“Knock knock…Who’s there?” What was there was a letter from the New Mexico Massage Board stating I was practicing massage without a license and must comply with their education requirements or immediately stop working.

At the time, this announcement came as quite a surprise. After all, I had been comfortably working in my Rolfing® Structural Integration office for twenty years, proudly displayed my certificates of training, and was a faculty member of the Rolf Institute® of Structural Integration.

It wasn’t long before I learned the history behind the written warning. An insurance company had called the Massage Board to ask if I was a Certified Rolfer(TM) in regards to reimbursing a client for her Rolfing expenses. Needless to say, the Board did not know. But as they felt that Rolfers were violating state regulations, they chose to make an example of me, as well as three or four other New Mexico Rolfers.

Therefore, the Massage Board demanded I take a host of courses, pay various fees, and pass a test containing almost zero questions relating to the structural / fascial work that I do. I refused. My clients assured me they would write letters, march in protest, and sneak in the back door of my Rolfing office if necessary. However, when I received a certified letter ordering me to cease and desist my practice or pay a $1000 fine, I became distraught. What crime I had committed? And so began the challenge to change the New Mexico legislation regarding the classification of Structural Integration.

What follows is the story of how is it possible to change a law and legal persona of an entire professional community. The task was not easy and required hundreds of work hours, thousands of e-mails and countless phone calls. It meant convincing and then recruiting people of legislate power to assist our cause.

KEY MOMENT: I called my senator in the state legislatureat her home and outlined the issue. She responded, “Rolfing is not massage, everyone knows that. This law was not written to come down on people like you. I will write the Massage Board.” She then advised me to get a bill written and change the law, as this would be the only foolproof way of protecting Structural Integration.

The outreach began and everyone with experience writing bills for their profession (therapists, social workers, reflexologists, etc.) was contacted. “How do I do this? How do I write a bill? I don’t want to do this!”

KEY: I met a Feldenkrais Method® practitioner working to get Feldenkrais, Polarity, and Trager® out from under the massage act. She passed on history that saved me hours investigating the origins of law and the efforts to change it. She became a collaborative friend and ally, and suggested I attend Massage Board meetings; she had been going for years to keep an eye on their workings.

Reluctantly, I went, and once there discovered the Board had no idea what Rolfing was. I spoke to them about our trademark and the illegality of massage schools teaching Rolfing or any other brand of Structural Integration, as some were doing. They admitted to being unaware of the trademark and asked me to educate them and their lawyers about Rolfing.

KEY: Find people in positions of power that understand Rolfing. Prior to this meeting, Certified Rolfer Susan Meyers and I made an appointment to talk to the head of the state licensing boards, as I had heard she was sympathetic to alternative health fields. Thanks to the discussion, she attended the above-mentioned meeting and actually reprimanded the Massage Board for attempting to regulate a Rolfer. She also stated that a different way must be found for working with people who have service marks and ethics procedures.

KEY: The International Association of Structural Integrators (IASI) and the Rolf Institute executive directors wrote letters on my behalf. In their correspondence, they described the exceptional level of training Structural Integration practitioners trained at represented schools receive and how it differs drastically from massage therapy.

KEY: My senator, a high-powered veteran of the New Mexico Senate, told me to get on the agenda of the Health and Human Services Committee (she was a committee member). Prior to a legislative session, committees meet to hear who needs bills and then decide which bills to support. Susan and I spent hours preparing a presentation for this committee.

Republicans needed to hear about the over-regulation, Democrats needed to hear about our ability to provide public safety. We put together a folder for each member of the committee (red) with information on Rolf Institute training, the ethics complaint procedures, the history, purpose, etc. of Rolfing, and even included before and after photos of a client in his underwear. Microphone in hand, we both spoke our truths about who we are and who we are not. Susan is also a massage therapist and gave invaluable testimony about her need to be retrained as a Certified Rolfer(TM). It is also vital to note the importance of the service mark, as it provided sound credibility.

The committee unanimously put its stamp of approval on our writing a bill. The main representative, a heavy hitter on the New Mexico House floor, Rick Miera, agreed to be our sponsor. That was big. We now had committee approval and backing from the two top legislators. (Side note: The paid Feldenkrais Method® lobbyist had snuck into the hearing and heard our presentation. He decided it would be a good thing to hitch their bill to our wagon. This was revealed to me later.)

This Health and Human Services Committee presentation was the first of many I would give on Rolfing® to House and Senate Committees. Some had to be three minutes or less, some were longer. (Knowing the truth and strength of Rolf Institute training and having an intimate understating of the profession was vital to the success of these speeches.) After some consideration, the legislators wanted our bill combined with the Feldenkrais bill in an effort of simplification.

