It’s how you carry it.” — Lou Holz

Good posture is more than just keeping your back straight, shoulders back and tummy in. If a person is simply told to do this they will usually feel uncomfortable because they overwork the muscles in order to force the “good posture”.

One of the goals of Rolfing is to achieve optimal alignment with gravity in relaxed standing, without forcing anything.  The way we assess this visually is by looking at the three gravity centres: pelvis, thorax and head. Do they look well stacked or are they incongruent, such as the pelvis tilted forward, the upper ribcage too far back or the head craning forward? 

During Rolfing the myofascia is deeply and systematically manipulated so that all the body blocks are well supported: the feet support the legs, the legs support the pelvis, the pelvis supports the ribcage and the head is supported by everything below it. This is frequently achieved over the course of the Rolfing Series of eleven one-hour sessions.

However good posture is more than just an ideal aesthetic about how to stand straight. Good posture is about finding the optimal position so that everyday tasks can be performed with ease and with minimal harm to your body.

The most common areas of pain and discomfort I see in my practice are neck, shoulder, upper back and lower back. The four most common everyday activities that cause this pain are repetitive computer use, phone use, lifting objects and sleeping. 

Sitting at a computer 

Chair 

• Back gently supported by back of chair (avoid leaning full weight backwards).  A cushion between your tummy and the table can help to keep your back straight

Feet and legs

• Have both feet in contact with the floor
• Feel your two feet and pelvis as a “tripod of support”
• Do not cross legs or ankles
• Knees level with or slightly lower than hips
• Ankles in front of knees to give support to pelvis and spine

Hands and arms

• Table top at same height as the bend in your elbow
• Elbows close to body level with desk
• There is space on the table to rest your forearms
• Hands level with or slightly lower than elbows
• Wrist support pad for the mouse
• Wrists relaxed and straight (i.e. minimal angle between angle of back of hand and forearm. Bending the wrist back while typing is a common cause of elbow pain)
• Let your shoulders be relaxed and position yourself high enough so that you do not need to shrug shoulders 
• If possible put keyboard on slight incline (about fifteen degrees)

Head

• Avoid slumping or craning head forward — “let the information come to you.”
• Computer screen facing you (definitely not to the side) with top of screen roughly at eye level and at arms length 

Using the smart phone

“Tech neck” is common nowadays and is caused by slouching to look down at the phone for extended periods of time.  Your head weighs approximately four kilos.  Because of mechanical leverage every 2.5cm that you hold your head forward is an extra four kilos of effective weight. So if you hold your head forward 7.5cm, this is effectively fifteen kilos of weight which your neck and upper back muscles must support. 

• Maintain upright posture
• Keep phone roughly at eye or chest level
• If you must look down at your phone, use your eyes without inclining your neck
• Mantra : Let the information come to me.

Lifting objects

• Face the way you want to move (most back injuries are a result of bending and twisting to the side before lifting a heavy object)
• Bend your knees to take pressure off your back.  If necessary place one knee on the floor
• As far as possible keep your back straight 
• Hug the object close to you and  close to the centre of gravity (just behind navel – the “tan tien”)
• Spread feet apart to give wide base of support, or have one foot slightly forward from the other
• For extra back support, gently tighten buttock and abdominal muscles
• Put one or both hands under the object to reduce overall strain throughout your body
• Hug object and use legs to lift yourself up 
• If possible, put down object at waist height
• Slide heavy objects down your legs to put down

• For carrying shopping, distribute weight evenly — two light weights in two hands are better than one heavier weight on one side which puts a torsional strain through your spine and body

Sleeping Position

• Sleeping on back — take pressure off back by placing cushion under knees (square cushion is better than rectangular for under bed covers)
• Sleeping on side — have square cushion between knees, or have top leg forward and resting on cushion. Keep arms relaxed and both in front of body
• Avoid sleeping on front because it strains neck and upper back

Do a thorough research on the type of pillow you choose (best pillow varies from person to person)

Other postural tips

Transitioning from lying to sitting

Turn on your side first, then use hands to push on the bed or floor into a sitting position (avoid heaving yourself up by flexing forward, which can put strain on lower back)

Transitioning from sitting on chair to standing 

Instead of pushing your hands on your thighs, trust your legs.  Manoeuvre yourself carefully to the edge of chair or sofa and stand by rocking into your legs with one foot placed forward from the other

Reduce hand tension

• Check for hand tension (often caused by repetitive actions and holding hand in extension for long periods of computer use).  In my experience people are often unaware that their hands are so tense 
• To reduce hand tension deliberately make them more tense by clenching fist for seven seconds.  Relax on exhale

Avoid shoulder hiking

Shoulder hiking is where you habitually tense your shoulders and they rise up towards your ears.  It is especially common while typing but can happen at any time as a result of stressful situations

To release shoulder tension:

1. Hold shoulders up towards ears for seven seconds, then reach down towards floor to increase space between ears and shoulders and hold this position for seven seconds. 
2. Roll shoulders forward three times and then back slowly three times — slowly, full circles
3. Place post-it note on computer to remind you to do the above exercise two or three times during the day

Hopefully the above postural pointers will help you to be more comfortable in everyday activities.  In any activity it is worthwhile to check for excessive or unnecessary muscular tension and to explore whether it is possible to be more relaxed in the activity. Mindful stretching, such as yoga, can be a very useful supplement to your postural hygiene.

“So many therapists are striking at the pattern of disease, instead of supporting the pattern of health. One of the things that you as Rolfers must always emphasize is that you are not practitioners curing disease; you are practitioners invoking health. Invocation is possible by an understanding of what the pattern is, the structural pattern of health. As you bring a person’s structure to conform to that pattern of health, you achieve health. You invoke health.”  — Ida Rolf (Note 1)

“The century just passed may well be examined by future historians as a period during which humans explored their world with a tool, or if you will, a microscope, of specialisation: as a period when people thought that by increasing the detail known about the enveloping universe, they could have their world under control.  The fallacy of this now increasingly apparent.” — Ida Rolf, writing in 1962 (Note 2)

The word holism is often used vaguely to mean something like “alternative” or “new-agey”, something to do with philosophy or food or perhaps health.  The purpose of this article is to explore the meaning of holism in the field of health and to examine where Rolfing structural integration fits as a therapy within the holism-reductionist spectrum.

The term “holism” has its roots in the Greek word “holos,” meaning “whole” or “complete.” Coined by the South African statesman, soldier, and philosopher Jan Christiaan Smuts in the early 20th century, holism emerged as a concept that aimed to transcend reductionism, a method that breaks down complex systems into simpler components. Smuts introduced holism in his 1926 book, Holism and Evolution, where he argued that wholes have properties that are greater than the sum of their parts. This concept can be applied to various fields, including ecology and environmental science, education, sociology, anthropology, business management, philosophy, architecture and health. The opposite of holism is reductionism, where parts are considered in isolation.

In the field of philosophy reductionism is equivalent to analytical philosophy, where the emphasis is on logical propositions and subjects and objects are treated as independent.  Holism is equivalent to phenomenology or existentialism,  where subject and object are considered to be interconnected, embedded in a context and where the meaning of objects is shaped by the subject’s consciousness.

Holism and reductionism offer contrasting lenses through which to understand health. 

Hippocratic Holism

Although the term holism was coined by Smuts in 1926, the holistic view was exemplified by the “Father of Medicine”, Hippocrates, who lived during the Classical period (circa 460–370 BCE) and is credited with revolutionizing the practice of medicine. 

Hippocrates saw balance as a precondition for health and his understanding of balance was deeply rooted in the ancient Greek concept of eucasia, meaning “good blend”, which referred to a state of equilibrium or harmony within the body. Hippocrates’ teachings emphasized the importance of balance in various aspects of life, including bodily fluids, diet, environmental factors and lifestyle. It also focused on understanding the patient’s unique constitution and recognised the need for personalized treatment based on the restoration of humoural balance (referring to the four bodily fluids called humours: blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile).

This approach laid the foundation for a more holistic understanding of health, considering factors beyond mere symptoms and addressing the underlying causes of imbalance. Hippocrates believed in the body’s natural ability to restore balance and health through the vis medicatrix naturae, the healing power of nature. The physician’s role was to restore order where disorder existed, to give the right conditions and support so that the body can initiate its own healing processes.

Cartesian Reductionism

René Descartes (1596-1650), a French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist, made significant contributions to reductionism through his dualistic philosophy and mechanistic view of the body. Descartes is often associated with mind-body dualism, which differentiates the mind and body as distinct substances: res cogitans and res extensa accordingly.  He asserted that the mind and body were distinct entities with unique characteristics. This separation of mental and physical phenomena in his metaphysical dualism, also known as Cartesian dualism, provided the foundation for a reductionist methodology.

Descartes’ view of the human body as a complex soft machine governed by mechanical principles contributed to a reductionist understanding of the body’s operations, a mechanistic notion later taken up by Newtonian physics. His metaphysical dualism, sometimes referred to as the Cartesian split because the mind and body were considered to be separate, was a departure from the more holistic view of the human espoused by Hippocrates which was still prevalent in Descartes’ time.

Cartesian dualism had a profound influence on Western philosophy and contributed to the historical separation of mental and physical health in medical practice. Descartes’ Discourse on the Method, published in 1637, is considered a foundational text that significantly influenced the development of the scientific method and the transition from medieval Scholasticism, which blended reason and religious principles in understanding and treating illnesses, to the scientific revolution of the 17th century. His ideas laid the groundwork for the empirical and analytical methods that became fundamental to the scientific revolution and the subsequent development of modern science. He advocated for a systematic and deductive approach to scientific inquiry, emphasizing the use of mathematics as a foundation for understanding the natural world. 

Allopathic medicine focuses on the physical aspects of health and illness, and places a strong emphasis on physical interventions, such as surgeries, pharmaceuticals, and other medical procedures. This aligns with the Cartesian view that the body operates as a mechanistic system, subject to physical laws. 

