Many years ago during a meditation class, the my teacher Will Johnson interrupted my ponderings with the statement.
“The spine is not a Roman column and the ribs are not an internal shield.”
I was struck by the simplicity of these images.
Clients commonly come to Rolfing with challenges that have hindered total enjoyment of all that life has to offer. The phone consultation usually begins with their description of a chronic injury or pain. I will answer their inquiry as to whether Rolfing can fix the problem that is plaguing them. The path that I can provide to a pain free, functional body organizes itself around these three principles: alignment, stability, mobility.
A ten session series of Rolfing provides an eloquent path to a strong, well ordered and flexible body. It represents a body of work, a process during which one has shifted structurally towards a more expanded, easeful place. In most cases by the end of ten sessions preexisting pain has decreased or entirely disappeared. While liberating shortened, adhered fascial wrappings, muscles are repositioned so that they work in synchronicity with other muscles to provide healthy joint movement.
If you have had a Rolfing series you will likely be able to recall the feeling of lift and openness that you experience immediately after a session. It is a delicious feeling that encompasses many physiological events that occurred while you were on the table receiving work. Rolfing enhances the movement of the rib cage and diaphragm muscle, which in turn allows you to receive more oxygen. As you breathe more fully, a deep sense of relaxation will set in. You will no longer be in a fighting mode, instead you have shifted into a feeling of openness and receptivity. Post session you stand with feet firmly planted on the ground, and head reaching heavenward. Tension that you had arrived with becomes a memory, and you feel like a human being.
As your Rolfing sessions progress your spine will feel less, and less like a Roman column, and ribs like an internal shield. In fact, your spine is ideally in constant motion responding to the movement of the breath.
After the comment on the spinal column, Will suggested that we meditate with this awareness:
“Breathe in through the body, Breathe out through the body”.
Go ahead and book your next session. I guarantee you will get much more than you bargained for.