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 dynamics 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-

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Yoga and the energetic body Yoga understands that the body is a collection 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. This in turn bal- ANS. Excessive tamas, analogous to the emotional and physical impact results in ances the pubic bone and tailbone. As this Chinese principle of “yin”, is associated a loss of presence (including mental and support reaches up to the next “station”, it with hypotonicity and manifests emotion- emotional obsessions), physical imbalance equalizes the opposing structures of T12 ally as depression and hypovigilance (being (including structural hyper- and hypoto- and the sternum, which invites the shoul- checked-out). nicity), and chakra imbalance. Note: The der girdle to free itself from the ribs and The balance of ragas and tamas is vital to normal curves of the spine are a physical neck and opens up the thoracic outlet. The health, and it’s no wonder that the term expression of the ragas and tamas tenden- head is then able to naturally find balance yoga implies “union”. And when these cies. on the neck. The final result is a physical two opposing qualities (ragas and tamas) posture that mirrors the Rolfing paradigm The expansive and contractive energetic are balanced, the third guna aspect, sat- of “equipoise.” cycles of the gunas are the energetic ground tva, is the result. To be in sattva balance from which our emotional and physical life Both yoga and Rolfing recognize the sig- is to experience a state of reciprocity with takes shape.[1] Let us take a look at how nificance of activating core strength so that identical life force operating with balanced this works. the extrinsic muscles can be used for what movement. they are good at: large movements rather Like all other biological organisms, the As can be seen, the yogic principle of the than the subtleties of gait. As the intrinsic/ human body continually produces energy. gunas bridges our physical structural phasic and extrinsic/tonic muscle tissues Essentially, all energy is a form of dynamic tendencies, energetic style and emotional differentiate, we move with the grace that positive (ragas) and negative (tamas) charg- dynamics. When these three aspects are in- comes with freedom from postural patterns es or waves of energy that are constantly tegrated, we realize our true form (svarupa) of tension. We begin to realize that we can vibrating. These energetic vibrations form and find peace. One way to facilitate this engage with life without over-efforting. As an endless series of sine-waves rising and integration is to apply the principle of the we take the strain out of the system, we no falling at different rates. Light, sound, elec- gunas to the subtle body. longer “accelerate while our emergency tricity and electromagnetic radiation are all brake is on.” expressions of this vibrating energy. The

Structural Integration / June 2007 www.rolf.org Yoga & Rolfing energy in our bodies is no different; it is a re- A second essential way yoga achieves bal- with our awareness through a process called sult of cycles of charge and discharge based ance is through tapas.[2] The root word tap nirodha (Yoga Sutra 1.2). Rodha comes from on these fundamental principles of energy. means “to burn,” or “to glow.” Tapas is the root rudh, meaning, “to be wrapped The electric current traveling through the something we do in order to keep us physi- in;” the prefix ni means “great internal nervous system is a series of sine waves cally and mentally healthy. It is a process intensity.” Just as a child needs the parent creating vibratory impulses. of inner cleansing by removing things that to provide a safe emotional container the we do not need through painstaking self- young one can return to after exploring, to The polarization and depolarization of the application. Tapas is pursued through the “put himself back together,” nirodha gives nervous tissue is an example of how this “frustration” of the body-mind’s habitual us a safe haven. life force travels through the body. This inclinations. has a direct affect on our muscular system. The most obvious examples of nirodha are When a muscle is hypertonic, it has built More specifically, in the practice of yoga when we are so focused on what we are up an energetic charge and is unable to postures (asana), tapas is created when- doing that nothing else comes to mind; release it. The long-term result is tighter, ever we deliberately direct our actions not the past (tamas) or future (ragas). In shorter muscles with reduced joint range. and awareness in a manner that balances this state the full rapture of being alive is When our muscles have hypotonicity, they focused effort (sthira) and ease (sukha). In awakened. Embodiment is a sort of “in- are unable to build an energetic charge, a Rolf session, we create tapas when we dwelling” where we are “wrapped in great they are slow to initiate a muscle contrac- guide the client to allow his attention to be internal intensity.” When one is embodied, tion, cannot maintain a contraction for long in the present while he relaxes and breathes the fundamental existential questions of and do not fully contract before they relax to release bound tissues. The moment the “Who am I? and “What am I doing with again. The long-term result is loose and client begins to hold his breath, we know other people?” disappear. The experience very stretchy muscles that never realize too much effort is happening. If the client of embodiment provides a safe container their full potential. slows his breath to a resting state, we know for the felt sense of authenticity. too much ease is creating an imbalance. We also create a holding