Rolfing for Posture, Function and Movement

Rolfing® Structural Integration

Rolfing® Structural Integration, originally developed by Dr. Ida P Rolf, Ph.D., is a method of bringing a person back into relationship with their environment and the field of gravity. She understood that the human structure is not fixed, but highly malleable and able be modified and changed.

The human body, like all other material structures, is controlled by the basic laws of physics with gravity being the most powerful. When we are out of alignment and balance, gravity drags us down just like it pulls down on any structure that has lost its integrity. Along with gravity, we have repetitive movement, stress, trauma (physical, mental, emotional, environmental, etc.) and even the way we learned to move and hold ourselves in our youth creating patterns of strain and holding.

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Those patterns include shortening of connective tissues and related muscles, rotations in the relationships between bones and unbalanced tensional relationships throughout the body. We experience this confusion as chronic pain, compromised posture and balance, tension, a lack of flexibility and an inability to adapt and respond to changes.

These trauma, over time, also create inhibitions in movement. These inhibitions, in turn, create chronic restrictions in the connective tissue system and compromise its ability to adapt to the demands put on it. A feedback loop develops with the inhibited movement and restricted connective tissue patterns feeding off of each other. Ultimately, what we are looking for is the capacity to adapt to conflicts and changes without confusion and with an understanding that integrated movement and structure involves balance and function in all dimensions-including physical, emotional, spiritual, perceptual and behavioral. When we are able to adapt fluidly and efficiently, our movements and even our lives tend to easily follow and blend.

When you step into the Rolfing arena, we can either do single or multiple sessions to work with specific issues and patterns or re-align and re-integrate the entire body by taking you through the Rolfing 10 Session Series. As we’ve progressed professionally, we’ve moved towards non-formulaic work-a more personal approach.

That being said, the 10 Session Series is an education in body awareness that most of us are lacking and a powerful education of the resources our bodies have available to them and what they are capable of doing when they're able to access those resources. Each session lasts approximately 75 minutes +/- and most often spaced 1-2 weeks apart. Each session has a specific focus or concept and builds upon the previous sessions while preparing you for the next sessions. The techniques and functional aspects of Rolfing also give us the flexibility to tailor the sessions and series to the needs of each person.