Rolfing is the nickname that many clients and practitioners gave this work, and is now a registered service mark in 27 countries. Rolfing structural integration has an unequaled and unprecedented ability to dramatically after a person's posture and structure. Professional athletic, dancers, children, business people, and people from all walks of life have benefited from Rolfing. People seek Rolfing as a way to ease pain and chronic stress, and improve performance in their performance in their professional and daily activities. It's estimated that more than 1 million people have received Rolfing work.Research has demonstrated that Rolfing creates a more efficient use of the muscles, allows the body to conserve energy, and creates more economical and refined patterns of movement. Research also shows that Rolfing significantly reduces chronic stress and changes in the body structure. For example, a study showed that rolfing significantly reduced the spinal curvature of sub jects with lordosis (sway back) it also showed that Rolfing enhances neurological functioning.
The purpose of Rolfing Movement is to work with the client to help her identify movement patterns that promote strain and asymmetry in her system. Once the patterns are identified, the Rolf Movement practitioner does not seek to change those patterns, which have served the client well, but rather to offer more economical solutions which promote greater balance and efficiency in the gravitational field. Like the structural ten-series, Rolfing Movement is taught as a sequence of sessions devoted to specific structural and movement themes, In a classic movement series, the first session is devoted to exploring breathing patterns and using the breath to promote ease and release holdings in the ribs, lungs and respiratory diaphragm, Subsequent sessions address movement patterns in the foot, ankle and knee joints, the hip joint, the arms and head and neck. these sessions are normally repeated to access deeper holding patterns upper and lower girdles (the shoulder and pelvis) in the latter sessions to more fully integrate structure and function. Rolfing movement can be explored by clients who have completed a structural series and can serve equally well as an autonomous tools for achieving higher levels of self-awareness and coherence.