Freedom Versus Integration
Much is made about the difference between theory and practice. Pragmatists will assert that all that matters is how you get he work done. That is certainly true, but equally trivial. Rolfers work according to an overriding paradigm they have. Of course, everyone always feels that they are doing “just what this client needs”, as […]
Report on Research
As I stated in my earlier report, the Rolfing Research Advisory Group decided to develop a research plan that reflects the needs of the Rolfing community. This plan will focus on identifying the benefits as well as the contra-indications and possible side effects of Rolfing. The research program is designed to use research as a […]
Rolfing… An Eye to the Future
BH: What’s the case for insuring your employees for Rolfing? LM: We put Rolfing in place in 1989 because we’re very progressive with case management as it relates to medical clients’ general health insurance and that is having personal experience with Rolfing. Our plan also offers chiropractic care, of 26 visits a year. (Literal cost […]
Getting Beyond Manipulation and Movement Cue to an Integration of Structural and Functional lnterventions
I must preface this article by making explicit my assumption that adaptive capability precedes in importance how a person looks in before and after pictures. This may seem common sense, but most of the Rolfed bodies I have come across are no more adaptable or intelligent than un rolfed ones. In some ways they are […]
Impulse Formation in Underresponsive Tissue
How do we as Rolfers work with our clients where tension, holding and awareness seem to be lacking, where their tissue is flaccid, less responsive, and slower to respond to touch and verbal suggestion? How do we vary our touch; do we press harder or softer? Do we ask f or movement? Do we look […]
Bell’s Palsy
One-sided swelling of the facial nerve within its canal which gives rise to paralysis or weakness of the facial muscles supplied by the nerve. Most commonly Idiopathic and/or familial, occasion ally associated with Herpes zoster or simplex, sometimes caused by exposure to cold. Usually arises suddenly (over a few days) and presents with total or […]
Jungian Psychology and Rolfing
BH: You’ve gone in a particular direction with the question of Rolling and psychotherapy…. NF: I had a relatively difficult childhood. I was on the couch in psycho analysis tit New York when I was nineteen, the locus then being that I had been in and out of four different colleges. It was very important […]
Gravity, Lift, and Inertia – Part II
LIFT IN THE BODY Perhaps a close look at the ways living organisms have solved the problems of gravity can teach us about physics in action. A recent article by Rolfer Austin McElroy’ explains the concept of lift as it applies to the Rolf work. His model, reproduced here in Figure 1,demonstrates with helium balloons […]
Therapy Balls and Rolfing
Introducing therapy balls into my Rolfing sessions has proved to be somewhat like Jonathan Jo’s wheelbarrow full of surprises. They provide unexpected solutions to a wide range of the structural challenges we see in our offices. I was pleased to learn following my presentation at last year’s Annual Meeting that many Rolfers already have a […]
Perception and the Cognitive Theory of Life:
When it comes to the practice of Rolfing®, it is not much of an exaggeration to say perception is everything. One of the most important and difficult skills that every Rolfer must learn is the ability to “see.” The problem of teaching students to perceive the whole person in accordance with our five taxonomies of […]