Osteopathic Thoughts on Structure
My career as an osteopathic physician is a natural extension of my Rolfing® Structural Integration (SI) practice in the 1980s. After all these decades, persistence has been a key to the learning process: the body does not yield its structural secrets in a linear timeline nor at my discretion. The various disciplines give you a […]
Peripheral Nerve Work – Compare and Contrast
I attended Dr. Jean-Pierre Barral’s class on peripheral and cranial nerves in 2005. At that time I’d been Rolfing® twenty-seven years. The discovery that nerves were 1) palpable, 2) manipulable, and 3) the source of many skeletal distortions, made a sudden and profound impact on the way I interacted with tissue. Christoph Sommer has written […]
Beyond Pain in Rolfing
INTRODUCTION In 1911 was part of a Rolfers’ delegation to China. I was a new Rolfer and anxious to experience the exchange between Rolfers and Doctors of Traditional Chinese Medicine. We were to learn something about Tuina (TCM Massage) and we were going to demonstrate Rolfing to the Doctors at the Guang An Men Hospital […]
Structural Stretches
Stretching changes the tonus of the myofascial web. Stretching systematically, with the Principles of Rolfing and Rolf Movement Integration in mind, and change the human shape, as well. If we perceive through the sensations that stretching produces, explore our limitations of form through micro-movements, and be present to the resulting tissue releases and autonomic discharges, […]
Report of the Archivist
The Rolf Institute has in its possession audio tapes (cassettes) of Dr. Rolf lecturing and teaching in the 1970’s. These tapes are old but still in relatively good condition. Some of the tape sets have various tapes missing. Beginning in October, 2001, I undertook to transfer these recordings tc digital media both for preservation and […]
Ethics
The hallmark of a profession is the recognition that the work its member: perform influences, sometimes in an extremely direct, profound, and immediate way, the lives of their clients. The powerful nature of this influence makes the ordinary rules of the marketplace (based on the principle of “buyer be ware”) inadequate. Society asks the members […]
Overview of Research Designs for Rolfing Structural Integration
At the most recent Annual Meeting, a group of interested individuals attended a series of meetings regarding research in the field of Rolfing. While the number of people in attendance (20 or so) may not seem overwhelming, it struck me that this was a significant percentage of Rolfers attending the larger conference. This indicates that […]
Notes on Principles of Tool Design for Bodywork Professionals
A survey of contemporary massage tools will reveal many interesting shapes and fascinating objects. Some are good solutions to real problems. Many that look like good tools end up in the toy box or on the sculpture shelf. This has led me to think about design principles appropriate for creating tools that might be truly […]
Co-Laborare
I got my bachelor’s degree in clinical psychology in 1971, then graduated as a psychologist in 1973. I started working right away. Those days the field of Psychology was evolving rapidly. The ideas of Wilheim Reich were giving place to a body-oriented psychotherapeutic approach. Some classical paradigms were being challenged and an important discussion around […]
Response to Dr. Hazen
I deeply appreciate the comments Dr. Hazen made about my article in the preceding commentary. However, I must say the correlation between his comments and my paper eludes me. The Short Right Leg Syndrome article presented in the June issue of Structural Integration is a chapter taken from my newly released book Advanced Myoskeletal Techniques®. […]