YES! Photographs taken of clients years after the Basic Ten Series show that changes are still present and structure is enhanced. The basic series addresses patterns of tension and restriction accumulated in your body since childhood, including past injuries and their many compensations. Fortunately, you won’t recreate that history again.

And indeed, your body, having been Rolfed, continues to improve. Your body’s shape and condition are constantly being maintained and recreated by its movement patterns. If the movement patterns are imbalanced and restricted, they will continue to break down the structure (typical degeneration attributed to “getting older”). After Rolfing, the movement patterns begin to improve and re-create a balanced structure. Through the improved movement patterns made possible by a more flexible and free structure, the Rolfing continues after the 10 sessions have been completed.

While Rolfing is primarily involved with physical changes in the body, it affects the whole person. The effects of shock and trauma are extensive, affecting the nervous system and many other components of the body. By very slowly and carefully working with their physical manifestations, underlying neural and psychosomatic injuries are given a chance to heal. It is important to mention that the body is always striving to restore itself to balance after an injury and will do so if provided with a safe and secure opportunity. Clients often report positive changes, stating less stress, greater self-confidence and improved ability to handle life’s changes.

Of course I can do work just on your back. Unfortunately, it’s not so simple; the changes won’t necessarily address the underlying problem, and thus won’t last. Due to the amazing complexity of the human body, everything is connected. Therefore, the locality of where you experience pain may not be the source of the pain.

For example, what is happening in your back may be related to what is happening on the front of your body. So by improving your ability to breathe by working on the front of your body, your back is ultimately affected for the better. Or, the problem may be below the back. The body, like any building or structure, needs the foundation underneath to be strong and stable for the top to be healthy and right. Amazing as it may seem, the source of back pain can often be relieved by working on your feet and legs.

One of Dr. Rolf’s famous quotes to her students was “Where you think it is, it ain’t”. This means we have to look beyond the obvious. We aren’t just trying to relieve symptoms, but change your entire structure so that it moves freely and effortlessly, and functions at a much higher level of ease and efficiency.

Most bodies are in a state of imbalance. Consequently, as we grow older, we often “shrink” in height, and slowly lose flexibility. Our bones stay the same length and our muscles can still function, but the connective tissue (fascia) is what changes the most.

Fascia spreads throughout the body in a three dimensional web from head to toe without interruption. Trauma, inflammation, and poor posture over time can create a binding down of fascia, resulting in excessive pressure on nerves, muscles, blood vessels, bones, and organs. Unfortunately, all of the standard tests such as X rays, myelograms, CAT scans, and EMG’s do not show fascial restrictions. It is recognized that a very high percentage of people suffering with diverse pains, headaches, and various limitations in their movement may be having fascial restriction problems; regrettably, they are simply mis-diagnosed.

YES! Rolfing has been studied scientifically several times, with very positive results (more studies are currently ongoing). One example is a five year study conducted by Dr. Valerie Hunt and Dr. Wayne Massey at the UCLA Department of Kinesiology, called “A Study of Structural Integration from Neuromuscular, Energy Field and Emotional Approaches”. There were measurements before and after Rolfing of anxiety states, brain hemisphere activity, energy field photography, DC recordings of energy flow in electrical voltage readings, EMG recordings from sixteen separate muscles, electromyograms of neuromuscular patterning of energy, and electronic auric field study.
This study produced many results, difficult to briefly summarize. These are a few of the outstanding results:

• Greater physical skill
• Greater movement efficiency
• Improved neuromuscular balance
• Emotional calmness; decrease in anxiety state
• Improved social interaction
• Feelings of well being
• Better memory recall
• Enhanced ability to access different states of consciousness
• Increasing right hemisphere brain dominance when needed for right brain activity
• Positive changes in ways of processing data and the nature of thought processes that ensue
• More energy; less fatigue
• Greater energy flow and balanced distribution of energy