[:en]Introduction

In May 2015, Rolfer Will Johnson brought a unique training to Boulder, Colorado: a four-day class for students who were both meditators and bodyworkers entitled “The Line: A Professional Bodywork Training for Sitting Meditators.” Many in our community talk about the effect of Rolfing® Structural Integration (SI) on consciousness, and recognize this impact on our clients. Johnson, however, after circling this question for years through his own study and practice and a large ouevre of writing (see bibliography), has in recent years created a powerful methodology and experiential incubator for direct exploration – what he has termed his “grand experiment” (Johnson 2012a). Thus far he had presented it in his eight-day Buddhist retreats and in private work with clients. In announcing this four-day class, he stated, “My vision is to integrate soma and dharma into a practice of balancing and surrender that has the potential for a profound healing of both tensions in the body and contractions in the mind. . . . I’ve decided to offer this training so that graduates can then return home and assist groups and individuals seeking to unlock the potential of sitting-meditation practices” (Johnson 2015) – taking it to the streets, so to speak.

The Viewpoint

In his book Balance of Body, Balance of Mind (1993), Johnson postulates that body tensions, such as we work with in Rolfing SI, anchor us to the familiar sense of self, the ‘ego mind’ that many meditation practitioners in nondual traditions are seeking to transcend. If body tension tethers the ego, doesn’t it make sense that meditators would benefit from bodywork, particularly a form that radically alters the familiar sense of the body, as SI does? Johnson told us that the inception of this particular mash-up of SI and sitting practice he was to teach in class went back to a self-retreat he did years ago, when he invited a fellow Rolfer to work on him every few days over the course of the three-week retreat. The experience was an awakening: Rolfing SI supported ease in having an aligned sitting posture, and that ease and alignment liberated the meditative experience. As Johnson (2012a) has stated, “Just before the two-week mark of that retreat, my body settled into the practice in a way that I had long been struggling to experience, and the vision of alignment / relaxation / resilience as the foundation of meditative experience came rushing forward, so strongly that by the end of the retreat The Posture of Meditation [his 1996 book] had virtually written itself.” Thus, Johnson’s (2012a) description of “the Line as physical foundation for meditative inquiry.”

Johnson’s own meditation background is both Buddhist and Sufi. He has done sitting practice in both the Vajrayana and Hinayana Buddhist traditions, and explored the ecstatic Sufi realm through the poetry of Rumi (publishing translations with Nevit O. Ergin) and a gazing practice that he believes goes back to Rumi and Shams i Tabriz (Johnson 2003). What he finds as a common ground is literally ground, but not in the solid sense; rather, the shimmering, luminous, open ground of true nature that the Vajrayana tradition calls the Mahamudra ground but that is equally recognized in many other spiritual traditions by other names. Johnson (2012a) teaches “a practice based on alignment, relaxation, and resilience in which the entire body stays in subtle, constant motion in resilient response to the force of breath” – this is what opens awareness of the shimmering ground.

Moreover, he asserts that this is embedded in the Buddhist tradition, not something he has invented. As source texts, he referred the class to the meditation instructions from the Satipatthana Sutta, attributed to the historical Buddha, which begin with the directive to sit with the spine straight and upright and culminate in the instruction “as you breathe in, breathe in through the whole body; as you breathe out, breathe out through the whole body.” Likewise from Tilopa’s Song of Mahamudra we have the instructions to “do nothing with the body but relax” and to “become like a hollow bamboo.”

As many meditative traditions have moved either towards a crumpled, slumped posture or a rigidly upright posture that emulates stone Buddha statues, Johnson believes that his contribution is to point meditators back to these instructions, and to bring in the bodywork piece to support relaxation of the body. As he noted in an early discussion (Johnson 2012a) of plans for a retreat that would incorporate SI sessions, “The practices that I teach, while completely within the Buddhist tradition, have been heavily influenced by my understanding and application of Dr. Rolf’s vision of The Line. The sitting practices that I share and promote – based on the three simple principles of alignment (the upright vertical), relaxation (surrendering the weight of the body to gravity), and resilience (the understanding that everything moves) – are as much an application of Dr. Rolf’s vision as they are of traditional dharma teachings, and increasingly students of meditation are recognizing that these principles are indispensable to the goals of dharma practice.”

