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STRUCTURAL INTEGRATION / JUNE 2007 www.rolf.org 51 TABLE OF CONTENTS STRuCTuRAL IntegratioN: COLUMN THE JouRNAL oF Ask the Advanced Faculty 2 THE RoLF INSTITuTE® June 2007 ROLFING AND YOGA Vol. 35, No. 2 Rolfing Like a ogiY 3 Zeb Lancaster PuBLISHER Rolfing, Yoga, and Integration 6 ® Karen Lackritz The Rolf Institute of Structural Integration Rolfing and Yoga 8 5055 Chaparral Ct., Ste. 103 Will Johnson Boulder, CO 80301 USA PERSPECTIVES (303) 449-5903 (303) 449-5978 Fax Ida Rolf and the Two Paradigms 10 (800) 530-8875 Sam Johnson Licensure: An Existential Dilemma 19 EDIToRIAL BoARD Heidi Massa Eva Bucher Zen and the Art of Healing 21 Craig Ellis Hokaku Jeffrey Maitland Anne F. Hoff, Editor-in-Chief Embryology: The Emergence of Function and Form 26 Linda Loggins Carol Agneessens Heidi Massa Deanna Melchynuk RESEARCH Susan Seecof, Managing Editor Dave Sheldon Introduction to Dr. Langevin’s Research 31 Robert Schleip, Ph.D. LayouT AND Pathophysiological Model for Chronic Low Back Pain GRAPHIC DESIGN Integrating Connective Tissue and Nervous System Mechanisms 32 Mercedes Hernández Helene Langevin, MD THANK YOUS Articles in Structural Integration: The Karna Knapp 38 Journal of The Rolf Institute® represent the views and opinions of the authors and Stephen Pare 38 do not necessarily represent the official Tessy Brunghardt 38 positions or teachings of the Rolf Institute of Structural Integration. The Rolf Institute BOOK REVIEWS reserves the right, in its sole and absolute discretion, to accept or reject any article for Yoga of the Mahamudra 39 publication in Structural Integration: The Equine Structural Integration: Myofascial Release Manual 40 Journal of The Rolf Institute. The Fasciae – Anatomy, Dysfunction & Treatment 41 Structural Integration: The Journal of The Rolf Anatomy of Hatha Yoga: A Manual for Students, Institute® (USPS 0005-122, ISSN 1538-3784) Teachers and Practitioners 42 is published quarterly by the Rolf Institute, 5055 Chaparral Ct., Ste. 103, Boulder, MEMORIAL CO 80301. Periodicals Postage Paid at Boulder, Colorado. POSTMASTER: Send Marvin Solit 43 address changes to Structural Integration: The Journal of The Rolf Institute®, 5055 INSTITUTE NEWS Chaparral Ct., Ste. 103, Boulder, CO 80301. Research Foundation Announcement 45 Copyright ©2007 Rolf Institute. All rights The First International Fascia Research Congress 46 reserved. Duplication in whole or in part in any form is prohibited without written Graduates 47 permission from the publisher. 2007 Schedule 48 Rolfing® is a service mark of the Rolf Contacts 49 Institute of Structural Integration. COLUMN Ask the Advanced Faculty Ray McCall M.A., Certified Advanced RolferTM Dr. Rolf said that the most important part of a session was our beingness Q with the client. Could you speak about what this means, and how our ability to truly be with another person affects our effectiveness as Rolfers? Our state of mind or consciousness Witnessing allows us to create and maintain lated nervous system, the infant will have a A has a profound effect on the outcome a container and provides a clear mirror for disregulated system. It is possible to repair of Rolfing. The more conscious we are, the the client’s process. If you go to the fun this maladaption by being in proximity to a more we are able to be present with a client house at an amusement park, you can stand nervous system that is regulated. It happens without having a preconceived outcome or in front of a mirror that makes you look non-verbally, right brain to right brain. The agenda for his or her process. It gives the short and fat or one that makes you look tall practitioner client relationship mimics the client the freedom and support for the work and thin; both are distortions. You cannot parent-infant relationship. To the extent to evoke what is next in his or her life, be it learn how you actually look by standing in that we are regulated, we provide a refer- physical, mental or emotional. front of such mirrors. Only a clear mirror, ence beam for clients to learn to regulate one that does not distort your image, will themselves. The details are beyond the Being aware of ourselves and our process, enable you to see how you actually look. scope of this venue. If you wish to explore as contrasted to being self-obsessed with To the degree that we are able to be a clear this topic more fully, I recommend Parent- ourselves and our process, allows us to mirror for our clients, we provide the op- ing from the Inside Out by Daniel Seigel, M.D. have and maintain a witness position. If portunity for them to reclaim their projec- and Mary Hartzell, M.Ed. we do not have a witness position, we tions, the parts of themselves, positive and have no ability to distinguish between self So, if consciousness and the