Structural Integration – Vol. 38 – Nº 2

Editor’s Note: Rolfing® instructor Peter Schwind, Ph.D. has been offering classes in the visceral and cranial fields in Munich since 1990. The Munich Group was formally established in 2001 by Rolfer Schwind and Christoph Sommer with the intention of being a forum for interdisciplinary manual approaches, bringing osteopathy (visceral manipulation by Jean Pierre Barral, D.O.) and fascial and membrane techniques (Schwind’s approach) to manual practitioners of different backgrounds. The Munich Group is not officially associated with the European Rolfing® Association, but classes can be used for credit toward advanced Rolfing training in either the elective or manipulation categories. At least one-third of the participants are European Rolfers, and the mix of Rolfers, osteopaths, and physical therapists has become a very fertile ground for further cooperation and understanding of the different concepts.

The following collection of articles offers insight into part of the current process of training Rolfers at the Rolf Institute® of Structural Integration (RISI). The starting point was a Phase II project by then-student Vivian Gettliffe. Her instructor, Thomas Walker, suggested that she write up her class project to submit to Structural Integration: The Journal of the Rolf Institute. The timing coincided with our theme on professional development, and we encouraged Gettliffe, her instructor, and her mentor Darrell Sanchez to develop an article giving us not only Gettliffe’s project but also a window into the broader context of the educational objectives of the Phase II projects and the optional mentoring chosen by some Rolfers-intraining during their studies at RISI. Anne Hoff, Editor-in-Chief Robert McWilliams, Managing Editor

Abstract 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-ofbalance psoas function is part of a motor control pattern. Psoas issues are part of confused patterns of stabilization: the psoas is frequently recruited as the primary or secondary rather than tertiary stabilizer. SI is about restoring primary (normal) stability tendencies so that muscles such as the psoas are available for appropriate function. Rolf made fascial touch with the psoas part of her protocol, and it is integral to restoration of normal stability and coordination in the Rolfing® SI series. SI work benefits when it is described as part of a package of coordinative system interventions for primary stability and security. It is enhanced by a comprehensive approach to stability that includes perceptive-based self-care programs that mirror the work of the series.

Authors’ note: This article stemmed from an informal phone conversation about the advanced training, which took on slightly more of a mantle of formality, if not perfect syntax, in an interview, later. McWilliams went on to attend the 2010 advanced training with Sally Klemm, Gael Ohlgren, and Lael Keen in Kona, Hawai’i.

Editor’s note: Rolfers who trained in their own language in an established region – for example, at the Rolf Institute of Structural Integration (RISI) in Boulder, Colorado – perhaps can’t quite fathom the additional effort many of their colleagues went through to learn the profession, whether facing the challenges of a language barrier or having to organize their own trainings. Many Rolfers practice alone here and there around the globe, but to galvanize a region to the extent that the profession is established and grows takes a massive homegrown effort and great dedication, as illustrated in this account of the development of our profession in Japan.

Question: Could you discuss your thoughts regarding the different approaches and techniques you use for working with the psoas muscle, and its importance in our work?