What is Rolfing?
Rolfing® Structural Integration
is a system of soft tissue manipulation and movement education that looks to balance, align, and smooth out movement patterns in our bodies, restoring the pep in your step.
The primary focus of Rolfing is working with fascia. Fascia is a system of connective tissue that runs throughout our bodies, like flexible scaffolding, giving our cells, muscles, bones and organs elastic support. When everything is going smoothly, fascia glides along with your movements. Fascia is intricately tied into your nervous system and ubiquitous throughout your body, so many things can affect it, including strain or injury in one part of the body, emotional stress, aging, inflammation, hereditary diseases and so on. This also means in many cases, working with fascia can feel profound and have far reaching effects.
Rolfing has a reputation of creating changes that hold. This is largely due to working with fascia and working in a whole-body approach. Traditionally, Rolfing is done in a series 10 sessions that work through every area of your body. However, the number, frequency, and spacing of treatments depends on your personal needs and goals, which we will discuss together.
(going to work on combining these so we cover fascia here too)
Just as the tires on your car start to wear out when your wheels are out of
alignment, poor posture can lead to aches and pains in your body. Rolfing®
Structural Integration is not unlike taking your body in for an alignment check.
Fascia is connective tissue that encases every cell and every group of cells. Human fascia is not unlike the bitter white pith in oranges that differentiates sections. It keeps muscle cells separate from bone cells, giving each group its shape. Healthy fascia is what allows your muscles groups slide on each other as they stretch and contract. It seamlessly transitions from group to group creating one interconnected network of connective tissue. Fasica is highly innervated, making it an ideal tool for communicating with our nervous systems. In other words, by working with fascia, we can effect how your body perceives itself.
The stresses of life can lead fascia to become adhered or stiff. This affects posture, pain and illness, because fascia is everywhere. By restoring health and adaptability to this influential organ, Rolfers are able to boost health on many levels.