Love them! I don't agree with Ida Rolf's claim that humans haven't evolved to stand upright and that she, Ida, can show us. I think the problem has been solved by nature. So I don't value all of inspections in the middle of the body work. I do love the strong work though you do have to be careful (I have seen a patient with a broken rib from a Rolfing session.)
I haven't ever heard of Ida Rolf saying that humans haven't evolved to stand up straight.... she may have made an offhand remark about that, but it is not a basic part of the view of the body in Rolfing.
Some basic ideas about the body, from a Rolfing perspective:
The body is inherently plastic, and very capable of change, even beyond what we normally assume is possible.
Moving correctly heals the body, and sculpting the fascia can help the body learn to move correctly.
Fascial adhesions and restrictions are held in the nervous system, not in the tissue. However, working the tissue is a very effective way to teach the nervous system how to allow the tissue to change.
We need front-to-back balance, as well as inside-to-outside balance, before we should get too concerned about side-to-side balance.
Deep work is not inherently better. It is important to work the right layer, and sometimes that is very superficial. Gentle work by a skilled practitioner can be just as effective as forceful or painful work. If an area is painful, working layer by layer and addressing inflamed nerves gives better results as well as increased comfort.
For those who would like more detailed information, I have posted quite a bit of information here: http://www.portlandrolfer.com/Rolfing.html along with photos.
I know this is a really old post, but I searched the forum for the word 'rolfing' and this is where it is addressed. And I have found this work to be incredibly helpful to my path of health and wellness, so I wanted to leave a comment on this forum. For those of you (like myself) who cannot physically get to Esther or a trained Gokhale Method instructor because they are all too far away and you have small (still nursing) kids, Rolfing is a fantastic option to help you get that extra edge out of Esther's methods. I have only undergone two rolfing sessions (please, please check to make sure your rolfer is certified by the only school of rolfing, in Boulder CO), but it has made all the difference in my ability to 'find' the proper standing posture (and other postures!) Esther promotes. It's possible that any deep tissue massage would have loosened up the areas that were preventing me from properly letting my pelvis tilt forward and finding exactly where my inner corset muscles were (to prevent sway back), or help me realize that my feet and lower legs were way too tense to even be able to find kidney bean shape, but there are other benefits from rolfing that I was skeptical to believe before actually experiencing it. Like the intense release of pressure and all the positive energy that comes rushing into your body so much so that it is quite disorienting and you can't remember how you got home (obviously, you drove, but you can't remember a single thing about the drive...scary!). I am definately a skeptic about all the touchy feely emotional claims of these types of alternative therapies, but I gotta say, my last rolfing session left me dizzy and so disoriented that it is impossible for me to ignore it. My rolfer must have hit some deeply rooted stress spot and I was left completely bewildered by the whole experience. And now my body just seems to be naturally finding its way back to proper posture from all the Rolfing work. But probably not without my understanding of what that is/should be from Esther's work (at least not so quickly, after only two rolfing sessions). There is definatley a benefit to using both Gokhale and Rolfing together (at least when one cannot acutally go through the intensive class Esther offers).
Anyway, if you are having a hard time getting all the way to that last little bit of physical ability in Esther's methods, I highly recommend Rolfing (again, only from a trained real Rolfer!). For me, it made all the difference of me actually finding that 'aha' moment with the positions Esther describes in her book and dvd.
2 hours 27 min ago
09/10/2008 - 8:36pm
13 years 10 months ago
09/02/2010 - 11:52am
I haven't ever heard of Ida Rolf saying that humans haven't evolved to stand up straight.... she may have made an offhand remark about that, but it is not a basic part of the view of the body in Rolfing. Some basic ideas about the body, from a Rolfing perspective: The body is inherently plastic, and very capable of change, even beyond what we normally assume is possible. Moving correctly heals the body, and sculpting the fascia can help the body learn to move correctly. Fascial adhesions and restrictions are held in the nervous system, not in the tissue. However, working the tissue is a very effective way to teach the nervous system how to allow the tissue to change. We need front-to-back balance, as well as inside-to-outside balance, before we should get too concerned about side-to-side balance. Deep work is not inherently better. It is important to work the right layer, and sometimes that is very superficial. Gentle work by a skilled practitioner can be just as effective as forceful or painful work. If an area is painful, working layer by layer and addressing inflamed nerves gives better results as well as increased comfort. For those who would like more detailed information, I have posted quite a bit of information here: http://www.portlandrolfer.com/Rolfing.html along with photos.
3 years 3 months ago
01/22/2017 - 4:23pm
I know this is a really old post, but I searched the forum for the word 'rolfing' and this is where it is addressed. And I have found this work to be incredibly helpful to my path of health and wellness, so I wanted to leave a comment on this forum. For those of you (like myself) who cannot physically get to Esther or a trained Gokhale Method instructor because they are all too far away and you have small (still nursing) kids, Rolfing is a fantastic option to help you get that extra edge out of Esther's methods. I have only undergone two rolfing sessions (please, please check to make sure your rolfer is certified by the only school of rolfing, in Boulder CO), but it has made all the difference in my ability to 'find' the proper standing posture (and other postures!) Esther promotes. It's possible that any deep tissue massage would have loosened up the areas that were preventing me from properly letting my pelvis tilt forward and finding exactly where my inner corset muscles were (to prevent sway back), or help me realize that my feet and lower legs were way too tense to even be able to find kidney bean shape, but there are other benefits from rolfing that I was skeptical to believe before actually experiencing it. Like the intense release of pressure and all the positive energy that comes rushing into your body so much so that it is quite disorienting and you can't remember how you got home (obviously, you drove, but you can't remember a single thing about the drive...scary!). I am definately a skeptic about all the touchy feely emotional claims of these types of alternative therapies, but I gotta say, my last rolfing session left me dizzy and so disoriented that it is impossible for me to ignore it. My rolfer must have hit some deeply rooted stress spot and I was left completely bewildered by the whole experience. And now my body just seems to be naturally finding its way back to proper posture from all the Rolfing work. But probably not without my understanding of what that is/should be from Esther's work (at least not so quickly, after only two rolfing sessions). There is definatley a benefit to using both Gokhale and Rolfing together (at least when one cannot acutally go through the intensive class Esther offers).
Anyway, if you are having a hard time getting all the way to that last little bit of physical ability in Esther's methods, I highly recommend Rolfing (again, only from a trained real Rolfer!). For me, it made all the difference of me actually finding that 'aha' moment with the positions Esther describes in her book and dvd.