and minimal trauma to the system. |
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Rolfer's are
trained to ease a client through such an experience but not
always trained as therapists. The nature and quality of
accessing and resolution of emotionally charged material may
be the most profound portion of a client's Rolfing
experience. However, the client should not enter the Rolfing
process anticipation such a major release but should
remember that a Rolfer's actual expertise is integrating and
balancing connective tissue. The emotional component, as
attractive or dreaded as it may be, remains an ancillary
aspect of the Rolfing process and not its primary intention. |
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