The Ethics of Rolfing: Some Reflections and Notes – Part II
Benefits of Rolfing It is a challenge to present Rolfing in a way that neither distorts the work nor endangers its future. Rolfing creates medical, psychological, and spiritual changes. Most of us became Rolfers because we value the changes that being Rolfed made in us. Yet we have discouraged one another from being too open […]
How to Use Generous Movement in Your Rolfing Practice – Part II
Movement Teaching Is a Natural Companion to Rolfing Probably in one way or another most Rolfers teach their clients about movement. The situation itself, the relationship between practitioner and client, almost demands that clients be encouraged to take the responsibility for examining and changing their movement behavior. Rolfers and other practitioners of structural integration those […]
Dealing with the Emotions
I am now going to cover some general theory and method concerning the emotions as they appear in body work. Then I’d like to go into the specifics of body structure, posture, and emotional issues; look at the types and techniques that go with each specific muscle mobilization pattern; and maybe get into some of […]
An Interview with Anna Hyder
BH: What would you like to talk about today, Anna? AH: Well, I think I want to tell you more about me. BH: Okay, great! AH: We’ve talked about the organization and Dr. Rolf and folks that we know, and I think you all ought to note that you might want to know about me. […]
How to Use Generous Movement in Your Rolfing Practice – Part I
Every Rolfer is familiar with a story like Edna’s. Ever since a car accident she had suffered chronic back pain. She had “tried everything.” She was finding her piano teaching increasingly difficult. Before launching into work on the table, I asked her to describe what she did in an ordinary day, and suggested that we […]
The Ethics of Rolfing: Some Reflections and Notes – Part I
The vision of human embodiment that Rolfing embraces has important consequences for the ethics of its practice. James Drane writes that, “At some point ethics is about our vision, and an ethical question pushed to its final point represents a search for vision.” (Drane, 1982, p. 39). In this paper I will discuss some of […]
Primal Structure and Final Integration
Much has been said about how deep and lasting Rolfing’s effects are. It has been acknowledged that there exists a hierarchy of effects from Rolfing for any given structure. That is, Rolfing might have more profound results for a given person because she or he “opens” more or “allows” for things to happen. But there […]
Rolfing: a Third Paradigm Approach to Body-Structure
Before I became a member of the Council of the Certification Program for Massage Therapists/Body workers, I participated as a member of the Job Analysis Advisory Committee. Part of our job was to help in the creation of a job analysis survey questionnaire in order to determine the knowledge, skills, and abilities required for an […]
Effects of Soft Tissue Mobilization on Pelvic Inclination Angle, Lumbar Lordosis, and Parasympathetic Tone
Members of the Advisory Board to the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research, I thank you for this opportunity today to testify. I am a physical therapist and researcher representing Christie Clinic Association in Campaign, Illinois. The area of research that we have been involved in pertains to the effects that soft tissue manipulation (STM) […]
The Radical Orthodoxy… of Hans Flury and Willi Harder
“Get your physics in place, then worry about the metaphysics,” Dr. Rolf used to say. And she did her best to live up to her own words, putting the emphasis in her work on the materiality of the body and its behavior in gravity. She knew there was more going on, but she realized she […]