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 […]
Rolfing Literature Search
These are all the articles having to do with Rolfing which can be found through the National Library o Medicine indexing system (there are ten) This system is publicly available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. For those of you who might want to do your own literature searches, I have written an article on the conceptual review of […]
The Core of the Matter
The concept of “core and sleeve” is central to the Rolfian paradigm of bodywork. Their abstract nature makes them useful descriptive terms for understanding structure in space. These concepts speak clearly to our intuition about the physical body’s relationship to threedimensional reality and are undeniably a part of the rich oral tradition left by Dr.Rolf. […]
Rolfing, Visceral Manipulation, and Acupuncture
In 1983 I was auditing Rolfing class. Van Dam, our assistant teacher, told us during his demonstration of the seventh session that he often did a lot of work on the scalp. I must admit that for many years I never paid much attention to his advice. About 15 years ago, I started to work […]