About Rolfing® SI
Rolfing® Structural Integration is a holistic approach to the client that uses manual connective tissue manipulation and movement training to improve posture in the gravitational field.
In everyday life, trauma, lifestyle and movement stereotypes can lead to structural and functional problems. Disruption of the natural organization of the body has negative consequences that affect our physical and mental health. The goal of Rolfing® Structural Integration is to correct such an imbalance and eliminate the causes of pain and discomfort.
How Does Rolfing® SI work?
The Rolfing® SI method influences posture and the body’s structure through manual therapy of connective tissues known as fascia. A continuous fascial network is spread throughout the human body from the extremities inward and is one of the main components of the locomotor system. The fascia surrounds all the muscles, nerves, blood vessels and organs of the body, and maintains their shape, provides protection, facilitates their coordination, and separates them from each other. The fascial network is a sensitive and receptive system which is characterized by a high degree of flexibility and constantly adapts to changing conditions. Through the unique touch of Rolfers®, the fascia can be influenced and restore its functions, which improves the posture of the body, relaxes the tissues, allows a greater range of motion and increases the sense of physical and emotional well-being.
Benefits of Rolfing®
Structural Integration
Pain relief
Increased body awareness,
balance and stability
Understanding of the body in movement and daily life
More energy
Rolfing® SI does not merely focus on solving individual symptoms, but optimizes the general constellation of the entire system, through which problems often gradually subside or disappear completely.
Frequently asked questions
Who should consider Rolfing® Structural Integration?
People of any age who are looking for an upright and relaxed posture, more effective movement, and/or increased balance and stability. Rolfing® SI does not focus on solving individual symptoms but is holistic body work that helps re-establish elasticity and lubrication to sticky and viscous fascia tissue often letting problems gradually subside or disappear completely.
What happens during a Rolfing® SI session?
Rolfing® SI sessions start with an introductory interview with the client, followed by an analysis of the person’s posture and movement while standing and walking. From the obtained information, an individualized goal and strategy of therapy is determined. The therapy continues on the massage table, where the Rolfer® applies a slow, specific pressure on various parts of the body, thus releasing, rehydrating and restructuring the connective tissue (fascia).
The client can actively participate in the therapy with conscious attention and small movements that allow them to discover new movement possibilities. Sessions often end with some form of physical education and simple practices.
The client is usually in underwear during therapy. Rolfing® SI can also be performed in clothes, the most important thing is that the client feels comfortable.
How long is a Rolfing® SI session?
The average length of a Rolfing® SI sessions is 90 minutes.
How many Rolfing® SI sessions are needed?
Rolfing® SI usually takes place over 10 individually structured sessions. Each session with its own theme and goal then builds on top of the previous ones and prepares the body for the next one.
The sessions follow a logical order, designed to address the whole body. If one part of the body is out of balance or tense, this tension is spread to the rest of the body. To allow the body to integrate the changes, sessions are scheduled one, two or four weeks apart.
Do I need to complete the 10-session series?
You don’t have to. We recommend trying the first session to see how you react to the work. Most people will notice changes after the initial ‘mini-series’ of the first three sessions that work on the superficial fascia. If the client does not feel satisfied or change, it is possible to end the therapy. In the case of continuation, it makes sense to complete the entire series of 10 sessions.
How much does one session cost?
A session costs between 1.800 and 2.100 CZK.
What is the difference between Rolfing® SI and massages?
Rolfing® SI and massages have different goals. Massages focus on relieving stress and muscle tension to achieve relaxation, Rolfing® SI reorganizes the connective tissues. It is a long-term process that leads to a better alignment of the body in relation to gravity.
Are the benefits of Rolfing® SI sessions long-lasting?
The body is affected every day by our work habits, movement, sports, hobbies, lifestyle, and stress. Rolfing® SI has the ability to alter a person’s posture and body structure. As the body transforms physically, it gives the opportunity to realize ineffective habits and patterns, overcome and change those.
Based on the feedback from many clients, we know that the changes felt from Rolfing® SI are long-lasting and take place after the series is completed. Once the body begins to experience a new, more effective arrangement, it will tend to maintain it. The series does not need to be repeated. However, some clients return to ‘fine-tune’ the changes or to work more deeply on specific issues within the agreed sessions.
The history of Rolfing® Structural Integration
Rolfing® SI was created by Dr. Ida Rolf more than 50 years ago. In 1920, Ida Pauline Rolf received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry at Columbia University in New York.
Driven to find solutions to her own health problems as well as those of her two sons, she spent many years studying and experimenting with different systems of healing and manipulation.
Her interest in alternative treatments led her to study osteopathy, chiropractic, yoga and homeopathy. Many of these treatment methods are based on the idea that posture, physiological functions and anatomical structures are interrelated. Ida P. Rolf emphasised the influence of the constant action of gravity on the human organism.
In order to pass along her work and make the education process accessible, she developed an expedient series of ten sessions, which came to be known as the Ten Series.
The main goal is to align and balance the body´s components so that it works in harmony with gravity.
“We are dealing with the problems of the human body in which there is never only one point of contention. I would like you to look more realistically at the circular process, which does not take place in the body, but which is the body. The course of the human body is not linear, it is circular; it is always circular. One thing deviates and its consequences continue on and on. The body is a network that connects everything with everything.”
Dr. I. P. Rolf
Recommended Books
Rolfing, Ida P. Rolf
Rolfing a realita těla, Ida P. Rolf
Zdravá záda, Peter Schwind
Jednoduchá terapie páteře, Jeffrey Maitland
Rolfing® Structural Integration is a trademark of Dr. Ida Rolf Institute®. The brand must be used as an adjective, for ease of reading we use it in the abbreviated form Rolfing® SI.
The terms Rolfing® SI and Rolfer® are reserved only for graduates of the certified trainings of Dr. Ida Rolf Institute® and European Rolfing® Association.
info@rolfing.cz
+420 721 264 606
Asociace Rolfingu® ČR, z. s.
Korunovační 125/32
Praha – Bubeneč
170 00