A Dialogue Between Two Rolfers
Tom West: The good folks of the Rolf Institute have asked us to dialogue concerning a father and daughter both becoming Rolfers. I can say at the very beginning how proud I was when my daughter decided to move in this direction. But first of all, let me say a few words about my getting […]
SI Psoas Intervention Considered in Terms of Normal Stability Response for Hip and Trunk Flexion
The psoas muscle topic highlights important differences between structural integration (SI) practice and allopathic approaches to musculoskeletal symptoms and dysfunction. Ida Rolf’s SI approach restores system coordination integrity rather than claiming to cure disease or organ, nerve, or muscle pathology. Out-of-balance psoas function is part of a motor control pattern. Psoas issues are part of […]
The Arches of the Feet, Part 2
The feet are part of a living system and, as such, play a role in both cause and effect in the orchestra of the whole body. As, on one hand, they determine much of what happens in the body above them, they are also determined in many ways by the more skywardly-placed parts of the […]
Why I Got Foot Surgery
Introduction In this article, I describe hallux rigidus and functional hallux limitus from a clinical perspective, as well as from my own experience with the condition, and my recent surgery and postoperative regimen for recovery. My wish is to educate practitioners so that they can potentially recognize budding symptoms in clients and address underlying […]
Contact Improvisation and Rolfing® SI
Contact Improvisation is a dance of improvising and partnering based on the physics of touch, balance, weight, momentum, flow and resistance. . . . Sometimes quiet and meditative, sometimes wild and athletic, it is a form open to all bodies and enquiring minds and is suitable for all with a love of playful physicality. […]
TMJ Disc Mechanics and Correction
Whenever someone comes into my office with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction, I can’t help but cringe a little. And when I hear practitioners crow about how they always have great luck “curing” TMJ, I cringe a little more, and reckon that either (a) they get really fresh, easy cases, (b) they are extremely lucky, (c) […]
The Geometry of Qi
Introduction As a novice practitioner of both Rolfing® Structural Integration (SI) and Asian bodywork therapy, I have slowly cultivated an interest in comparing and contrasting these two great holistic healing systems. My first manual therapy training was in AMMA Therapy®, a Korean form of bodywork based in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). AMMA Therapy combines […]
Giving Back to the Elders
In 1985, I was introduced to Native American communities and their traditional spiritual practices. Along the way, I have developed some very long-lasting friendships. I have had the opportunity to spend a great deal of time around many of these people on and off the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Reservations in South Dakota. Often I […]
Direct and Indirect Techniques: A Conversation
Jan Sultan On the Direct-Indirect question; after all is said and done, you have to make peace with your own understanding of the terms, so you can make consistent observations. If you are talking to friends or colleagues, you have to define your terms. If other professionals are using the terms differently, you have to […]
Genetic Differences in Pain Sensitivity:
An interesting article in the ‘Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences’ (Vol. 96, #14, 7752-7755, July 6, 1999, http://intl.pnas.org/) describes the discovery of a gene (now called ‘mu gene’) which modulates the opiate receptor density of nerves in mice as well as humans. In other words: some folks have a high receptor density for […]