Specialisation is prominent in modern medicine where medical disciplines focus on specific organs or systems, leading to a compartmentalized approach that treats the body as a collection of isolated parts. Modern healthcare systems, including insurance structures, may reinforce the separation of mental and physical health because of the existence of different reimbursement structures and systems for mental health services compared to general (physical) healthcare.

Holism and Reductionism: Pros and Cons

While holism embraces the complexity and interconnectedness of human well-being, reductionism seeks to dissect and analyze specific components. It is important to note that while holism and reductionism are often presented as opposing approaches, they are not necessarily mutually exclusive, and there are practitioners of each approach that respect the values of both. Holism and reductionism have their strengths and weaknesses, as outlined below, and optimal treatment should embrace the benefits of both approaches.

Benefits and Criticisms of Holism

There are several key benefits of holism. Its comprehensive perspective considers the patient as a whole, acknowledging the interconnectedness of physical, mental, and social aspects and thereby addressing various factors influencing health. Another name for this holistic approach is the psychobiosocial model of health championed by Gabor Maté, Bessel van der Kolk, Jeff Rediger et al.

Holism commonly emphasizes patient-centered care, giving priority to patient values, preferences and individual experiences. Importance is placed on tackling the root causes of disease and encouraging clients to adopt preventative measures and lifestyle changes to improve overall well-being. Interdisciplinary collaboration between healthcare practitioners is encouraged in order to develop a comprehensive understanding of patient needs. In holistic treatment there is often more time available for the treatment, which gives more opportunity for the advantages that can accrue from an ongoing therapeutic relationship.

Critics argue that holism can be vague and lack precision in defining specific treatment protocols and claim that insufficient attention is given to specialized medical care. Holistic approaches often require more time and resources than traditional medical interventions, which can be problematic in a healthcare system with time constraints and resource limitations. The holistic approach may sometimes be criticized for a lack of standardized interventions and holistic practices are sometimes labelled as pseudoscientific because of a perceived paucity of empirical evidence. 

Benefits and Criticisms of Reductionism

“The problem with classical disembodied scientific realism is that it takes two intertwined and inseparable dimensions of all experience – the awareness of the experiencing organism and the stable entities and structures it encounters – and erects them as separate and distinct entities called subjects and objects.” — George Lakoff,  (Note 3)

Reductionist approaches often align with the scientific method, promoting rigorous experimentation and empirical validation and contributing to the development of evidence-based medicine.

With its focus on breaking down complex biological phenomena into simpler, more manageable components, reductionism has contributed to numerous advancements in biomedical research and technology. 

Reductionist approaches have contributed significantly to an understanding of the immune system at the molecular and cellular levels, which has led to the development of vaccines, immunotherapies, and treatments for autoimmune diseases as well as a profound understanding of the genetic and, more recently,  epigenetic basis of various diseases. Other key advances attributable to reductionism include biomedical imaging techniques, stem cell research and precision oncology.

Despite the obvious benefits of reductionism there are also downsides to its emphasis on reducing complex phenomena to simpler, mechanistic explanations. It has been criticized for not adequately accounting for the intricate interconnections between mental and physical health and for not fully capturing the complexity of biological processes and interactions. 

If we only consider systems by viewing their individual parts we miss the significance of interrelationship between the parts and may also overlook the emergent properties of a system or disregard the synergistic effects of multiple components working together. For example in pharmacology understanding the effects of a drug on individual receptors may not fully capture how the drug interacts with the entire biological system. 

Prioritization of physiological or mechanical explanations may downplay the significant influence that various psychosocial factors, such as stress, social support, and cultural context can have on health. Understanding health requires consideration of the dynamic interactions between various physiological systems, rather than isolating individual components.  Chronic health conditions often involve a complex interplay of biological, psychological, and social factors and reductionism may fall short in providing comprehensive explanations and interventions for chronic pain and disease.

Rolfing and Holism

A “whole man” can evolve only when his nervous system is supported internally by his myofascial web and externally by his gravitational field.” — Ida Rolf (Note 4)

The basic concept of holism is the idea of viewing a system as a whole and recognising the interconnectedness of its parts. Rolfing can be said to be a holistic therapy in two senses. 

First, Rolfing views the human physical body as an interconnected whole embedded within an environment, with an emphasis on the importance of creating balance and harmony to evoke health. 

“Persistent contracture of very powerful tissue compresses the underlying joint. In so doing, it imbalances other muscular structures whose integrity depends on precise balance in related joints. Such compression can enter awareness as pain or discomfort. The only permanent remedy is to balance the joint; frequently this requires balancing the entire body, for these various fascial links can elicit compensatory strain over wide areas.”  — Ida Rolf (Note 5) 

“In order to make a significant difference to that chronic lesion, the person’s whole system has to be taught a new, more balanced organization.”  — Ida Rolf (Note 6) 

The Rolfing Series is designed to manipulate the whole body in a sequence of sessions, each session building on those that come before. Instead of being treated in isolation, individual parts are considered within the context of the whole body interconnected throughout the myofascial web mediated by the nervous system. The myofascial system is a tensegrity structure that distributes strain throughout the body. In Rolfing pain or imbalance in any local area is therefore addressed by treating not only the particular part where the pain experienced is but also the strain network within which the part resides. 

As an example let us imagine a client with back pain.  The pain in the back may have been triggered by a recent event, but the vulnerability of the back could be have been influenced by something in the past. The body can hold compensating imbalances for many years after an injury. The client badly sprained his right ankle playing soccer fifteen years ago. The pain caused him to limp for three weeks and limited the movement in his right ankle. 

Even after the ankle injury healed, he retained the habit of putting more weight on his left leg.  Over time this contributed to the hamstrings of his left leg becoming permanently tense, and his pelvis to be asymmetrically rotated.  Because of the left hamstring tension the sacro-tuberous ligament restricted movement in the left side of his sacrum. The twisted pelvis in turn made it more likely for his back to become locked into a sidebend and rotation, which made his back more vulnerable to injury – a kind of ticking time bomb in the myofascial system.

The solution to this strain pattern distributed throughout the body is not just to manipulate the back. In order to get a long-term resolution to the back pain the Rolfing practitioner needs to prepare the client’s feet to be able to distribute the body’s weight evenly. 

The excess tension in the left hamstrings must be addressed and functional aspects of walking improved to reduce asymmetry from side to side. And of course the myofascia of the back where the client feels the pain must be skilfully treated, even though with this body-wide approach it sometimes happens that pain resolves even before the injury is directly manipulated. Because of this thorough approach the chances of the pain recurring in future are reduced. 

In addition to getting the individual parts of the body to be more congruent with each other, the goal of Rolfing, originating with Ida Rolf, is to bring the human body and its energy field into better alignment within the greater energy field of gravity. The key is relationship, between the parts and each other, between the parts and the whole, and ultimately between the whole body and the gravitational field:

“A Rolfer’s only secure ground in a body is to establish balanced relationship. That is your secure ground, and it is not possible to convert it into something that is solid like a wall.” — Ida Rolf (Note 7)

“Rolfers make a life study of relating bodies and their fields to the earth and its gravity field, and we so organize the body that the gravity field can reinforce the body’s energy field. This is our primary concept.” — Ida Rolf (Note 8)

“… well-being does not merely manifest the physiological competence of individual parts but rather indicates relationship among parts and, more important, between the person and the earth’s energy field… Reciprocal relations of head and pelvis determine how the individual as a whole fits into the gravity field.”  — Ida Rolf (Note 9)

The second sense in which Rolfing is holistic is in its acknowledgement of the human being as having four planes of being which interconnect and affect each other: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Ida Rolf’s conviction was that the physical plane is primary, that often what we believe to be psychological or emotional problems have their roots in the human form because of disorder in the human structure. In Rolf’s words:  

“… a man’s emotional state may be seen as the projection of his structural imbalances.”  — Ida Rolf (Note 10) 

The good news is that Rolfing is an effective way to address imbalances in the body and integrate the body to a higher level of order.  As the client starts to feel the physical benefit of the Rolfing treatment in terms of pain reduction, ease of movement and an enhanced feeling of connection to the ground and space around them, they sometimes feel more resilient and find that they deal better with stressful situations.

For all its good points, the reductionist approach to health has significant negative points.  A doctor client of mine explained how he had entered medicine full of good intentions to help people.  He recounted how he had a social gathering with his fellow doctor friends soon after they had all started practicing as GPs. He told me that they were all frustrated with the system which only allowed them seven minutes of time with each patient.  They all felt that because of these time constraints they could not really help people and make a difference. 

Doctor Rangan Chatterjee’s podcast Feel Better Live More, which explores holistic treatments and ideas, was borne out of his own frustration to be able to help people within the medical system. Gabor Maté is a physician who has written extensively about addiction and trauma. Maté, like Chatterjee, discovered that he was able to help his patients more effectively when he managed to find time to talk to them and find out about their lifestyle, to listen to them and to give space for compassion. For Maté disease is a complex phenomenon that demands to be considered in context:

“Disease is an outcome of generations of suffering, of social conditions, of cultural conditioning, of childhood trauma, of physiology bearing the brunt of people’s stresses and emotional histories, all interacting with the physical and psychological environment.” (Note 11)

If we acknowledge that the human body has a powerful inherent ability to heal, what are the implications of administering pharmaceutical drugs to treat the symptoms of disease?  There is nothing wrong per se with administering medication to alleviate immediate suffering. But if we do not go deeper than symptoms to get to the root cause of disease, then this can lead to drug dependency.  In my travels I have witnessed people having a basket full of different pills for daily consumption. No one appears to be seriously advising them about how lifestyle choices such as diet, exercise or alcohol moderation can impact health. 

If drugs are administered so freely in order to chemically treat symptoms without trying to tackle the root cause of the disease, the problem is not only dependency, but personal disempowerment. 

