Beginnings
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: https://www.rolfing-london.co.uk/testimonials/
Endnotes
- Rolf, Ida. (1990). Rolfing and Physical Reality. Rochester, VT. Healing Arts Press, p. 69.
- Maitland, Jeffrey. Spacious Body. Explorations in Somatic Ontology. Berkley, CA. North Atlantic Books, 1995, xx
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