"Strength
that has effort in it is not what you need; you need the strength
that is the result of ease."
--Ida P. Rolf |
Frequently
Asked Questions
What
is Rolfing? What is the history of Rolfing?
How Does Rolfing Work?
What can I expect from my first Rolfing session?
What can I expect from a Rolfing series?
Does Rolfing cause emotional release?
What happens after my series? Do changes last forever?
Do I need to do anything between sessions? What can
I do help the process? Can I exercise like usual?
Does Rolfing hurt? What does Rolfing feel like?
Do I need to do a series of sessions?
What does Rolfing do for people? Who can Rolfing help?
What is the difference between Rolfing and massage?
What is the difference between Rolfing and chiropractic?
How much do sessions cost? Does insurance cover Rolfing?
“If
you get stuck...Get Rolfed!” Rolfing is one of the best
things you can do to “open a new dimension in your life.”
—From The Pathfinder: How to Choose or Change
Your Career for a Lifetime of Satisfaction and Success by Nicholas
Lore, creator of The Rockport Institute Career Choice Program. |
What
is Rolfing? What is the history of Rolfing?
Rolfing is a system of hands-on soft tissue work and movement
education. Rolfing can change your alignment and movement patterns and
make your body more comfortable and capable. Rolfing uses a series of
approximately 10-15 individualized sessions to bring lasting changes to
your body. Each session is different, and cumulatively they balance your
body by releasing lifelong patterns of effort, compensation, tension,
and strain.
Rolfing was
developed by Dr. Ida P. Rolf (1896-1979) over the course of her
lifetime. Originally a biochemist, Dr. Rolf also studied many other
disciplines, including osteopathy, yoga, and homeopathy, while developing
a unique way of working with fascia (connective tissue) to organize the
body in relationship to gravity. She called her work Structural Integration,
but others commonly referred to it as “Rolfing.” The word
Rolfing® is now a registered service mark of the Rolf Institute.
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How Does Rolfing
Work?
Rolfing consists of two elements: structural work and movement
work. Structural work is hands-on bodywork that involves fascia, the
connective tissue that envelops and permeates muscles, bones and all other
tissues in your body. Rolfing opens, lengthens, and softens fascial
restrictions throughout your body.
Movement work helps
you to become aware of and to change inhibiting movement patterns. It
can help you use and maintain the structural changes that happen in a
Rolfing series. Movement work can address any of life's movements, especially the basic patterns
of breathing, sitting, standing, and walking.
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What
can I expect from my first Rolfing session?
Allow two hours for your first Rolfing session. We will start
by discussing your health history, current condition, goals and any
questions you have about Rolfing. You’ll then undress to your underwear,
or, if you prefer, gym shorts and tank top or t-shirt. I will then watch
you walk, stand, and do simple movements to begin to assess your
structure. For most of the session you will be lying on a massage table
while I work on the first layers of restrictions in your body, usually on
your neck, shoulders, back, ribs and hips.
In a first session, we
will start to learn how to work together. I will start to learn what your
body needs to change, and you will begin to learn to actively participate
in your Rolfing series. Active participation helps you to get more out of
Rolfing. In the beginning, it can be as simple as actively paying
attention to bodily sensations during a session; I may also ask you to
participate by performing simple movements while I work with your body, or
by doing an occasional experiential/physical “homework assignment”
between sessions.
At your first
session, you will also have the option of having photos taken of
your structure. I use these photos to help strategize your sessions,
and, along with others taken at the end of your series, to document
changes in your body. They are yours to keep at the end of your
series, if you wish.
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What
can I expect from a Rolfing series?
After the initial two-hour session, sessions last about
an hour and 15 minutes.
Sessions are spaced anywhere from 1-3 weeks apart, and an average
series consists of 10-15 sessions.
People commonly feel a difference in alignment,
movement, body awareness and/or pain levels immediately during and after
each session; these differences accumulate and can become increasingly
lasting as the series continues. Each session focuses
on a different part or parts of your body, and cumulatively the sessions
build upon one another to create thorough and lasting
changes in your body.
Rolfing has
the potential to create significant changes in your body. This process
can be accompanied by changes on other levels of your being as well.
It is not uncommon for people to experience emotional, mental, social,
and/or spiritual growth during the time they are undergoing a Rolfing
series. My focus as your Rolfing practitioner is always on your
physical structure, but I support and encourage growth in other
areas of your life.
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Does
Rolfing cause emotional release?
Emotional growth can certainly be a part of the Rolfing
process, though steady emotional growth throughout a series is more
common than an explosive cathartic event. If you are seeking, or
are wary of, an emotional release, contact me and we can talk further
about the relationship between Rolfing and emotions.
What
happens after my series? Do changes last forever?
For most people, it is a good idea to take a break from Rolfing
after receiving 10-15 sessions. Your body may continue to change for up
to a year after a Rolfing series; taking a break allows your body to
continue to integrate on its own. After that time you may find that your
body has maintained its changes—many people do successfully sustain
changes over time, especially if new movement patterns have been learned.
If not, you may find an occasional tune-up or further movement education
to be beneficial in helping you maintain balance. It is also possible to
undergo another short series some point after your initial series to take
your body to an even higher level of integration.
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Do
I need to do anything between sessions?
What can I do help the process?
Can I exercise like usual?