environment when Yoga balance within This has a direct application to emotional we don’t impose our agenda and yet engage Rolfing sessions states as well. By learning to calm down if the client and are contactful. The child de- As Rolfers, if we were to approach each ses- anxious (unable to release energetic charge/ velopment theorist Donald Winnicott made sion applying yogic principles and practices ragas) or speed up when depressed (unable the observation that infants need a mixture to the imbalanced nervous systems we see to build an energetic charge/tamas), we of contact and breathing room within a safe every day, we would greatly enhance our engage in the practice of tapas and free the context, which he described as “parallel effectiveness. Yoga approaches creating rubbish in our minds and bodies. Mind- play.” This balance allows the infant to learn balance by practicing paradox; that is, by body yoga practices of asana, conscious to self-regulate within the context of a re- engaging opposing tendencies at the same breathing, visualization, sounding mantras lationship. With this ability to self-regulate time to support recalibration and balance. and present-centered meditations all con- as an adult, we can then tolerate and enjoy I recall the Ashtanga yoga teacher Richard tribute to this end. intimacy as well as aloneness. Rolfing is a kind of “parallel play” that has potentially Freeman once saying, “where opposites As we deliberately create balance we devel- profound consequences. meet magic happens.” op energy and heat in the body. Depending on our physical and emotional condition, For example, in a yoga practice, we build Yoga bandhas and the a charge and focus on staying grounded, we apply either more effort or more sur- body’s diaphragms and as we engage the ground we focus on render to our mind-body practice so as building energy and heat in the body. As we to alter habits that we don’t need. As we Finally, in yoga we create a holding environ- exhale we maintain an awareness of the es- become aware of imbalance, we may first ment by engaging the bandhas. The word sence of inhaling, and as we inhale we stay experience a sense of discomfort, a feeling bandha means “to bind or tie together, to aware of the quality of exhaling. “Paradoxi- of wanting to squirm away from our condi- close.” In yoga, bandha means “to lock” and cal breathing” is another way to describe tion. But as we once again balance focused we execute this by contracting certain areas this. As we flex or extend we simultane- attention with effort and surrender, we can of the torso in a particular way. The old texts ously engage the opposing action creating begin to feel the edges of our state of mind tell us that by using the bandhas we create an isometric dynamic (thereby balancing and body begin to change as if they were an energetic container that enables us to “internal” and “external” upper- and lower- burning. This is the heat of tapas. direct “fire” to the exact place where we are body postural tendencies). As we effort, blocking the flow of energy in the body. we hold an awareness of surrender (which Yoga balance and the The three most important bandhas are lo- allows energy to flow), and as we push off therapeutic container cated in the neck, the solar plexus and the from the earth we settle in (Rolfer/move- A third central way that yoga supports bal- floor of the pelvis. These three areas are ment theorist Hubert Godard’s “sky” and ance is by creating a “container” or “holding recognized within the Rolfing paradigm “ground”). Gravity paradoxically allows an environment” of sorts, within which we as structural and functional diaphragms. equal and opposite ground reaction force come to life. This “holding environment” The diaphragms of the body act as a sort (GRF) to animate and lift the body. With a is established in a variety of ways. of hydraulic valve system maintaining the little imagination we can find ways to apply different pressure gradients that allow us this on the Rolfing table. In yoga, we start by first creating a container to function in relation to gravity without

www.rolf.org Structural Integration / June 2007 Yoga & Rolfing collapsing. The human body is 80% water; it deep subconscious level of inner vibration, learn to remain relaxed and energized, we is as if our flesh floats in a bed of fluids. The as this state allows the wisdom inherent in have a cortical physiological change from a fluid body is expressed through its motility, mind-body practices to manifest. state of high arousal to one of low arousal. a quality that underlies the Rolfing notion When we don’t get thrown off balance due On a purely physical level, our body’s of the ever-changing plastic body. Then to physical injury or our emotional fixa- structural tendencies are to a large extent again, in craniosacral therapy, the “breath tions, the body-mind system quiets down determined by muscle tone. Muscle tone of life” is an expression of the potency of and invites a profound inner peace. This is a occurs at an involuntary level. Stretch re- spirit that manifests as somatic energy. Ac- stillness that is infinite and cannot be bound ceptors deep in the muscle detect change cording to craniosacral teacher and author by form. Ultimately our physical forms live in muscle length. These receptors then tell Hugh Milne, this energy is thought to influ- within this formlessness. This is a journey the brain there is a stimulus, and the brain ence our flesh via body fluids. The flow of from gross to subtle where the body itself tells the muscle to contract in response. By somatic energy causes body fluids to flow. becomes a conscious vessel of spirit. On “practicing paradox,” tapas and creating Embryology studies have shown that it this journey, Sri Aurobindo Ghose explains, a “holding