A June 9, 1997 article in the health section of the Post-Bulletin in Rochester, MN featured the success of Rolfing as part of a wellness program at Starkey Laboratories, a private company that manufactures hearing aids. Most poignant is the story of a woman who managed to avoid surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome by undergoing a few sessions of Rolfing. [Read more…]
Does Rolfing® hurt?
The short answer is no.
The long answer is that it can involve intense sensations, but today’s Rolfers never want that intensity to turn into grimaces and protective tightening in clients. Such physical responses are viewed as counterproductive to bringing about lasting change. [Read more…]
How does Rolfing really work? (the neurophysiology of touch)
Rolfing works by addressing range of motion restrictions throughout the body to establish a more balanced, efficient whole. It is believed that Rolfing and myofascial release techniques work by contacting fascia, the filmy white stuff that surrounds and is continuous with ligaments, muscles, bones, and organs. You’ve seen fascia if you’ve ever prepared raw meat. It’s that icky white stuff under the chicken skin and on your slab of raw steak that is always a struggle to cut away no matter how sharp the knife.
Though fascia is 3D and loops around and about all over the body, it may be helpful to envision it as latex. The entire body is wrapped in latex. The structure of the body is being held together by constant tension. When, say, a shoulder is moved out of place, the latex still keeps the shoulder sucked into the torso, but the shoulder doesn’t move right. The hips are a bit skewed. The knees are bowed. The neck is craned. There are a host of structural issues being held together by the latex wrapping. Rolfing loosens up the latex (fascia) around all this to help all the parts of the body find their ways back home. Basically, when the latex gets loose, the pull of gravity brings everything towards the plumb-line.
How exactly the actual touch techniques work, however, has been up for debate for decades.
According to the latest research, Rolfing and other forms of myofascial bodywork work by contacting mechanoreceptors within fascia, thereby changing the way the body’s self-regulatory mechanisms function. [Read more…]
The Robert Schleip Collection of Articles for Professionals and the Public
Robert Schleip was Germany’s first certified Rolfer. He turned into a histological researcher after 13 years of teaching Rolfing and becoming dissatisfied with the “pseudoscientific mentality behind what [he] was doing.”+
His website, www.somatics.de is known for its collection of articles discussing the techniques and philosophy of Rolfing as well as other somatic therapies. [Read more…]