WHAT IS ROLFING® MOVEMENT?
Rolfing combines a hands-on approach and an educative approach to posture.
The hands-on approach aligns the client with his or her gravitational field by means of a systematic manipulation of the fascias.
The educative approach, also called Rolfing Movement, allows a person to integrate gravitational force into his or her habitual perceptions concerning his/her posture and movement coordination. It opens possibilities for finding one’s full capacity of movement and expression.
Rolfing Movement was created at the Rolf Institute in the seventies and can be thought of as postural re-education.
An individual Rolfing session includes a time for manipulation and a time for education in movement (Rolfing Movement)
Rolfing Movement does not necessarily include fascial manipulations, and can be experimented in individual Rolfing sessions. It’s also possible to take the Rolfing principals into daily yoga asana practice. For information about classes click here.
Rolfing Movement mainly focuses on:
• perceptive aspects of our habitual movements
• finding our individual potential to move, moving in different ways while achieving the same goal
• discovering the meaning behind certain patterns of movement
• integrating gravity and creating ease and balance through self-education exercises
Through Rolf Movement™ clients learn how to sense, befriend and integrate gravity in their movement. From simple breathing and walking to more complex movement coordination, clients discover alternatives that free expressiveness and promote balance. Once secure and stable in themselves, clients discover that movement can be economical, powerful and fluid.
Learning to move efficiently
Rolf Movement’s goal is for the Rolfer™ to find movement patterns that lead to tensions and asymmetry in the body together with the client. However, it is not necessarily the Rolfer’s job to establish the most comfortable movement patterns for the client. Rather, it is about moving more economically – with better balance and efficiency with regard to gravity.
In the 1960s Dr. Ida Rolf, the founder of Rolfing® SI, already discovered that gravity, muscles, and fascia play an important role for upright posture and effortless movement.
The American biochemist thus developed Rolf Movement as an extension to Rolfing® SI, to be applied for painful or unfavorable movements. Throughout the past decades, Rolfers™ have further developed the method.
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Just as the traditional ten-series, Rolfers™ can offer Rolf Movement™ as a series of sessions, where each concentrates on specific structures and movement topics.
Deliberately preparing to move
“Put it where it belongs and ask for movement” – this statement by Dr. Ida Rolf indicates how important it is that the body prepares itself ideally for each movement. To support this pre-movement, it helps to…
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be aware of the ground below and surrounding space
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align the body symmetrically
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feel the position of hands, arms, feet, joints, head, and neck.
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This is how unfavorable movement patterns can be discovered and corrected with little effort.