Looking at this further, Johnson (2012a) states, “If you can create a condition in which breath generates responsive motion at every joint throughout that body, the dimension of experience that the Line references begins to appear naturally and spontaneously. What I refer to as the Line, then, is not just a function of an integration of physical structure alone, but of the explored integration of body, breath, and consciousness which results in a radical shift not only in how I experience the body, but in what I experience my ‘self’ to be.

Johnson has been particularly supported in his work by a few Buddhist teachers, including Reggie Ray who leads the Dharma Ocean sangha (community) in Boulder (their center hosted the four-day training in May). Johnson describes Ray’s teaching as “deeply body oriented,” and says that Ray was intrigued by the formulation of a retreat that would include SI, leading to Johnson teaching at Ray’s Blazing Mountain retreat center

in Crestone, Colorado (Johnson 2012a). In his first few retreats, Johnson had the SI team arrive early, to have a few days to orient them to his methodology and the four-session series they would be using for the meditators. The format of four sessions was born of the eight-day retreat schedule, Johnson says: providing a session every other day seemed about right and allowed the SI practitioners the opportunity to sit part of the retreat themselves.

Training Practitioners and Sangha in an Urban Retreat

The Boulder class in May was Johnson’s first foray into training practitioners outside of a residential retreat format. He encouraged us, however, to consider it an “urban retreat,” and to hold a contained, distraction-free environment, in both class and our outside time. He emphasized that the impact of the four series comes not merely from the combination of a meditator and a bodyworker, but from the presence and awareness both hold as the work is being done. Students had to apply to attend, and were expected to have a meditation practice besides being bodywork practitioners. (Johnson has thus far only used SI practitioners at retreats, but here experimented with opening the training to other bodyworkers. Of the fourteen of us, eight were SI folk – mostly Rolfers – and the others came from a scattering of other bodywork practices. The teaching addressed us as both meditators and bodyworkers, with the intention that we would be able to take the material home to both verbally coach our clients and meditation communities in meditation posture and practice, and also to offer supportive bodywork.

Each morning began with the material for the coaching part. Johnson emphasized that the Line is functional rather than structural, and that it arises from alignment and openness to breath and subtle movement:

The Line is first transmitted to meditators through a series of exercises and guided meditations designed to awaken and relax the body while remaining alert and aware in the sitting posture. Attention is first paid to the alignment of the upright torso resting above the supporting base of the lower body. Once [that] is established, the meditator can then begin to relax completely, to surrender the weight of the body to the pull of gravity. And, finally, for relaxation to continue over time, subtle transmitted motions, in the manner of an amoeba, need to be allowed to move through the entire body in resilient response to the force of breath, not unlike how a wave moves through a body of water. Through this tripartite focus on alignment, relaxation, and resilient motion, we can create a sitting posture that supports us in letting go into our meditation rather than bracing against it . . . . The Line can’t be imposed from without. It needs to be evoked from within, and so the guided meditations are presented not in the form of step-by-step instructions, but rather as somatic koans, evocative statements that the meditator explores not with his or her mind but through the feeling presence of the body (Johnson 2015).

There was meditation practice both sitting and lying down (easier to begin to experience relaxation). We were encouraged to reconsider our meditation cushions, as a thin or flat cushion ultimately results in unnecessary pressure on feet and knees in long sittings. To this end, he invited all of us to try his three-layer, six-inch-high foam meditation cushion (like a cloud!) and to contrast that to the traditional zabutons that he termed “pancakes.” He brought in the relevant quotes from the suttas (sutras), and fielded questions both simple and complex related to the material at hand as well as those generated by the experiences of a bunch of body-sophisticated meditators. To the Gautama Buddha and Tilopa quotes above that reference breath and relaxation, he added one from Ida Rolf: “In a truly balanced and integrated body, breath will occur in all the joints in the body, and that includes the sutures in the skull as well as the joints between the small bones of the feet.”