environment” in a Rolfing ses- is the initial flow of fluids against the cell “Limitations recede as the body becomes sion, we effectively recalibrate the “neural membrane that creates the human form. more plastic and responsive.” This was set-point” for responding to stimuli. We can echoed by Ida Rolf. Therefore, control of the primary dia- effect changes in muscle responses because phragms of the body plays a profound role it improves the brain’s ability to perceive [1] As one vibration flows into another it in our personal evolution. They serve as a changes in muscle length, preventing it creates the energetic expression of samsara. dam system of sorts that enables us to self- from over- or under-responding to stimuli. In Sanskrit, samsara literally means, “that regulate the body, and to step up and build This increases our ability to respond to life’s which flows together.” It is the perpetual energetic charge or step down and spread events optimally. flux of existence, the relationship of life as the charge throughout the body. As we we know it. A three-dimensional expression In the sattvic state that results, energy in practice conscious breathing in conjunction of this is the helix, much like the shape of our system spreads out throughout the with engaging the bandhas, we experience genetic DNA. entire container of the body rather than a feeling of pressure in the core of the body getting bound in muscular patterns of [2] The earliest term for yoga-like endeavors and a feeling that we are heating up. This tension. We feel a sense of aliveness in the in India is tapas. heat is the internal fire of tapas that burns core areas of the body, often described as off blockages in the core. “streaming” current-like sensations, as we If one learns to develop a sympathetic face the challenges of daily life unfolding resonance with the “practice of paradox,” before us. These physical sensations are the tapas and creating a “holding environ- expression of a natural reciprocal buildup ment” while Rolfing or practicing yoga, it and release of energy and a sign of what in is possible to develop an ability to restore yoga is called prana or life-force. As bound one’s natural energy cycles while cultivat- energy is repeatedly spread throughout ing the quality of sattva. And sattva is a the body, we experience more aliveness state that reflects the Rolfing principle of throughout all the chakra centers. “adaptability.” Because energy is not getting bound up in In this sattva state, the energetic intensity muscular holding patterns or being directed that accompanies life’s drama can actually at emotional fixations, it gets directed to- feel nourishing rather than overwhelm- wards enhancing our sense of Self. This is ing. The ANS is balanced, allowing us to a state that embodies the Rolfing principle respond to life’s challenges appropriately. of “wholism.” The Rolf practitioner ap- Physically, we have optimal tonus; emo- proaches each session in a way that invites tionally, we are able to maintain a broad a shift in the whole mind-body dynamic, perspective. and the client has an inner experience of integration. Rhythmic entrainment The increased experience of aliveness Another hugely beneficial aspect of ap- within us creates a subtle change in the proaching Rolfing like a yoga practice is body’s physiology that has a direct impact that it allows the potential for “rhythmic on our attentional stance. As energy spreads entrainment” to occur. This happens throughout the body, we develop a broad when two waveforms develop a similar understanding of life’s events that holds frequency and “lock into phase” with each wisdom. Rather than being hypervigilant other, meaning that the waves oscillate and maximizing response in a fight-flight together at exactly the same rate, with the stance, or hypovigilant and minimizing same resonance. When we are in rhythmic response to distressing situations such as entrainment, we are influenced psychologi- in dissociation, we have an inner awaken- cally and physiologically. We are also on a ing that is relaxed and yet alert. When we

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the sacrotuberous and iliolumbar ligaments allow the sacrum to float within the pelvis, or is the sacrum actually differentiated at S2? I continued my exploration. ® On the yoga mat, on another day, the in- Rolfing , Yoga, and Integration tention for my yoga practice was to give By Karen Lackritz, Certified Advanced RolferTM myself a ten-session series through yoga, in a two-hour period. I have been Rolfing for a long time now, long enough that the Rolfing series lives in my bones. So there I Give me a lever long enough, put me in the right place, and I can move the world. was with myself on the yoga mat, Rolfer —Archimedes and Rolfee, contacting tissue, core, sleeve, intention, and unwinding into a deeper The key to all life experience is movement. form of integration, freeing the psoas, —Ida P. Rolf freeing the sacrum. Sometimes it felt as if I were wrestling myself on the sticky mat,

