ABSTRACT In this in-depth dialogue, Lina Amy Hack speaks with Aline Newton and Rebecca Carli-Mills about the expression “too much body,” which came up in the context of the 2022 Tonic Function Study Group online class exploring the approach of French Rolfer®, Hubert Godard. Together they explore how clients may have become overly focused on their bodies as objects – on shape, symmetry, and control – rather than on embodied experience, relationship with gravity, and the environment. Newton and Carli-Mills emphasize that embodiment is a quality every human has, and perception of our embodiment is not a fixed state but an ongoing process of sensing and relating to the world. Through examples from dance, athletic training, and client work, they show how overemphasis on visual correction and muscular control can interfere with natural coordination and expression.

ABSTRACT At the 7 Fascia Research Congress in New Orleans, Louisiana, Dr. Carla Stecco shared her enthusiasm about the growing global collaboration and scientific rigor in fascia research. Stecco discusses her keynote on lipedema, revealing that affected individuals have thicker, more collagen-rich superficial fascia and larger, poorly supported adipose lobules. Also, Stecco suggested that precise knowledge of which fascial layers are affected by fascial pathology can help practitioners choose the most appropriate manual techniques.

ABSTRACT Anatomist Gil Hedley recently finished his Nerve Tour lecture series, over the course of a year and a half, offering over a hundred dates where he described the whole human nervous system in a five-and-a-half-hour presentation. This article is a conversation between Hedley and Certified Advanced Rolfer™ Lina Amy Hack, who attended the North American Zoom presentation. They explore the nervous system as a “nerve tree,” and the interconnectedness of humans with nature. Hedley shares about the life of the donor for the whole-body nerve dissection, and the importance of honoring the donor’s gift while learning these profound anatomy lessons. He contrasts regional anatomy with his wholistic, integral anatomy model. The conversation highlights Hedley’s unique approach to anatomy education that emphasizes the living, interconnected nature of the human form.

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.