There was also discussion of ways we could bring this into our own communities, whether Buddhist or another tradition (Johnson emphasizes that these practices are not restricted to any particular traditions). For those concerned that they don’t have specific credentials to be meditation teachers, he stressed that one can be a guide and support others in their meditation practices based on what one has found helpful for oneself – credentials from a lineage holder are not needed for that, just being a warm, open human.

Each morning concluded with a demonstration of one session of the four series, preparing us for the work of designing SI sessions to support sitting practice and, ultimately, consciousness. These sessions were then practiced on each other in the afternoons, so that we each could experience the work.

As noted above, the four-session series Johnson developed arose out of the eight-day retreat format it was first used in. He explained that he tried to condense key aspects of the Rolfing Ten Series, and demonstrated a ‘recipe’ of sorts, but also invited each of us as experienced practitioners to work as we were guided. Sessions 1-3 of his four series were done as tablework and encapsulated elements of Ten-Series sessions 1-3, 4-6, and 7-9 respectively. Session 4, the integrative capstone, was conducted with the client in his or her typical meditation posture (most students used seated postures on cushions, one used a chair), actively engaged in practice while receiving the work. An example of this is shown in Figure 1. As is typical of most SI sessions, the client is in underwear, so in a retreat setting the sessions would be done in private, with the meditator bringing his meditation cushions from the meditation hall. Working in one’s private practice, the practitioner would have the client bring his or her meditation cushions to the Rolfing studio.

Figure 1: Will Johnson working on a client
in seated meditation posture.

While the last session clearly facilitates the meditator practicing while receiving work, Johnson encouraged that all sessions be conducted with both the SI practitioner and meditator-client engaged in mindfulness to body sensations. One student asked, “What are we contacting as we work?” The best answer seemed to be that we aspire to be in touch with the mahamudra ground from which all form arises, both through our hands and through the awareness of the SI practitioner and the client-meditator.

The first three evenings of class, Johnson gave talks open to the public. He presented similar conceptual material and then led body-based meditation practices. The class objective was not only to experience the principles of more deeply, but also to see how they can be shared with an audience of sitting meditators” (Johnson 2015a) ), so here we got to see the group teaching context. Although open to the general public, it seemed that mostly Buddhist practitioners showed up, quite a good number, indicating that people do crave more ease in their sitting practices. Johnson invited participants to let go of rigidity in their seated posture and to soften into allowing sensation to permeate the body. There was no evening session scheduled the last day of class, but Johnson may want to include that in future as he said that having us students circulate the room to provide individual guidance would have been useful.

Comments from Students

As this class was pretty revolutionary in its experiential content, I’ve asked some of the other SI practitioners who participated to share their impressions.

Matthew Berean, Certified Rolfer

The relationship of the structural movement of form in space and how it relates to mental states has intrigued me for decades. In my exploration of this experience, I eventually found my way to Rolfing SI. Dr. Rolf’s work taught me a simple relationship dynamic for experiencing the myriad permutations of life’s expression. After learning of the work Will Johnson was exploring around structure and breath in the context of meditation and awareness, I was interested to meet him and learn more about what he had uncovered.

I found the whole class experience to be personally very productive in refining the description of many of my own physical and meditative experiences while also very transformative for fellow class participants. One of the most unique approaches that Will takes in offering this information, particularly with respect to meditation instruction, is the acknowledgement of listening to the body. Well-intentioned, experienced, and aspiring meditators are given permission to seek ease in the body and the movement of breath by lying down rather than persisting in a seated position if they are in discomfort.