In the words of Jeff Rediger:

“Doctors are taught to ignore the story, the personal life of the person, in order to penetrate through to the underlying signs and symptoms of disease that are present in those with that particular illness. We have been limited by a focus on pathology, on what is missing or diseased, instead of seeing and galvanizing all that is right, special, and great within each individual human life—within your life. As a result, we routinely commit deadly errors even as we seek to heal. We treat the disease instead of the person, missing the larger story of the patient’s life, which is rife with clues and revelations about how best to guide them toward health. We focus on symptoms instead of root causes, prescribing medications that often simply mask the symptoms instead of attempting the longer, harder work of building immunity and vitality.”  (Note 12) 

As Rolfing practitioners we have the gift of time. The ability to talk and listen to our clients is a key strength of Rolfing as a holistic therapy. The Rolfing Series takes place over ten or eleven sessions occurring once or twice a week. This enables a therapeutic relationship to develop based on trust and safety, which in itself can be deeply empowering for the client. It is this treatment of the whole person in Rolfing, within a healthy therapeutic relationship, which has the potential to catalyse inner reserves of self healing within the Rolfing client.

In his book Cured, Rediger recounts many scientifically evidenced instances of people who spontaneously recover after being given a terminal diagnosis such as end-stage systemic lupus or  glioblastoma multiforme, the most aggressive form of brain cancer.   Rediger attempts to identify the common factor in these cases of spontaneous remission.  

Eventually he comes to realise that the key element in these remarkable changes from disease to health is not diet, exercise, sleep, yoga or stress management, although these played their part — “… the biggest and most crucial change was to their very identities.” (Note 13) 

Rediger describes how each of the people who experience spontaneous remissions undergoes a figure-ground reversal in the way they view themselves, a “process of self-discovery, or self-reassessment.”  One person, Claire, talks about “getting right with myself”, another Dr. Kaine said that she had to “surrender to a new way of seeing and experiencing myself.” (Note 14)

So how is this relevant to Rolfing?  Let me be clear.  I am not suggesting that Rolfing can cure people who have been diagnosed with terminal disease.  But if it is true that a change in one’s identity can be a key factor in profound health improvements, then Rolfing has something to offer here.  

People who receive Rolfing can start to identify more with their body because of the rich sensory information that Rolfing provides to their nervous system. This can cause people to snap out of habitual patterns of sensation and movement to discover new and interesting options. It is as if the body somehow wakes up and the person becomes motivated to be more responsible for their physical well being. 

Indeed this happened to me in my first Rolfing Series in 1994.  Until that point I had identified primarily with my mind and ignored, even neglected my body.  The Rolfing changed this profoundly and permanently.  My mind no longer felt separate from my body and instead a bodymind emerged. It was a figure ground reversal in the way I viewed myself, a kind of surrendering to a new way of being.

In modern society I believe many people are like I was.  Perhaps thanks to Descartes, the body in modern society has become a soft machine in the way we experience ourselves, a mere vehicle to contain our precious minds.  The real gift of Rolfing is to wake us up to our bodily being so that we can become whole again.

Endnotes

Rediger’s words echo those of Dr. Rolf’s at the start of this article:

“Let’s create a science of health and not just a science of disease. We become what we focus on, so focus on creating a life of value and purpose and vitality, built on what is right and great about you, so that you won’t suffer and so that you won’t need the unhealthy behavior”

1.  Ida Rolf. (1990). Rolfing and Physical Reality. Rochester, VT. Healing Arts Press, p. 202.

2.  Ida Rolf. (1962). Rolfing Structural Integration. Gravity: An Unexplored Factor in a more Human Use of Human Beings. Boulder, CO. The Rolf Institute, p. 1.

3.   George Lakoff, Mark Johnson, Philosophy in the Flesh: The Embodied Mind and its Challenge to Western Thought (University of Michigan, 1999), Goodreads, https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/1686657-philosophy-in-the-flesh-the-embodied-mind-and-its-challenge-to-western (accessed February, 19, 2024).

4.   Ida Rolf. (1989). Rolfing. Reestablishing the Natural Alignment and Structural Integration of the Human Body for Vitality and Well-Being. Rochester, VT. Healing Arts Press, p. 202.

5.   Ibid., p. 69.

6.   Rolf, Rolfing and Physical Reality, p. 171.

7.   Ibid., p. 111.

8.   Ibid., p. 86.

9.   Rolf, Rolfing Structural Integration, 249.

10. Ibid., p. 17.

11. Gabor Maté, The Myth of Normal. London. Vermilion, 2022. Kindle edition, chap. 5, loc. 15%.

12. Dr. Jeff Rediger. (2020). Cured. Dublin. Random House. p. 9.

13. Ibid., p. 257.

14. Ibid., p. 257.

Then imagine that you can observe for longer than thirty seconds, say, for ten minutes.  Differences between Rolfing and the other modalities would become apparent.  The touch of the massage therapist may include faster strokes, such as the kneading action of petrissage or the tapping and chopping of tapotement, whereas the Rolfing practitioner hooks slowly into the myofascia, then slides,  and spends more time in each contact. The physiotherapist may touch the client infrequently and use the time instead to show how to do prescribed exercises for homework.

The work of the myofascial release therapist may seem to be similar to Rolfing; sustained pressure using deep, slow strokes with fingers, knuckles and elbows.  But there is a major difference between myofascial release and Rolfing.  Myofascial release has appropriated techniques from Rolfing without maintaining the framework and goals of a Rolfing treatment.  Rolfing is more than a collection of effective techniques designed to treat local dysfunctions symptomatically. Dr. Ida Rolf, who developed Rolfing Structural Integration, regarded symptom treatment as insufficient and believed it necessary to treat the whole body in order to get to the root cause of the problem: 

“There are schools of chiropractic that work only in the neck. What they are implying is that any imbalance in the lower part of the body will manifest as imbalance up above. That far, they’re absolutely right. So they say, let’s get the imbalance out of the neck; that far, they’re right, too. But they’re not getting to the underpinning—for me, balance in the neck is inextricably tied up with balance in the whole body. To get balance in the neck, you must bring harmony to the rest of the body first.” (Note 1)

There are several factors that make Rolfing different from other bodywork modalities: holism and the Rolfing training, the treatment of the myofascial system in totality, the importance of gravity and Rolfing Movement, and the Rolfing principles of holistic intervention.

1. Holism and the Rolfing Training

In addition to the Rolfing Basic and Advanced training and numerous continuing education modules offered by the Rolf Institute, I have attended various professional somatic trainings:  Craniosacral Therapy, Visceral Manipulation, Thai Massage, Reiki, Body Control Pilates, John Gibbons Muscular Energy Technique and others. All have their merits, but the Rolfing training was by far the best. In all of the above trainings, including Rolfing, students are taught a foundational curriculum consisting of anatomy, theory and treatment techniques. 

Where the Rolfing training differs is that great importance is placed on the Rolfing Series as a holistic process, not just a collection of techniques, and Rolfers are trained to consider their clients from a holistic perspective.The holistic approach to therapy posits that there are four aspects of a person’s being, like four quadrants of a pie: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. These four quadrants are interrelated such that a therapeutic intervention in one quadrant will affect the other three quadrants. 

The Rolfing Series is primarily a physical treatment which affects the other levels of being. This seems to be borne out in practice, based on the many examples of clients who recount psycho-emotional benefits from the Series, such as new clarity about a personal relationship, increased confidence and better ability to deal with stress. More than just a bunch of massage sessions, the Rolfing treatment not only releases knots deep in the body’s myofascia, but also has the potential to affect characterological and emotional holding patterns. 

The training itself reflects this holistic perspective, as the material is presented in a multi-layered manner in order to stimulate different learning modes and to fully involve and engage the student as they progress. For example, when the teaching objective is about Session 2 and the feet, the day may start with the students participating together in a brief experiential to explore the sensations in their feet, where they feel the distribution of weight, and how their body responds when it changes.

There is an anatomy class and slideshow about the key osseous and myofascial structures of the feet. Students practice key techniques relevant to Session 2 and then observe the teacher and assistant each giving Session 2 to their models from outside the class. Time is allotted to explain and discuss the teachers’ choices and strategies during their sessions. Students exchange a full Session 2 with each other, debrief each other afterwards and then share their experiences, learning and challenges in open forum with the rest of the group. In this way theory and anatomy are backed up with observation, practical hands-on experience, journalling, one-on-one communication and group discussions. It is an stimulating potent mix of learning methods.

The Rolfing training is highly effective because of the value it places on personal experience, individual learning styles, exploration, communication and group dynamics. Students are not viewed as objects, mere receptacles for accumulating knowledge (as is the case in many schools and universities). Learning takes place in an intersubjective environment where students are encouraged to experiment, share their ideas and engage directly and authentically with their peers.  

Rolfing students are trained not only in somatic techniques but guided to be able to appreciate a person as a whole being, to listen deeply, to know how a collapsed posture can relate to a lack of confidence, how inadequate support from the legs or an attitude of false bravado can go along with deep feelings of insecurity.  Exploring the rich sensorial content of their own Rolfing Series makes trainee Rolfers more clearsighted and honest about their own physical shortcomings. 

The inner state of the practitioner is vitally relevant to the quality of their touch and the training, at its best, manages to potentize a student’s presence as they work. As students feel the power of the Series to turn weakness into strength, vulnerability into resilience, they develop the ability to create the therapeutic field for their clients to experience the same embodied presence and phenomenologically rich process as they enjoyed in their training.

As a teaching assistant I have had the privilege to witness how profound the Rolfing training can be for students and how important the experience is in their personal lives. The combination of intense intellectual learning, somatic exploration and personal growth makes the Rolfing training a memorable experience, and for many students it is a pivotal life event. The rich sense of embodiment I gained from the training counterbalanced years of being “stuck in my head” and significantly improved my quality of life. It was literally life changing. Naturally the benefits which Rolfing students receive from the training inspires us to be passionate about our work and to want pass on some of that good stuff to our clients.

