Rolfing
Rolfing
Rolfing - also known as Structural Integration - is unprecedented in that it is the first system to recognise the importance of gravity when organising the whole body. Misalignment in gravity results in chronic strain, lowered vitality and impaired biological and psychological functioning. Rolfing is an original and scientifically validated system of body restructuring and movement education through soft tissue manipulation. This is not "manipulation" or clicking of bone joints, but instead gentle, steady, slow and generally very deep pressure. Through this pressure we are working to change the feeling and health of the connective tissue system - known as the myofascial network. But Rolfing is not just vigorous deep-tissue massage: it aims to create freedom of movement and space within the structures of the body using what Rolfer's term 'Myofascial Release technique,' the restricted connective tissue, muscle fibres, joints and internal structures are released from life-long holding patterns.
Over time, elements of our personal history and environment blend with our reactions to them to form a complex, individual body structure.
"Within the structure and tone of the living flesh is a retrievable record of all of its previous experiences. The fall off the bicycle, the dive out of the tree, the tumble down the stairs is not a momentary trauma that heals and is forgotten. These become imprinted in the pulls and strains of the soft tissue that lock an individual into habitual patterns of movement and expression. The past is very much alive influencing and creating present experience." (Paul Zimmerman, Certified Advanced Rolfer)
Rolfing is a very positive experience that engages the body in a process of transformation. This can be particularly poignant if people feel that they have lost touch with their bodies and even with their sense of "ground." Helping clients to re-ground can be the first stage of taking those first steps into a new relationship with your body and your potential.
Gathering information from sources such as body reading, movement analysis, working habits and sleep patterns, Liesl will tailor a course of treatments, targeting key areas of your body.
Rolfing is particularly suited to producing long lasting results with:
- Scoliosis and its patterns of compensation
- Misalignment - feeling like you're "out of kilter"
- Joint and muscle restriction and pain issues. Rolfing is excellent for releasing the body from sometimes life-long pain as well as re-educating the nervous system to experience new sensations that are not pain.
- Acute and chronic back and neck problems.
- Repetitive strain injury (RSI) and frozen shoulder.
- Sports injuries (prevention and rehabilitation)
- Improved balance, coordination and mobility - wonderful for yoga and Pilates teachers and students.
- Tissue rehydration and tonification.
- Healthy movement and postural education - re-learn the habits of a lifetime. Sometimes the body realises that the way you sit, stand, breathe and even sleep are patterns that no longer work for you.
- Breathwork, particularly when dysfunction has occurred as a result of shock or trauma or for instance old rib and back injuries that have forced the body into painful or ineffective breathing patterns.
- Rolfing can be an important part of working through your birth trauma often particularly effective when teamed with Cranial osteopathy, Craniosacral therapy and/or psychotherapy.
- Many women find Rolfing helps to prepare the body for pregnancy - bringing about more support and stability for carrying a growing new life. Helping the body deal with a changing mid-line and centre of gravity can enable more efficient organ functioning and therefore better use of energy; while also bringing more space and freedom to the internal structures of the pelvis. Coccyx misalignment due to impact injuries can also result in challenges to the "growing space " during pregnancy and affects the health of the pelvic floor. Gentle myofascial release work around the bones of the pelvis can bring relief and, in turn, create a more dynamically versatile pelvis.
- Post pregnancy restructuring. Rolfing is one the most effective treatments for addressing the powerful and potentially misaligning affects of pregnancy and labour.
- Emotional and psychological stress reduction and a safe and effective process for freeing up the system from the strong hold of trauma and shock. Making it a very powerful partner for working along side psychotherapy.
"One individual may experience his losing fight with gravity as a sharp pain in the back, another as the unflattering contour of his body, another as constant fatigue, and yet another as a unrelenting threatening environment. Those over forty may call it old age, yet all these signals may be pointing to a single problem so prominent in their own structures and the structures of others that it has been ignored: they are off-balance, they are at war with gravity." (Ida Rolf, founder of the Rolfing Technique)