Rolfing

What is Rolfing®?

Rolfing® Structural Integration is a type of hands-on bodywork that systematically rebalances, optimizes and aligns one's physical structure in gravity over the course of approximately ten sessions.

It focuses on releasing patterns of tension of the body's connective tissue . This allows a person to be more easily supported, find more fluid movement, and gain more comfort and ease in daily activities and athletic endeavors.

Rolfing addresses the body's internal system of flexible support known as fascia. Fascia is the connective tissue that surrounds the muscles, constitutes the ligaments, tendons, and cartilage, and even has a role in the nervous system.

We use mild, direct pressure to release tensions, create more freedom, and allow the body to reestablish balance. We also work with movement and exercises to help integrate the work.

How does Rolfing work?

What are the benefits?

A few of the many benefits people have experienced are

  • reduced pain and discomfort

  • increased flexibility and range of motion

  • an enhanced sense of body awareness

  • improved posture

  • better flow of energy and circulation

  • better balance and freedom of movement

  • improved sense of well-being and overall health

The effects of Rolfing can be felt for a long time, as the body continues to change and adapt after each session.

Movement re-education, including changes in perception and coordination, help you integrate the work and give you resources so that the benefits last.

Who should consider Rolfing?

Athletes, dancers, musicians, business people, people with chronic pain and stress, children, pregnant women, and many other different people come to Rolfing for pain and stress relief, as well as improved performance in their professional and everyday life.

Below is a partial list of different reasons people visit us:

You have chronic pain or tension and seek resources and long-lasting results.

You have suffered from injuries or trauma including repetitive stress injuries, surgical operations, other physical and emotional stress. Over time, you notice that the effects of your perhaps minor injuries are beginning to interfere with your everyday life.

You are active in sports, dance, yoga, theater, singing, music and other expressive and/or physically demanding professions or leisure activities. You would like to improve your performance, physical comfort, energy level, and internal awareness, and balance tensions you may have from repeated motions or positions.

Your doctor has told you that they can't find anything wrong but you still suffer from pain, aches or tensions, and/or unexplainable symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, gastrointestinal symptoms, chest pain, anxiety, back pain, etc. You have tried other types of therapies without much success.

You want to improve your self-awareness and explore your body and posture in relation to gravity. As you get older, you want to learn how you can use gravity as a resource instead of feeling like gravity is weighing you down.

You would like to learn how to move or work with more ease and fluidity of movement. Sometimes you carry bags, babies or other objects that you feel have influenced your posture. You often spend hours sitting, standing or moving in the same positions, and you would like some help to make the hours more comfortable.

You are pregnant (after the 1st trimester) and you seek gentle work to help you feel more comfortable and stable as your body changes.

Recently or many years ago, you gave birth to one or more children. You feel your body has changed and you seek support and resources to strengthen your body, balance tensions, and allow you to feel more at ease.

You are on a spiritual path and you find that your physical limitations prevent you from attaining a higher level of spiritual or emotional peace.

You search for a method of bodytherapy that is both holistic and precise.

What can I expect?

The first visit is a consultation. You will be asked to fill out an information form and bring it with you so we can discuss relevant medical history before beginning sessions. We will take time to answer your questions and give you more information about the Rolfing process.

The usual number of sessions in an initial Rolfing series is 10 to 13 sessions, with an interval of one week to one month between sessions to give the body time to integrate the changes. Sessions are progressive so each session develops themes that were introduced in previous sessions.

At the beginning of each session we will observe your body in standing and while walking. You may be asked to make simple movements like bending your knees or raising your arms. The observation allows us to adapt our work to your unique body and movement patterns.

During the session, you will lie on a massage table, sit or stand while we work with a broad range of gentle techniques to release muscular and fascial restrictions. You will remain active in the process and may be asked to make movements to help facilitate the work. We may work on some personalized exercises to explore your coordination and perception and to help integrate the work.

Each appointment costs 180 Sfr. and lasts approximately 60-80 minutes.

Is Rolfing covered by health insurance?

In Switzerland Rolfing is formally recognized as an approved therapy in Alternative/Complementary Medicine, and is officially registered as a "Natural Healing Method". Many insurance companies with a complementary health insurance policy ("Zusatzversicherung") will cover Rolfing. Please check beforehand with your insurance company to verify how much they cover.

Does Rolfing hurt?

Some people have heard that Rolfing is a painful process. This reputation developed in the 1960's when Dr. Rolf began teaching her work. Since those days, the work has evolved, and our knowledge of the body has grown.

Structural Integration is not about forcing the body to change, it's more about listening to the client's body and encouraging areas that are holding to open and let go. We often do not realize that we are holding pain and stress in our body until someone else touches us.

There may be some discomfort while working in an area that's been under chronic stress, however, the discomfort is usually followed by a wonderful feeling of release and relaxation.

We have a very gentle manner and work with each person at their pace and comfort level. Your feedback about your experience will improve the quality of Rolfing. If you experience discomfort or if it is too intense, please tell us immediately and we will adapt our touch and technique so that we can work more effectively together.

Who is Dr. Ida Rolf?

Rolfing is a method developed and taught by Dr. Ida P. Rolf (1896-1979).

In 1920 Ida Rolf was one of the first women in the U.S. to receive a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Physiology. In 1927 she left the United States to study mathematics and physics in Zürich, and homeopathy in Geneva.

While searching for treatments for chronic diseases, she encountered various approaches, including yoga and osteopathy, that focus on how the structure of the body affects its function. Based on the observation that human posture and movement are subject to the laws of gravity, she developed a method that she called "Structural Integration".

The founder of Gestalt therapy, Fritz Perls, invited Ida Rolf to teach her method at the Esalen Institute in California, where she and her method became better known. In the early 1970s, Ida Rolf founded her own institute in Colorado, where she taught actively until her death in 1979. Later the method was renamed "Rolfing Structural Integration" in her honor.