Structure, Function, Integration Journal – Vol. 48 – Nº 2

SourcePoint Therapy: Exploring the Blueprint of Health by Donna Thomson with Bob Schrei Reviewed by Duffy Allen, Certified Advanced Rolfer™, Rolf Movement® Practitioner, and Kara B. Imle, Certified Rolfer

ABSTRACT This article is an appeal to the Rolfing® Structural Integration (SI) community to consider how an introduction to our way of thinking of the concept of levity as a polar and commensurate principle to gravity could benefit our work.

ABSTRACT In this interview conducted in the autumn of 2019, Michael Polon, faculty with the Dr. Ida Rolf Institute®, discusses how current neuroscience can help structural integrators of all experience levels create more meaningful and effective clinical experiences for their clients, both within and outside of series work. He begins by describing various physiological mechanisms involved with the experience of touch from skin to brain and back again, then provides detailed examples of clinical application.

The author explores tension and the interface between tension in the mind/brain, muscles, and around bones. He introduces techniques of bone awareness and weight-transmission through bones as a means to retrain the brain and to allow deep tension to release and relates these to Dr. Rolf’s maxim that gravity is the therapist.

The author discusses the history of the Japanese Rolfing® Association (JRA) and a vision for development of the Asia region and for increased East-West interchange whereby some of the unique developments from Asia can begin to have an interplay with Western Rolfing methods.

Naoki Hattori has been a practitioner of acupuncture and traditional Oriental medicine for more than fifteen years. Ever since gaining his certification as a Rolfer in 2014, he has been fascinated by the similarities and synergy between the two systems and how they can be effectively combined to provide enhanced treatment modalities. In this article, Naoki explores these issues and shares some of the insights he has gained integrating both systems in his practice.

The author provides a comprehensive view of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), both sleep apnea and other syndromes, that may be factors behind our clients’ musculoskeletal issues. He gives specific attention to when a practitioner may suggest that a client should be assessed for SDB.

ABSTRACT This article names one of the symptoms our clients may be facing most prevalently these days: anxiety. With a focus on our adult and children clients, Dr. Corwin discusses tools for Rolfers to practice with themselves, their families, and their clients. The eight breath exercises described are tailored to assist in down- regulation of anxiety states. Corwin invites the reader to know that anxiety is a human state and we can be empowered to address anxiety with our breath.

In this article, Rolfer and yoga instructor Michael Black offers three yoga poses to teach clients to integrate their breath after their Rolfing® Structural Integration (SI) sessions. First is the discussion of direct and indirect language when teaching movement during a Rolfing session. Then, the author describes: (1) three-part breath, (2) thoracic extension and flexion, and (3) child’s pose sidebends. There are many breathing movement exercises; the author highlights these three for their ease and effectiveness. The hope is that these breath-centered poses will help clients in their day-to-day life to be empowered so that they can improve and embody a full expansive breath.

How we breathe is how we live, and the ways that we occupy the spaces of our breath reflect distinct physiological and psychobiological potentials. The author deftly describes our different modes of breathing and encourages us to strive for balance, teaching us how we can help ourselves and our clients.

The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the Rolfing Structural Integration (SI) community in different ways. In this article we interview a number of people for their perspectives: (1) Christina Howe, the Executive Director and Chief Academic Officer of the Dr. Ida Rolf Institute® (DIRI); (2) Pedro Prado, a founding member of Brazilian Rolfing Association and faculty member; (3) Naomi Wynter- Vincent, the European Editor for this journal, who has a Rolfing practice based in London, UK; and (4) Jeanne Vadnais, an Advanced Rolfer based in Seattle, which faced one of the first U.S. COVID-19 outbreaks.Interview with Christina Howe, DIRI Executive Director/Chief Academic Officer

ABSTRACT Breath has always been integral to our Rolfing® Structural Integration and Rolf Movement® paradigm. In this column, our faculty authors speak to the foundational nature of breathing in our work.