Exercise for Sway-Backs
I recently developed a movement exercise that dramatically helps reduce anterior lumbar sway in people whom I call the “fourth body type”. These are people who are overweight, have large over-developed gastrocnemius muscles, large, over- developed quadriceps, deep anterior sway of the lumbar spine, and round faces. (They differ from Jan Sultan’s “diplomat type” who […]
Shifts in Pelvic Inclination Angle and Parasympathetic Tone Produced by Rolfing Soft Tissue Manipulation
Advocates of manual therapy have largely based their methods on the traditional osteopathic premise that an integrated or balanced musculoskeletal structure will be reflected in optimal physiological function(1,2). According to A. T. Still: ?There is no real difference between structure and function: they are two sides of the same coin if structure does not tell […]
Sheldon´s Constitutional Psychology
With the publication of The Varieties of Human Physique in 1940, William H. Sheldon presented a system for classifying man according to body build. Sheldon claimed not only that an individual’s body structure was unchanging through his life but that a predictable temperamental makeup was associated with a particular body type. The idea of classifying […]
Stress and Function
Rolfers see stress in the body as a reflection of the internal organization of the connective tissue system, and in movement a s balance versus disorganized function. It is the theme in Rolling to reduce stress of entropy the stress of disorder by reorganizing connective tissue around fascial movement planes so as to stablish an […]
Rolfing: a Holistic Vision of Structural Integration
Presented at the First International Holistic Conference in Brasilia, Brasil, in March, 1987. A very important word in my life, since it set me on the search for self-healing, is hypochondria. At age eighteen, the medical doctors I had been appealing to for help told me to go away, that my problems were all in […]
Understanding Rolfing
Like all material structures, the human body is subject to the basic laws of physics. The purpose of Rolling is to better balance the body around a vertical line in the field of gravity so that gravity begins to support the body, rather than tear it down. The “organ” of response of gravitational law is […]
Effects of Structural Integration on State-Trait Anxiety
Of the numerous new intervention techniques designed to improve the general well-being through postural alignment, Structural Integration has received rapid and popular acclaim. Structural Integration, or rolfing as it is popularly lagoon, is a technique for reordering the body so as to bring its major segments-head shoulder, thorax, pelvis and legs-into a finer vertical alignment. […]
What Structural Integration (Rolfing) Is and Why It Works
Recently an increasing number of people have been seeking new ways to enhance their own and others’ ability to function as full human beings. Excited by the notion that their lives might be incomparably richer as a result? these people have flocked to “growth centers” like Esalen Institute, have bought thousands of books like William […]
Holistic Systems Analysis: Toward a Scientific Understanding of Structural Integration
The above statement represents the core of a scientific truth that believe will soon result in Structural Integration (SI) being recognized as a major scientific breakthrough. This intuition is based on the fact that the most comprehensive models of the universe emerging from the “new physics” (based on Einstein’s vision of a unified field theory) […]
Rolfing and Associated Changes in the Angle of Pelvic Inclination and Autonomic Activity
First, I would like to express our thanks and appreciation to all of you who have given so freely to Phase II of the research project. Your support has indeed made, this project possible. As I outlined in the May-June, 1987 issue of Rolf Lines, our research is a joint project of the University of […]