Structural Integration
A Path of Personal Growth and Development
(From the Guild for Structural Integration)
When Dr. Rolf decided to name her work, it was after years of careful contemplation. She selected her words well. Indeed, the name, Structural Integration, does imply the full scope of her teaching. To begin with, her choice of the word, structure, is clearly descriptive. For it was her way of looking at the human physical body, as one would any other material structure, which grounds her work upon the basic laws of physics. However, since structural analysis alone is of limited value, it was Dr. Rolf’s original research in biochemistry, which provided a key for unlocking the human structure and which gave birth to her method. The Recipe, her procedure for establishing myofascial balance and relieving chronic structural stress, is her gift to humankind.
“Integration,” however, is the word which best describes the true thrust of her work. On the physical level, “integration” includes the concepts of balance, symmetry, and wholeness. But it is here that we leave the realm of pure science. For we cannot understand “integration” until we first comprehend “relationship.” And Dr. Rolf believed that one cannot enter the complex world of “relationship” without leaving the world of “things.” This is a great challenge, a shift of consciousness. The world of “things” is a rational, linear, scientific, verbal world. Whereas the world of “relationships” is non-linear and non-verbal and, therefore, not accessible to the purely rational mind. So it is here that we cross from science into art, from technique into mastery. As Dr. Rolf said, “It is the art of integration which separates the cooks from the chefs.”
Dr. Rolf’s work and major discoveries lie firmly rooted in physical reality. (She used to say, “Because that’s what I can get my hands on.”) But the full focus of her intellectual curiosity was not aimed toward structure alone. Rather, her motivating interest was in the energy fields which surround human structures. The gravity field and its relationship to structure, therefore, becomes the dominant theme of her teaching. What if a human structure could be integrated within the gravity field so that all movement was in continuous balance. Would the effects and experience of gravity not change from a downward, negative, entropic force into a supportive, positive, organizing force? (Many of us would now answer a resounding “yes,” from personal witness. This is remarkable, since even the best of us lives in this balanced state for brief periods of time only!) Would this person live longer? Stronger? Healthier? Happier? How would this affect mental health and function? How would this alter emotional health? Maturity? Responsiveness? Sensitivity? What would be the effect of a life lived with the perpetual support of our own cosmic field—rather than in conflict with it?
Unfortunately, organization of the structure, alone, does not permanently establish this ideal, super-balanced state. While fascial order may effect miracles in the relief of chronic symptoms and pain, and may commonly produce increased vitality and a new sense of general well-being, it does not fully integrate a living, moving structure within the surrounding gravity field. Something is missing. The conscious will of the being that lives within the structure must be actively involved. Here, we glimpse Dr. Rolf’s true genius with her invention of the concept of the Line. The Rolf Line is a line of vertical intention which extends through the bottom of the feet to the center of the earth and through the top of the head to cosmic infinity. The Line, in her concept of the fully “evolved” structure, does not pass through bone (except at the top of the head). The Line is transcendental. It forms a bridge between physical reality and the realm of pure energy, the non-physical. The Line integrates the physical structure with the gravity field. The Line joins Rolf physics and metaphysics into one clear concept. The awakening of the Line is the central challenge of her teaching. The awakening of the Line is the Rolf path for self-growth. The Line becomes our personal guide, our monitor of personal evolution. And inculcation of the Line into the very essence of our consciousness becomes our preoccupation. Dr. Rolf’s vision of unlimited human potential is inseparable from this personal path.
During the major portion of her life, Dr. Rolf’s overriding personal interest was directed toward yet another field of energy. Here we leave Rolf physics behind and move clearly into metaphysics. We move from her public message into her private teaching, which contends that humans are electromagnetic bodies with an electric core and a magnetic sleeve, similar to the earth itself. In an attempt to gain knowledge about this core energy and in pursuit of her interest in personal development, she undertook a study of tantric yoga. As a student under an eastern master, for well over a decade, she carefully examined the teaching for physiological referents. She began to develop an idea. What if, after years of discipline and meditation, one were able to remove all physiological and energetic barriers to the free flow of electric, core energy? And what if one were to place the negative pole of this energized core (root chakra) firmly into the earth while also spanning upward through the positive pole (crown chakra) toward infinity? Would the personal electromagnetic field be reinforced and energized by the field of the earth? Could this not describe a transcendent state of energetic integration between human and cosmos? Could this correspond to awakening of kundalini and the appearance of super-normal powers of mind and body? Are chakras the vortices through which this highly empowered electromagnetic source communicates with matter?
Her hypotheses do not stop here. She was not interested in trying to “improve” an ancient tradition. But what if this ancient path could be reformulated and restated for modern humans? What if this state of transcendent integration could be achieved while standing rather than sitting? How would human structure have to evolve? (The Recipe is full of goals which are her attempt to answer this question.) Could we awaken a heel chakra, more negatively charged than the root chakra? Would the additional core length imply an even more powerful electromagnetic field than that of the eastern master? And, further, what if the physical structure of this integrated being were so balanced, within the field of gravity, that movement did not disturb the integrated state? Is this kind of evolutionary shift of structure and consciousness conceivable? Certainly, such flights of visionary fancy are not fit fare for many rational, educated humans. And it’s not certain that she developed this hypothesis in every training class. But in many of them, she did.
What about discipline of mind and spirit? Surely, this path of the masters cannot be reduced to mere biophysics. Here, Dr. Rolf would suggest that, in addition to whatever spiritual and religious practice might empower an individual, the practitioner of Structural Integration chooses a path of service to his species. And with this service, whether conscious or not, comes refinement of mind and spirit, the ability to “love” in its highest sense. Additionally, the recipe is the vehicle through which the practitioner focuses and develops clear intention. The Recipe is the ritual and the discipline of this path of service.
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