Seeking the level and plumb: Rolfing

May 1, 2006

G'day All,

To me, a retired auto mechanic, the precepts of Rolfing make a helluva

lot of sense.

If it ain't aligned ya get premature wear/destruction & PAIN.

In my case, Rolfing aka Structural Integration, saved my bacon!

Picture it: dozens of m/cycle mishaps [hit by cars, other bikes while

track racing] with resulting closed head injuries [3 yrs of No recall],

scars & headaches,spasticity, knees & ankles that would 'give' or go lame

at the drop of a hat. For 25 yrs!

- ended up buying aspirin 500ct & horse liniment by the Gallon...arnica

by the gross

-figured there was no way Anything could help me as the injuries had set

for 25 yrs.

But today,thanks to SI, the body is in the best shape it's ever been in.

cheers,

dar

Toward A Human Balance

Achieving Human Balance By Aligning Yourself With Gravity

by David Wronski

“There is a mystical virtue in right angles.

There is an unspoken morality in seeking the level and plumb.

A house will hold together only if the joints are square and the members

upright. When the bubble is lined up between two marks etched in the

glass tube of a level, you have aligned yourself with the forces that

hold the universe together.”

~ Scott Russell Sanders, from The Pradise of Bombs

Finding one’s balance in the world is part and parcel to living well.

There is a universal factor for living a well ordered life that is

mostly overlooked—the structural balance of the body. Once seen it is

forever obvious.

Specifically, how well the body stacks up in gravity has a profound, yet

underappreciated effect on one’s experience of living, health, and well

being. The balance of your body, its verticality and symmetry,

determines whether gravity is friend or foe.

To ignore this or leave it to chance is to place yourself in default for

putting up with chronic pain and stress and living below your potential.

Structural Integration is the name given by Dr. Ida P. Rolf to her

original approach to human health and wellness. Structural Integration

is about bodily balance, putting the ineluctable relationship we have

with the force of gravity to good use—living in simple yet solid balance

on this earth, in harmony with earth’s great energy field.

The human body, just like every other structure on this earth, is

subject to the effects of gravity. The energy field of the earth exerts

a constant downward pull. This is a prime ecological fact. Gravity is

always there. No exceptions.

Yet, because it is so constant, it pretty much operates under our

awareness. It is generally not accounted for as a factor, as such, in

our consideration of what constitutes health, well being, and

effectiveness. Yet it is the single most potent force the human body has

to deal with.

The main goal of Structural Integration is to transform the head to toe

arrangement of the body into an appropriate, balanced relationship to

the force of gravity. You can infer how the degree to which the body is

in balance with gravity will have significant affects on health, well

being, effectiveness in daily life, the level and range of physical

ability, and the quality of creative expressiveness.

By definition, appropriate balance calls for the major segments of the

body to stack up vertically, directly on top of one another. There must

also be left and right symmetry.

>From Anatomy, we also know that the structural design of the body calls

for it to be centered on what is called the “central vertical axis.” In

the average individual this center line is not very well defined.

What is usual is a random, disorganized pattern

.. These imbalances have to be held together. The result is a set of

compensations fixated throughout the system. While the pattern may be

unique to each individual, the common factor that mostly goes

unrecognized is that this lack of structural balance is in defiance to

the dictates of gravity. This becomes stunningly obvious once you look

for it.

Living with the centers of gravity of the major segments of our bodies

slipped away from the center line has negative consequences. Our bodies

are broader at the top than below.

When imbalances exist gravity tends to bring us down. We have to work to

keep ourselves together. What’s more, the human body is not a static,

solid structure. It is segmented and designed to move in a dynamic balance.

Counteracting the downward pull exerted by gravity diverts vital energy

and limits our range of functioning. We become habituated to this and it

becomes our usual experience of living. We experience this losing fight

with gravity as chronic pains and stress, limited performance, and

inadequate expression. We don’t live up to our potential and settle for

less than what is in us to be.

Why do so few of us enjoy living at what basic Physics and Anatomy

indicate as normal for the architectural design of the body, both in

terms of symmetry and verticality?

