The Rolfing 10 Series
What can you expect when you come for your sessions?
Jump to a Session
Session 1
The first session is usually remembered as the most powerful for a lot of people. Almost always, it is the first time that we will meet. The atmosphere at the office is warm while still being professional. Initially meeting a new person to undertake a journey of 10 sessions of an unfamiliar work can be disconcerting. This usually subsides once the hands-on work is begun.
After you fill out some background information, we will meet to discuss your expectations. I will review with you your overall health while allowing you an opportunity to ask questions. I will explain that it is important to take it easy the following day. Normal walking and the like are ok, but heavy lifting, for example, should be scheduled for another day. Other similar items will be discussed to finish the meeting.
Next you will be asked to disrobe while I leave the room. Men get worked on in their underwear; women get worked on in a bra and underwear (no sports bras) or women can wear a two-piece bathing suit, though not one that covers so much that it makes the work difficult.
Pictures are taken in front of a grid before and after the first session, and after the tenth session. On rare occasions, intervening pictures may be taken. All pictures, as well as anything that you tell me, is treated with complete confidence. Your privacy is paramount.
I will ask you to lay on the soft table while my hands work your tissue. The contact is often described as being like a piece of clay that is being sculpted. You may be asked to move in a particular way to increase the effectiveness of a bit of work. At times, you will be given opportunities to feel the difference between one side that has been worked and one side that has not. Some areas of focus for the first hour involve opening up the chest cavity making it easier to breathe, creating a plasticity in the tissue, starting to get the pelvis horizontal, etc. All of this is with an eye to integrating the body so gravity can start to heal it.
Each session gives its own wonderful sensations, and this is one area that I think it is best not discussed. No two bodies are alike, and so no two people respond to a session in the same way. Your experience is unique, and should be left for you to discover.
Sessions 2-10
The remaining sessions will all have some initial discussion for a few minutes before proceeding. If appropriate at the end of a session, I will make suggestions for a focus between sessions in order to for you to get the most benefit. Each session has a prescribed goal that will be inividualized to your body’s unique characteristics. Some of the goals of the remaining sessions are as follows:
Sessions 2
Working to integrate the feet, lower legs, and the spine.
Sessions 3
Balancing the front of the body with the back. The hips, shoulders, and lower back figure heavily in this session.
Sessions 4
With the first three sessions dealing primarily with opening the superficial tissue, there is now room to start working the deeper tissue. Muscles on the inside of the leg and their pelvic attachments get a lot of attention.
Sessions 5
Balancing the front of the body to the back mostly at the level of the belly. The rectus abdominis (aka ‘the six pack’ muscle) and the psoas (a muscle spanning from our diaphragm to our legs) get a lot of focus.
Sessions 6
Working for integration from the back of the body starting at the foot and going up. Emphasis is paid to balancing the sacrum, which connects the spine to the pelvis.
Sessions 7
Finally, the head and neck get to be the primary stars now that the underlying supports have been addressed.
Sessions 8 and 9
These sessions balance and integrate the pelvic and shoulder girdles to optimize you moving with the most efficiency.
Sessions 10
This session puts it all together so your entire body can be in harmony. Gravity can now act as the friend that heals you as opposed to a force that your body has been fighting all your life.
