Who benefits from Rolfing® Structural Integration?
- Anyone with poor posture.
- Those who haven’t quite felt themselves ever since that accident, surgery, divorce, pregnancy, whiplash or whatever. They want their bodies back.
- Workers whose livelihoods depend on physical endurance - like tradesmen, landscapers, bartenders, hairdressers and floor traders.
- Sufferers from chronic discomforts such as low back, neck or shoulder pain, headaches, "TMJ", "carpal tunnel syndrome" or "plantar fasciitis".
- Artists and professionals who depend on expressiveness - like musicians, dancers, comedians, actors, salesmen and lawyers.
- Athletes seeking better performance with more ease and comfort -- like runners, yoga aficionados, martial artists, golfers and skiers.
- Those who feel awkward, limited or inhibited.
- Folks who'd like to move like they did 10 or 20 years ago.
- Someone who wants to dance a better tango.
- Seekers of greater self-awareness and understanding.
What makes Rolfing special?
It's a limited intervention that brings long-term structural and functional change -- not just short-term symptom relief. When real change happens, those aches, pains and limiting restrictions tend to fall away. Excess effort is abandoned in favor of ease. You look good and feel good.
Is the Rolfing approach like chiropractic, massage or physical therapy? No.
First, it doesn't diagnose or treat any disease, injury or pathology. It’s education -- and it's probably not much like anything else you've tried. If you’re done being drugged, cut, cracked, mashed, pummeled and tenderized only to be back to Square One a few days later, try something different. Try Rolfing.
What's the Rolfing experience like?
Tailoring: An integrated body feels like your most comfortable clothes: you don’t notice them because they don't cramp your style:
- Does your flesh drape well enough to let you be graceful?
- How about a lining so the layers slide over each other better?
- Where do you need to be lengthened — and where taken in?
- Would you like a more elastic fabric?
- Do your feet act like blocks in those too-small or too-tight shoes?
- Are your leggings twisted?
- Is the seat of your pants too tight?
- Is there a crimp or twist in your mid-section?
- Is your collar chafing?
- Are the arm holes too small to let you reach?
- Do you have room to move? To breathe?
Conducting: An integrated body is like a fine orchestra or a tight jazz band:
- All players are on the same page and the same beat.
- Adaptability and fluid communication encourage improvisation.
- You perform as a harmonious whole -- not a bucket of cacophonous parts.
Engineering: An integrated body is a well-balanced tension structure:
- With tension properly distributed, the body has effortless self-support in gravity.
- Components that fit together well also move well, with little wear & tear.
- Good wiring allows correctly timed and coordinated signals.
- An integrated system is comfortable and energy-efficient.
Is Rolfing for everyone? No.
- It's not for those with recent cancers or systemic autoimmune conditions like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.
- For sure it's not for anyone looking to be “fixed” by someone else: a Rolfing series won't hurt them, but they'll likely be wasting their time and money.
Is it for everything? No.
For many goals and situations, it is not the first or best choice. Unless Heidi believes that a Rolfing series is as good or better than anything else you could be doing to meet your current goals, she will refer you elsewhere, to a modality or practitioner that’s right for you right now.
Is a Rolfing series 10 sessions? Not necessarily.
The 10-session series is a great protocol for intervention. Some Rolfers stick to this recipe; but many with advanced training and expertise prefer to customize the series for each client, and the number of sessions varies accordingly.
Do Rolfing sessions hurt? No.
Things have changed since the early days when some clients did experience discomfort during sessions. Besides, you're always in charge: if what's happening ever feels like too much for you, it stops.
Are Rolfing sessions covered by insurance? No.
Unlike chiropractic or physical therapy, a Rolfing session isn't a medical treatment -- "alternative" or otherwise -- so most health insurers don’t cover it. If your employer provides a flex-spend plan, you might be able to use that.
Do Rolfing benefits last? Yes.
Better yet, they're usually progressive: with greater body and movement awareness, clients continue to improve over time — even long after their sessions are over. Of course, when stress and the vicissitudes of life take their toll, many clients return for more work or occasional tune-ups. But as Ida Rolf put it, “After a Rolfing series, you’re a Jaguar. No matter what happens, you won't turn into a Ford again.”