What Is Rolfing? 
presented by The Henningsgaard Rolfing Associates

Rolfing is the name given to the system of body manipulation originated by Dr. Ida P. Rolf, PhD in biochemistry. Dr. Rolf had a child who had a health problem, and searched for a way, outside of conventional medicine, to solve it. She went to work on the child with her hands and with a good measure of success, discovered that she could restore the child's body to a more balanced shape and alignment, ease of movement, by working with the connective tissue in the body. This evolved, then, into working on friends, and friends of friends, until she had quite a reputation for being able to "fix" things for people in their bodies.

As a scientist she had the insight that gravity is a force constantly at work in the body either maturing it towards organization, alignment and wholeness; or as an ever disorganizing force compressing and misshaping the body. She worked privately for more than 20 years, asking people how they felt after the last session, watching them walk, and postulating about what she should do next for the person. 

Rolfing is a way of working with the fascia that balances the body in gravity. In its most simply expressed form, Rolfers work with the body as a system of interrelated segments to restore these segments to proper alignment in the vertical and horizontal grid of gravity. Thus for example, the Rolfer will determine the shift and tilt of the pelvis and its relationship to each leg in order to bring them into better vertical and horizontal balance with each other, while working with all other body segments, so that future balance, rather than strain, is induced through the whole body.

Transformation and Rolfing 

The physical body in its shape, form, and negotiation of gravitational energy, cannot be divorced from the emotional state of a human being. When the physical body is fluid and flexible, emotions are allowed to be the same. This is where Rolfing got its reputation for being an emotional therapy. Rolfing clients find a new freedom to allow emotions in their bodies and in so doing find that these emotions can enrich their creative capacities. 

There is a dimension in the Rolfing experience where client and Rolfer share in a field of the unknown. This is where conscious experience at the level of language ends and felt experience at the level of the body begins. For the client this is a direct experience that the body's process has movement and a wisdom that can be trusted and relied upon at a deeper level than thought. This is the center, the place where the spiritual is encountered. How does Rolfing work? 

Rolfers work on the fascia of the body. Fascia surrounds every cell, and every group of cells. Its the fascia that gives organs their form, and what allows muscles to slide on each other rather than sticking together. Fascia can be very light and airy (like the web like stuff under the skin of a chicken) or it can be hard, tensile and tough (like gristle in a steak). Sheets of fascia surround muscle groups, organs and bones. Tough bands form at the end of muscles called tendons and these tie muscle to the bone. Short, tough bands of fascia called ligaments tie bones to each other, or hold organs in place. The fascia around muscles, organs and bones should have a slippery quality to it, allowing muscles to work in their correct plane, organs to have their full range of motion, and bones and joints to be fully flexible. 

This is the quality of a new born baby's fascia. From the stresses of every day life, from illness, from accidents, from emotional holding or from an injury, the fascia gets hard and tight. The skillful listening and touch of a Rolfers hands soften, release, lengthen and stretch the fascia in appropriate directions. Fascia does not have the same blood supply as muscles do. It undergoes a chemical change from the Rolfing work. Rolfers are trained to look at balance in many forms in the body; upper/lower, front/back, inner/outer, side to side, and balanced movement. Throughout the series of ten sessions, we change the body to more and more appropriate balance. This may mean, for one person, that they get more curves in their spine, while for the next person it may mean getting a longer, straighter spine because their spine had too much curve. 

Why should I consider Rolfing?

People come to the Rolfing process for many reasons. Perhaps they've had an accident and have some residual, chronic pain in their body. Some people come to Rolfing because of poor posture. Others come because they just want to feel better. Some people have a sense that they just need a change in their lives and in their bodies, and Rolfing may be right for them. Rolfing can also help children who have had accidents, whose parents notice that the child is just not engaged in life, or who are having a difficult time with knocked knees or bowed legs. 

Why a Ten Session Series?

Rolfers, in a broad sense, start their work with a client on the outside of the body, then move to the inside, then integrate the inside and outside. When a client commits to ten sessions, this gives the Rolfer plenty of time to consider the whole body and how that body relates to itself and to the earth. The ten sessions may be received in a short time-ten weeks-or over a longer time, ten months. This allows each client to integrate the Rolfing changes at their own speed.

For additional information go to web: continuumrolfing.com/