® and sometimes it felt like I really could he essence of Rolfing and yoga is in- experience the essence of letting go into Ttegration. To give Archimedes a lever integration. I could experience the relation- long enough in our body, and put it in the ships within myself, and a kind of freedom right place, is the essence of integration. within the arches of my feet, into the core The femur, the longest bone in the body of my legs, into the pelvic floor, the front of – when connected from the feet and legs, the sacrum through the kidneys, the base up through the pelvic floor, and connected of the heart, the front of the cervicals, and to the psoas – becomes our body’s great- into the core of the cranium. I practiced the est tool for movement. When the body is sensations of extending through the crown integrated, the lines of transmission travel of my head as I simultaneously reached into through layers of fascia and ligaments, the heels and through my feet. The most through the suspension system that weaves incredible releases seemed to happen for through layers of tissue. Rolfing releases me when I anchored my coccyx and lower restrictions and connects the body along its part of my sacrum – sacred bone – toward honors the sage Vasistha core, integrating inner and outer structures; Vasisthasana the floor, and moved the upper part of my who taught the dharma of wisdom and yoga puts the body in the right position sacrum in and up toward my heart. My integrity. and moves it. In my Rolfing practice, I have body opened to a new state of integration blended yoga philosophy and principles, and strength. both spiritual and physical, with my knowledge of Rolfing. radius bones of my lower arms isometri- Now the interesting application – from a cally toward each other. I reach my sitting Rolfing perspective – is when I apply yoga Visualize a John Friend Anusara Yoga work- bones and tailbone toward my heels, and principles to my Rolfing clients. I am not shop with one hundred yoga practitioners the base of my sacrum in and up toward talking about doing yoga poses, or asanas, lined up in rows of twenty per row, filling my heart. Then magic happens. My torso with my clients, but positioning and mov- the gymnasium floor, all of us in one big extends out of my pelvis, I automatically ing parts of the body as we do in a yoga synchronized downward dog. This is a inhale more deeply, and my mid-thoracic practice. For instance, in the first session of pose where hands and feet are on the mat, spine extends with a few subtle pops. We the Rolfing® Ten Series, the intention is to the head hangs, and the bottom rejoices in jump forward in Uttinasana, or forward open the breath, horizontalize the pelvis, the air. John is a magical, instructive teacher bend. I once again draw my tailbone to my and initiate work at the base of the cranium. who talks us through each pose. He speaks heels, and my sacrum in and up as I extend Enhancing the breath in a Rolfing session, of the Sanskrit words chit ananda, which with an inhale. As I exhale, I fold into the combined with certain yoga principles, may means, “to recognize”, and how in the pose, my chest presses into my knees. Wow, involve moving the head of the humerus recognition of consciousness, there is joy. a new experience. deeper in the socket to free up the liga- John’s words weave in with the breath, This brought my mind into a full state of ments of the shoulder girdle and to assist instructing the student to draw in to the in releasing the lower cervicals. With the core of the pose. With the exhale, expressing questioning and exploring. For the next ninety minutes, I played with the concept client supine, I put one hand under the torso through the heart, a matrix of yogic prin- near the transverse processes of the thoracic ciples align the body toward an integrated of differentiating the movement of my tailbone from the movement of the base of spine, and with my other hand I move the state of awareness. Then he says, “let your head of the humerus slightly up towards the coccyx draw down toward your heels and the sacrum. My breath was fuller, all of my poses were deeper, and I felt connected in head, and then down towards the table. As the top of your sacrum in and up toward the head of the humerus moves to the back your heart.” With toes spread, I squeeze my body in a way that produced euphoria. The dura wraps around the spinal cord and side of the body, the thoracic spine begins my lower legs toward each other, and with to let go, and the tension and restrictions fingers intentionally spaced I squeeze the attaches at the second sacral segment. Do

www.rolf.org Structural Integration / June 2007 Yoga & Rolfing in the mid-thoracics begin to change. The an example, in Rolfing we commonly dif- head. The profound connection between ® clavicular ligaments and the first rib may ferentiate the pelvis by freeing the sacrum Rolfing and yoga is that Rolfing , through need to be released to allow the head of the from the ilia, a practice also demonstrated intention and precision, allows a person humerus to go deeper into the body. This in yoga. In yoga, the sacrum can be influ- to access balance along these lines of facilitates differentiating the shoulder girdle enced in two directions. When the sacrum transmission, creating freedom though the from the ribcage, releases the thoracics, and is differentiated, yoga practice becomes body and an enhanced state of awareness. enhances the breath. dynamic. The tailbone and the apex of the yoga provides precise intention that moves sacrum, influenced by the sacrotuberous through these opened lines of transmission. Anusara Yoga defines Universal Principles ligaments, assist to stabilize the legs and In both the Rolfed body and yoga practice, of Alignment, and a secondary series of anchor the body. The base of the sacrum integration is truly felt as an enhanced, loops and spirals, to work the body around moves anteriorly and up toward the heart. energetic system producing a heightened in various poses (see Figure 1). It can be In essence, this promotes the stability of the sense of well-being. compared to the blocks in the Rolfing pelvic bowl, along with the action of the ® In Rolfing, part of the integration process graphic of the “Little Boy Logo” . Instead sacrum going anterior and upward, lifting involves the intention of releasing restric- of blocks, the picture looks more like gears the contents of the lower belly out of the tions and enhancing underlying support. going through the body at specific loca- pelvic bowl. In my Rolfing