I’m very bad about blogging. It comes with being a giant introvert, and I’m working on it. Here is an NPR piece on Rolfing from awhile back. To be fair, Rolfing doesn’t have a lot of empirical evidence behind it. However, it has a TON of people who talk about it helped them out.
The Chicago Tribune recently featured Rolfing in an article. It’s actually the best mainstream article (i.e., the most balanced viewpoint and good general description) I’ve seen recently–and perhaps ever. http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/sc-health-0203-rolfing-main-20100203,0,640363.story
Check our what Dr. Andrew Weil says about Rolfing!!
I just found this interesting article about walking the “fox walk”. I haven’t read it fully, but I thought I would link to it. I don’t think bunions are caused by shoes necessarily, but by bad food mechanics (which aren’t really helped by shoes). I found the link via this article about barefoot running on Neatorama. I personally love the Vibram FiveFingers shoes. I’ve been wearing them for 3 years or since they first came out. And I have gone running with them. It is tricky to walk in a city environment with them though. They don’t provide any padding, so walking on concrete can cause sore feet more quickly than when wearing shoes, even for people who have mobile, well-adapted feet. But it does really allow you feel how you use your feel. A good, mobile walk does involve a 3-D movement of the hips as well as twisting of the spine at several different depth levels (think of 3 varying length springs within one another). If you have any shoe questions, send me an email or leave a comment.
Feel free to insert any action if you want, and the answer is still the same. NO. If you have an underlying pathology (i.e., disease), then there is something that can benefit from “fixing”. But other than that, there is nothing wrong with anything you move with your body. And if anyone (Rolfer or otherwise) tells you that, stop, turn around, and run out the door. Rolfing looks to help free your body and give you options of moving differently. We want you to be able to choose what feels “right” for you in the moment to be able to do. Sometimes, having a slouched, hunched posture is really beneficial (think dark alley and not wanting to be noticed, or hide-and-seek)–it can make you smaller and harder to notice. If you’re getting yelled at by your boss or significant other, standing tall and proud may not help that situation. On the other hand, if you’re talking about how great your weekend was or something inspiring to you, that same posture isn’t really appropriate anymore. I sometimes want to giggle on the inside when I hear “Is my breathing wrong?”. Are you breathing? Then it’s not wrong!! Now, there might be a more efficient and easier ways to breathe, but they aren’t “better” in a judgement way, just different. Unfortunately, I find the English language limiting in this way–better/worse shouldn’t be linked to right/wrong, but they often are. Scoliosis provides a wonderful example. Everyone has some level of scoliosis–if you didn’t, you’d find it very hard to walk since your spine wouldn’t move very well. But some people develop clinical scoliosis. Are Rolfers looking to straighten that spine out? Nope. We want the spine to still be able to move functionally with no restrictions. Now of course, as you remove the restrictions, the spine tends to become straighter, but the motion is the real goal. Basically, Rolfing helps you to find about the way to move that best suits you and your individual structure.
Well, it’s that time of year—cold and flu season. So, today’s post will be about your sinus health. Anatomy lesson of the day: you have way more sinus space than you think you do. Most people just think that the sinuses are the space inside your nose. That is true, but the bones also have air-filled spaces that are part of the sinus complex as well. Basically, you have sinuses in all of the bones that make up the front of your face and even some deeper bones. The frontal (forehead), maxilla (cheeks by the nose), ethmoid (upper portion of the nose), and the sphenoid (central bone of the skull) bones ALL have sinuses in them–on both sides of your face. All of these sinuses drain into the nasal cavity at some point. That congestion you feel could be coming from any of those points. Rolfing also deals with sinuses a fair amount. Because of the fascial connection, your sinuses are affected by the fascia and muscles in your nose, face, jaw, cranium, and neck. Tightness in any of those places can end up causing some congestion. As part of the 10-Series, those areas definitely get addressed. However, work can also be done in the nasal cavity itself to help open up those passages and get things flowing again. One self-care tip is to use a neti pot for some sinus irrigation. If you haven’t heard of them, basically, it’s a little pot you put some lukewarm salt water in and pour it into one nostril….until it runs out of the other nostril. Yep, you read that right. It derives out of Ayurvedic medicine. Basically, it helps to flush nasal irritants out and clean out those sinuses. Tips for the wise–if you use a neti pot, make sure you use the recommended salt level. Too much or too little salt can cause a burning sensation. Also, you want to use lukewarm water. If it is too hot, you can scald yourself and your sinus linings (not fun, I’m sure), and if it is too cold, it won’t be comfortable. I just recently starting using a neti pot to work on some deep congestion issues I’ve been having. It sort of feels like I’m drowning a bit, and feels a bit uncomfortable. This is mainly because I hate breathing through my mouth. But, I can definitely tell that it helps to clean out a lot of mucus from the nooks and crannies up there.
One thing new clients often don’t understand initially is that Rolfing is a process. Traditional massage therapy does yield cumulative effects, but it is usually done as single sessions. There isn’t any sort of flow between the sessions. Rolfing is most definitely done as a process. That is why there is such power in the 10-Series. You could basically think of it as a one super long session. Time does play a factor in this setup: working through the whole body from the surface to the core just physically takes a long time–that’s a lot of territory to cover. Also, it is a learning time about your body. You won’t understand everything the first time–just like any new activity. It takes time to build up your skill level. You are essentially relearning the language of body sensation, and specifically your body’s unique dialect. As I’ve mentioned before Rolfing is also about empowering you to be able to take over some of your care. You go to the Rolfer to get some external guidance and assistance, but the “heavy lifting” is still for you to do. It is like school in this regard–your teacher leads you through exercises and examples, but you have to do your own homework OUTSIDE OF CLASS. We all learn by doing, not by being told how to do something. I recently thought of a new analogy for the Rolfing process (I do like analogies). It is like using a swing. Sure, you can do it entirely yourself–get those legs pumping and timings right and off you go. However, swing your leg not on sync or shift a rhythm, and it can be hard. The Rolfer acts like the friend helping the swinger out. You are still learning the timing and speed, but your helper gives the push at the right time, with the right power, and right angle to keep you going. At some point, you are fully able to take over the process yourself. That is how Rolfing ideally works. The Rolfer is there to help push and guide you with the correct timing and pressure, but not do the work of swinging. Then you can later use that knowledge and guidance to keep evolving your own structure outside of and after your sessions.