In the words of Nicholas French:

“Rolfing SI has always seemed to attract people who are different from the norm. I think that’s partly because we are amazed at how much the work improved our own lives, but also because something in us wants to help others as we have been helped.” (Note 2) 

2. The Treatment of the Myofascial System in Totality 

Fascia is the three-dimensional web of connective tissue that surrounds and supports muscles, bones, organs, and other structures within the body. It is a tensegrity structure which provides structural support, transmits forces, and allows for communication between different parts of the body. Ida Rolf called fascia the ‘organ of structure’, recognised its plasticity and found an effective way, originally called the Recipe, to manipulate the myofascial system in order to improve the structural and functional relationship between the body’s various parts.  She referred to people who had not received structural integration as ‘random’ bodies because of the relative level of corporeal disorganisation. 

“In Rolfing, you start with disorganization, not organization. As you go on, as you work, organization accumulates and disorganization decreases in the same percentage… By the time you get up to the sixth and seventh hours, you have relatively little disorganization, and relatively a lot of organization. The critical mass has moved from disorganization to organization in that body.”(Note 3)”

Rolfing Structural Integration brings more order into the system by working progressively through the body and organising the myofascial layers from superficial to deep, from the support of the legs to the spine and the creation of balance from front to back.  The results are apparent not only in improved vertical alignment but in smoother movement, better coordination, and frequently in reduced musculoskeletal pain.

3. The Importance of Gravity and Rolfing Movement

Rolf was the first to see the human body as more than a self-referential system. It was not enough for her to make the body’s various parts interrelate and function optimally.  She placed great importance on the fact that the human form functions in relationship to an environment where gravity is a constant force coming to bear on it. Her basic premise was that Rolfing Structural Integration enables the person to be aligned within the gravitational field; a human energy field relating to a much larger energy field:

“…in order for a living body to be at ease in its spatial environment on earth gravity must be able to deal positively with it. We can’t change the gravitational field; we haven’t gotten that big yet. What we can do is to change the way the parts of the body fit together into a whole which can transmit the gravitational field through that body in such a way that it enhances its energy field.”  (Note 4)

Since the 1990s the Rolfing Movement curriculum has been informed by the work of Hubert Godard, a Rolfer, ex-dancer and research scientist. Godard’s model of tonic function explains how Rolfing manipulation and movement education help the body’s tonic musculature to hold a person upright in gravity with minimal effort.  The tonic system is organised by pre-movements which are not consciously controlled, such as the contraction of the soleus (deep calf muscle) before a person lifts their arm. However, a person’s pre-movements can be influenced by their active perception and orienting of attention to the environment. Rolfing Movement educates people how to affect how their body organises itself in gravity, and the curriculum continues to emphasise how this embeddedness in our environment acts to shape our actions and our structure.

“The body is a relational system… the internal coherence of the system is defined partly by the nature of its relationship to an external system. It’s not just how the body agrees with itself, it’s how it fits into the larger picture, how we orient in the environment. It is this embeddedness in our environment that acts to shape our actions and our structure.” (Note 5)

4. The Rolfing Principles of Holistic Intervention 

In the 1990s the principles of holistic intervention were devised by three members of the Advanced faculty at the Rolf Institute: Jeff Maitland, Jan Sultan and Michael Salveson. The principles represent the philosophical underpinning of the Rolfing curriculum and are intended to act as guidelines to help practitioners choose appropriate interventions and treatment plans. 

The principles are Holism, Adaptability, Support, Palintonicity and Closure. They are conceptual guidelines about to how to achieve a higher level of order and continuity in the whole person across the the four taxonomies of structural/segmental, geometrical, functional, and energetic.  

For example the Palintonic Principle (palintonos was a Greek word used by Heraclitus to mean ‘unity of opposition’ or ‘balanced tension’) states that somatic integration is a function of palintonic harmony, which basically means that the success of any intervention or series of interventions is recognisable by appropriate spatial relationships, for example back/front, side-to-side, top/bottom, inside/outside and horizontals at the hinges. 

The principles are unique to Rolfing Structural Integration and set it apart from other somatic therapies, including other forms of Structural Integration derived from Ida Rolf. They provide a neat conceptual framework which can be applied in a practical way by Rolfing practitioners during individual interventions and the Rolfing Series. They are especially useful in helping to plan post-Series tune-ups. 

Summary

A glimpse of Rolfing through a thirty-second Instagram reel is insufficient to understand how it is different to other somatic therapies. Other therapies may include one or two of the factors identified above, but none of them include all four.

The emphasis on the student’s personal process and embodiment in the training, the comprehensive treatment of the myofascial system as a unified entity in the Rolfing Series, the way Rolfing practitioners attempt to improve the client’s relationship to the gravitational field, and the conceptual organisation of the five principles of holistic intervention — all these factors make Rolfing a unique therapy in its own right.

Endnotes

1. Rolf, Ida. (1990). Rolfing and Physical Reality. Rochester, VT: Healing Arts Press, p. 59.
2. French, Nicholas, “Do We Choose a Path, or Does It Choose Us?” Structural Integration: The Journal of the Rolf Institute®, Vol. 46, No. 2, July 2018, p.45.

3.   Rolf, Rolfing and Physical Reality, p.164.

4.   Ibid., p.35

5.   Salveson, Michael, “Seven Important Ideas in the Development of Rolfing.” Structural Integration: The Journal of the Rolf Institute®, September 2009 Vol. 37, No. 3, p.31.

It is August 1998, a week after arriving in London after doing Unit 3 of the Rolfing training and qualifying as a Rolfing practitioner, in the North East state of Bahia, Brazil. It has been a long trip. Not just the three months spent in Brazil, but the eleven years living away in Japan, Taiwan, Australia, South East Asia, and the Rolfing trainings in USA and Brazil. 

Returning to my home country is somewhat overwhelming. London is a new city for me and the only person I know here is my brother, on whose living room floor I am sleeping. Fortunately the Rolf Institute’s AGM happens to be taking place in Brighton so I am able to meet many fellow Rolfers.  When I introduce myself as newly qualified, someone says: ”Oh, so you’re just a baby Rolfer!” Thanks.

It has been a wonderful training in all three units with excellent teachers and heart-warming bonding with interesting people. But I am feeling the shock of the transition from the nestled nurture of the learning environment to the harsh reality outside. It is like emerging from a cocoon.

After paying so much money for the training it is hard to believe that I am able to … am supposed to charge for Rolfing sessions now. Really?  Someone is going to actually pay me for this now? The other UK Rolfers (only eight altogether) charge around fifty pounds per session. I have not yet owned the value of what I am offering — fifty quid seems like a lot of money but tentatively that is the price I set.

First Ever Rolfing Sessions

“Remember, you are expressing the technique and not doing the technique.” — Bruce Lee

”Oh, so you’re just a baby Rolfer!” Yep, that’s me. 

A transition needs to be made from student to bona fide practitioner and that takes time. I am nervous when I meet my first client and it probably shows. For the first two months I studiously look over my class notes before each client arrives and plan out exactly which techniques I will perform for each session. I place an index card, listing all the strokes and their timings, under my client’s record sheet and surreptitiously glance at it now and then to remind me:

Session 1 notes

Client disrobes, lies supine 3 minutes.

Sternum 5 minutes, side of ribs 3 minutes each left and right 

Lower ribs 5 minutes total both sides 

Client changes to side-lying: 

Right Iliotibial Band 5 minutes, greater trochanter, 6 minutes, quadratus lumborum 5 minutes = 16 minutes right side.  

Repeat on left side, 16 minutes. 

Neckwork 3 minutes, 

Back roll 3 minutes. 

Client gets dressed and goodbyes 3 minutes. 

It all adds up neatly to one hour. A baby Rolfer indeed. 

Performing pre-planned techniques by rote is clearly how not to do Rolfing, but this approach serves its purpose and enables me to overcome my initial nervousness and fear of leaving something out.  I abandon the cheat sheet after a few sessions and become more confident over time, buoyed by the occasional (unexpected) positive feedback from clients, but mostly, as my teachers had predicted, encouraged by the visible results.  

No one intended Rolfing to just be a sequence of timed moves.  The very notion is ridiculous. It is much, much more than this. Jeffrey Maitland says that metaphorically Rolfing attempts to “transform the sky, not push the stars.” Instead of addressing each symptom by adjusting bones or releasing tight fascia — a “star” model of manipulation — Rolfing works with the “sky” of the myofascial system of the body in relationship to the gravitational field:

“By transforming the fascial sky and organising the whole body in gravity, the various “stars” of the body not only find their appropriate place, but also function better.” (Note 1)

Although the Rolfing training is very high quality, all it can do is set you up to be able to take someone through the Ten Series, like a novice with a good set of tools.  The real learning is on the job, with real clients, becoming more confident in the techniques, still covering the territory of each session in the Series, but developing the experience to tailor the work appropriately to the needs of each client. Learning how to transform the sky, not just push the stars.

So let us imagine that you are my first ever client, arriving to do the Rolfing Series. You have chronic lower back pain as well as some neck pain and have decided to give Rolfing a try. Is there any chance that the Rolfing will help your back pain, bearing in mind that I am fresh out of Rolfing school and very early on the learning curve of my trade? 

The answer, I contend, is yes and here is why.

The Myofascial Web

“A simple variable can be both cause and effect. Reality will not be still. And it cannot be taken apart! You cannot understand a cell, a rat, a brain structure, a family, a culture if you isolate it from its context. Relationship is everything.” — Marilyn Ferguson

No part of the body can be considered in isolation when it comes to dealing with pain conditions.  It very much is all connected.  Chronic lower back pain is part of a constellation of strain covering various points of the body within the myofascial network of muscles, fascia, ligaments, tendons and membranes which permeate the whole structure. 