ability to wit- negative, that they project out onto others. and another. It is necessary to distinguish ness are so important, what are some ways Seeing those parts of themselves reflected between others and one’s self in order to that we can cultivate that ability? Con- back clearly and without judgment creates know if what we are doing in a therapeutic templative practices increase awareness. the possibility of their owning and inte- intervention serves the client’s needs or our Meditation, martial arts, flower arranging grating those aspects. As the practitioner, needs. If we cannot witness, we can only and dance are all contemplative exercises. it is our responsibly to hold a safe space, a react to others; with witnessing we are able They provide the opportunity to work container, for this transformative process. to reflect and respond in ways that serve with our minds — to practice noticing the It is also our responsibility to seek support others. In addition to keeping us honest, the space between our thoughts rather than the (a more experienced Rolfer, a competent witness position provides an opportunity thoughts themselves. therapist) when we need someone to hold for the client to heal in ways that are not and provide a container for our process. possible if it is absent. In addition to its importance in the dy- namics of the therapeutic relationship, our ability to witness allows us to monitor and regulate our own nervous systems. Why is this important to our clients? Recent research (Allan Schore: affect regulation) shows that infants learn to regulate their nervous systems through resonance with their caregiver (right brain hemisphere to right brain hemisphere). All of this happens pre-verbally. If the caregiver has a disregu- 2 www.rolf.org STRUCTURAL INTEGRATION / JUNE 2007 YOGA & ROLFING YoGA AND THE ENERGETIC BoDY Yoga understands that the body is a collec- tion of interrelated energy channels. The ® most important channels are the shushumna, ida (relating to tamas) and pingala (relating Rolfing Like a Yogi to ragas) channels. The ida and pingala By Zeb Lancaster, Ph.D., Certified RolferTM are on either side of the shushumna, the central channel. ithin the context of “wholism”, the YoGA AND The ida and pingala weave back and forth across the central channel, and where they Wviewpoint that work on the whole THE PHYSICAL BoDY body is more effective than work done on cross is where the chakras can be found. If just one part, lies the mind-body connection. In yoga philosophy, all of the above dy- the shushumna is not open, our energy and And I write with the hope that my words namics can be understood in terms of the emotions get caught in the two peripheral will allow fellow practitioners the chance to three elemental forces or building blocks, channels. When “prana,” our life force, is strengthen this vital link in themselves and collectively called gunas: sattva, ragas and balanced, then our core energy awakens also for those within their practice. tamas. When considered in this light, yoga and rises up the central channel taking our takes on new meaning and importance. It is state of mind and perception to a higher With that said, the premise of this paper is to much more than a series of postures. level. show that by applying yoga principles and practices to Rolfing sessions it is possible Yoga philosophy also considers the energy Consistent with the principle of the gunas, to achieve a level of healing that interfaces of emotion and how it relates to structure we have three basic energetic responses to with mind and body. I will also emphasize and function. Ragas is the energy of pas- life’s events: 1) energetic-charge (ragas); that the ground from which all change hap- sion, motion, and desire and relates to the 2) energetic-discharge (tamas); and 3) re- pens is energetic. “fight-flight” sympathetic channel of the laxation (sattva). Alternately, these three autonomic nervous system (ANS). Like primal forces form our life-force pulsation. Basically, our body-mind complex is motile What IS YoGA? the Chinese principle of “yang,” excessive ragas manifests somatically as a hyper- energy that pulsates through this three-beat Many people think of yoga as a way to help tonicity and emotionally as mania and cycle. them achieve a balance of flexors and exten- hypervigilance (over focused). Tamas is the In energetic terms, the vibrations we carry sors. True, when executed skillfully, yoga emotional quality of inertia, fixity, and dull- within our minds and bodies reflect our postures do help to balance the medial and ness and relates to the relaxation response reality. When either the charge or discharge lateral arches of the feet, thereby activating of the parasympathetic component of the tendencies become chronic conditions, the the inner line of the legs.