KEY: Collaboration with this new group turned out to be invaluable. I brought my sponsors, influential legislators, and history to the bill. The Feldenkrais camp brought an experienced, professional lobbyist and tremendous people power. They had large numbers of supporters attend every meeting. Thanks to this team effort, we became known as the best lobbying group in the capitol. (I emailed the Certified Rolfers™ in New Mexico throughout this process, and 99% showed their support with letters and calls. But know that in-person appearances have a huge influence on committee members and their decisions.)

The New Mexico legislative session was sixty days long with 3,000-plus bills trying to get through. Most bills take years before they make it. We were trying to get passed on our first try, and had to get through two House committees, two Senate committees, the full House, the full Senate, and finally be approved by the governor.

An important aspect of our bill was the unmatched credibility the Rolfing® Structural Integration service mark provided. And because of the service mark’s weight, we decided to only include Certified Rolfers in the bill. Another factor of this decision was that I could only speak frankly about the curriculum, training, procedures of ethics violations, etc. of the Rolf Institute. IASI tried to convince me to include all of their approved schools. However, I believe this would have confused and probably sabotaged the entire project as it would have buried the importance of the Rolfing service mark. Also, no other school showed any interest in the bill. (This is not to say that the Rolf Institute is not in support of IASI efforts for Structural Integration in general. The entire field needs to be distinguished.)

Susan and I spent countless hours working on this project and canceled numerous client sessions in order to make the one-hour drive to the capital so we could speak at hearings (some being cancelled and postponed for hours). We even planted people at the doors of the House and Senate floors and outside members’ offices so we could communicate via cell phones like spies, keeping track of which legislators we needed to talk to and who saw them last. I also discovered who had received Rolfing®, acupuncture, etc. and had their practitioners call them in support of our efforts.

KEY: Clients, family and friends were aggressively engaged and requested to call and email every legislator on each committee and voice their opinions. The legislators started making jokes about passing our bill if we’d stop calling them. We also packed committee hearings with fifteen to twenty-five supporter and practitioners (Feldenkrais Method®, Polarity, Trager, reiki, qi gong). The result? Every committee passed our bill unanimously!

There was no official opposition. However, an audience member did state being against the bill. It was the author of the original massage act who said the bill was not fair, as it meant massage schools would not be able to teach our “modalities”. Our purpose exactly!

KEY: Never refer to structural integration as a modality. We are a distinct profession. Our work cannot be taught in a massage school by massage therapists. Words need to be selected carefully to describe our work.

KEY: No finances were involved in our bill. Republicans supported the idea of reduced regulation. Democrats felt that our trademark provided public safety.

Out of 3,000 bills, 500 made it through this legislative session. Ours was one of them. We never let up for one second. In the final moments on the Senate floor with two hours left before expiration, we were emailing senators on the floor, “VOTE FOR OUR BILL!!!” We passed unanimously with zero opposition. Getting the governor (who is running for President) to sign it was the final task and required more calls, more emails, and more letters. Coincidently, I ran into him on a plane and spoke with him in the aisle about the bill process. (Don’t lose any opportunity to influence anyone.)

What does all this mean to us at the Rolf Institute?

Legislators were impressed with the Rolfing® Structural Integration service mark. It is valuable and worth our dues. Contrary to conventional thinking, regulation is NOT inevitable or always desirable.There is tremendous power in numbers. We succeeded with the help of our deluge of phone calls, letters and personal attendance at every hearing. Believing our work is a distinct profession and portraying it as such is a key concept. If multiple professions join forces, it is critical to speak with one voice.

Paid lobbyists are not essential but key legislators are. Never underestimate “people power” and the democratic process. Find the way to distinguish Rolfing® Structural Integration that will work best in your state.

Thanks to Certified Rolfer Susan Meyers, the Certified Rolfers of New Mexico, Certified Advanced Rolfer Brian Fahey and Heidi Massa, Michael Leffert for editing my presentations and pep talks, the Rolf Institute® Board and Executive Director Thomas Manzione and IASI for their support.

ADDENDUM

Examples of emails:

From the Lobbyist March 17th 10:22 AM

Dear Somatic Practitioners: a few minutes ago with two hours and 20 minutes to go on this final day of the Session B 847 passed the Senate by a unanimous vote! To see any bill make it through four committees and two floor debates without a single dissenting vote is a rare occurrence. This is a great tribute to all who worked so hard to keep up the momentum.

From Rolfing Clients to Legislators

Dear Shannon (chair of a committee) You have a bill waiting to be heard on the floor of the Senate that is very important to me and many others. It’s the Massage Therapy Practice Act exemption HB 847. Please get this through. Without its passage, I will not be able to alleviate the pain I live with every day.

Client: I am NOT a practitioner. I am a 79 year old who is helped by a Certified Advanced Rolfer. Rolfing® is definitely not massage therapy. It is a rigorous restructuring of the myofascial tissue which enables changes to take place bringing the entire body into improved balanced alignment. I am able to walk with a light confident stride. I bless the Certified Rolfers! Please pass this bill.

Rolfing Structural Integration: A Distinct Profession[:]