“The body process is not linear, it is circular; always, it is circular. One thing goes awry, and its effects go on and on and on and on. A body is a web, connecting everything with everything else.” (Note 2)

A newly qualified Rolfer cannot be expected to recognise the strain patterns which experienced practitioners regularly see in their practices. Thanks to Ida Rolf, however, the basic Rolfing Series is so well designed, so thorough in its territorial coverage of the body, that even an inexperienced practitioner can expect to get good results (at least sometimes) by sticking to the sequence of sessions, even if they are ignorant of the cause of the pain.

Your Series as my Imaginary First Client

So we proceed with the ten sessions and both pray that something good comes from it.  In Session 1 we work on your breathing. “Why?” you may ask, “the pain is in my back.” Inefficient breathing mechanics, such as shallow breathing or using primarily the muscles in the chest rather than the diaphragm, can lead to increased tension in the muscles of the neck, shoulders, and upper back. Over time this tension may contribute to back pain. 

The thoracic spine is connected to the ribs, and improper breathing patterns can affect the mobility of the thoracic spine. Limited mobility in the thoracic spine may contribute to stiffness and discomfort, especially in the upper and mid-back regions. Stress and anxiety can influence breathing patterns. Shallow or rapid breathing, common during periods of stress, may contribute to tension in the neck and upper back muscles, potentially leading to discomfort.

At the end of Session 1 the neck work and back roll (where the fascia of your whole back is manipulated as you roll down in the seated position) may bring some relief to your back and neck pain. But I would not expect that to last more than a few days. There is more to be done before we can unravel the body-wide strain pattern so that structural improvements will last.

The feet are the focus of Session 2: the top of the feet, the soles, the arches, between the toes, either side of the ankles, and the muscles of the calf that reach down to connect to the feet. Again you may wonder how this could be important for the pain in your back and neck.  

The way your feet contact the ground affects how the ground reaction force is distributed through your body, and any imbalance in the feet spreads upwards every time you walk or run. As we work on your right foot, we find that the tissue around your right ankle is dry and gristly and you remember a bad ankle sprain from ten years ago.  Before the session we note that more weight is passing through the outside of your right foot, as if the inner arch is  avoiding contact with the ground.  When you get up from the table, however, you sense a more even distribution of weight in your feet while standing and feel a pleasant connection to the ground as you walk. 

In Session 3 we work on the sides of your body, along the myofascial chain on each side going from your ankles to your neck. We notice stronger muscular development along the side of your right thigh (front and back of the Iliotibial Band) and the muscle that connects the crest of your right hip to the twelfth rib (Quadratus Lumborum) compared to the equivalent structures on your left side. This asymmetry can cause compression on the right side of your lower back as the ribcage bends to that side.

In Session 4 we notice that the muscles on the inside of your right thigh (Adductors) are more bulky and tense than those on the left. The excess tension on the front of your right thigh, which has been pulling the right side of your pelvis forward in relation to the left side, is released in Session 5, while Session 6 addresses the deep tension in the right hamstrings and gluteal muscles.  

All these imbalances have been contributing to asymmetrical tensional dynamics in your lower back, which in turn have been making certain areas of your back more vulnerable to pain. By bringing the two sides of your body into more harmony, we unravel the pattern. You start to feel an easing of the lower back pain which does not revert to how it was before.

In Sessions 7 to 10 the tension in your neck and upper trapezius is worked on directly and by this stage we are attaining a higher level of order in your body, meaning that the parts are in a new spatial relationship with each other that allows for better alignment with gravity and more efficient function. Gravity is able to flow through your body relatively smoothly without “snagging”, because the vulnerable areas have become better aligned and more resilient. Your posture is more upright, and you are moving with more grace and fluidity.

The Cause of your Pain

Your lower back pain may be a result of that skiing injury you sustained to your right ankle ten years ago, and the compression in the right side of your lower back may go all the way back to when you played soccer as a child, spending hours and hours kicking a ball with a marked preference for your right leg.  The pain in your upper back and neck may be a consequence of your habitual way of typing on your laptop with your shoulders held up and your head craning forward to read what is on the screen. Or maybe it is to do with the way you hold your arms locked in front of you as you grip the steering wheel when you drive. Your habit of clamping your left arm under your pillow when you sleep and tilting your right hip forward is also relevant.  

Ida Rolf’s Legacy

Dr.Rolf used to encourage her students to go away and exclusively do the Rolfing Series for five years before returning to do further training. She knew the depth and potential of this work, the time necessary to develop one’s skills and is known to have said that “anyone can divide (differentiate) a body but very few are able to bring it together.” 

As a new Rolfer I may have been unaware of the likely muscle groups contributing to your pain and would have had only a rudimentary idea of how everything hangs together.  But the logical progression of the Series ensures that the key myofascial control points and myofascial units relevant to your pain get the necessary attention, no matter how far from the painful area they may be. Nothing important gets overlooked.

The dry gristle in your right ankle and ITB get hydrated and the knots in your hamstrings are dissolved.  The asymmetric rotation of your pelvis reduces as a result of the dynamic forces from your legs below and your abdominals above becoming more congruent with each other. As your pelvis becomes more balanced,  the rotation and side bending of the vertebrae in your lumbar spine lessen, which eliminates the local pain in your back. 

Of course experience is invaluable and the more people a practitioner treats, the wider the data base of information becomes. It gets easier to see patterns and choose the appropriate areas of the body to spend time on, and crucially the practitioner’s quality of touch improves. 

Nevertheless, after twenty five years of practice, I still can be surprised at the consistent effectiveness of the Rolfing Series to get people in better shape and pain free. Even if a client is coming to me for pain relief or craniosacral therapy, I still recommend doing the full Rolfing Series before anything else. The Series is an excellent treatment system that has a very high chance of reducing musculoskeletal pain and producing long term change. I feel deep gratitude to Dr. Rolf and my teachers for showing me how to do this work. 

Testimonials

Here is a selection of clients’ comments about how Rolfing helped to alleviate or resolve their musculoskeletal pain. 

Natalie: I’ve been doing yoga, stretching and exercise to resolve my old shoulder and hip injuries. Nothing has made much difference and I keep injuring my knee.  Rolfing helped resolve my old injuries and fixed my posture as well! I had rounded shoulders that have now straightened thanks to Alan. If you have structural issues that are tough to fix, it is worth committing to a full course of Rolfing to try to resolve it!

Dean: I walked out of each session feeling stronger than I felt walking in – physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Rachel: As we progressed through the initial Ten Series I experienced a number of releases – the most amazing for me was regaining feeling in my legs (I hadn’t even realised I was more or less numb before this!).

Danielle: I used to wake up everyday with all different kinds of aches and pains. Once I started the treatment after about 3 sessions I really started to feel the effects and the difference in my body. Waking up with no aches and pains and feeling so good was an amazing feeling.

Jasmine: Supporting my practices in yoga and Taichi, Rolfing has significantly helped with raising awareness and connection in my body. It has also contributed to healing of old injuries.

Richard: The initial 11 step programme was amazing and went a long way to rectifying years of asymmetric sporting activity, particularly in my lower back.

John: I completed the 10 series with Alan and had tangible changes in my body from the first session. In daily life I could feel its effects, even in the small things like getting out of a car from a seated position (there was no longer tension on the inside of my legs). 

Suzanne: I continue to be impressed by how Alan working on one part of the body can make such a difference to a completely different area.

Sheza: I can honestly say that his Rolfing techniques have immensely helped my TMJ and neck pains. What he does is truly transformational and works at a deep level on the fascia. 

Mel:  After the first session (whole body but superficial) I walked towards my car and noticed that a pull I normally feel in my legs had disappeared. I’d never really been aware of the pulling but I noticed its absence.  That night I slept for hours.

Marcia:  I have less pain. I sleep better. I walk better. I feel better.

Full testimonials can be seen here: /testimonials/

Endnotes

1. Maitland, Jeffrey. Spacious Body. Explorations in Somatic Ontology. Berkley, CA. North Atlantic Books, 1995, xx
2. Rolf, Ida. (1990). Rolfing and Physical Reality. Rochester, VT. Healing Arts Press, p. 69.

1. People in Pain

Many of my clients originally come to Rolfing because they are experiencing pain which is affecting their quality of life.

Rolfing is effective for both acute and chronic musculoskeletal pain. In cases of acute pain a Rolfing practitioner will not manipulate the injury (unless the touch is very light), but will reorganise the surrounding myofascia, which takes the pressure off the sensitive area.

The effect of the Rolfing Series is to help distribute weight and forces more evenly throughout the body, reducing stress on specific muscles and joints that may be causing chronic pain. The quality of touch characteristic of Rolfing, ranging from slow deep strokes to very light touch, is highly effective at easing long-held muscular tension.   

As the Rolfing Series progresses the Rolfing practitioner can identify and address the underlying causes of musculoskeletal pain by analysing movement patterns, body imbalances, and other factors contributing to the chronic pain condition. As well as receiving a comprehensive ‘overhaul’ of the the body’s myofascial system, Rolfing clients tend to become more aware of their body and less likely to continue habits which can contribute to chronic pain, such as hiking their shoulders and holding their head forward while at the computer.

Many people have experienced a reduction in pain from TMJ dysfunction and migraines/headaches after receiving Rolfing.

2.  Individuals of all Ages

Rolfing is suitable for people of all ages, including children, teenagers, adults in their twenties to fifties, and even seniors in their seventies and eighties. For children Rolfing is not only good for correcting musculoskeletal aberrations, but also sets them up for better movement habits and posture as they grow and mature.  It is noticeable with many children that their confidence and self esteem improve too when they do the Rolfing Series. It is especially gratifying when parents give feedback about how the Rolfing Series has helped their child: 

“Rolfing has also been very important for my son, who Alan worked with during my son’s early teenage years (age 12 to 16). Alan’s work with my son was very significant; helping to balance his body, straighten his spine, and enhance his mood and self-confidence.