practice, at the With the ancient wisdom of yoga philoso- tions. The locations of the loops are at the end of a session when the client is on the phy and its application of poses, the Rolfed ankle, calf, thigh, pelvis, kidney, shoulder Rolfing bench, I encourage him to anchor body can investigate new openings of or heart, and the skull. The loops have axes his pelvis by reaching his sitting bones awareness. Blending these two practices in running through the horizontal plane, and into the bench. As I work down either side the Rolfing room has enhanced my client’s the intersection of the loops mark important of the spine, I encourage the client to lift Rolfing experience. With the blending of focal points of the body, such as the pelvic in and up — from the base of the sacrum yoga and Rolfing, including the complexi- floor, the thoraco-lumbar junction, and the — lifting out of my hands, up through the ties of movement of the sacrum and the intersection of the hard and soft palates of base of the heart, and through the center of pelvis, a deeper sense of awareness and an the mouth. the cranium. This is perhaps the most effec- electrifying integrated state can be realized tive method I have found for defining and Synthesizing information from both yoga and available for all of us. and Rolfing has produced profound results enhancing an integrated state in the client at the end of a Rolfing session. in my Rolfing practice. Once restrictions End Note are released, the combination of yoga and The inward and outward “spiraling” of the Rolfing – within the framework of a Rolfing Vasisthansana is a pose representing the femurs in a yoga pose can be compared to sage, Vasistha, the teacher of the dharma. session – allows integration to be sustained, the internal and external models defined by which facilitates the healing process. As According to my yoga teachers, Vasistha advanced Rolfing instructor Jan Sultan. In represents integrity and wisdom, a pose the external model, the pelvis is posteriorly I dedicate to my teachers of Rolfing and tilted, and in the internal model, the pelvis yoga. is anteriorly tilted. In yoga, the anchoring of the tailbone creates the action of a posterior pelvis, and when the sacrum moves in and up, this creates the action of an anteriorly tilted pelvis. This combination expresses integration in the body, and allows the structure to move toward greater potential of movement and enhanced depth of breath. This combination allows the spine – from the lumbars, through the thoracics and into the cervical spine – to be more fully extended. One way we assess integration in Rolfing is to follow the connected fascial relationships running through the core of the body (Sultan). These lines of transmission follow through fascial and ligamentous lines that run up the front of the sacrum, through the crura of the diaphragm, and up the front and back surface of the heart. They run Figure 1 A lateral view of the loops and through the suspensory ligaments, such spirals as illustrated in John Friend’s as the sternopericardial and thoracoperi- Teacher Training Manual. Used with cardial ligaments that support the heart, permission of John Friend, author of the through the front of the cervicals, behind Anusara Yoga Teacher Training Manual. the hard palate and up to the center of the

Structural Integration / June 2007 www.rolf.org Yoga & Rolfing

of the entire body. Watch what happens to the mind when you do this. Sitting can be a very stable posture in which to explore the Line, just remember that the entire body is always subtly moving on the breath or relaxation is lost. Rolfing and Yoga Standing invites more expressive move- By Will Johnson, Certified RolferTM ment, and the exploration of the Line in a standing posture takes us right back to Shiva who, as legend has it, brought the body-oriented practices of yoga and dance to the planet. The “Sudaba” (Surrendered he consciousness that passes as normal myofascial tension because, if gravity is Dance of Balance) practices that I speak Tin the world at large is a consciousness providing us with our support, then we of in my book Yoga of the Mahamudra: The of separation. It is also a very disembodied don’t need to provide it ourselves. We Mystical Way of Balance are lessons on how consciousness. Fittingly, the word yoga also know that the best strategy to not feel to play with the Line in a standing posture, means “to yoke” or “to join together” and something is to tense the body. Therefore, thus allowing spontaneous movements to suggests a path of practices that can put relaxation allows us to feel the sensations occur wherever and however they want the pieces back together through healing of the body that formerly we were unable (the body does not naturally want to stand the sense of estranged separation (self and to feel, and true relaxation is only possible still). [Editor’s note: Yoga of the Mahamudra is other, mind and body, inner and outer, body in a condition of balance. reviewed later in this issue.] The following and world) and the pervasive sense of dis- suggestions are also vital for fully experi- If you want to come out of what spiritual embodiment that accompanies it. encing Sudaba: Open as much as possible teachers refer to as the “nightmare of sepa- to an awareness of sensations and feeling One of the most important things that yoga ration” and enter into the embrace of union, presence throughout every single cell of the (specifically hatha yoga) can do is to help you need to feel the body from head to body, surrender to a breath that wants to initiate this shift from a place where we’re foot as unbroken, shimmery, tactile pres- breathe the entire body, watch the mind and literally out of touch with the sensations of ence. I’ve been spending quite a bit of time let go of the thoughts (and the physical ten- our body to a place where we can actually working with the words and practices of sion that forms with them) whenever they feel the tingly, sparkly, alive, active, vibrato- the Sufi mystical poet Rumi, and what I’m arise, and remember to see what’s here to ry free dance of sensations that’s going on at suggesting here accords directly with what be seen and hear what’s here to be heard (in all times in every cell of the body. Rekindle Rumi’s father taught him as “ma’iyya”: God addition, of course, to feeling what’s here to a felt awareness of the body as a unified (or whatever word works for you) cannot be felt!). It’s a wild and wonderful practice. field of shimmering tactile sensations, and be found in the mind alone, it cannot even Shiva’s dance is a dance of the Line. you start entering a very different world, be found in the heart alone, but needs to be one in which the straitjacket of separation felt as distinct physical sensation in each When I lie down on my back, I can best ex- comes flying off and you’re released into a and every small part of the body. plore the Line through consciously moving birthright feeling state and consciousness my awareness through my body and mak- From the point of view of physiotherapy, that the Sufis call the “condition of union”. ing sure that subtle, resilient movement can the sessions of Rolfing are ends in them- And as we become more proficient in feel- be felt at each and every joint of my body. I selves. But from the point of view of yoga, ing sensations, the claustrophobic feeling learned this simple practice from movement the initial Rolfing sessions are like a pre- tone of separation starts melting away, our teacher Judith Aston, and it’s developed liminary practice that prepares someone conventional sense of personal boundaries into a very revealing path of inquiry. If a to start consciously exploring the yoga expands exponentially, and we suddenly part of the body has stopped moving in of the Line. And for this exploration to start experiencing ourselves as merged response to the breath, unpleasant sensa- succeed in shifting our awareness of self and connected with everything that is. It’s tion is bound to accumulate, no relaxation from the consciousness of separation to a wonderfully comforting, natural, and re- is possible, the shimmery presence of the the consciousness of union, it needs to be laxed condition. It’s also filled with grace. body will be blanketed over, and I will very actively explored, just like hatha yoga, on likely be off somewhere lodged in a thought The individual sessions of Rolfing can also a daily basis. I believe this exploration is (the second yoga sutra of Pantanjali tells powerfully stimulate the awareness of sen- best carried out within the context of all us that the purpose of yoga is to calm the sations in the part of the body that is being four primary postures of the body: sitting, thought waves in the mind) — which, by its touched, but where the goals of Rolfing and standing, moving, and lying down. very nature, speaks from the perspective of yoga truly begin to interact is through the Sitting meditation practice, of any tradition, separation. Ah, resilient breath! conscious exploration of balance: the play- is most powerfully explored through sur- ful embodiment of what Dr. Rolf always I’m pretty much a stickler for doing regular rendering to the Line. Sit every day with the referred to as “the Line”. Elemental Rolfing practices. If I want the blessings that come awareness of alignment and relaxation. Feel theory tells us that, through playing with from a moment of effortless, “Lined” con- how the most surrendered breath can cause balance, the body learns how to let gravity sciousness, then I need to do intentional subtle, resilient movement throughout the provide it with its source of support. This practices that keep supporting me to be in entire body. Open to the feeling awareness allows us to keep on relaxing unnecessary touch with this condition. I remember once

www.rolf.org Structural Integration / June 2007 Yoga & Rolfing hearing an interview with Rudolf Nureyev. This world-class dancer was asked why he religiously attended daily workouts and classes for the youngest members of the company. He said something to the effect that, if he misses a day, he begins to feel his muscles losing their tone; and if he misses two days, he can feel his spine begin to atrophy. Balance feels good, and it is of course constantly changing from one breath to the next. Our challenge is to open to the radically different quality of consciousness that surrendering to the yoga of the Line naturally stimulates. Then we can come out of separation. The interesting question for me, when it comes to the topic of Rolfing and yoga, is do we want Rolfing to be only about alleviating painful symptoms, or do we want Rolfing also to be “yoga,” a path of evolutionary practices based on the felt exploration of the embodiment of the Line? Let me leave you with a Rumi poem that’s going to appear in a new collection of translations that will be published this fall: Rubais of Rumi: Invitations to Ecstasy (Nevit Ergin and Will Johnson , available from In- ner Traditions in Sept. 2007). You could say that it’s his ode to Rolfing: look at your body as a whole it looks like a sprawl of drunks who’ve fallen asleep on top of each other if you want them to be your friends then wake each of them up don’t just step on them and go on your way

Structural Integration / June 2007 www.rolf.org PERSPECTIVES

