Rolfing can be defined as structural integration. A central premise is that the aligned body
can balance itself better against gravity and is therefore more efficient. Human functions
such as flexibility, coordination, and physiological conditions are improved when each
individual segment of the body is aligned. This can be compared to a child’s tower of
blocks, which is more stable when each block is placed squarely upon the one below it.
Rolfing re-establishes this vital balance by stretching the fascia tissue, which is a thin
elastic membrane that covers muscles, bones, organs, and nerves.
This structural integration, or rolfing, is systematic in its approach; you go for a series
of ten weekly, progressive treatments. The realigning of the body is through manipulation
of the connective tissues. Working these connective tissues, known as the myofascial
system, the support system of the body, benefits the entire body.


Tension-releasing
A major theory in rolfing is that everything you have ever done, thought, felt, or lived is
stored in the tissues of the body. This includes every trauma, negative event, and injury.
Patterns of stress and strain are kept in the tissues and cause them to be hard and weak,
blocking the energy flow through the body. This can cause chronic fatigue, pain, and
stiffness. Rolfing attempts to release the muscles or tissues that hold tensions.
Negative emotions are stored in the very cells of the body. Because each cell has its
own intelligence and stores emotional trauma, rolfing can release each cell’s memory.
Rolfing opens up the areas where life experiences have accumulated, allowing the body to
let them go and heal.

Emotions
“There is an emotional side to rolfing,” she warned. As the rolfer touches certain spots that
may harbor pain from particular events, those events often come up and to mind. Teresa said it was important to fully recognize and acknowledge the pain, let go, and release that particular tension. Psychotherapists recommend rolfing because people can get things intellectually, and intellectually they know they should let things go, but because they hold this tension in the very cells of their bodies, they need the actual physical release to aid in complete closure and healing. Teresa has a sincere healing quality in her practice. She was genuinely concerned and wanted to be helpful without being intrusive or judgmental. She also wanted to make sure the therapy was working for me and that I had the direct benefits of the treatment. I immediately felt good in her hands. I felt her very capable and knowledgeable. We talked a lot during the first treatment, mostly about my troubles of the week. Twice I’d said, “Oh, let’s talk about something more positive than car and motorcycle accidents, cancer and cramps, incarceration of friends and frustration,” but negative subjects and events kept coming up. Not in a negative way though; it was just a discussion and sharing about our lives.

The pain
Over my ten weeks of rolfing, I cried a lot, and easily. I cried for my own pain, and for the
pain I had caused others. After the belly and stomach session, I felt like I had a direct
connection with and could tap into all the pain of the universe. This came after a friend at
Ambrosia Health Foods in Pueblo, Colorado (one of my all-time favorite health food
stores) was asking me about the rolfing. I told him I was preparing for the stomach area
session. “Wow, that’s going to be powerful,” he said, “since your belly is your connection
to the universe, because of the umbilical cord.” I thought that made sense. I don’t know if
it was the power of suggestion or what, but I felt that powerful link for quite a while.
Two of my first four sessions, I walked into my rolfer’s office very uptight, very
stressed, and the two other times I had terrible pain in my neck and back. One session, she
just worked on my feet and legs, but when she was finished my whole body felt better.
Every time I left her office, I would walk to my car thinking, “Yes, life is good,” feeling free,
easy, and relaxed.
I am not sure if I felt good because I liked Teresa, the benefits of our stimulating yet
therapeutic discussions, or the physical rolfing itself, but I knew I was going through
something and was going to be better off when I reached the other end.

The sixth session
The sixth session was euphoric. She did my lower and middle back, and the back of my
feet and legs. Again we talked about me, my problems, and what was surfacing emotionally
during the sessions. I have a scar on my left thigh where I had 60 stitches from a bike
accident when I was eleven or twelve years old. I can never stand for anyone to even whisk
by it, let alone to touch it. Teresa touched it gently and immediately I braced myself. My
whole body tightened up. The accident, the stitches, my mom and Aunt Helene rushing
me to the hospital, the recollection of my mom having said to me for years, “Always wear your nicest underwear; you never know when you’ll be in an accident,” meeting the good- looking doctor in the emergency room—all these thoughts came rushing into my mind. I became convinced: every tissue in your body does hold memories, physical and emotional
pain. When those tissues are touched, the memories arise. I left the sixth session giddy. I was in such a good mood that I was walking on air. By the tenth session, not only was I feeling great, I felt like a lot of junk had been purged, and
even a lot of the more confusing things that are an inherent part of my emotional makeup
had been dealt with. Teresa and I celebrated at an Indian restaurant.


A high recommendation
Yes, I highly recommend rolfing. A lot of the benefit may come from a skilled practitioner,
or it may come from the sense of security you feel from building a trusting relationship
with a person you can dump your emotional baggage on. It is an emotional process and a
rolfer should encourage you to talk about what comes up when he or she touches those
places that do seem, indeed, to hold emotional trauma. The fact that rolfing is ten weeks in a row may be an important reason why it is so life changing. I thought it beneficial to set the same time every week, making it a part of my
cycle. It also saved me the hassle of scheduling. Plus I find I don’t need to go to my
chiropractor nearly as often.