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Structure

Imagine looking at a person but observing only the contours of the body. What you see is a hint of this person's structure: the habitual, unconscious posture that has become his/her second nature. Please see the adjacent illustration for some examples. Some individuals appear to resemble a question mark, with a round belly, curved back and a pelvis with an anterior tilt (A); others have a slumped chest (B); only a few have a perpendicular connection from the center of the head down to the feet, with front and back of equal dimension (C). Subjectively they all most likely believe that they are standing straight.

Integration

A person with an integrated body structure (C) enjoys balanced support from the ground up and throughout the entire body. The inner equilibrium is obvious. Muscles and tissues are free to facilitate relaxed, graceful and effortless movement.

Gravity

The American Biochemist and Physiologist Dr. Ida P. Rolf (1896~1979) realized gravity's paramount significance for the structure of mankind:
"One individual may experience his losing fight with gravity as a sharp pain in the back, another as the unflattering contour of his body, another as constant fatigue, and yet another as an unrelenting threatening environment. Those over forty may call it old age; yet all these signals may be pointing to a single problem so prominent in their own structures and the structure of others that is has been ignored: they are off-balance; they are at war with gravity."

Rolfing – Structural Integration

When working on people who came to her complaining about pain or impaired mobility, Dr. Ida Rolf gradually developed a process in which the body is put in harmony with the demands of gravity and, thus, into even keel. She called this process "Structural Integration". Her method came to be known through the adaptation of her own name as "Rolfing".

At first glance Rolfing resembles a slow-movement, deep-tissue massage. More accurately it is an equally verbal as well as non-verbal educational procedure, which combines a deep manual treatment of the connective tissue with training of movement and self-consciousness.

An integrated structure, such as is strived for with Rolfing, will avoid unnecessary strain on the joints and will not overburden the connective tissue. More often than not this will deprive chronic underlying physical symptoms of their foundation – a pleasant side effect, although not the essential goal of the treatment. Structural integration through Rolfing is always an individual process for the whole person. It is not to be mistaken for a therapy of any underlying health problems.

Emotional changes in clients can also be a result of the conversion of body structure because the new sense of body affects the psyche as well. Furthermore the change of the seemingly unchangeable, as in one's own body, may encourage us to seek more change in our lives.

An Example

The illustration of the girl below clearly shows the problem areas before the first session: legs are overextended and pelvis slanted forward. The abdominal wall is pushed out. The chest cavity collapses and tilts backward altogether. The head has to compensate by shifting severely forward. Respiration, therefore, is restricted in the lower back as well as in the upper chest.
The illustration of the girl after ten Rolfing sessions shows the changes in respect to an integrated structure. In the drawings these changes are shown clearly through the composition of the building blocks.

Ideally the structure changes to horizontal levels during a series of ten sessions.

Practical Information

A Rolfing session lasts approximately one hour. At the outset your body's structure and movement will be analyzed. This analysis results in customized, individual treatment, most of which takes place while you are lying down or sitting. By applying exact and sensitive pressure, the Rolfer frees and reshapes your connective tissue so that your body structure is able to straighten up gradually. You support this process through your attention, breathing and specific movements. Sometimes the intense touch can release emotions and memories, which will be integrated into the treatment by your Rolfer.

With your permission, the Rolfer may document the results through photographs before and after the treatment.

The basic treatment consists of a sequence of usually ten sessions, which systematically build upon each other and are customized to your individual structure. Another series of three to five follow-up sessions may be added after a reasonable period of time. There is also the possibility of taking "refresher" sessions at a later point in time.

Further questions, e.g. the cost of a treatment, will be answered by your Rolfer upon request.

Ida P. Rolf

(born 1896 in New York) was one of the first female Ph.D.'s in biochemistry and physiology in the United States. From her studies and practice with human beings, she developed her own method of treating physical and mental problems originating from a defective body structure. Therefore she called her method "structural integration", though very soon the short form "Rolfing" established itself.

Rolfing began to spread when Fritz Perls, founder of Gestalt therapy, encouraged Ida Rolf to teach her method at the Esalen Institute in California. In the early 1970's, Dr. Rolf founded her own institute in Boulder, Colorado, where she taught until her death in 1979.

Rolfing is suited for all age groups:

• if you feel unbalanced or chronically tense
• if there is repetitive stress in your profession
• if you wish to improve your body's mobility and sensitivity (e.g. for sports, yoga, dance, acting)