can be credited with first popularizing that notion in Western thought. (The approach to health promoted by the Hippocratic writers was similar in spirit to the other great wholistic traditions that existed at the time – traditional Chinese Ida Rolf and the Two Paradigms medicine and Vedic medicine in India. Both By Sam Johnson, Certified Advanced Rolfer™ had existed for thousands of years before Hippocrates, and both stressed balance, although their systems of healing diverged greatly.) University was launched in Baltimore, Hippocrates stressed the importance of Maryland. Thanks in large part to it first trusting in a sick person’s innate power to director, William Welch, the single most recover and heal. He was the first Western influential figure in American medical physician to articulate what would become history, Hopkins would change the face known as vis medicatrix naturae – the heal- of American science and medicine and ing power of nature. He also hinted at an usher in a paradigm shift that dominates understanding of the power of the im- the health sciences in the Western world to mune system, speculating that diet, rest, this day. For the first decade of Ida Rolf’s cleanliness and hygiene were factors in professional life, she was a product of that these individual differences in resistance paradigm shift. to disease. Hippocrates and Wholism, However, there were two problems. First, Part One many of the treatments that were developed were harsh and sometimes deadly. Poison- The founding of Hopkins was important ous purgatives, bloodletting, and cauter- in part because of the chaos that existed in ization (burning the skin) often resulted in th American medicine for most of the 19 cen- the death of the patient. Second, there was tury. It was chaos created by a vacuum. The not any testing done to see if treatments medical practices that had existed largely actually worked. This problem of rigor—of unchanged since the days of Hippocrates, submitting one’s ideas and treatments to had begun to fall out of favor, as the emer- he history of Ida Rolf’s early work in rigorous testing—would continue to haunt gence of the scientific method began to shed Tthe field of biological chemistry, long the wholistic world centuries later. doubt on their effectiveness. But for all that before her creation of structural integra- science was discovering, no treatments had Complicating things further was that the tion, has always been a very short story. emerged to replace the old therapies. physicians of the era were forced to specu- A Ph.D. from Columbia, a decade of work late about what went on inside the body. at the Rockefeller Institute, a few papers The great irony (for our field and for many Dissection was not done on humans and published, and then she left the world of other so-called “new paradigm” approaches thus there was very little actual anatomical science, later taking a long, meandering to health), is that the paradigm that existed knowledge of the human body. The Greeks path to creating the work we all share. prior to the scientific medicine revolution of the Hippocratic era frowned on dissec- looked a lot like what we describe as “new”. I’ve recently read some new information tion, and then later through the Middle This paradigm, which dominated Western about the world she left, and about the Ages, the Church forbade the dissection of and Middle Eastern medical thought for th context in which she entered her first pro- bodies. It was not until Vesalius in the 16 over two centuries, was founded largely fession, that makes the story much more century performed dissections and drew on the writings of Hippocrates and his full and rich. It also gives an appreciation pictures of what he found, that the inner colleagues and was based firmly on the of the magnitude of the leap she took in workings of the human body were studied principle of wholism. developing her namesake work, and offers and mapped for the first time. (He barely us some insights on the potential and the Hippocrates saw health as a reflection of escaped death for his heresy.) pitfalls of our field. balance in the body, and illness consequently was a result of imbalance. Internal Descartes and the Dr. Rolf officially entered the world of scien- imbalance, caused by living habits, entific medicine in 1917, when she was hired Dawn of Reductionism vironmental factors, hygiene, etc., led to to work in the Chemistry Laboratory at the And so it went, for two thousand years. disease. From that idea followed the belief Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research. The course of Western medicine continued that if a physician could intervene in such a However, the story starts earlier than that. largely unchanged until the 17th century. way that balance was restored in the body, In 1628, years after Vesalius’ dissections, To understand the culture into which she illness could be healed. Hippocrates, in William Harvey traced the circulation of was walking, the important date is Septem- the fifth century B.C., not Hahnemann or blood, a feat that has often been called ber 12, 1876. On that day, Johns Hopkins Sutherland or Still or Alexander or Rolf, the greatest achievement in the history of