As we go through a series, I may make specific suggestions
about useful stretches/movements/activities for you. In general,
you can continue with whatever type of exercise you are accustomed
to doing. Engaging in regular activity while being mindful of your
body is invaluable when undergoing a Rolfing series. While mindfully
moving or exercising, you may be able to discern subtle changes
in your body.
You may also be able to use a movement practice to continue working
where I leave off—with intelligent movement that includes
awareness, stretching and strengthening (like yoga and pilates)
you can continue to unwind and reorganize your body between sessions.
Being active during your Rolfing series may also enable you to become
more conscious of your body’s ingrained habitual movements
and of how you respond to stress—two of the most significant
factors that, over time, can create the unpleasant compensations
from which we seek relief.
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Does Rolfing hurt?
What does Rolfing feel like?
Rolfing is deeply transformative work, but it is not the painful process that some have heard it to be. That reputation stems largely from Rolfing’s early years, but since then many practitioners have helped to refine Rolfing and have developed more subtle ways of working with soft-tissue while still effectively changing structure.
Receiving a Rolfing session from me ranges from feeling pleasantly relaxing to momentarily uncomfortable. People who have heard of Rolfing’s painful reputation are often surprised at how pleasant and subtle Rolfing can be. If I am working in an area of significant restriction or holding, Rolfing will likely feel more intense, but that intensity should always feel appropriate, welcome and manageable, and should quickly pass as your tissue releases.
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Do
I need to do a series of sessions?
I am best able to help people with a series of sessions. A series of sessions allows me to very thoroughly work through your entire body to release hidden restrictions and to bring your whole body into balance. Because fascia is continuous throughout your body, there can be connections between what seem at first to be unrelated areas. Pain in a specific part of the body is certainly an indicator that something is wrong, but it doesn’t always point to the location of the problem. The whole body can be involved in creating a pattern of tension that results in localized pain. A series of sessions allows me to work on body-wide fascial relationships and to unravel a lifetime of strain and compensation.
That said, you don’t need to be certain from the beginning that you want a whole series of sessions. If you are curious, you can try 1-3 sessions. Within a few sessions you will be able to feel for yourself if Rolfing is a good match for your current goals and desires.
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What
does Rolfing do for people? Who can Rolfing help?
Rolfing is appropriate for people of all ages, from infants
and children to the elderly. The ways Rolfing can serve people are
numerous and individual; here are the most common reasons people
seek out Rolfing:
Embodiment.
In this day and age, it has become normal to be disconnected
from our bodies. Rolfing is a great way to find your way back home
to your body as a source of enjoyment, knowledge, and health.
Tension,
aches and pains.
When your basic structure is out of balance, your body has to work very hard to keep you upright and moving around. Over time, this extra effort may result in chronic tension, strain, and pain. Further, an off-balance body is already overextended and has a reduced capacity to tolerate or to heal from accidents and other traumatic events. By improving your whole body alignment, Rolfing can release tension, aches and pains without creating strain elsewhere in your body.
To
improve posture, balance or flexibility.
Many people find that balance, posture and flexibility get worse as
they age. As common as this is, many of these changes are not an inevitable part of aging. Rolfing can help you
find better posture, flexibility and ease of movement at any age.
To
liberate restricted movement patterns.
Nearly all of have activities in our lives that can lead to restricted movement patterns. A mail carrier with a heavy bag, a dental hygienist stooping and twisting to work with patients, a violin player, parents carrying children, anyone who uses a computer at length—all of these people ask their bodies to repeatedly move in specialized ways that can become limiting over time. Rolfing can unwind problems created by a lifetime of activity and create a body that is better able to perform movements like these without strain.
To
improve athletic and everyday performance.
Balancing your structure can enhance athletic and everyday performance by improving body awareness, movement patterns, and range of motion. Athletic endeavors and life's everyday activities—from running a marathon to doing housework—are easier when your body is more comfortable and when less energy is required to move with more ease and power.
To
support other personal growth practices.
The time when you are going through a Rolfing series has the potential to be a time of significant personal transformation and change. Rolfing is very compatible with many personal growth practices, like yoga and therapy, that likewise promote insight and transformation.
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What
is the difference between Rolfing and massage?
Massage seeks to relax the body as it is; Rolfing asks
the body to reorganize itself. In general, the many therapeutic
benefits of massage come from relaxing muscle tone and increasing
circulation—from relaxing, but not changing, the overall way
the body is organized. Rolfing changes your whole body's structure so that old habits of tension and strain are no longer necessary.
What
is the difference between Rolfing and chiropractic?
Chiropractors and Rolfers both look at alignment. To oversimplify—Rolfers work with alignment
by working with soft tissue, while Chiropractors
work with alignment by adjusting bones. As a Rolfer,
I do not do the type of quick adjustments of joints that chiropractors
do. Over the course
of a Rolfing series, bones are able to assume new positions and
movements as the soft tissue affecting them is changed. In practice,
Rolfing and chiropractic can be complimentary; my clients generally
feel that chiropractic adjustments are easier and last longer as
their bodies become more balanced.
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How
much do sessions cost? Does insurance cover Rolfing?
Sessions are $100. I offer a sliding scale for people in need, up to 50% off, on a case-by-case basis.
I am not a preferred provider for any health insurance companies. I can provide you with documentation of your sessions if you wish to seek reimbursement from your insurance company.
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