Introductory Outline

Structural Integration, also known as Rolfing, with its intentions to open, balance, and integrate holistically the postural and movement patterns of the body, can be used in a large variety of ways in order to serve the desires and needs of those who select it as a process for their own healing, growth, and cultivation of well being.

. . . When the body gets working appropriately, the force of gravity can flow through. Then, spontaneously, the body heals itself. - Ida P. Rolf

Following is a basic outline of the waves of possibilities one can explore with Structural Integration:

Pain and Stress Relief

Structural Integration (Rolfing) can relieve the symptoms of pain and stress in the body through the process of opening and balancing the whole physical structure.

Sedentary Work
Injuries and Surgeries
Long-term Discomfort, Pain and Stress
Demanding Physical Activity
Motherhood
Health Care Professionals
Illness
Contemporary Lifestyle Stresses

Creating Bodies

Structural Integration (Rolfing) can assist in the development of healthy bodies from infants through young adults:

Infants

Colic

Toddlers
Children and adolescents

Scoliosis

Young adults

Enhance Fitness

Structural Integration (Rolfing) can help to enhance skill, coordination, physical fitness, and well being through the integration of openness, flexibility, strength, and balance in the body's structure.

Asymmetrically Developed Athletes

Tennis, golf, racquetball, baseball, basketball, snowboarding, slalom water skiing, pole vaulting, discus, shot put, soccer, archery, football, etc.

Symmetrically Developed Athletes

Swimming, track, long distance running, cycling, water skiing, rowing, snow skiing, hiking, rock climbing, weight lifting, kayaking, gymnastics, wrestling, football, etc.

Core Movement Modalities

Dance, Yoga, Martial Arts, Pilates, etc.

Why Balance and Alignment of the Body's Structure is Vital in Sports, Fitness Programs, Dance, Yoga, Martial Arts, etc.

Reduce the risk of injuries
Improve performance
Increase durability

Long Term Benefits

Structural Integration (Rolfing) can support an individual's needs for the development and maintenance of long-term health and well being.

Improved Immune Function
Improved Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Function
Improved Digestive Function
Improved Nervous System Function

Optimize Performance

Structural Integration (Rolfing) can assist an individual in optimizing the performance standards required to accomplish his or her life goals or desires.

Professionals
Surgeons, Dentists, Technicians, Designers, etc.
Mechanics, Equipment Operators, Tradesmen, Farmers, Ranchers, Laborers, etc.
Dancers, Musicians, Artists, Teachers, Therapists, Body workers, etc.
Facilitators, Advisors, Coaches, Counselors, Therapists, etc.
The Elderly and Aging Population

Cultivate Awareness

Structural Integration (Rolfing) can help a person explore and develop a deeper awareness of the energetic, postural, and movement patterns within his or her body.

Meditators
Yoga, Martial Arts, Qigong, Tai Chi Chuan, Feldenkrais, The Alexander Technique, Pilates, and other Subtle Movement Arts
Acupuncture, Ayurvedic, Chiropractic, Massage, Bodywork, Energy Work, Healers, and other Somatic Practitioners.

Integral Synthesis

Structural Integration (Rolfing) can help a person to discover and fulfill his human potential through a refined awareness and integration of states of being and operation in the spatial and temporal planes of existence.

Awareness of the Body in Space
Core-Sleeve Awareness
Awareness of Polarities
Awareness of the Body in Time

Holistic Balance

Using Structural Integration (Rolfing) as the primary vehicle in the explorations of the resolution and balance of objective and subjective awareness by using the body, as a medium within the fields of gravity, to nourish and support our selves, our relationships, and our environment.

In a human body, support is not something solid. Support is relationship. Support is a balance of elements that aren't solid at all; elements that are incapable of withstanding the weight that presses down on them except as they are balanced... - Ida P. Rolf

Any real integration (including Structural Integration) must concern itself not merely with the structure of the body as such, but with the structure of the body and simultaneously with the effect and influence of its energy environment, the gravitational field, on that structure." - Ida P. Rolf