The holidays can be a challending time for people. I’m not going to lecture anyone about overeating and underexercising. What I will talk about is your body usage patterns. In time of stress, people tend to revert back to their original/familiar movement patterns. This is why when we get back around family or friends we don’t often see, everyone slips back into familiar roles, even if everyone is different away from that setting. We feel safe in those old habits and unconsciously know that. So, remember if you are being stressed around family and suddenly notice old body issues you thought you had dealt with coming back, take a second and take stock. Go through any new routines you’ve learned about getting into your body, and when you are alone again (even if just at night), take those few minutes and work your way from your old patterns to your new patterns. Your body will thank you. Rolfing is about learning how to communicate with you body and being aware of how you use it. Even noticing slipping that you are slipping into old habits furthers that goal.
A recent client interested in Rolfing recently asked me this question. And it’s a valid question, as Rolfing does generally cost more than a normal massage (at least as long as you aren’t going to a “spa”–you’d end up paying more than for a Rolfing session). Well, several answers come to mind. One primary difference is that Rolfing isn’t really massage, and shouldn’t be equated as such. Massage therapy schools require their students to train in multiple modalities–Swedish, deep tissue, spa-like treatments (hot stones, salt scrubs, etc). This results in a practitioner who has some skill at a lot of different things. As they go into practice, they may specialize in something or take classes for even more styles. Rolfers, on the other hand, spend their ENTIRE training learning only Rolfing. So we come out of school being really good at one thing. And, such specialization/depth-of-training and skill level demands a premium. Many types of massage are geared only toward relaxation. This is a worthwhile goal in and of itself, but it doesn’t get to the root of body issues or help you to learn new patterns. Other types of massage are designed with more of a therapeutic mindset, but they tend to miss the mark. Rolfing is not meant for relaxation, even though many people find it relaxing. It is meant to transform your body and evolve your structure. And its unique holistic approach sets it apart from anything learned in massage schools or naturopathic colleges. Make no mistake about it–Rolfing changes your body and the mind-body connection. And duration of the effects is probably the biggest reason why Rolfing costs more than a normal massage. Most people, even though who love massage, admit that the relaxation or muscle relaxation usually only lasts for a couple of hours or days. In this regard, the massage acted more like an aspirin to dull a headache. Sometime the headache goes away on its own, and sometime you need more aspirin. The effects of Rolfing are felt for hours, days, week, months, and even years later. People who don’t get additional work after a 10-Series can be viewed much later, and their body will have continued to improve over time. Rolfing isn’t an aspirin for the headache, it’s helping to resolve the headache so no aspirin is needed. Massage can be effective, especially if the body issue is recent or temporary (like a pulled muscle). But for deep, chronic, systemic, non-local body issues, Rolfing is the way to go. You often would need to constantly go to a massage over and over as the effects wear off and the issue returns. This would be penny-wise and dollar-foolish. I’m not going to say that Rolfing is cheap, but it is cost-effective and it’s an investment in your self. You won’t be disappointed in the return on your investment.
Do you sit? Chances are that if you’re an American (or any modern culture), sitting is an activity that people do more than they think. People use to squat a lot during work or other activities, but not much anymore. We live in an increasingly sedentary culture and sit for longer and longer periods of time. How should we sit? That is a complicated question. Most people sit passively. Or in other words, they just plop into their chairs and stay however is comfortable. While it might feel good, it’s not the best for our structure. The easiest way to start sitting better without worry about mechanics is to sit actively–sense how your body feels and reacts as you sit and move around. Are you even moving around? Can you feel breath moving through your entire lungs and even through the rest of your body? Most furniture isn’t designed for proper ergonomic sitting. It tends to encourage rounding of the back and rolling backwards off of our sit bones. This tends to make up sit on our tailbones. Have you ever seen an animal sit on their tail? Your seat should allow your hit joint to be at least slightly higher than your knee. If you can image a drop of water being able to roll down your thigh, you’ve found a good height. For non-adjustable chairs, you can think about sitting on a folded-up blanket or some other semi-firm material to get you higher. On stackable chairs, try stacking one atop the other to get a different height. If it is already too high, find something to place next to the chair so your feet are able to contact a firm surface. Lumbar support if often counterproductive as well. Try putting some support behind your sacrum (the back part of the pelvis at the base of the spine), and see how that works for you. Chances are that it will help you feel more upright with less effort. Finally, the sitz bones themselves are very important to place correctly. The sit bones (or ischial tuberosities) are the knobby bones you can feel where your legs merge with your butt. You should have one on each side. A good sitting position will have your pelvis rotated so that you are sitting just on the front edge of the sit bones, almost like you are sitting on top of the back of your thigh. These are just a few tips on how to sit. Sitting can be a very involved activity, and there are a lot of places to focus on sitting to support your structure and prevent soreness and pain. Often, just trying different positions can help you narrow down what feels best for your own body. Remember, sitting should be active.
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