Alan worked with my son at a critical phase of his growth and development, and through excellent technique, conversation, and lots of jokes, was an extremely positive influence.” (Katharine)

“His shoulder blades are flatter, his shoulders straight, his chest fuller and his “chicken” neck more aligned. His gait has also improved and he has become more body-aware. He looks stronger, more robust and better balanced, more comfortable in his body. As an added bonus his confidence and self esteem have been noticeably boosted – he looks me in the eye more.” (Gine, mother of Joey)

For elderly citizens Rolfing can literally give a new lease of life. The wife of 91-year old Ernest relates:

“By the second session he had cut back on his oxygen utilisation pill. A wound on his head seemed to heal faster than previous such wounds.  But most important to me, the bounce returned to his step and his twinkling eyes sparkled even brighter.” (Note 1)

3. Pregnant Women 

Pregnant women in their last trimester may find benefit from Rolfing for several reasons, although it is crucial to note that any form of bodywork during pregnancy should be done with the guidance and approval of a qualified prenatal care provider. Rolfing can release muscular tension and knots that commonly occur during pregnancy as a result of the growing size of the baby, especially in areas such as the lower back, hips and shoulders. Stress reduction and better sleep are other possible benefits. Here is what one mother said about her treatment:

“I saw Alan’s ad in the local newspapers and after seeing the videos on his website I decided to do one session in a hope that he would help me with the back pain I suffered for years. I didn’t know anything about Rolfing before I went to see him. He managed to get rid of my pain and suggested I do a set of sessions in order to balance my body, make it symmetrical again. Little did I know that with those sessions I will stop having pain in the foot (doctors told me there is nothing they can do about it), pain in my back and got my nice posture back again. I continued going through my pregnancy and it helped me tremendously especially during the last trimester.” (Lada)

3. Those Seeking Improved Posture

Many clients come to Rolfing because they recognize the potential for improved posture as a preventive measure against potential problems arising from existing postural challenges.  Rolfing generally improves balance while sitting, standing, and walking, increases overall body mobility, attains length in the spine for an upright feel, enhances dynamic range of motion in the feet, achieves three-dimensional ease in breathing, and cultivates greater body mindfulness.

4.  Athletes, Movement-Related Activities Enthusiasts and Performers

Many of my clients are actively engaged in movement-related activities such as yoga, dance, or sports such as tennis, cycling, tai chi or running. Musicians can also benefit from Rolfing because of improved posture and alignment, release of tension, optimised breathing and alleviation and prevention of overuse injuries.

Professional athletes who have used Rolfing include Olympic track athlete Edwin Moses, former tennis champion, Ivan Lendl, Olympic high jumpers Amy Acuff and Erin Aldrich, figure skaters Michelle Kwan and Elvis Stojko.

Former US modern pentathlon competitor Sharon Sander says the following:

“I recommend Rolfing for any athlete who has ever had trouble with injuries or doesn’t feel like they are reaching their potential.” (Note 2)

Sarah Will, who won a skiing gold medal in the 1998 Paralympic Games, says:

“Rolfing increased my performance time 100%. It eliminated my body pain, relaxed my muscles at the starting gate, my concentration and motivation increased, giving me the winning edge. It loosened my lower back, shifting strength into my upper back where I need it, and increased my starting time. Seeing these results, and knowing I was in the best shape possible, my confidence rose. I think every sport should include a team Rolfer in their training program.” (Note 2)

Amy Acuff, who  was involved in the nail-biting Olympic High Jump Final on Aug 28, 2004, says the following:

“As an Olympic high jumper, my motor skills, range of motion and power through that range of motion are critical. When I take off I have to be in position, and more important, I have to be powerful through the launch. I use Rolfing to increase my performance. It freed up a lot of space in my movement, increased my range of motion and gave me more efficient muscle control.” (Note 3)

5.  People with Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)

Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) is a term used to describe a range of conditions that result from overuse or repetitive use of a particular part of the body, or prolonged periods of awkward positioning. RSI can affect muscles, tendons, ligaments, and other soft tissues and commonly occurs in the hands, wrists, arms, shoulders, neck, and back. People who engage in tasks such as typing, using a computer mouse or playing musical instruments, may be at risk for developing RSI.

Common types of Repetitive Strain Injuries include carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis), golfer’s elbow (medial epicondylitis), and tendinitis. Symptoms can include pain, stiffness, numbness, tingling, weakness, and swelling in the affected area.

RSI can be complex to treat but I and other Rolfers have some success in alleviating this condition. Amongst several of my clients with RSI who have benefited from Rolfing, Bettina says the following:

“If you have got an issue with RSI, I can highly recommend Rolfing in general and Alan Richardson in particular. Having tried many other treatments, I came across Rolfing in 2006 and found it was the only thing that kept my symptoms at bay and enabled me to continue to hold down an office job.”

For more Testimonials please click here

Famous concert pianist Leon Fleisher lost the ability to play two-handed piano because of severe RSI, and focal dystonia, a neurological movement disorder which was causing involuntary and sustained muscle contractions in his right arm. After thirty years of trying many treatments Fleisher received Rolfing treatment form Tessy Brungardt (my Basic and Advanced Rolfing teacher).  After a few weeks working with Brungardt, Fleisher was able to perform in a two-handed concert with the Cleveland Orchestra. Brungardt was interviewed in the 2007 Academy Award-nominated short film “Two Hands: The Leon Fleisher Story” directed by Nathaniel Kahn.

For an account of Fleisher’s experience with Rolfing along with the account of my client Deanna Miller about how her Rolfing Series with helped her RSI please click here

6.  People with Scoliosis

Scoliosis is a condition characterized by an abnormal curvature of the spine. Instead of a straight alignment, the spine may develop a sideways curvature, forming an “S” or “C” shape. This curvature can occur in various parts of the spine, and its severity can vary from mild to severe.  Idiopathic Scoliosis the most common type, and its cause is unknown. It often develops during adolescence and may progress during growth spurts.

In my practice I have helped many people with scoliosis. The degree of improvement varies with each individual, and in some cases the reduction in the curvature is significant. Here are comments by my clients;

“After the first session my daughter immediately felt a physical release and was keen to continue. After around session 5/6 there was clear visual change in the angle of her shoulder blade and a positive change in the spinal curve but the real evidence was our hospital checkup where they re-measured her cobb angle to be 31 degrees (from an original 37 degrees). This significant reduction in curvature was way beyond our hopes and expectation. We have continued to see Alan and my daughter’s comfort has improved dramatically over the course. Outstanding results for her and one very happy mum!!” — Mother of Bea, 16

Being a Scoliosis client it has helped me develop good posture, a slightly reduced curve and with going to the Gym regularly + Rolfing. It has been a great combination for me. Thanks so much Alan, you have had a huge positive impact on my life and habits. — Kavi, 27 year-old male

For more Testimonials please click here

7.  People interested in Personal Growth

The Rolfing Series is a process that leads not only to physical improvements, but can also confer other benefits which help in a person’s life. Personal growth is a subjective and multifaceted process, and individual responses to Rolfing can vary. Nevertheless some of my clients have told me that they deal with difficult situations more effectively because their personal boundaries become better defined. As she approached the end of the Rolfing Series, one client told me that she was able to stand up to the office bully for the first time. 

Many clients relate that they become better able to deal with stress. The greater somatic awareness fostered by Rolfing can in itself become a kind of mindfulness practice, especially when supplemented with Rolfing Movement, which encourages conscious and intentional movement which can lead to a more present and purposeful approach to life.

Both Jonathan and Mel were kind enough to provide detailed and eloquent accounts of their Rolfing Series.  Here is what they had to say:

“I feel calmer than before.  I have a stressful job and, while Rolfing does not solve the day-to-day issues, it does allow me to be in a more relaxed body and mind. This happy combination can sort out the challenges more easily.” (Tim)

“Can’t believe it’s been three months since I started  – the time has gone so fast.  Looking back over that time, I’m aware that life has seemed easier over that period. Stressful things that happen in daily life (like being stuck on a delayed train for 3 hours) just  haven’t got to me as much as usual. It just seems as though it’s easier to let go of negative emotions, like toxic anger – a mirror, emotionally, of the physical tension that has been let go.

I’ve noticed that I’ve laughed a lot more over the last few months… I’ve got more energy too. Coincidence?  Maybe, but more likely down to the Rolfing as the difference is quite marked and it has been like this for some time now.” (Mel)

Full testimonials can been seen here

Endnotes

1. Anson, Briah, Rolfing: Stories of Personal Empowerment. Kansas City, Heartland Personal Growth Press, 1991, p.119.
2. Rolfing endorsements from athletes, https://larsonwellbeing.com/rolfing-endorsements-from-athletes/ (accessed 25/1/25)
3. Rolfing SI for sports performance, /rolfing-sport/   (accessed 23/1/25)

There is a widespread misconception that Rolfing is painful.  Indeed I have met clients who have the idea that the treatment is not really Rolfing unless it is painful. My experience of receiving Rolfing is that it can occasionally be uncomfortable, but it is a good feeling of deep tense places being contacted in a beneficial way. The overriding experience of Rolfing should be of its benefits, its releasing of long-held tensions, freeing of movement restrictions and the discovery of new functional and coordinative options.

So how did Rolfing get the reputation of being painful? The explanation I have heard is that some of the first Rolfers perhaps went deep into the myofascial tissues too quickly. This seems to be a reasonable explanation.  Rolfing was born in the age of counterculture, a period of spiritual experimentation in the 1960s where some people sought therapies for a cathartic release (Primal Therapy, Gestalt, Bioenergetics). It may have been tempting for new Rolfers to give in to some clients’ demands for deep and uncomfortable bodywork that made them feel as if they were exorcising their inner demons. 

The fact is that the practitioner’s pacing of the depth of touch, the speed at which they make contact through the layers from superficial to deep,  is extremely important in a Rolfing treatment. The superficial layers are addressed in the early sessions of the Rolfing Series in order to prepare the body for the deeper ‘core’ work. In order to affect the deepest layers –  muscle groups, membranes, tendons and ligaments – the practitioner must touch with great sensitivity and calibrate the pace and pressure while being attentive to the moment-by-moment response of the tissues. Ongoing monitoring of the client’s attitudinal response to the touch and appropriate adaptation to feedback are key.  