During the course of the evening teachings, the sensory experience of movement in the body was explored through gross physical movements as well as subtle movements of multiple joints in the body while seated and while lying down. As someone who has been exploring these concepts with varying degrees of success for many years, it was wonderful to see how Will’s guidance through these exercises allowed so many of the participants to be able to shift in the approach to their meditative practice and find a greater sense of ease in the process. Some of these simple somatic exercises highlighted the subtle spinal movements in the body related to each wave of breath, explored a progressively building awareness of breath in each direction of space through the body, and described the inherent empty nature of awareness that presents when those movements are allowed to fully express themselves in the physical form.

I have already found practical applications of Will’s work in refining how I explain fluid facet movement of the spine to my clients. I now have more material to incorporate into workshops for yoga and meditative groups to help students feel the relationship between structure, breath, and mental ease.

Nathan Hanson, Rolfing Student

Experiencing one of Will Johnson’s eight-day intensives where the participants receive a bodywork session every other day is what inspired me to become a Rolfer. For me, meditation is about relaxing and realigning the structures of body and mind, and to have a skilled practitioner assist me in this process has been an indispensable tool for helping me find a natural sense of space and ease in my sitting practice.

As a current student at the Rolf Institute®, having had the opportunity to receive instruction from Will on how I can help others experience what I experienced was a tremendous blessing. Not only do I highly recommend this work to anyone who is a practicing meditator, I also strongly suggest it to anyone who sits.

Carl Rabke, Feldenkrais™ and SI Practitioner

Will Johnson stands in ripe ground in terms of the cross-pollination of traditional dharma practices and the work Dr. Ida Rolf. I have long resonated with Will’s books on embodiment, and since attending his retreat on the ‘Line’, I have noticed a profound shift in my practice on the cushion, as well as my practice on the table working with clients.

At one point in the workshop Will said, “My aspiration is to free the dharma from the corner of frozen stillness it has painted itself into.” I don’t find any arrogance in that statement. Rather, it is a recognition of the truth that we, as somatic practitioners, have something of great value to offer the world of meditation. Likewise, the principles of meditation and the cultivation of awareness offer something to us that can deepen our work as practitioners, and the benefit that we offer our clients. Will has an elegant simplicity in the way he holds, and invites us to explore, the essence of the teachings of the Buddha and the open inquiry into the living qualities of and felt sense of the Line. I highly recommend his work.

Anne Hoff is a Certified Advanced Rolfer with a practice in Seattle, Washington. She is also a teacher of the Diamond Approach® to Inner Realization and the Editor-in-Chief of this journal.

References

Johnson, W. 2015. Email announcing four-day class to SI practitioners on his mailing list, January 12, 2015, and attached class description.

Johnson, W. 2012a. Personal communication (email announcing first retreat to interested SI participants), January 19, 2012.

Selected Bibliography

Johnson, W., D. Newby, J. Ashley 2013 Jun. “Eight Days in the Mountains: Bringing SI into a Buddhist Meditation Retreat.” Structural Integration: The Journal of the Rolf Institute® 41(2):43-46.

Johnson, W. 2012b. Breathing Through the Whole Body: The Buddha’s Instructions on Integrating Mind, Body, and Breath. Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions.

Johnson, W. 2009 Dec. “A Polarized Conversation About, Amongst Other Things, ‘The Line.’ Structural Integration: The Journal of the Rolf Institute® 37(4):13-16. Available at https://novo.pedroprado.com.br.

Johnson, W. and A. Hoff 2006 Dec. “Embodiment and the Line.” Structural Integration: The Journal of the Rolf Institute® 34(4):24-27. Available at http://pedroprado. com.br.

Johnson, W. 2005. Yoga of the Mahamudra: The Mystical Way of Balance. Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions.

Johnson, W. 2003. The Spiritual Practices of Rumi. Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions.

Johnson, W. 1996. The Posture of Meditation. Boston: Shambhala Publications.

Johnson, W. 1993. Balance of Body, Balance of Mind. Atlanta, Georgia: Humanics.Will Johnson’s Grand Experiment[:]