The term Rolfing and Rolfer oftentimes conjures up the image of a painful massage therapy session. Oh, there can be intense sensations as fascia releases, but the intense sensation/pain should always be brief. Rolfers should always be aware of their client's level of comfort and needs.
Many will tell you they are willing to deal with pain, if the pain is gone once the therapy session is over. My practice is more gentle, I would rather apply the technique more than once to allow the body time to adapt to the pressure. All any of us are doing, when we do massage type therapy, is to have a conversation with the body's own homeostatic response mechanism. I for one don't believe we need to create more pain to relieve painful chronic conditions. Let's take a closer look at Structural Integration or Rolfing as its called.
It was Dr. Rolf's theory that pain in the human organism, both physical and emotional, was based on our relationship with gravity and its effect on our fascial membranes. Force vectors that enter the body either physically, or emotionally, can effect the physical structure. Just like a geodesic dome, our structure is totally interrelated, and any force that enters the system can be held in other parts of the structure. Through skillful application of technique a Rolfer/Structural Integrationist can inform the system of its imbalance and ultimately change the structure to a place of more ease, freeing up energy that is used unnecessarily to hold patterns of imbalance.
All the structures of the body are linked together, including the internal organs, by an interconnected fascial web. This web is easily influenced by external force. These external forces eventually are responsible for imbalance in the web and cause painful responses. Rolfing is not like Swedish massage. Rolfing can effect those imbalances in a beneficial manner
One thing you will notice with Rolfers, is that the strokes that we apply to the patient's body are very slow and often times without the use of any lubrication. We can change our patient/clients posture by the nature of fascia's sliding, elastic capacity. This is the main reason that our clients can become pain free, their bodies are aligned in gravity. Send them out the door with some movement cues and education, and the changes that they have experienced can last a lifetime.
The beauty of Rolfing is that it offers a tactile and chemical free approach to pain management and is appreciated by any performance athlete whose training allows them to be able to perceive even the slightest change in function and balance. I highly suggest Rolfing to become part of your wellness regime for not only prevention but performance enhancement. It is an outstanding regime that has been used successfully for nearly 50 years as a manual therapy for dealing with pain and performance.
Looking to findLearn more about Rolfer. Stop by Judah Lyons's site where you can find out all about classes and what it can do for you.
categories: massage therapy, pain, physical therapy, continuing education, health, alternative health, wellness, arthritis, healthcare, alternative health care
Posted under arthritis
This post was written by Judah Lyons on August 17, 2010
