Rolfing could not have come soon enough for me! The childhood injury I suffered had taken its toll on my wellbeing by the time I was in my early twenties. I managed to “ignore” the discomfort for several more years before Rolfing was suggested to me as an alternative to the other modalities I had explored. And yet another couple of years passed before I was transformed physically, emotionally and psychologically from a crooked, insecure person stuck in his childhood pain to a confident and capable man after receiving the Rolfing 10 series. What I understand now, as Rolf Practitioner of 10 years, is that I needed Rolfing the day my doctor removed the cast from my five year old leg.
“I can remember my mother telling me one of my hips is higher than the other when I was a little kid,” “Mary” tells me during her first appointment. As she is telling me this I am observing her stand and walk with the majority of her weight distributed around her right leg; her hip is noticeably higher on this side. She is now in her mid-fifties suffering from pain which started in her lower back five years ago and is now affecting her right hip and knee. Over the course of 10 sessions “Mary” now stands and walks with her weight and center of gravity more balanced around both legs and her hips are more even. The best part is the pain is gone and she enjoys returning for follow up sessions to enhance these benefits. “Mary,” like myself, comments on how she wishes she would have started with Rolf Structural Integration when she was initially aware of her body being off.
“Shawn” loved to skateboard! And man did it really show in his 11 year old body; one foot turned open with the hip flaring, the other foot turned in with a compression in the thigh/hip/low back junction on that side. He was a rad dude and you could see it in the way he held his shoulders and neck. I appreciate the sensitivity he possessed with his hipness, as he was aware of pain and restriction in various parts of his body. His mother, a Rolfing veteran could see it progressively becoming more obvious as he approached puberty. At 11 years old “Shawn’s” body was easily moldable and resilient for the Rolf work. After five sessions he was much more aligned and aware of how his passion was affecting his body. This inspired him to pursue more self-care to minimize the asymmetry of his sport and to hold himself with an open heart and a focused mind as he moved into the next phase of his development. The early intervention Shawn received established a solid structural foundation, and although no longer under my care, his mother reports to me that he has continued to be pain free and exhibits a “proud posture.”
The aging process is inevitable, but as we do, the events once perceived as being minor or inconsequential often lead to a painful syndrome and compensation pattern that may take months or years to unravel. For this reason I believe it is never too early for Rolf Structural Integration.
Matthew Hartman, LMT, Practitioner of Rolf Structural Integration
541-214-8980
www.matthewsi.com
