The Translucent Human
Let’s begin with a very simple question, one that I have asked a lot of people including a number of medical professionals. If you took all the cells out of a human body what would you have left? I mean this literally. If you removed every muscle cell, organ cell, glandular cell, nervous system cell, […]
Structure in Free Float
ROLFING AND GRAVITY In my article on joint motility (August 1996 Rolf Lines) there is an introductory discussion of an understanding of gravity that goes beyond the Newtonian view. In working to understand the full significance of joint motility I began an earnest exploration of the scientific fundamentals of motion, verticality, balance and gravity. This […]
Normal Function for Rolfers
Economy of structure and its function (posture and movement) is the basic idea of structural integration. This focuses on two essential questions: 1. How can we work more economically as Rolfers? 2. What are the benefits we can expect during daily work? Working economically is a necessity for Rolfers’ daily work if they don’t want […]
Welcome Back, Newton!
INTRODUCTION The concept of gravity, as explained by Isaac Newton, is a basic tenet in the theory and practice of Rolfing. Ida Rolf never explained exactly in terms of physics her observation that gravity can play a constructive role if the structure of a body is balanced optimally. Unfortunately, until ten years ago there was […]
Rolfing Ruminations
As Rolfers, we struggle to explain what it is we do. There is an intricacy and complexity to the experience of our work that is richer than we can say. I find that the most fruitful discussions are the ones in which I am actively engaged in trying to bring forth from that complexity a […]
Scoliosis: What to Do?
It is in light of these declarations by Dr. lda Rolf that we can give effective support to our clients who have scoliosis. Rolling is the most powerful tool available to align a body that is unbalanced by scoliosis, provided that we are able to put everything “where it belongs.” This article is for Rollers […]
Structural Vocabulary
A central component of Rolfing® is the assessment and description of our clients’ geometric organization. Despite the importance of this part of Rolfing, I have encountered many different and ambiguous ways of describing structural geometry. I have felt frustrated with first having to clarify what was being described before I could think or talk about […]
Making the Most of Printed Advertising
Encouraged by your response to previous sharing of Rolfing advertisements, I am offering four more for you to inspect, modify, or borrow as is. Some suggestions regarding printed advertisements: Printed advertising is rarely useful on a one-shot basis. Choose an outlet for your ads and a frequency that you can sustain over time. You will […]
Letter from Carter Beckett
Dear Colleagues, Many of the responses to Jan Sultan’s letter (Rolf Lines, March 1983) express concern over the matter of using rolfing to fix or alleviate symptoms. I think it would be helpful in this continuing dialogue for each of us to define these terms when we use them. If to “fix” means to stop […]
Post Advanced Seminar
We have just completed a three week class for Advanced Rolfers and Movement Teachers, and comments which follow are to share some observations and reflections on the process. A CONTEXT OF PEERS. We began with the notion that, at this level of continuing education, it was appropriate to think in terms of a context which […]