Comment on this story

It’s not as obscene as it sounds

by Wendy Smith

I got Rolfed for the first time last week by a cheerful redhead. It felt great and was not nearly as obscene as it sounds.

So, what happens when one gets Rolfed? First of all, Rolfing is a type of soft tissue manipulation. Dr. Ida Rolf, a biochemist, developed the technique as an answer to personal and family health problems. It is not massage, although that is a common misconception. Rolfing has a different therapeutic outcome than massage, and is designed to improve body alignment and movement—massage focuses on repose and stress reduction. Rolfing is a technique that releases soft tissue restrictions throughout the body to change old patterns of motion and posture that may be contributing to pain, stress and loss of flexibility. It’s also said to speed up injury recovery by reducing stiffness and muscle tension.

Rolfer Stephanie vonBrunner spent a few minutes talking with me about my physical history and any pain or physical trauma that I might have experienced or be experiencing. I then walked back and forth across the room several times in my undies so she could assess my posture and stride. (Rolfers often keep a basket of brand-new underwear to give away to underdressed clients, but don’t ask how I know that.) I stood facing her and facing away from her, raised my arms up and down and also stood in profile so she could check my posture. After evaluating me for several minutes, I lay down on her table, and she went to work.

Rolfing works with the connective tissues, the fascia that overlays our muscles and terminates in ligaments and tendons. Think of it as plastic wrap that covers our muscles. Fascia is the strongest tissue in our body and is meant to lie smooth and flat over our muscles. When trauma causes the muscles to expand, contract or tear, the fascia wrinkles fold or tear also. The damaged fascia can cause restrictions to the muscles and their motion. This makes the body work harder against gravity and causes misalignment. It causes us to overcompensate and create patterns of movement that work, but aren’t as fluid or easy as our normal movements would be. Through tissue manipulation, Rolfing smoothes out the fascia to release the stored energy of physical injuries and other traumas. The goal is to change the muscular patterns of the past so that the body is working with gravity rather than against it.

Stephanie used her elbow a great deal of the time. She put it in one place and pressed while slowly moving it in a circular motion. I could feel a ripple-out effect from her pressure. Oddly enough, I felt things in other parts of my body. For example, while she was working on my hip, my ankle felt tingly. Also, the area around her elbow often got warm. At times, it seemed like it was going to hurt but it never did. Even on the few times when the pressure was a bit uncomfortable, it quickly faded as the muscles loosened up and the fascia smoothed out.

Rolfing is generally done in a series of 10 one-hour to hour-and-a-half sessions—although you will get a benefit out of one or two sessions. A 10-time series is designed to align the whole body and train it in its new patterns. Although Rolfing has a reputation for being painful (as does deep tissue massage), it’s probably more painful to say the name than to actually get Rolfed. And Rolfers seem to be a bit rare. There are currently fewer than five in Tennessee. The schooling is expensive and intense, and there are only three schools in the world that produce certified Rolfers.

When she finished working on me, I felt much looser and lighter. I hopped off the table and promptly walked to the left. The result, she said, of overcompensating for an old running injury. It took two turns walking up and down the room before I got used to my new alignment and started walking in a straight line again. But I felt much more graceful than I had in years.

Certified Rolfer Stephanie vonBrunner gives occasional lectures about Rolfing and practices Rolfing in Knoxville. She can be contacted via email at [email protected].

April 1, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 14 © 2004 Metro Pulse