Dr. Rolf, Does It Hurt?

I've have been practicing Dr. Ida P. Rolf Method Structural Integration for a lot of years. Almost always the question comes up, "Does it hurt?" At the risk of seeming to dissemble in the manner of who-you-may-recall, I would say it depends on what your definition of "it" is.

Let me say a few words, then I'll have Dr. Ida Rolf, the originator of Structural Integration, speak for herself. (As channeled through me.)

These days there certainly shouldn't be anything painful in the quality of the touch used in Structural Integration. In the early days when the work was in its formative stages, Dr. Rolf garnered quite the reputation for her sometimes “ruthless compassion.” In all fairness, the great majority of the stories are about the wisdom, tenderness and empathy in her touch. But, bad press is what got the notice.

In my early years in the profession the official boilerplate answer to the pain question was that the training had changed, had been improved. I believe that was mainly an attempt to break with the past. But it begat another question, “Are you an old style, or new style Rolfer®?"

People sometimes are in pain. Any intervention to ameliorate that discomfort must in some way "touch" upon it. The art of it as taught to me even way back when is to approach within the range of the client’s reasonable and current level of tolerance, at whatever that level may be. Some people jump at the slightest touch and others you have to shake to keep them from falling asleep. Different strokes for different folks is a bit trite, but says it. I have found that working within a client’s comfort zone produces the greatest results. I find that there are many clients who have to be reeducated to that; getting off the notion "I can take it" or that "pain/gain" thing.

I would say that the prospective client’s question about pain has more to do with concerns about having one's own pain touched. Personally, I insist that I be touched with respect, sensitivity, kindness, and expertise. As a practitioner I expect that my clients will want the same. Anybody can just barge in there and try to force a change. And that isn't effective anyway. "No pain, no gain"—that's so 20th century!

I also speculate that a deeper issue about pain has nothing to do with pain at all. I believe that the prospect of Structural Integration is the prospect for change. While change may be constant and inevitable, we do resist it. I have always found that the sometimes profound changes I have personally experienced in my own Rolfing sessions have brought me to a place that was certainly new, but always familiar. Like coming home.

One wonders what Ida Rolf herself would say about this?

Dr. Rolf was known to be rather direct in her speaking. She wouldn't be one to pamper sensitive egos. Be advised.

Dr. Rolf, if you please?...

If I have heard it once, I've heard it a thousand times...'Rolfing hurts.' There are a lot of sources for this concern. Structural Integration is well known for producing deep results. But that does not mean you must push hard, or deep. That's just plain wrong! I heard of a Chiropractor who demonstrated his interpretation of "Rolfing" to his patients with a vigorous and hard elbow rubbing on the ribs. I can only imagine what other well-intentioned health professionals have done to protect their charges from my fearsome grasp. And I further wonder how many people have been put off from something that would do them some real good by the uninformed insistence of people who have had no first-hand experience. This work is not a substitute or alternative to any other health approach out there. We aren't out to take anyone's business away. Well, maybe that's not completely true. We want to empower individuals to take a more active and responsible role in their health and well-being. And, what high minded health professional wouldn't subscribe to that anyway?

Most people who raise this question on pain haven't had any experience of the work themselves. They may have heard from someone that "it hurt", but they don't usually get the point that it's an experience of pain ... leaving. Yes, I know, in my early days I did have a tendency to be a little heavy handed and I'll accept my own responsibility for this. All the good people who have taken up this work since have had to deal with that persistent reputation. Let me just say that in time we all learn (hopefully); I certainly did. The truth is that with intentional practice one refines one's touch. That's true for all fields. Nowadays there should be no concern over having to endure any discomfort to make constructive changes in the structural balance of your body.

Since you may still think that my answer is merely self-serving and that once you're in my clutches the torture will commence, let me put your mind at ease. Unlike a lot of therapeutic approaches where some procedure is done to you, Structural Integration is more in the category of a teaching or training, and your willing participation and cooperation are requisite to the process. So, if at any time the touch is not acceptable for any reason, just say so and we can adjust the pressure or pace, or stop. We have many avenues of approach to reach the goal. Much of Structural Integration can even be too subtle for a lot of people. The best work, the greatest improvements come about when we — you and I — respect your natural, comfortable limits.

