RolfingMarin.com – FAQ

How Do Bodies Get Out of Balance?

The human body is a dynamic form consisting of fluids, membranes, fascial planes and osseous (boney) structures. Each person’s body is a plastic medium adapting to its physical environment, nutritional input, emotional content and social interaction. Disease, repetitive movements, psychological stress, and even the way a child mimics his or her parents all leave a mark in the developing structure as the body seeks to integrate these various levels of input.

We basically shape ourselves every day by how we move, what we eat, where we live and how we think. Thus, when someone sprains his or her ankle, swelling occurs to immobilize the injury. Following healing, adhesions in the area may remain, leaving the joint less flexible, less efficient. The entire body can begin to adapt to favoring the ankle causing tightness in the knee, torsion in the pelvis with one shoulder being held higher than the other. After years of embodying this pattern, the fascia can thicken or shorten to hold the tension in the system. Eventually even standing requires effort as the restricted areas leave their marks on the person’s capacity to be balanced. Psychological trauma such as poor self-esteem, feelings of anger or fear and physical or verbal abuse affect structures. People often hold their breath to block emotions, slouch in order not to take up too much space, collapse in on themselves in an effort to endure pain. All of these patterns are held in the physical form, particularly in the fascia.

How is Rolfing Different than Myofascial Release?

Rolfing is an integrative technique utilizing a system of creating order in the body’s structure. When a Rolfer contacts tissue in a client’s slumped shoulders, she is also feeling through the fascia and making contact with the connective tissue of the pelvis or arches of the feet so that not only does the shoulder release, but it has support underneath it from the pelvis or the feet. Rolfing does not simply release restrictions in the body’s tensional patterns, it simultaneously creates order in the structural connective tissue.

Does Rolfing Last?

Rolfing does last. Because the connective tissue system is realigned holistically in relation to gravity, the body’s segments relate to each other in the more cohesive whole. This means that the head can be supported by the neck, which can be supported by the shoulders and ribcage, which can be balanced by the pelvis and the arches of the feet. This intelligent re-patterning allows the neurological input to be more appropriate so that the client has an opportunity to experience increasingly better health.

How are Rolfing and Yoga Related?

Rolfing and yoga can work synergistically to facilitate a person’s development physically, spiritually and psychologically. Rolfing is the only form of bodywork that succeeds in reorganizing connective tissue or fascia holistically in relation to gravity. What this means is simply that after Rolfing, the body’s layers of connective tissue have ordered space. This quality of spaciousness invites ease of movement, an increased awareness of self in relation to others or in relation to self, and an interest in how to maintain this new posture.

When a person begins to study yoga after receiving Rolfing, he can continue to develop his mind/body connection. The body’s new spaciousness and order allows the client to go deeper into postures with more ease. Often yoga instructors describe this state of depth as a profound new attainment of “letting go”.

Is Rolfing Painful?

Rolfing does not have to be painful. The client and practitioner typically collaborate to recognize and to respect the client’s comfort level. Often adhesed tissues being addressed may be more sensational, but the work should move along with the client’s nervous system in such a way as to replace the “glued” tissues with a feeling of lightness and freedom of movement.

Rolfing can be a restorative, rejuvenative process. Many clients report feeling more energy and increased ease of movement as though they were being buoyed by gravity. For many people emotional releases may also accompany the work. The body accommodates the newly found space in the fascia and welcomes the sensations created through Rolfing.

Do You Have to Go Through the Ten Series to Benefit from Rolfing?

The ten series recipe was Dr. Rolf’s method of thoroughly reorganizing and integrating a person’s entire connective tissue system. Often clients come to Rolfing to “fix” a particular ailment, like a bulging disc or sciatica pain or carpal tunnel syndrome. While Rolfing can usually ameliorate these acute problems, often clients realize after one session that the new order and spaciousness created could be benefited by additional sessions. The ten series is a way of logically organizing all of the body’s fascia, thereby creating lasting order in the client’s structure.

To me, the ten series of Rolfing could be compared to landscaping a yard… a client invites you over to her yard and points out what she has been doing to create some semblance of order and structure. My job is then to appreciate what the client is trying to create out of her life experience… what tools are available to that person, what is the soil like, how committed is that person to looking after the yard that will have been landscaped, what is the influence of the local environment on that yard, and what are the resources available for its maintenance? When a yard has been landscaped according to the principles that create lasting change and order, the owner can begin to weed more easily, add new plants intelligently, and clean up after the storms. Rolfing takes a client’s efforts to create and enlivens, energizes and informs the process.

How often do People Do Follow-up Treatments After the Ten Series?

Follow-up sessions vary according to the individual needs of the client. Some clients have had chronic pain for many years prior to receiving Rolfing. These clients may wish to continue more regularly with follow-ups. Whether or not a client has had surgeries, the amount of repetitive stress placed on the body at work or in an exercise regime, the amount of trauma experienced in a persons’ life and even how long a person's sits in front of a computer are all considerations that have to be factored in when determining how to proceed with follow-up sessions.

Honestly, I have seen medical doctors follow-up every other week because they are repeatedly performing procedures that keep their bodies fixed in a head-forward syndrome, which can lead to thoracic outlet challenges. I have treated professional athletes weekly in their off-season in order to prepare for the upcoming competitive season. I have even treated postal workers once a month because of the heavy strain of moving mail. I encourage clients to complete at least three sessions a year in order to keep the aligned tissue in better balance. Each client needs to be considered in an individualized setting.