As we discussed last month, a rolfing practitioner will look at a client’s structure both statically and in motion to see what areas may need work. For instance, a client whose legs are rotated internally may need a different kind of intervention than someone whose legs rotate externally.
Various people have varied structural profiles
Rolfing is performed in a way that may look like massage at first glance. The client wears undergarments or gym clothes while the practitioner assesses his body. Then the client lies on a massage table in a position prescribed by the rolfer. Different sessions will require the client to lie in various ways, either facing up, on his back, or on his side. Often a session will include some seated work as well–the client will sit either upright or in a curved position as the rolfer works on her back, neck, or any other area. When the client is in position, the practitioner uses his fingers, elbows, or knuckles to dig in and manipulate various areas of fascia. The manipulations may be in the form of strokes or compressions. Often the client will move from one position to another. Some work may even be done with the client in a standing position.
Often the practitioner will ask for some kind of movement from the client. It is helpful for the client to learn to breathe into the area of contact where the rolfer is working. This helps to bring awareness to various parts of the body and this awareness helps to elicit release. In this way, rolfing is more collaborative than massage. Rolfing is not simply a passive procedure that is ‘done’ to someone. Rather both practitioner and client are working together to bring about changes. The client is not expected to know any specialized techniques beforehand, but there is an element of working together in rolfing that is not found in other body work modalities. Communication is an essential aspect of the work as the sessions continue.
Lowell Flax was born and raised in New York where he worked in his family’s business, Kate’s Paperie, for many years. After years of upper back and neck pain, he found rolfing to be transformative. After selling the business years later, he enrolled at the Rolf Institute for Structural Integration to learn to do what had helped him so much.