Learning About Pain Management
Introduction Over the years, many estimates have been made as to what percentage of clients seeks out Rolfing Structural Integration(SI) because of issues related directly to pain, and the answers range from 80% to 95%. I believe that there are very few, if any, Roofers who have not intentionally worked to reduce a client’s pain. […]
Elastic Walking: The Fascial Engine
Note from Robert Schleip, Ph.D., Director of Fascia Research Project at Ulm University (Germany), Rolfing® Instructor: The presentation of Dr. Adjo Zorn at the World Congress on Low Back and Pelvic Pain in Los Angeles in November last year was, for me, one of the highlights of that highly esteemed conference. Coming from his perspective […]
Three Functional Paradigms
Most Rolfers probably have at least passing familiarity with Jeff Maitland?s concept of ?the three paradigms.?1 As students in the basic Rolfing® Structural Integration (SI) training, we were introduced to them to help us understand how the goals of a holistic therapy, i.e., Rolfing SI, differ fundamentally from therapies oriented toward either relaxation or correcting […]
Middendorf Breathexperience Work
I remained ambivalent for months as to whether I should contribute an article about Middendorf Breathexperience Work (MBW) to Structural Integration: The Journal of the Rolf Institute®. Then I read a quote attributed to the Dalai Lama. It is said that when he was asked what surprised him most about humanity, he answered, “Man. Because […]
Thawing Frozen Shoulder
Debbie had originally come to me with some knee and hip problems that she had been experiencing while hiking. Her knee and hips were now feeling fine, she told me, but she had a new problem. A fall off her bicycle resulted in a diagnosis of “shoulder encapsulitis,” and now, after six months of rest, […]
My Favorite Practice-Building Secret
Introduction In my opinion, developing your craft is your very best form of Practice Building. The more skilled you are, the more clients refer others. So committing to lifelong learning is primary. But, until you have a self-sustaining practice (and in many environments, this may never be possible), what other ways are there to build […]
What is Rolf Movement® Integration?
Rolf Movement Integration addresses parts of the Rolfing® Structural Integration (SI) process that don?t automatically improve through application of fascial touch. Fascial mobilization is a central feature of the Rolfing tradition. Because fascial work can so dramatically shift human function, the ?movement part? of the work is often less understood and appreciated. Movement intervention can […]
Connecting Tissue and Medicine
The Myth of the “Pinched Nerve”
According to data published by the renowned Emnid Institute, two thirds of all German citizens complain of recurring pain in their locomotor system, 61 per cent are impaired in their daily activities by it, and every third day of work disability is caused by back pain. Yet 85 per cent of these chronic back patients […]
Beyond the Recipe:
We often hear it said that Rolfing is a process – not an event. Orientation to process is perhaps a hallmark of “holistic” practice. But there are t degrees of holism. Rolfing by the Recipe is holistic in the sense that considers the structural context of local symptoms and addresses the entire body; and goes […]