Manipulating the myofascial system of the body is not just a mechanical process, but one that requires a somatic dialogue with the client’s nervous system, where the quality of touch is modulated according to the response felt in the client’s connective issues. The practitioner must hold a safe therapeutic container that allows space for the co-regulation and entrainment that can happen between two nervous systems in proximity. The safety of the therapeutic container can be compromised if the client withdraws or dissociates because of pain.

There is a humorous anecdote that applies to those early years of Rolfing.  One of the first Rolfing teachers shared a clinic with several treatment rooms and a common waiting room where one of the other practitioners was a Primal Scream Therapist.  Primal Scream Therapy, based on the work of Arthur Janov, sometimes involved scream-like releases in order to express repressed emotions.  It is completely different to Rolfing.  As clients were waiting for their Rolfing session they heard loud screams which they erroneously attributed to the Rolfing rather than the Primal Scream Therapy – and this contributed to the rumour of Rolfing being painful…

Let’s be clear.  Rolfing does go deep into the myofascial system and this sometimes involves substantial pressure into the muscles, fascia, tendons and ligaments of the body.  But good Rolfing does this without compromising a client’s feeling of safety. A good Rolfer is able to use strong contact with sensitivity, without causing pain.  

There is a difference between pain and intensity.  A client in pain will contract the tissues and withdraw from the touch whereas a client who experiences the touch as intense but beneficial will be able to stay present without withdrawing. Some of the areas that are contacted in a Rolfing session have been held in tension for many years and releasing this type of chronic tension can sometimes feel uncomfortable, although this feeling can be minimised by working with breath and relaxation, for example breathing into the area being touched.   But it is the kind of “pain” that feels useful, that it is resolving something deep in your body that rarely gets touched – the kind of touch that we Rolfers say “hurts good’.  

Another important factor in a good Rolfing treatment is the ability of the practitioner to vary the touch according to what is needed, sometimes light, sometimes deep. But always carefully applied, and always respecting the client’s limits.  A Rolfing session should be a negotiation, not an imposition. I say a version of the following to my clients:  “It is very important that you feel comfortable in the treatment.  If you feel something is too much, let me know and I will back off.  Sometimes I may take my hands off and we can work out a better way to contact the tissue.” 

Pain tolerance boundaries may occasionally be challenged but so long as a safe therapeutic environment has been established this should be no problem. Trust is paramount and foundational to the Rolfer-client therapeutic relationship.

How can Rolfing help pain?

Broadly speaking there are two categories of pain, acute and chronic. 

Acute pain is where there is a clear injury to the body which is fairly recent.  With an acute injury it is normally inadvisable to touch the area directly, unless the touch is very light, because of the risk of further damage to the injured tissues.  It is important to respect the inherent rest and repair mechanisms of the body. In this situation, however, Rolfing can improve the body’s adaptation to the asymmetries and imbalances caused by the injury. Working on the muscles around the injured area can help a lot. 

In the winter of 1994 I turned up for the second Rolfing session of my original Rolfing Series in Vermont having badly sprained my right ankle in a skiing accident.  My Rolfer, Thomas Walker, worked as if it were a normal second session on my left foot, but used extremely light touch around my injured right ankle.  His touch had a comforting, embracing quality to it which felt as if he was directing warm energy into my ankle.  The effect during the session was reassuring and empowering. I left the session feeling more secure on my feet and somehow uplifted as if the ankle’s healing process had been boosted. 

Rolfing can also be very helpful in reducing discomfort, pain and stiffness caused by overuse of muscles and tendons, sometimes called tendinitis or myalgia. This kind of pain commonly occurs in the front of the thigh, lower or upper back, top of the shoulders or the neck, but can occur in any area of the body. The reason Rolfing can be so effective for this type of pain is because Rolfers are trained to understand how local muscles belong in a global dynamic of tension and myofascial chains throughout the body (tensegrity).  In such cases it is usually important to treat the overused muscle directly, in order to reduce the excess tension.  But this alone is often insufficient without considering the knock-on effect of the therapeutic intervention.  For example, if you have a pain in the front of your right thigh, there is a higher chance of a good result if the practitioner assesses and treats the feet and hips (of both legs) as well as the thigh itself in order to create balance around the injury and reintegration of the muscle within the context of dynamic equilibrium in the rest of the body.

Chronic pain lasts for longer, and is typically defined as lasting for more than 3-6 months. Chronic pain can be in the same areas as pain caused by overuse, such as lower back and neck, but can be more persistent and difficult to resolve.  Nevertheless Rolfing has a high success rate in resolving this category of pain.  Many clients have come to me for Rolfing treatment having tried various other forms of treatment with limited or no success, yet Rolfing manages to get a long-term reduction or complete resolution of their pain. The reason for this success rate is, in my opinion, the inherent thoroughness of the Rolfing Series to treat the affected area within the context of overall body integration, coordination and function. 

Ida Rolf said “where you think it is, it ain’t,” meaning that the prime contributor to this kind of chronic pain can be a muscle or myofascial unit far afield from the area where the pain is felt. The Rolfing Series is a powerful treatment for organising the whole body, which in turn can address the hidden, not-so-obvious causes of muscular pain. Years of experience in treating this kind of pain can also be an important factor.

Another type of chronic pain includes conditions such as fibromyalgia, inflammatory bowel disease (IBS), osteoarthritis, migraines, neuropathy, repetitive strain injury (RSI). These types of conditions can be especially difficult to resolve, although some clients have found significant relief. In my experience stress is an important factor in such conditions and treatment involves coming to a clear understanding of a client’s lifestyle and how they deal with stress, and supporting the client to improve their situation. It can also be helpful to consider psychological and emotional components relevant to such chronic pain conditions and sometimes having a simple conversation about this can be helpful. 

For example, I had a client who suffered from persistent RSI who became pain free whenever she visited her home country Germany during the holidays, where she would make sure not to use the computer at all.  However, when she arrived back at the office in London the symptoms of RSI appeared almost immediately, even before she started using the computer again. The mere expectation of using the computer triggered a biological stress response in her body, a nocebo effect.

A holistic approach to healing is important in such cases and the client may need to tweak certain areas of their life, such as nutrition, exercise and  sedentary lifestyle, all of which can contribute to the successful resolution of pain. In some cases I recommend other therapists, such as nutritionists, yoga or pilates teachers and will also share personal experience of mindfulness, meditation or breath work as effective ways to reduce stress.

The Rolfing Series is a good foundation in treating complex cases, but I also find that the careful light touch of Craniosacral Therapy is an excellent additional way to treat these problems by positively affecting the nervous system’s stress response, as if teaching the body to relax properly.  Rolfing Movement can also be helpful by fine-tuning perception and paying attention to how a client orients to their environment. 

In summary, Rolfing does not need to be a painful experience and it should, and often does have remarkable results in reducing pain so that the client’s corporeal experience of life is more enjoyable and rich in sensation.  One of the gifts of Rolfing for many people is a newfound curiosity in their body and how it works and an increased sense of agency in their physical existence, which can in turn improve self image.  Lastly, Rolfing works best when it is experienced as a cooperation between Rolfer and client. So if you are frequently uncomfortable in your Rolfing sessions, simply talk to your Rolfer about it so that you can find better way to work together.

First training — Boulder, 1994

It’s mid-February, 1994, on our first day of training and we are about to start the first practicum. Our task is to explore the range of movement of the upper leg. I have zero massage experience and have never done anything like this before. My practicum partner, Michelle, is supine and I am holding her leg, slightly bent, off the table at an angle of about ninety degrees. I am in a buoyant mood because I have just heard that I have secured a contract teaching job in Taiwan for one year starting in April, a great relief because the cost of the training has left me broke.

I start to push Michelle’s leg around, at first slowly, then gradually speeding up. I am swept along with the excitement of the first day of class and meeting many people. My movements are clumsy and jolting. Michelle doesn’t let on how bad it must feel.

The assistant appears at my side. “What are you doing?” Bob asks.

“Exploring,” I reply.

“But that’s way too fast. Here, let me show you.”

Bob steps in, takes hold of Michelle’s leg and carefully supports its weight. Instead of pushing her leg as if it were an inanimate object, as I was doing, he leans his body forward and carries it with him, forward, back, shifting to the side in a kind of dance.

“You get the idea? Now you have a go.”

I take hold of the leg more carefully than before and start to push, but Bob stops me and places a hand gently on my back.

“Let your weight settle into your feet.

”I feel the muscular tension in my arms relax as my feet hug the floor. “Yes, that’s it. Now… slowly start to move.”

This time I feel connected to Michelle’s leg, compared to before when it was like a foreign object. My hands support her leg evenly as I lean my body forward. It is difficult to coordinate at first but becomes easier after rocking forward and backward a few times. I start to get a feel for the end point of the femur and how it swivels in the hip socket. It dawns on me that the secret is in minimising effort, not using strength.

“This feels like Tai Chi,” I say.

“And it feels much better!” Michelle adds, evidently relieved.

I first came across Rolfing while teaching English in Iida, Japan, in 1993. My employer and friend Shigeho called me one day and said: “You need to meet this guy; he talks like you.”  She was referring to Mark Caffall, a Rolfer who was teaching a form of Structural Integration (Shin-Integration) to a group of Japanese students in Ina, Nagano Prefecture. Shigeho had been quite depressed for a week after dropping a knife on her foot.  When she called me she was euphoric and claimed that seeing Mark for thirty minutes had turned her mood around.  I never got to meet Mark Caffall as he moved away but I did get hold of and study Ida Rolf’s book and was hooked by the first line, the Norman Wiener quote: “We are not stuff that abides, but patterns which perpetuate themselves.”  Soon after I called the Rolf Institute and made the commitment to go to Boulder for the first part of the training, called Foundations of Bodywork (FOB) at that time.

