The Functional Bridge of Rolfing and Movement
Bill: It always seemed to me that Rolf Movement Integration was a misnomer; that it should be called “Rolfing Embodiment” or “Rolfing Functional Integration.” Rebecca: We have issues around the name all the time. Rolfing Movement, as a name, isn’t exactly catchy nor descriptive. We recently changed our name to Rolf Movement Practitioner, with the […]
Gravity, Lift, and Inertia – Part I
SUMMARY Gravity is one of the most significant yet least understood influences on the structure and function of living things. In spite of the best efforts of some of the greatest thinkers of all times, the mechanisms of gravity, lift and inertia remain a mystery. We explore these subjects, beginning with the relationship of the […]
Motility or Mobility?
Bill Smythe: The following distinctions from osteopathy might be helpful: Biokinetic Motility: Outside pressure toward inside. This is based on embryological development where in the first two months there is an outside fluid pressure acting on the membrane system which is epigenetic, i.e., acting outside of genetics. Biodynamic Motility: inside pressure toward outside. This is […]
The Line as a Mudra of Transformation
The Line is often presented as the highest value to which our work can aspire, and yet it is the most neglected aspect of our teaching. We have largely ignored making any attempts at developing a systematic approach to exploring or embodying the Line. We have also largely ignored any systematic exploration of what, for […]
Rolfing, Welfare Reform, Addictions and Individual Change:
In recent years, the writings of Arnold Mindell (such as The Leader as Martial Artist, The Shaman’s Body, Sitting in the Fire, etc.) have generated considerable interest in fields as diverse as organizational development and shamanism. Mindell’s original work was with body symptoms and dreaming, as detailed in books such as Working with the Dreaming […]
Educating Physicians About Rolfing
For several years I have slowly but consistently taken steps to inform and educate physicians in my community about Rolfing. Exactly how successful this project has been is hard to know, yet our efforts seem to be making a difference. By ?making a difference?, I mean the following: Ideally Thom Walker, Iginia Boccalandro and myself, […]
Movement Work Is Not Patterning
February 25, 1982 Dear Rolfer Colleagues, Ever since Judith Aston left The Institute and we movement Teachers regrouped within it, we have had an on-going discussion about what the name of our work should be. One name that has kept recurring is the name Patterning. For six years Structural Patterning was the name of the […]
The Problem of Cranial Movement
Many Rolfers have recently become interested in techniques of cranial manipulation. In doing so, we often uncritically adopt the assumptions underlying these techniques without questioning their scientific and anatomic bases. There is a significant difference of opinion between anatomists and the various schools of cranial movement specialists as to the very existence of “cranial movement”. […]
OptiComp Works!
The day was November 28, 1988, when Rolfer John Davis gave us a receipt for OptiComp system #0001. This day also marked the conclusion of Eva Jo Wu’s practitioner training in which she had ob-served the system in operation throughout the class. After spending about a day with John Davis and watching the OptiComp system […]
Dominique
<img src=’https://novo.pedroprado.com.br/imgs/1990/331-1.jpg’> These are pictures of Dominique. Dominique was suffering from a severe scoliosis caused by Muccopolly Saccaridose /Syndrome of Scheie. Very little is known about this condition: cartilages, heart, lungs, and spleenare affected. Dominique’s pharynx was larger than normal, and she had very abundant and thick mucus. Because of that, and because of the […]