Rolfing® Structural Integration
For Healing and High Performance
What is Rolfing?
Rolfing uses mindful and respectful touch to release and realign connective tissue in the body. Sessions begin with a check-in and an analysis of your structure. Hands-on work generally lasts about an hour and may include elements of guided movement. Much of the work is done while you are laying on a standard massage table and some may be done when you are seated and/or standing. Sessions usually close with movement education and a post-work structural analysis.
What does Rolfing feel like?
Rolfing most commonly feels like slow and steady pressure followed by a feeling of release. Sensations experienced during a Rolfing session vary as much as the unique structural and movement patterns exhibited by each individual client. Sensations can range from light to deep, from pleasurable feelings of warmth to a sense of powerful and far-reaching personal transformation.
You co-create the pace and intensity of your Rolfing session.
After a session clients will often experience feelings of lightness and well-being. Clients may be thirsty after a session and re-hydration is a good idea. A short, leisurely walk can be a wonderful way to experience the new movement possibilities discovered during the session.
Rolfing: Before & After
Front view of client before first session (left) and after 10 sessions (right).
Courtesy of The Rolf Institute® of Structural Integration
Side view of client before first session (left) and after 10 sessions (right).
Courtesy of The Rolf Institute® of Structural Integration
Dr. Ida Rolf
Dr. Ida Rolf
Courtesy of The Rolf Institute® of Structural Integration
Ida Pauline Rolf received her Ph.D. in biochemistry from Columbia University in 1920 and spent much of her life exploring forms of alternative healing including homeopathy, osteopathy, chiropractic and yoga.
Dr. Rolf was intrigued by the notion that proper alignment, physiologic function and anatomical structure are closely related. To these beliefs, she added her own observations that lasting improvement in alignment and an overall sense of well-being required an understanding of how gravity affects our human bodies:
“This is the gospel of Rolfing:
When the body gets working appropriately,
the force of gravity can flow through.
Then, spontaneously, the body heals itself.”
~ Ida P. Rolf