That first training in the two-floor building on Pearl Street was excellent. Til Luchau led an extremely creative class assisted by Jon Martine and other teachers were involved.  Cornelia Rossi taught anatomy; Peter Levine came in for a couple of days to talk about the autonomic nervous system and trauma; Jim Oschman also gave a couple of lectures and Vivian Jaye and Caryn McHose took us through some embodiment pieces. Tom Myers was around for a few days and a few of us attended an early morning stretching class that he offered. The FOB students bonded well as we plunged into the rich phenomenological realm of embodiment, gave and received many massage hours and explored the fascinating dynamics of therapeutic relationship. As the class progressed I was the Rolfing Movement model for Jane Harrington’s class in the adjacent room and also received my first Rolfing Series from Pam Rankin, who practiced in the Rolf Institute building.  Just before the class started I completed Reiki levels one and two and also attended Tai Chi classes.  The whole experience was a crash course in somatic ontology and I loved it.

At the end of the class four of us went to the Grand Canyon, descended into the valley and slept by the river for three days.  It was a fitting way to round off what had been a deeply transformational experience in Boulder.  After this I went to Taiwan to earn money for Phase 2 in Sao Paolo, Brazil,  in 1996, and then taught for another two years in Japan to save up for the third and final part of the training in Salvador in Bahia, Brazil.  I was certified as a Rolfer and Rolf Movement practitioner by Tessy Brungardt and Lael Keen on 7th August 1998.

Starting a Rolfing practice in London, 1998

I am standing near the esoteric bookshop on Neal Street, close to Covent Garden tube station. It is lunchtime on a cold grey day in November, three months after arriving in London, and it is about to rain. My Rolfing clinic is a three-minute walk away in Neal’s Yard, a charming little alley with organic food cafes, a Chinese herb shop and Neal’s Yard Remedies, a shop which sells natural health products.

The framework for my Rolfing business is in place: my clinic here in Covent Garden, my other office at home in Clapham, a website, business cards, leaflets, an advert running in Time Out. Yet in spite of being in the ideal location my new business has not got going. In the whole of October I have seen just five clients and I am concerned about paying the rent.

One problem is that I am new to London, having recently returned from years living abroad. My only contact in London on arrival was my brother. The second problem is that hardly anybody has heard about Rolfing. It is difficult to just sit back and wait for clients to come. I have to do something.

I watch the people walking past me on Neal Street. Clutching a batch of leaflets in my left hand, I take one in my right hand and hold it up, breathe deeply and try to banish thoughts of my own ridiculousness.

“Rolfing! Rolfing!” I shout to the passing crowd.

There is an Arabic saying: “Throw your heart in front of you and run ahead to catch it.” Sometimes you just have to take a risk and ignore inhibitions or embarrassment in order to make a bold statement about what you believe in. This was one of those moments. I gave my leaflets to several people and extolled the benefits of Rolfing. Although none of these people ever contacted me to arrange a session, the moment seems in hindsight to have been important.

Admittedly in the first six months after arriving back in the UK I had doubts about creating a viable business as a Rolfer. I had been living away from the UK for eleven years, was experiencing reverse culture shock, and no one in the UK seemed to know about Rolfing.  Jeffrey Birch and Darcy Ortolff had practiced briefly in London in the 1970s, and James Bardot and Tom Myers later practiced there in the 1980s. By the time I arrived these people had left and I was one of only eight Rolfers in England. Jennie Crewdson, Prue Rankin-Smith and Allen Rudolf were the elders. My back up plan to make a living if the Rolfing didn’t work out was to become a Japanese translator, but it never got to that. Somehow the act of standing outside a bookshop in the cold proclaiming Rolfing to the world crystallised my determination to succeed. It required digging deep into inner resources of tenacity to get out of my comfort zone. In talking the talk I came to believe I could walk the walk. Standing in the rain on a cold day shouting “Rolfing! Rolfing!” spurred me on to put the word out and believe it could work.  I went on to do leaflet drops and a few Rolfing talks and demonstrations. Gradually the clients showed up.

Being a Rolfer

Looking back on twenty two years of practice as a Rolfer it is possible to identify some key moments and important learning points. It took a couple of years to get the work into my hands and grow confident from practice and encouraging results. After a few years I discovered that it is easy to get complacent in this work, get into a set rhythm, to just tick along, buoyed by sufficient positive feedback from clients to persuade myself that I was doing really good work, when in fact the quality could have been much better.  When my enthusiasm started to flag I registered for a workshop. The continuing education really paid off as it gave me new techniques, concepts and approaches that could be integrated into my way of working. This was an incremental and continual process:  stagnation; workshop and new inspiration leading to improved quality of work — two steps forward;  stagnation after a while — one step back;  new workshop, two steps forward, and so on. Some forward leaps were more significant than others.

The biggest influences on my work have been my two-year Craniosacral Therapy (CST) diploma, the Advanced training and assisting classes.  Before the CST training I had been almost carelessly pushing myofascia around, basically ‘fascia mashing’.  The theoretical model for our work in my Basic Rolfing training was the thixotropic effect where the friction, pressure or heat we applied with our fingers, knuckles and elbows changed the consistency of fascia from a gluey gel state to a semi-liquid sol state.  Robert Schleip was already talking about the role of the nervous system but the gel-to-sol model prevailed for some time.

My CST training involved many hours using extremely light finger and hand pressure, basically just sitting and waiting for ages, almost like meditation. It was the opposite of the funky sliding movements I had been doing in Rolfing. But this still, patient, waiting approach to client contact taught me to respect the client’s nervous system. This perspective of trusting the inherent healing capacity of the client started to become baked into my way of working.  Before CST training a session would involve performing a string of myofascial techniques with very little space between them.  After the CST training this way of working changed to a process of carefully contacting the tissue, withdrawing after an appropriate time, sitting back and waiting, consciously giving space, then contacting the tissue again.  CST showed me how to touch the myofascia with permission from the client’s nervous system, and gave me an appreciation of how important a sense of timing and space is to a positive outcome. Music is the space between the notes.

The Advanced training, with Tessy Brungardt, Jan Sultan and Harvey Burns in 2006, was a second awakening.  In the training there was plenty of time to ask questions that had been hanging for years as well as to try out new things.  Beforehand I was accustomed to sliding about in the tissue, but the Advanced class gave me the space to learn and develop a different way of contacting the fascia, namely by hooking and waiting.  This was a revelation to me at the time and seemed to improve the quality of my results significantly. In the CST I had learned how to wait for the nervous system response and how to track the subtle rhythms, but only by using very light pressure (5 grams).  The Advanced class taught me that this waiting and tracking could also be effective while sensitively using considerable pressure deep into the myofascial system.  I was starting to wake up to the importance of making deep precise contact with the tissue at the available layer and making subtle modifications of compression and direction while holding a receptive global awareness of the client’s body.

The CST training and the Advanced class were such powerful influences that I only did a few workshops in the next five years because I was still absorbing and embodying the rich material from those two trainings. The next step in learning came when I assisted a few Phase 1 modules (two Touch and one Rolfing Movement) and two Phase 2 classes, one in Munich with Harvey Burns (2018) and the other in the UK with Giovanni Felicioni (2019). The privilege of interacting with the students, finding ways to help them learn and witnessing their huge progress is deeply rewarding. It has also further improved my own knowledge and practice.

Rolfing and the pandemic

The pandemic of 2020 was a challenge for most Rolfers because of the restrictions on physical contact. For me it was disappointing not to be able to visit Boulder as scheduled in April 2020 for the first time since that life-changing training twenty seven years ago.  It was also disappointing that the Phase 2 I was due to assist in Munich in October was cancelled.  The UK is currently in its third national lockdown which started just before Christmas 2020.  Overall in 2020 there were twenty-four weeks where UK Rolfers were prohibited from doing contact sessions. It was frustrating that Osteopaths, Chiropractors and Physiotherapists were able to work from about mid June, whereas Rolfers and the rest of the bodywork community were bizarrely grouped under the heading of Massage Parlours and shut down.  When we were able to open again at the end of July 2020 there was something noticeably different about the sessions.  After suffering restricted human contact for four months, both myself and clients derived extra benefit from the neurobiological interaction of the Rolfing sessions. Clients came in for their first session in months looking wonky and tense after sitting for hours a day working from home, looked great by the end of the session and seemed surprised and relieved to rediscover their embodiment.

It was beautiful to see the opera singing on the balconies in Italy at the start of the pandemic and to take part in the clapping of the National Health Service front line care workers at 8pm on Thursday evenings. Deprived of the social contact normally taken for granted, people created opportunities for social engagement wherever possible, saying hello to strangers in the park or chatting to the Amazon couriers. The irony is that during this pandemic most Rolfers are unable to work at the very time when people most need Rolfing. When people are denied physical contact they need touch in order to regulate their frazzled nervous systems and stay connected to their bodies. Rolfing helps people to claim the somatic part of their identity and brings the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of their being into harmony.

The human condition is like an enigma wrapped in a mystery. Nietzsche said:

“What is great in man is that he is a bridge and not a goal: what is lovable in man is that he is an over-going and a down-going.”

These words evoke the human range of being, between an earthbound animalistic existence and airy mental experience, somewhere between a beast and a god.  In a digital age where many people seem to identify more with their mental side, Rolfing has an important role to play in bringing people home to their bodies. Rolfing not only integrates a person’s structure, but can also create and reinforce the habit of mindful embodied awareness.

At the height of the pandemic a series of free webinars was offered, first by the Guild and then by DIRI. Many teachers generously gave their time to share their knowledge and wisdom. In a time of isolation, forbidden to do the work we love, the sense of community created by these webinars was heart warming. In the middle of a crisis for our profession, the webinars reaffirmed a sense of belonging to a remarkable group of people dedicated to helping other people flourish.  I am pleased to belong to such a collection of people.The world needs groups of people like this: people like us.