A little on the History
In order to understand what Rolfing Structural Integration is I think its important to know a little about its history, development and how the female pioneer known at Ida Rolf graduated with a degree in biological chemistry and began what would fundamentally change how the world views the body before women even had the right to vote.
Ida Rolf was born in 1896 in the Bronx of New York City. In 1916, Rolf graduated with her bachelor’s degree receiving departmental honors in the field of Chemistry. In 1917, she began her doctorate studies at Columbia University while working as a chemical researcher at the Rockefeller Institute.
In 1920, Rolf graduated from Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons with her Ph.D. in the field of Biological Chemistry. Her graduate dissertation was titled, “Three Contributions to the Chemistry of the Unsaturated Phosphatides” which was printed in “The Journal of Biological Chemistry” and printed as a bound book in 1922 under the renamed title, “Phosphatides.”From 1919 through 1927 Rolf continued to publish laboratory studies and scholarly journals mostly to the Journal of Biological Chemistry with a primary focus on biochemical compounds of lecithin and cephalin. In 1926 Rolf traveled to Europe to study atomic physics and mathematics The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and biochemistry at the Pasteur Institute in France.
While she pursued her academic career Rolf also continued her personal study of yoga, homeopathy, and osteopathic medicine while researching methods to assist in her own body pain. She details the story, in “Ida Rolf Talks About Rolfing and Physical Reality”, explaining:
“As a young woman, I was struck by a horse’s hoof on a trip to Colorado. As a result of that, I had some symptoms that looked like pneumonia…. Eventually, I landed in a hospital in Montana. The doctor there wasn’t satisfied with my progress and so he said, I’m going to send an osteopath in. So a young man came and after his ministrations, I could breathe again…. I could barely make it across the country. Eventually, I did get across and my mother took me to a blind osteopath in Port Jefferson, Dr. Thomas Morrison. (He was very highly regarded by his confreres: shortly before his death, they planned to build an osteopathic hospital or center on Long Island and wanted to call it the Morrison Center.) It was unusual to go to an osteopath at the time; there was still a great deal of controversy going on between the medics and the osteopaths and they were not accepted at all. I got to be friends with Morrison, and I became interested in the theory of osteopathy -that structure determines function.”
Rolf’s concepts surrounding health and the human body began to develop. Her interest in yoga, which theorizes that the development of a superior human being is possible and brought through meditation and movement, early Osteopathic medicine, suggests that health is determined through the bodies structure and function, and Homeopathy, which believes that a temporary increase in symptoms of disease are needed to spark the immune system’s inherent ability to heal. Together, these ideas formed the ground concepts of what is known today as Rolfing Structural Integration.
Throughout the 1930s and 40s. Dr. Rolf began practicing her manual therapy on her own children as well as outside clients. By the 1940s she had termed her creation, Structural Dynamics. While growing her manual therapy practice she continued to develop it by incorporating concepts found in Psychology, Chiropractic as well as the Alexander Technique.
In the 1950s Rolf’s husband passed away. At this point, Rolf decided to hold workshops in Europe and later in the United States where she would teach her techniques to Chiropractors, Osteopaths, and Physicians. Teaching her first workshop at the College of Osteopathy and Surgery in Kansas City Missouri where she termed her creation Postural Integration.
In 1958 Dr. Ida P. Rolf created the Ten Series, and it is at this point that the manual-work that she developed began to be known as Rolfing. In 1963 she began to incorporate concepts surrounding the influence of gravity on the human form. At this point in history, the work began to be known as Rolfing Structural Integration.
In the 1960s Dr. Rolf became associated with the Esalen Institute in California as well as the human potential movement which believed that there was a limitless untapped potential within humans. The belief was that this potential could be cultivated in a way that allows humans to live happy, creative and fulfilling lives. Other concepts that began to be incorporated in Rolfing included psychiatry, brain research, and philosophy.
In 1971 Dr. Rolf founded “The Rolf Institute of Structural Integration” located in Boulder Colorado where it remains to this day. In the spirit of Dr. Ida P. Rolf, The Rolf Institute continues to incorporate new research and ideas into the continued growth of Rolfing Structural Integration. Today some of those new developments include Biotensegrity, neuroplasticity and cognitive function, as well as, developments in physiology.
For hundreds of years, medical doctors and anatomists were scrapping off what we now know as fascia from the muscles and bones and throwing it in the trash. But Ida P. Rolf saw something that others did not. Today her research is influencing all fields of manual therapy and medical research. Even if you have not heard about Rolfing Structural Integration you may have attended a yoga class or heard a personal trainer, chiropractor or medical doctor talking about the importance of fascia. So, why is fascia important and how does Rolfing Structural Integration work?
Fascia is another word for connective tissue. This connective tissue is in between every muscle body, compartment, and fiber. Fascial connective tissue encases every bone, and joint. This fascial connective tissue forms a clear intercellular matrix that not only lines every part of the body but it also houses nerves, arteries, and fat. Because fascia creates this sleeve of connective tissue that runs from shallow, starting from just below the skin layer, to deep within the organs and within the spinal cord, Rolfing developed a whole-body philosophy of healing.
The concept behind Rolfing is that by working on one area of the body the Rolfer is working on all layers of the body including the visceral, neural and boney structures due to the vastness of this connective tissue webbing throughout the body. Connective tissue houses a large number of nerve endings and because of this, it has been largely associated with being a tissue of communication associated more closely with the brain much in the same way that our skin is. This area of study is referred to as Neurofascial Anatomy. By taking in all of the above, one may see how complex yet vast Rolfing Structural Integration is. So, who benefits from Rolfing and why is all this important?
From birth to death we experience various traumas in our body. These traumas range from physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual. Each trauma, as well as healing, creates patterns within our life. These patterns may present themselves in how we move, carry our weight, speak, think and feel. Rolfing works to organize muscle compartments and boney tissue into place through slow thoughtful manipulations. This process addresses life patterns, emotional states, thought processes, personal awareness, and postural awareness. The concept includes that manipulating the fascia and organizing these compartments can unweave some of the patterns that were placed throughout life. So in this way, Rolfing works to backtrack through time to bring the body to its original state, to a time before the bicycle accident, before your mother scolded you, before the bullies accosted you, before the addiction, before depression, or the cultural pain. Rolfing works to bring the body to the original state it held at birth and in this way, everyone is a candidate for Rolfing. From the toddler who fell off the bed playing to the older individual who lacks the ability to lift their feet from the ground from the fear of falling while walking. Everyone can benefit in some way from Rolfing Structural Integration and the empowered awareness it brings through the therapeutic process.
Article Sources:
Ida Rolf Talks About Rolfing and Physical Reality
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_Rolf
https://www.rolf.org/history.php
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Potential_Movement
https://rolfing.org/rolfing/historical-perspective/chronology/