About Rolfing

 Rolfing® was created by Dr. Ida Rolf. Dr. Rolf originally trained as a biochemist, getting her PhD in biochemistry from Columbia University in 1920. She worked as a researcher at the Rockefeller Institute where she studied and published her findings on lethicin and cephalin. In 1926 Dr. Rolf traveled to Europe to study physics. While in Europe she was introduced to and began her studies in homeopathy. Around 1940 Dr. Rolf saw her first client for what is now called Rolfing Structural Integration. She developed and refined her work over many years, drawing upon osteopathy, homeopathy, her extensive knowledge of fascia and the body and also yogic traditions. In the 1950, Dr. Rolf began teaching her work and in 1971 the Rolf Institute in Boulder, Colorado was formerly organized. It is the only school in the United States that teaches Rolfing®.

Dr. Rolf’s structural integration work is base on three premises:

 1. Most human beings are significantly out of alignment with gravity. Gravity is the fundamental influence on the body.

2.We function better when we are lined up with the gravitation field of the earth.

3.The human body is so plastic its alignment can be brought back into harmony with gravity at practically any time of life.

Dr. Rolf created a ten session format for Rolfing® structural integration. Sessions 1-3 are called “sleeve” sessions, which gets the superficial layers of fascia lengthened and organized. Sessions 4-7 are “core “sessions which address the deeper layers of the body around the spine. Sessions 8-10 are integration sessions. Rolfing works in a systematic way to open up and free restricted areas in the body while providing support for these new changes in a sustainable way.

Benefits of Rolfing® can include relief from:

soft tissue pain, shoulder, neck, low back tension

foot problems, postural issues, text neck, computer back.

People seek out Rolfing® for:

more flexibility and  greater range of motion

a deepening of body/mind consciousness

greater Joy in being

"Photos courtesy of The Rolf Institute® of Structural Integration"