We, obviously, automatically get bigger and stronger as we grow up.

Proper structure doesn’t come about spontaneously in the same way. It is

largely developmental—it is learned. In this regard we are mainly

self-taught. We grow up learning to use our bodies as a result of a lot

of trial and error.

We each enter adulthood with a shape which bears witness to our unique

history. We may have come to define ourselves from our usual familiar

physical sense, itself based on a complex pattern that includes many

ineffective and inefficient compensations we carry around ingrained into

our flesh.

Only a rare few exhibit true balance around the center line of the body.

When we see it we are moved by its self evident power, grace, ease, and

presence. We intuitively recognize this is something that is in us to be.

But for the idea that such balance is only the hard won outcome of many

years of single minded and arduous practice (think Olympic athletes and

the leading lights of the stage and screen), we don’t believe we can

have this for ourselves.

How we are is the result of a unique mix of many factors—modeling adults

who often aren’t good examples of appropriate structural balance

themselves, insufficient training, bad habits, accidents, and traumas.

Indeed, we are shaped by our experiences.

These have become integrated into the very fabric of our bodies. This is

so familiar it is taken for granted. Compounding this is that being out

of balance in the makeup of our bodies is so commonplace in our own

bodies and those around us that it goes unnoticed and under-diagnosed,

as such.

The common problem, in Dr. Rolf’s words, “[We] are at war with gravity.”

Are we not an integrated unity of body, mind, and spirit?

It is easy, nonetheless, to miss the connection between the difficulties

we have in living our lives and the lack of simple physical

“understanding” we put up within our literal flesh.

We take how we are as given.

We make do, resigned to “that’s just the way I am; nothing can be done.”

We focus on treating the local chronic symptoms of pain and stress with

palliative remedies.

We can even be so attached to our familiar patterns, as ineffective and

inefficient as they may be, that we resist the idea that such a change

is desirable, let alone possible.

Doesn’t it ring true that it would be a benefit to have the head to toe

arrangement of your body in appropriate balance?

Can you imagine in what ways such balance would be advantageous to you?

To youngsters in your care?

(Remember, structural balance and integrity is learned. With all the

other things we do to see that the children are properly prepared for

life, providing a conscious training in the proper structure and

function of the body should be a required on the curriculum. Having such

balance at an engrained kinesthetic level is a true and unambiguous

lifetime tool to help them grow up unencumbered and guide them

successfully toward their chosen goals.)

That said, isn’t growth not only about recognizing good ideas but

putting them into practice, making them actual realities in our lives?

We have choice in this matter. And that is to decide to become conscious

participants in our own evolution toward health, wellness, high level

performance, and effective expression.

The genius of Dr. Rolf’s approach is that it makes such a dramatic

transformation toward balance within easy reach of people of all ages

and varying physical abilities. Please consider it for yourself.

”We are not truly upright. We are only on our way to being upright. This

is a metaphysical consideration. One of the jobs of a Rolfer is to speed

that process along. We want to get a man out of a place where gravity is

his enemy. Rolfers make a life study of relating bodies and their fields

to the earth and its gravity field; and we so organize the body that the

gravity field can reinforce the body’s energy field. This is our primary

concept.”

~ Ida P. Rolf, Ph.D., Originator of Structural Integration

____________________

Structural Integration is the definitive approach to train individuals

into a balanced relationship with the gravitational field of the earth.

David D. Wronski is a Certified Advanced Practitioner of Dr. Ida P. Rolf

Structural Integration. David has been in practice since 1981. He offers

expert individualized assistance to evolve the arrangement of your body

to a balanced, unstressed, effortlessly upright stance.

Contact David at 480 970-0308, Email: davidwronski.

May 1, 2006

I did Rolfing a few years ago. It was incredible. Not only did the my body begin

to align itself but how I responded to the world. The position in which my feet

where changed and also my outlook on life.

I highly recommend Rolfing, It lives quite an impact on your life.

dar <dobbie606 wrote: