ABSTRACT In this interview, Lina Amy Hack interviews Marilyn Beech about the history and early development of the International Association of Structural Integrators (IASI). Beech delves into the challenges and achievements surrounding creating structural integration as an internationally recognized professional category. Once formed, the IASI volunteers developed the Certification Exam for Structural Integration (CESI) to standardize entry-level professional competencies and promote distinctiveness in the f ield. Hack and Beech reflect on the first IASI symposium in 2005, and Beech offers some future thoughts about the profession.

ABSTRACT This conversation with Rolfer™ and photographer David Kirk-Campbell shares insight into his iconic images of Dr. Ida P. Rolf in the 1970s. The discussion covers the context and motivation behind the three distinctive photos available to members of the Dr. Ida Rolf Institute®, Kirk-Campbell’s memories of Rolf’s teaching, insights from receiving three private sessions from Rolf, and building a practice in four different European cities in the 1980s. Key details include Kirk-Campbell’s relationship with Rolf and other influential figures in the Rolfing® community, and the necessity of crediting the photographer by inserting close to the Dr. Rolf image – Photo credit: David Kirk-Campbell.

ABSTRACT Elisa Jane Noel, former Board Chair of the Guild for Structural Integration, talks about her mentor, Emmett Hutchins (1934-2016), with Editor-in-Chief of Structure, Function, Integration, Lina Amy Hack.

ABSTRACT Author Briah Anson speaks about her forty-five-year career as a Certified Advanced Rolfer and Rolf Movement Practitioner. Lina Amy Hack interviews Anson about her 2023 second edition of Rolfing®: Stories of Personal Empowerment. Anson is passionate about getting the word out to the general public about the health and vitality that people experience after having Rolf’s work. Her books feature how she has been able to support the growth and recovery of people of all ages, from infancy to older adulthood. Also, her love of animals led her to develop an expertise in working with animals of all kinds, including horses, dogs, birds (wild and domestic), and one cougar named Brent.

ABSTRACT In this interview, Rolfing® instructor Marius Strydom presents his path to becoming the first Rolfer in South Africa and his spatial approach to the work. Strydom explains how space is subjective for each person and that Rolfers invite inquiries into their clients’ perception of space by asking about what they are specifically experiencing. Developing a broad perceptual field for both internal body space and the space around one’s body helps people stay in the present moment and have the possibility of a new body experience.

ABSTRACT In the first “Meet My Rolfer®” column, Lina Amy Hack interviews her Rolfer, Dean Bergstrom. They discuss Bergstrom’s practice in Terrace, British Columbia, Canada, and how he went from being a logger to a Rolfer. There was a time that Bergstrom had a Rolfing® RV where he and his wife Sue Bergstrom did a seventeen day circuit offering Rolfing sessions and Skillful Touch Massage sessions to their region of Canada. Bergstrom and Hack talk about how they met and became colleagues.

ABSTRACT Researchers Andreas Brandl, DO, and Robert Schleip, PhD, Rolfing® Instructor, discuss their 2023 peer-reviewed publication about the increase of microcirculation observed in thoracolumbar fascia after a myofascial release protocol. Study design, measurement tools, and application for manual therapy practitioners are considered.

In this interview, Libby Eason, Chair of the Board of Directors for the Dr. Ida Rolf Institute® (DIRI), describes the offer of membership to graduates of the Guild for Structural Integration in 2023. The Guild for Structural Integration announced dissolution after over thirty years of teaching the work of Ida Rolf, PhD (1896-1979) by Peter N. Melchior (1931-2005) and Emmett Hutchins (1934-2016). A process was put in place for Guild members who are in good standing to apply to join DIRI — an invitation to find a new professional home. Eason discusses the requirements and limitations of this offer.

ABSTRACT For years, Jan H. Sultan, Advanced Rolfing® instructor of the Dr. Ida Rolf Institute®, has been developing a coherent approach to the mysteries of the sacrum from the structural integration perspective. In this interview, Sultan gives insight into some of the biomechanical and physiological movements of the sacrum and a few suggested applications to resolving common strain patterns in the low back region.

ABSTRACT Words we hear, read, speak, or even think can evoke reactions in our bodies. In this interview, Rolfer Monica Canducci discusses the embodiment of words. Canducci teaches people to work with mental imagery to improve the comfort they feel in their bodies, not as a talk therapist, but as a somatic educator. Learning the familiar and safe words for each client can enhance teamwork during a session.