IS ROLFING STRUCTURAL INTEGRATION PAINFUL?

Many people have heard that Rolfing is painful.  That reputation developed back in the 1970s when Dr. Rolf began teaching her work; they saw how radically fascia and structure could change with some pressure, and they must have concluded that “more is better.”.  Since then, the work has evolved, as has our knowledge of the body’s responses to pain. My personal approach is to work with you at every moment, checking in for intensity levels, and only going to the edge of what is useful to you for optimal change.

Rolfing Structural Integration is not about forcing the body to change.  It is about working with the body, encouraging fixations in tissue to release.  Depending on how traumatized or overused, and how chronically an area has been in a state of fixation, there can be a range of sensation, including a feeling of “that feels great” or “that hurts so good.”  Injuries create widespread compensatory patterns, and what feels fine in one area can create strong sensation in a more traumatized or compensating area. Invariably, these moments of discomfort are followed by relief and a feeling of tissue release which can prove both profound and transformational.

In any case, you, as the client, are always in control of how much intensity you are willing to experience.  Since every person has a different relationship to pain, the Rolfer must be sensitive and responsive, adapting the pressure and force used accordingly.

DOES ROLFING STRUCTURAL INTEGRATION RELIEVE STRESS?

Stress is our body’s natural response to a perceived threat.  When we feel threatened, our Autonomic Nervous System kicks in with “fight, flight, or freeze,” releasing adrenaline and cortisol. As long as the danger persists, our bodies’ responses include faster heart rate and breathing for increased energy, eye dilation for sharper vision, blood thickening prepares our bodies for injury and suppresses unnecessary functions such as digestion and reproduction.  Our bodies’s stress-response system is usually self-limiting and, once a perceived threat has passed, hormone levels return to normal. But when stressors are always present and you constantly feel under attack, that fight-or-flight reaction stays turned on. Chronic stress negatively effects breathing, muscular function, and body wide muscle tension leading to back, shoulder, neck, and headache pain.

Rolfers work with people. We thereby effect our client’s entire systems, including the nervous system, the musculo-skeletal/fascial system, respiratory and digestive and energetic systems. By creating balance at the level of structure, many clients experience a sense of lightness, ease, and calm.

WHAT ABOUT THE EMOTIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF ROLFING?

It is impossible to touch the physical body without also effecting the emotional body. Awareness of trauma’s profound effect on our bodies has finally begun to be taken seriously. As we live, we develop compensatory patterns, ways of holding and defending against a variety of physical and emotional insults to form. During the Structural Integration process, emotional changes are common. We have “cellular memory,” a memory of experience stored in the tissue at a cellular level, as well as our nervous system’s response to stress (see above). Touching the body will frequently help the client access these physical and emotional memories encoded in the fascial matrix.  Emotional release is not something consciously intended; it happens as an organic part of the Rolfer-Client process.  Each client has their own experience, and some people have an emotional response as well as physical releases.  The Rolfer provides a safe container for the process, and takes whatever time is needed to allow the client to integrate the experience.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MASSAGE AND ROLFING STRUCTURAL INTEGRATION?  MYOFASCIAL RELEASE?

Rolfing Structural Integration is more than “very deep massage.”  Many varieties of massage are effective for loosening tight tissue, reducing stress, detoxing the body, and an increased feeling of relaxation and well-being. Rolfing/Structural Integration is a holistic, systematic approach to body organization and alignment. It is not so much a ‘technique’ (as is myofascial release) as it is an approach to structure and function. While the effects of Structural Integration do often involve reducing stress, loosening tight tissue and detoxing the body; the aim, is to integrate the body, to organize its segments in an improved relationship, and to bring physical balance to the whole body in the gravitational field. The true genius of Dr. Rolf’s method is the art and science of sculpting and organizing human structure according to clearly defined principles in a systematic and consistent manner.

WHO SHOULD CONSIDER ROLFING STRUCTURAL INTEGRATION?

Babies are seen by Rolfers. My 90 year old mother has received Rolfing. All bodies have some degree of asymmetry, disorder and compensatory patterns in their structure. Dr. Rolf believed that everyone should receive Structural Integration. In fact, in her global vision, she imagined a more evolved and structurally efficient human species as a result of everyone experiencing the Ten Series!

Most clients enter into the process of Structural Integration either because they are in physical discomfort or because they are not as “at home” in their bodies as they would like to be.  As the body transforms physically it transforms on other planes as well, so that, while the primary focus of Structural Integration is the muscular and connective tissue system, it frequently has a dramatic effect on the level of embodiment–a sense of truly living in one’s body. But rather than dictate the effects of the process, I encourage everyone to have their own unique experiences.

DO THE EFFECTS OF ROLFING STRUCTURAL INTEGRATION LAST?

Yes, they can.  The process of change and integration takes time–just as it took time to develop the patterns of holding and tension that result in fixations. The changes introduced through Rolfing  can continue for months past the last session. The potential for lasting effect depends in large part on you, the client, and how you make use of the movement awareness and embodiment exercises we explore together during the sessions. Many people spend a large part of their days on the computer or in the car. You will learn how to sit, stand and move in ways that can support the changes we accomplish on the table. Once the body’s relationship to gravity has changed, it continues to adapt and reorganize itself, and is hungry for more efficient ways to move and be.  Integration is about body use and expression of self.  That said, many clients continue to come in for ‘maintenance’ when they feel the need.

HOW DO I FIND A ROLFER?

The most reliable way to find a Certified Rolfer™ is through the “Find A Rolfer” portal at www.rolf.org.  While there are many schools that train people in Structural Integration, Rolfers™ are exclusively trained at the Dr. Ida Rolf Institute in Boulder, CO.  While not all Rolfers are listed on the website, you can ask where your prospective Rolfer was trained.

ARE YOU SEEING CLIENTS DURING THE PANDEMIC?

Yes. I have received the Pfizer vaccine, and both clients and I wear masks for the session. Clients are spaced out by several hours. Surfaces are cleaned between clients, and there is room ventilation.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

The cost is $165.00 per one hour session if paying by cash, check, or Venmo. $175 for debit/credit card.