Structural Integration is a specialized method of hands-on manipulation of the body that stretches and shifts the soft tissue in order to improve human structure and function. This work diminishes unhealthy holding patterns that cause pain and vulnerability to injury and reestablishes comfort and freedom in the body.

Structural Integration:

• improves posture and respiration,
• increases flexibility and mobility,
• supports psychological growth,
• enhances general vitality.

Who was Dr. Rolf?

Dr. Ida P. Rolf was a brilliant scientist who developed Structural Integration (aka the Rolf method) from the 1940s through the 70s. Structural Integration aims to re-organize and re-educate a body structure into a form with a healthier relationship to gravity. In SI, the body is seen as a stacking of blocks or segments that in a typical body tend to live in a disorganized pattern, which can lead to compression, discomfort, and vulnerability in the body. Through this method, the body is initiated into a process of approaching a more balanced, ordered, and optimal architecture that makes possible greater freedom of movement, more efficiency and stability, and increased resilience.

Muscle groupings can be pulled from their optimal position as a result of trauma, stress or life habits, which can cause body segments to be tilted, rotated, compressed or twisted.

Rolf Practitioners work to shift muscle groupings back to where they function best and support the body with the least amount effort and energy. Improved stacking of these blocks, organized around a vertical line, creates a more mobile energy system with less strain that can fully relax and utilize effort economically.

Rolf Practitioners diminish unhealthy holding patterns in the body. “Holding,” can be described as extraneous tension and tightness or physical adhesion in the tissue, and often takes place in the fascia. Fascia is a cohesive, alive, breathing fabric that weaves through, wraps and folds, connects and organizes, covers and differentiates in the body, as well as acts as an enveloping layer under the skin. Because fascia is a continuous network throughout the body, it plays a large role in relationships between muscle groupings and body parts.

Fascia varies in thickness, tone and strength in different locations in bodies, and re-forms itself gradually over time correlating with the habits and stories of the body in which it lives. Holdings exist as a result of emotions, stress, trauma, injury, lifestyle, habit, structural genes, and more. When these patterns begin to dissolve, space is created and a new opportunity emerges for how a body can stand, walk, function and live. A body is then able to simply “be” differently. This is the seed moment of transformation in a body and in a person. Rolf Practitioners create an opportunity for new possibilities of posture and movement in the client, and then educate the client somatically in these potential possibilities.

Immediately after a session, the client often experiences a new sensory awareness in his or her own body. This awareness and experience is key for the body to change. The sensation of one’s body being in a new and healthier place can then serve as a reference, mentally and physically, for the client. When more space is present, the body has the choice to reorganize into that space and into a new corporal pattern. With the help of the Rolf Practitioner and the wisdom of the Rolf Method, as well as the body’s natural inclination to move towards stability and efficiency, change with longevity is possible.

This method is practiced in a cycle of 10 sessions called “The Recipe”. This series does not deal pointedly with local problems or symptoms. Rather, it is an attempt to make the body more sturdy, secure, adequate in the field of gravity. This process often results in reduced symptoms and alleviated pain whose root cause was poor structure or fascial holding. This work is only as valuable as it is helpful for its participants, and has proven many times to bring people to a place of increased well-being.

How does Rolfing feel?

The hands-on work itself is often described as deep, pleasurable, relaxing, and unlike any other type of touch. At times the 10 series can be intense and uncomfortable. A good Rolf Practitioner will always work appropriately to honor the sensitivity and needs of the client. Rolf Practitioners are not therapists or technicians attending to pain. Rather, we are educators, facilitators and catalysts for transformation. The Rolf Method is a process to educate the body and the person to live more comfortably and consciously and in harmony with his/her environment. This is a life long process that does not look towards perfection, but bringing a person closer and closer to their optimal wellness. Can I read more? Here are some exceptional books on human potential and movement.
Dr. Rolf’s book is essential.

Rolfing: Reestablishing the Natural Alignment and Structural Integration of the Human Body for Vitality and Wellbeing by Ida P. Rolf

The Psoas Book by Liz Koch

The Psoas Book

Feldenkrais: Awareness Through Movement