The Rolf Method, also known as Rolfing or Structural Integration, is a form of physical re-education. It aims at helping the muscles and soft tissue to return to their optimal length and position, thereby returning the body to its optimum balance.

Development of Rolfing

The method was developed by an American biochemist, Dr Ida P. Rolf (1896-1979), who began her work in the 1930s and drew her principles from many sources, including osteopathy, yoga, and the theories of Wilhelm Reich and F.M. Alexander.

Like Alexander, Rolf realised that posture affects a person’s general health. A slouched posture, for example, can interfere with breathing, circulation, and digestion. It can lead to pain or restriction of movement as the muscles of the back, chest, and shoulders tighten and gradually ’set’ the posture. It can even affect one’s attitude towards life and the way one responds to other people. She noticed that many people have areas of chronic tension and restricted movement, which, she believed, reflect the body’s struggle with the force of gravity.

Rolf observed that many events can interfere with the maintenance of an easy upright posture. Imitating other people, physical injury, and even emotional attitudes shape posture and movement, giving them a characteristic pattern which friends can recognise even from a distance.

How Rolfing Works

The purpose of Rolfing is to alleviate chronic tension, lengthen the body, and balance it in gravity, so that one uses minimum energy to stand up, and the muscles and joints work as they are designed to do. This is achieved through ten bodywork sessions of stretching and movement techniques to loosen and lengthen the connective tissue or fascia that have thickened and shortened under continued tension and strain. The tissue involved is that of the tendons, ligaments, muscles, nerves, and other tissues that hold the skeleton together.

Ten-Session Treatment

Rolfing usually requires a series of sessions, each one tailored to the individual’s needs. On the first visit, the Rolfer notes down a detailed history of the patient and photographs him in his underwear to ascertain both the standing posture and what the patient looks like before he starts any treatment. He takes more photographs during and at the end of the course of treatment to chart the progress, which should also be evident in the way the patient feels and moves.

During the treatment the patient lies on a table or sits on a bench. The Rolfer uses his hands, knuckles, and even an occasional elbow to slowly and deeply release tensed and distorted tissues. The patient helps in the process by relaxing and making small movements in response to his directions. The work can be uncomfortable at times, especially where one has an old injury or if the patient is very tense. However, the Rolfer works sensitively to open up these painful areas and restore them to their full range of movement and resilience.

Precautions and Prospects

Rolfing is not advised for those suffering from cancer and osteoporosis. Since it stimulates circulation, it could promote malignancy and result in broken bones, specially in older people. Swellings, inflammation, or wounds should also be allowed to heal before Rolfing is attempted on the skin.

The results of Rolfing vary from person to person. Since it works on structure, structural problems such as flat feet, chronic body pain due to tension or imbalance, some breathing difficulties, and excessive spinal curvatures and slouches are the most obvious areas where it is effective. Most people experience a relief from pain, a lessening of fatigue, and a greater sense of lightness, ease, and energy.

Tension, posture, and emotional distress are linked. For example, people who are chronically afraid or depressed express this through their posture, walking with their heads down and shoulders rounded. Just as psychotherapy and psychoanalysis can have an effect on physical health, Rolfing can have an effect on the mind. Rolfers believe that by changing the structural relation between parts of the body, they can often produce an opening and thereby, help improve the underlying attitudes toward life and other people.

Rolfing has a wide application physically for athletes, dancers, and musicians, as an adjunct to psychotherapy. For the average person who simply wishes to get the best from himself, it improves his mental and physical integration. 

————————————————————————————————————Now You Know…

A twentieth-century healing system named after its American creator, Rolfing helps to remove tension from the muscles and joints through stretching and movement techniques. It employs the use of hands, knuckles, and elbows to remove tension from specific areas.

Able to relate an incorrect posture to a corresponding disease, Rolfing can remove a problem (even a chronic one) on its own. The Rolfer keeps a photographic record of the ‘before’ and ‘after’ treatment state of the patient. Unfortunately, since it is a fairly new technique, there are few practitioners available.