Utilize gravity to lift you up
rather than tear you down.
Learn healthy posture
and movement patterns
Reduce tension,
pain and discomfort
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Rolf Structural Integration, also known as Rolfing®, is a form of deep myofascial bodywork incorporating movement and posture education. Unlike a massage this work engages the client in their own unique healing process. The client is an active participant during the sessions; embodying a new way of being, feeling and experiencing their body and its environment. In a session we seek more natural alignment in the joints, increased relaxation of connective tissue, a sense of emotional grounding and expansional balance throughout the body. This deep awareness facilitates more ease of use, efficiency in movement and reduces overall tension and discomfort.
Emotional Healing
It can be pretty astonishing what memories emerge in a bodywork session. Clients who come to me at first with vague and seemingly uninteresting body histories may open up to a whole other vista of awareness when we work on certain key areas on their body. This experience is of course different for everyone since our individual histories are so unique.
I recently had a client who came to me with nothing apparent going on, she just wanted to develop more body awareness. After we worked for a while she was feeling good about the sessions, but I hadn’t seen any dramatic difference in her structure. When we got to a session where I spent most of my time on the back of her legs she suddenly broke out in a cold sweat around the hamstrings. This is a sign that her fight or flight (sympathetic nervous system) had kicked in, which happens in times of duress. As we worked she spontaneously recounted abuse she had suffered as a child from her mother. They have long since reconciled and she has no bad feelings toward her but this trauma was still in her body. What a thing to let go of!
I’ve studied many traditions of healing that speak about areas of the body that hold emotion. We can store emotion in our connective tissue as a way to cope with trauma, to dissociate for some reason that serves us at the time. When I say trauma I don’t only mean big and life changing things, it could be small or seemingly inconsequential to us at the time. While this dissociation does provide a respite from uncomfortable or straight up terrifying experiences it leaves those emotions raw and unprocessed in our cells.
There are many reasons given for this phenomenon, some more scientific than others. I don’t know if the science is always solid, but I can tell you from the direct and subjective experience of my own body that this is a reality for some. I have also been witness to countless clients re-experiencing memory, emotion or trauma on my table.
I make a point not to lead my clients to this, maintaining a certain level of neutrality. There are practitioners who make it a part of their practice to coax these experiences out of their clients. I’m sure if I did this I would have more of these experiences in my treatment room. The fact remains that although I stay open to it, I in no way lead my clients there. Spontaneous and organic emotional expression or recovery of a memory/experience trapped in the connective tissue is an amazing phenomenon to me. I can only sit in awe and do my best to maintain a safe space for my clientele when they undergo this type of transformation.
This re-experiencing that happens on the table is a powerful way to consciously move through some emotion that was previously turned away from. As a practitioner I seek to provide a safe and judgment free space where such expression is okay. A space where my client can let out their inner child, if need be, without fear of reprisal.
But this need not be a major traumatic event, sometimes it manifests itself as spontaneous laughter or just seemingly random memories. I cherish these moments, even if we know not where they come from or why they happen. It seems to me that this is necessary, our body is expressing something it’s held onto and pushed away. So often are we put in situations where this type of vulnerability would be seen as weakness or even mental illness.
My treatment room is a space where it all is okay, where you can be what you need to be in that moment. Allowing my client to be what they need to be creates an atmosphere of open neutrality. Not only is this the way that my client will feel the most comfortable, but it is also the best way to serve their needs.
Vibram Five Fingers
These shoes give you the ability to walk or run with the feel of being barefoot, but with the protection of a thin sole beneath your feet.
Awaken the Spine
I have come to understand that Structural Integration is first and foremost an exercise in developing self awareness. As a practitioner I can only guide my client through this process of self discovery, but it is their journey of awareness. With awareness comes change in the body, the more we listen to our own internal signals of distress the more power we have to change unhealthy and habitual patterns.
