With the publication of Infinite Mind: The Science of Human Vibrations (364 pp., Malibu Publishing Co., Malibu, CA 90265), Valerie Hunt has once again distinguished her self in service to the Rolfing community in particular and to the human community in general. Dr. Hunt, who first came to our attention through her research of Rolfing from neuromuscular, energy field, and emotional approaches in the early seventies, and who in 1994 took on the mantle of keynote speaker at the Annual Meeting, has in her new book given ample cause for us to offer her our attention once again.

The book is as much an exploration of Dr. Hunt’s mind as it is an investigative chronicle of her pioneering work in the scientific study of human vibrations. Infinite Mind consequently has the feeling of a mixed-genre work. It carries her enthusiasm as both an inquiring scientific mind, and as a convert to the realms of the mystical who hopes to draw others to share in what she knows to be true from her wide ranging and heartfelt experience. As a result, Infinite Mind defies being easily categorized as does Dr. Hunt herself. The big picture is not easily captured on a small screen! Nevertheless, she provides us with a lively and highly readable account which, to use her own category, draws one into an energetic “transaction” with the author through her text. While the transaction may be thrilling for some and maddening for others, if you dare to engage, you will not likely regret the experience.

In the first chapters, Hunt tells the story of her own movement from skepticism to conviction with regard to human energy field phenomena. That initial movement was not an act of blind faith at all. Rather, Hunt’s massive accumulation of electronic data ultimately proved convincing to her. It was, in fact, her 1972 study of Rolfing mentioned above which provided her with the parameters for future research which has repeatedly demonstrated what she discovered then.

In the Rolfing study, Hunt electronically monitored the activity at the geographical location of a subject’s chakras, (reputed energy centers of the human body), while they were being Rolfed. This information she recorded on tape. Simultaneously, Rosalyn Bruyere, known at the time for her reported ability to “read the aura,” gave a running commentary of her visual impressions of the human energy field in terms of color, light and the movement of energy as she saw it relative to the subject as a whole, his or her chakras, and the field of the Rolfer. Hunt then managed to tease laboriously from this extremely complex tangle of data specific signatory patterns which could be consistently correlated in apparently spectacular degree with the colors and intensity of energetic phenomena as reported by Bruyere. The upshot of this is that Hunt’s study not only revealed a means to measure the impressive changes which Rolfing can provoke in a client’s musculature and movement patterns, but also demonstrated that it is possible to record and document changes in the energy field activity of a subject as indicated by the frequencies and intensities of the color signature data. Applications and paths opened by this research and other projects into the realms of what Hunt calls the “mind field” fill the balance of the book.

Hunt laces her account with numerous personal anecdotes ranging from humorous to amazing to bizzarre, peppering her science to become palatable for those uninitiated in the discourse of the laboratory technician, but perhaps over-spicing it for the “objective” reader. Mindful but not daunted by the potential for criticism on this point, Hunt is careful to remind the reader of the roots of paradigm-shifting discoveries in the dreams and mystical experiences of the great geniuses of our era, from Einstein to Jung and beyond. And just as charismatic leaders in the history of religion invariably had the experiences to which their followers aspire through the repetition of ritual, so also is it left to the followers of scientific visionaries the burden to repeat tedious experiments and prove their truths to the masses.

In her book, Hunt does something of both. She mixes her experience and evidence provocatively in her effort to expand the consciousness of her readership, and to offer insights into healing and the untapped potentials of the species and the mind. Rolfers would do well to read this book, both for its relevance to the history and impact of our work, as well as for the excitement of personal exploration which it inspires.

Author’s note: Dr. Hunt’s book is available through the publisher noted above or directly from the Rolf Institute.