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WHAT IS IT? ROLFING® The name “Rolfing” is a nickname that many clients and practitioners gave this work in honor of the founder Dr. Ida Rolf. It is now a registered service mark in 27 countries and it is estimated that over one million people have now been to a Rolfer. Rolfing is not a technique or a tool and can only be performed by a certified trained and licensed practitioner from the Rolf Institute in Boulder Colorado. It is not just a deeper tissue massage. There are no similarities between Rolfing Structural Integration and massage. Rolfing is first and foremost a system for bringing the entire body into balance to eliminate the causes of malalignment and stress. One of the principle targets of Rolfing is the role connective tissue play in the support, form and function of every single body part and body system. This connective tissue system spreads throughout the body in a three-dimensional web or network from head-to-toe, front-to-back, side-to-side and inside-to-outside without interruption. Many events such as accidents, posture or inflammation/disease can create extreme pressure within connective tissue, which results in excessive pressure on nerves, muscles, blood vessels, bony structures and/or organs and glands. HISTORY and OVERVIEW When she first began working with clients, it was via the Yoga postures or asanas - with the added twist that where the client's tissue would not accommodate the position, Dr. Rolf would manually stretch the tissues to help the client achieve the depths of the posture. This technique - observation of the specific limitations of the body moving in gravity, followed by sequential selective lengthening of myofacial tissues - formed the fundamental basis for her evolving method. IS IT MEDICALLY ACCEPTED? It really is not widely accepted by the medical community because the exact cause-and-effect nature of the work has not been demonstrated in the traditional large drug-type studies with very large randomly selected persons and comparisons of treatments and double blind control groups. With only 400 Certified Rolfers in the United States and a little over a thousand in the world Rolfing is not well known. It is barely forty-some years old. By comparison even aspirin was used for over forty years before the exact mechanism / pain relief pathway was known. Dr. Ida P. Rolf, a biochemist, developed the techniques after many years of collaboration with osteopaths, chiropractors, physicians, psychologists and other professionals. She began with a visionary belief that by utilizing the connections and relationships that exist between and among all body segments and then by applying pressure and manipulating the body’s connective tissue, that the body would have a better relationship within the gravitational field. This she discovered would result in less pain and greater efficiencies of movement. HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE? THE SESSION. The first three sessions satisfy a strict protocol to address principles of intervention. The first session addresses the need for adaptability or the need for more space around the joints and body segments of the upper body. The second session addresses the principle of support by working on the mechanism of arch support and the alignment of leg patterns and leg to hip relationships. The third and last “preparatory” session is designed to create balanced form and function relationships between the shoulder blade, arms and ribs and the hip bones, leg and low back. Sessions four, five and six address the specific dysfunctional patterns and strives to create a more neutral and useful form and function for the hips, low back and legs. Sessions seven, eight and nine address specific relationships between the form and function of the spine and the head, shoulders and hips. Session ten attempts to complete the work by striving to create a neutral and balanced relationship at every joint. The results of Structural Integration are lasting and progressive. Clients often report experiencing changes--physical and emotional--up to a year after their original series. HOW DOES ROLFING WORK? The soft connective tissues system is known as the myofascial system. It supports and shapes the body, starting with the surface layers, wrapping around the whole body, similar to a body stocking. It continues into the deeper layers enveloping and connecting groups of muscles, individual muscles, the tendons and ligaments, and all of the organs. When healthy and balanced, this interwoven system is supportive yet flexible, elastic and resilient. When the connective tissue is damaged from accidents, surgery, high fever or chronic misuses, it scars, shortens and restricts full ease and range of motion in the joints and muscles. This can be felt as aches, pains, tension and stress, as well as lack of flexibility, movement and energy. When we compensate for these restrictions, more restrictions occur. Rolfing does not immediately address the “spot-that-hurts”, but rather what and where in the body has caused the spot to hurt. For example, this may involve work on the feet to address knee, hip and/or low back pain. Another example includes work that begins in the head, neck and shoulder area for “carpal tunnel” syndrome work. WHAT ABOUT DISCOMFORT? WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?
Clients report: WHO ARE THE CLIENTS? Anyone
who experiences chronic stress and pain |