What is Rolfing?

For lack of better definition, in the US, Rolfing is generally classed with massage therapy and bodywork. However, Rolfing is not massage as most people understand it. It is much more participatory and analytical, and has different goals than massage. Rolfing is NOT "vigorous/deep massage" nor should it be classed as such. In fact, it has more in common with "old-fashioned" European osteopathy, in application.

Rolfing is a systematic application of soft tissue manipulation and education, with the goal of increasing function and adaptability in the human body.

Rolfing was originated by one of the first female biochemistry PhDs in the United States, a woman named Ida P. Rolf. Dr. Rolf was a Rockefeller University fellow, doing research on brain chemistry in the first days of such research. She was awarded her PhD in the same year women won the right to vote in the United States. Dr Rolf was not afraid to push the boundaries of science, while remaining firmly rooted in the scientific method. In her later years, she would tell her students "Get as metaphysical as you want, but be damn sure you've got the physics right first".

Dr Rolf studied Hatha and Kundalini Yoga, osteopathy, chiropractic and psychology. She began bodywork with other yoga students, helping them achieve the asanas, or exercises, in yoga. She went from helping friends and neighbors move, to helping anyone who asked. Her life was a study in the growth of a science which Thomas Myers (www.kinesis.org) now calls "spatial medicine" or the health and maximum possibility of a body in its movements through the space it inhabits.

Dr. Rolf on SI -

"It is an important concept: that practitioners (of Structural Integration) are integrating something; we are not restoring something. This puts us in a different class from all other therapists that I know of. It takes us out of the domain designated by the word "therapy," and puts us in the domain designated by the word "education."

One of the differences between practitioners of Structural Integration and the practitioners of medicine, osteopathy, chiropractic, naturopathy, etc., is that the latter are all relieving symptoms. They make no effort to put together elements into a more efficient energy system. We ask; how do we put a body together so that it's a unit, an acting, energy efficient unit?

From the first day we see a client, we are putting him together, we are integrating him. We integrate him at the end of his first hour, at the end of his second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth. At every hour before that man or that woman walks out the door, we should have integrated him to the place where he has the best, most efficient use of his system that he can have at that level. at the end of the eighth hour he should certainly have an efficient use of a higher level of operation than he had at the end of the seventh hour or at the end of the second hour.

If, in our presentation to the world, enough stress can be laid on this, we will have a certain amount of publicity indicating that we are less therapists than we are educationists. I am not hiding behind a bunch of words here. This is what I mean, this is my goal: an educational process."

Rolfing had a reputation of being painful, however, like all good sciences, it evolved, and became more efficient. Particularly in Europe, the concentration is on awareness of nerves and viscera, and the accurate and sensitive manipulation of them. Many American practicioners do this as well. As with any practice, the practicioner must meet their client on the client's terms. This does not mean that neither must leave their comfort zone, rather that the work they do together brings the client to a new place in some way.

Rolfing has also had a reputation as being somewhat esoteric. In modern practice, the focus is on the changes brought to the physical body. Any other experiences are so subjective to the individual as to be impossible to quantify. Most clients report a deeper sense of "being at home" in their bodies, possibly with a greater depth of feeling and greater ability to relax and focus, and certainly greater freedom and balance of movement. Perhaps it is the experience of not being so "highly strung" as there are scientific studies investigating the levels of sympathetic tonus and their "stabilization" at a lower level after 10 sessions of Structural Integration.

Rolfing is classically a series of 10 sessions. However, some schools recommend up to 12, and some advanced practicioners may give fewer sessions to achieve the goals of Structural Integration. In summary, the first three sessions are a kind of introduction and preparation, the middle four are the "core" of the work, and the last three are focussed on the "integration" and a kind of coordinative re-calibration of the body.

A session will take about an hour, more or less. The practicioner will observe the client, take photos to establish baselines, and interview them to find out what health conditions are present, what the client does and wants to do, and work with the client to improve their physical alignment in gravity and space. The practicioner will use hands, elbows, the client's movement and voice cues to work with the client.

Much of the work takes place on a padded table, some of it standing, or sitting on a bench. The client usually wears gym shorts, underwear or a bathing suit so that myofascial work can take place as needed, where needed.

Information on Rolfing: www.rolf.org, www.rolfing.org
What's the difference between Rolfing Structural Integration and massage?