Still a little reticent? Then, my dear one, I have to ask whether feeling some pain is the real issue. Those kids lined up for all those tattoos and piercings in the oddest of places don't seem to have any issues with that. I submit that the real concern may be that you don't want someone mucking around in your "stuff", as the kids say. But that doesn't seem to ring true to me either. Look at all that elective cosmetic plastic surgery going on these days. Talk about mucking about! That's what I call painful!

So maybe the real issue is that you're reluctant to really change. Deep down, in a real meaningful way. Being resistant to change is perfectly usual. Nothing to get in a bunch about. We all are like that. But, making constructive changes does take doing. As the arrangement of your body becomes more symmetrical and stacked up vertically, that's a real change for the better. Perhaps even a life change. Remember that the changes we are looking for are grounded in basic science, Physics and Human Anatomy. Gravity is the standard of balance. It is the single most potent force the human body has to deal with. Out of balance gravity tears you down, saps your energy, and limits your potential. In balance, the energy field of the earth is supportive and you experience living light, fluid, and free. The nice thing is, you own it. Like how you know how to ride a bike. Ice skate. Use a fork.

Who wouldn’t agree with that. The thing that gets me is that the condition of being out of balance in terms of the simple and obvious dictates of gravity is so commonplace that it is not seen as such. Overlooked. Under noticed. A men’s tailor at the Saks Fifth Avenue flagship store in New York City, conceded that he sees lots of arms, one longer than the other. His solution, snip some fabric. If that well suited, clueless chap is a golfer, he’s probably even now shopping for the next best driver or putter. But, hey, don’t consider what’s driving the driver, or putting the putter. I am not a golfer (they really do have a lot of it here in Heaven) but you get the point.

So now I see there is this big conversation about health care and its costs. Will someone please put a pencil on the costs directly attributable to one simple and observable fact: the widespread poor, sub-normal adaptation of humans to the field of gravity? If you are a little burned by hearing that, then you can go on your way comforted by the idea that ‘that’s just the way I am’ and then wait to take steps when ‘something happens’.

Please know, I'm not suggesting that you should come in for Structural Integration even though I know that it would do you a world of good. I am suggesting that, just like any physical structure on this earth, your body is subject to the laws, to the effects of gravity. If you look at yourself and others (really take the time to look) in relationship to the dictates of gravity, you'll see that virtually everyone is out of balance. Just because it is so common and widespread that it goes unnoticed doesn't give you an excuse to ignore the issue itself.

Especially if you are a health professional ...

Whether you do anything about it is up to you. My Structural Integration offers personal assistance. You'll know what is best for you. Also remember, change is inevitable. Growth is optional. Structural Integration is about growth. A word to the wise is sufficient.

Put aside whether you should go for Structural Integration yourself. And forget about whether you should recommend it to your patients. Do look at the question of what the overall balance of the human body vis-a-vis gravity may have to do with health and chronic symptoms. Just really look. The fact of gravity is so simple and so close that it is easy to ignore. The question of balance in respect to gravity is so profoundly important and so far reaching in its implications that you probably haven't imagined that such change is possible. Well, it is. I showed that. And there are pictures to prove it.

Once you have sufficiently pondered the question you'll see for yourself how structural imbalances are a factor in chronic illnesses. Then we can have a discussion. You may even want to discuss the merits of my method. Don't be too proud of your present level of knowledge to keep yourself from taking a firm grasp of the obvious. How we stand in gravity is vitally important.

I wonder what it would be for humans to be as adapted to the field of gravity as the fish are to the sea. And, if life evolved from the sea, then what could be humanity's next evolutionary step?

On Pain

Khalil Gibran

Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.

And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy; and you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields. And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.

Much of your pain is self-chosen. It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self. Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquility: For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen, And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has moistened with His own sacred tears.

 

THE SILKEN TENT

by Robert Frost

She is as in a field a silken tent

At midday when the sunny summer breeze

Has dried the dew and all its ropes relent,

So that in guys it gently sways at ease,

And its supporting central cedar pole,

That is its pinnacle to heavenward

And signifies the sureness of the soul,

Seems to owe naught to any single cord,

But strictly held by none, is loosely bound

By countless silken ties of love and thought

To every thing on earth the compass round,

                                 

And only by one’s going slightly taut

In the capriciousness of summer air

Is of the slightest bondage made aware

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