About Rolfing
Rolfing® is a holistic method of soft tissue manipulation and movement education which releases chronic stress/tension patterns and restores the body to its healthiest and most efficient alignment.The connective tissue, also called fascia, surrounds and permeates the muscles and most other structures in the body. By lengthening and repositioning the connective tissue (muscles, tendons, ligaments, etc.), Rolfing works to establish changes in the body's overall structure and restore the body to a more balanced state.
Our bodies must deal with gravity like all other material structures in our world. When we are out of balance, gravity drags us down, just as it drags down a building that has lost its architectural integrity. Whether from poor posture, injury, illness, or emotional distress, an unbalanced body is at war with gravity. We experience this war with gravity as pain, stress, and depleted energy. When the body loses its architectural integrity, fascia shortens and thickens in characteristic patterns of strain and tightness in order to shore us up against gravity's influence. To the Certified Rolfers trained eyes, slouched bodies with heads too far forward, or hyper-erect bodies which bow backward, knock knees or bowed legs, flat feet or high arches, excessive spinal curvature, all display complicated patterns of strain, tightness, and thickening in the muscles and fascia. Through refined and intelligent pressure applied by the hands of a Rolfing practitioner, fascia is softened and lengthened, allowing the body to right itself in gravity. Once the standard ten sessions of Rolfing are completed and incorrect patterns of movement are corrected, the body remains changed for the better: effortlessly upright, balanced, and at ease with itself in the field of gravity. Like other approaches, Rolfing is capable of releasing the body from its restrictions, but unlike every other manipulative system, East or West, Rolfing is unprecedented in its being the first and only system to have conceived and succeeded in organizing the whole body in gravity.
The Rolf Institute has continued Dr. Ida P. Rolf's profound inquiry into how to enhance the whole person by organizing the body in gravity. Some of the more important developments to the work since Dr. Rolf's death are also what now distinguishes the Rolfing® brand from all other forms of structural integration:
Principles of Intervention - Rolfing begins with the ten sessions that Dr. Rolf developed, and several variations of this protocol are taught. Over the years, the faculty of the Rolf Institute have articulated the principles on which the original series was based. By understanding these principles, it is possible for Rolfing practitioners to develop strategies of intervention that recognize the unique needs of the individual client, and to work outside of the ten session series when appropriate.
Gentle Techniques - Because Rolfing works with the deep myofascial structures, some people can experience some of the work as uncomfortable. The Rolf Institute has gradually developed a broad range of techniques that produce equally if not more profound results with less discomfort for the client.
Joint Mobilization Techniques - The Rolf Institute faculty has created a range of soft tissue techniques to release articular motion restrictions that impede whole body organization. These skills increase to the Certified Rolfer's effectiveness in working with many common structural problems.
The Personal Experience - Because Rolfing is a holistic technique, it is recognized that changes in structure will impact the whole person, physically, emotionally, and energetically. A Rolfer recognizes that ultimately, it is the clients own experience of the work that is of primary importance. This plays a central role in the transformational aspect of Rolfing.
Rolfing practitioners are trained and certified only by the Rolf Intitute of Structural Integration® in Boulder, Sidney, Munich, Sao Paolo. For more information, see Rolf Institute for Structural Integration.