Rolfing®

Rolfing® is a process of (usually) 10 sessions that brings longterm uprightness and ease in posture, freedom, efficiency and grace in movement, stability, balance and ease in body as well as spirit.

How does it do that? Rolfing works primarily with fascia (soft connective tissue that cover, interconnect and separate all body structures – muscles, bones, organs, veins, nerves) and body’s relationship to gravity. It releases, stretches, rehydrates and fascia. With free and flexible fascia, the body’s structures can get organised so as to communicate and cooperate optimally. The entire system can find support in gravity rather than collapsing under its own weight. It uses minimum energy for keeping itself on its feet (literally) and maximum is free and available – a bit like when you get your bicycle tuned up. Or your hard disc defragmented. Clients often say that this in-depth overhaul has brought about changes in how they relate to the world at large. Rolfing teaches the body (inter alia) to stand tall on its feet, breathe freely, be centered and reach out. No wonder these skills show elsewhere in life.

What are the tools? Touch (from the softest to very intense), movement education (small movements on the massage table, sitting and standing) and awareness. Using their combination, fascia is freed, structures rearranged into new mutual relationships. Their relationship to gravity – vectors and angles of their engagement – change as well and the body changes shape and function. As we involve your awareness, you discover new movement possibilities and patterns, learn to distinguish them from the original ones and thus get a choice between the old and the new.

For whom? Virtually anyone who is ready for a tangible change. Who wants to stand and walk easy and straight. It reverts the effects of what we call aging – brings back flexibility, balance, stability. It can help children redirect their body’s development to a more balanced direction. Athletes come for higher performance, more efficient and pain free use of body’s resources. Also to speed up and complete regeneration after injuries and surgeries – old and new. Apart from efficiency, yoga, dance, martial art practitioners are usually also interested in body awareness and deeper understanding of movement principles as it brings ease, precision and grace to their practice. Musicians, and anyone exposed to repetitive strain, find relief from pain and tension and options how to prevent them. Rolfing is not symptom-oriented. However, as it optimises relationships in the entire system, systems often gradually fade or disappear.

Why 10 sessions? Each session has different specific goals and themes. The first three sessions work on the superficial structures, the following four look at the deeper ones and the last three are integrative – they further deepen, anchor and connect all you have discovered. The human body and its movement are rather complex. The body opens and discovers the new possibilities and connections gradually, step by step. In the course of the process, it is regularly reminded of what it learnt in previous sessions and the new possibilities and patterns are (re)tested in standing, walking, sitting and everyday activities. This provides the body with enough information, impulses and perceptivity to be able to take care of itself once the 10 sessions are over. The effects of Rolfing last exceptionally long.

When you book your first session, you of course do not need to enrol for the entire process. If you like the first session, taking the first three sessions is usually recommended. Each session is different and the first three form a whole. Then you will see if Rolfing is beneficial enough for you to complete the whole process.

What happens when the 10 session series is over? The series is an intense process. The changes that it starts off keep integrating for several months. Your system needs space to integrate them fully. Some clients never want Rolfing sessions again. Other want to continue with this work as the path to freedom, ease and balance is never over for them. We then work in mini-series of three to five sessions based on what you need.

Sessions take 1,5 hours. Ideally, we meet every one to two weeks. If longer breaks are necessary, the best time is after sessions 3 and 7. Rolfing sessions usually happen in underwear and you’ll be testing the changes occurring during sessions in standing and walking. You feeling comfortable is essential, however, so if you’d feel uncomfortable in underwear, choose a swimming suit or shorts. Sports bras are not ideal because middle back can only be accessed with difficulty.