10 www.rolf.org Structural Integration / June 2007 PERSPECTIVES medicine (although a Muslim physician, cowpox would also inoculate them from exemplified the modern scientific method. Ibn Nafis, has been credited with essentially smallpox. As important as the discovery The Hippocratic writers had believed that the same discovery four hundred years was, possibly more important was the rigor nature should be passively observed, and earlier in Cairo). of his methodology. He made certain that then theories developed. The German his findings were repeatable and airtight laboratories demolished this idea – they But the really significant sea-change that before going public. For the first time, a set up controlled experiments that poked took place at the time came from the phi- researcher in the biological sciences had and prodded and manipulated nature to losopher Rene Descartes. In the middle of held his own feet to the fire. see what secrets they could find. Jacob the 16th century, he put forth the notion of Henle, the first to formulate modern germ dualism: that the human mind and body The breakthroughs came faster as the 19th theory, summed up a basic credo of the new are distinct entities, neither which directly century dawned. In France, Xavier Bichat method, “Nature answers only when she is affects the other. In his view of dualism, discovered that organs were composed of questioned.” 1 everything in the realm of the physical discrete material (often found in layers) operates by purely mechanical properties. that he called “tissues”. Pierre Louis began The problem with all this was that, as Descartes included the body as part of the to use autopsies to compare healthy to dis- revolutionary as the new medicine was, physical realm, viewing it as a biological eased tissue. In England, John Snow inge- very little of it yet translated into new machine with no free will. niously used mathematics to track a cholera treatments or preventions of disease. The outbreak and concluded that contaminated old ways were falling out of favor, and One of the properties of a machine or water had caused the disease. In doing so, physicians increasingly were abandoning mechanism is that it can be broken down he founded the field of epidemiology. And the treatments that had been accepted for into smaller constituents, or smaller mecha- in Germany, Jacob Henle and others for- thousands of years. But nothing was there nisms. It can be reduced to its parts. Thus mulated the germ theory of disease, which to replace them. A vacuum existed. (Wholis- Cartesian Reductionism was born, and it would be a landmark development of the tic medicine would partially step in to fill would set the stage for the paradigm shift 19th century. the vacuum during the 19th century, but that would change the course of science, more on that later). and later, medicine as well. Something else was happening as well, that would fundamentally affect the doc- In a bit of irony, some of the first practical Dualism was useful at the time – it also tor-patient relationship. Researchers (and discoveries that saved lives lay in the area separated the physical from the spiritual, later clinicians themselves) were now using of cleanliness and public hygiene. Scientists which allowed scientists to study the physi- instruments to study and diagnose patients found that contaminated water caused cal universe without charges of heresy from in a widespread way. The stethoscope was cholera, typhoid was passed by food and the Church. It laid the foundation for Isaac invented. Doctors incorporated the use of drinking water, plague was spread by flea- Newton’s revolutionary work in mathemat- thermometers, which had been invented infested rats… The scientists were discover- ics and physics and for the development of two hundred years earlier, to measure ing the lifesaving power of cleanliness and the scientific method. But the view of the patients’ temperatures. Pulse and blood hygiene, a fact pointed out by Hippocrates body as a machine would later lead to a pressure were measured. The laryngoscope many centuries earlier. purely mechanical approach to medicine. and ophthalmoscope were developed. It would lead to minimizing for three cen- While Europe was bubbling with scientific Most significantly, the microscope with an turies the understanding of the effects on discovery in the 1800s, America was almost achromatic lens came into use in the 1830s healing of a patient’s beliefs and attitudes, totally uninvolved in the revolution. The and a whole new universe of possibilities his emotions and faith, and of the power of United States was experiencing the same exploded for researchers, allowing them the doctor–patient relationship. vacuum of effective treatments that existed to study a world that had never before in Europe. To add to that, the state of re- Descartes also published in 1637 his Dis- been seen. search and clinical training in America was course on Method, which would lay the This reliance on instruments created a new so abysmal that the president of Harvard foundation for the development of the distance between doctor and patient. Doc- in 1869 said “the ignorance and general in- scientific method. This was a crucial ad- tors began to rely less on their observations competency of the average graduate of the dition – the scientific method would give and their senses (a central plank in Hippo- American medical schools….is something scientists a schematic for studying nature. cratic thought), and more on instruments, horrible to contemplate”. Many states had It gave reductionism its tool to study the numbers, and data. To the dismay of many no licensing for doctors at all. Many medi- parts systematically. critics at the time (and more than a few crit- cal schools had no admissions standards, While developments in the physical sci- ics since), the human body became an object save for a willingness to pay the fee. No ences exploded after Newton, things moved to be tested and prodded (Descartes!), the American medical school let its students more slowly in the biological sciences. In the results analyzed by the fields of mathemat- perform autopsies or see patients. No 1740s, James Lind conducted a controlled ics and chemistry. American medical school taught students experiment and discovered that scurvy to use microscopes. By the mid-1800s not a Germany was the center of the medical could be prevented by eating limes (and single university or institution in America universe during this period. Numerous since then British sailors have been still supported any medical research whatso- laboratories were established, with the called “limeys”). Then in 1798 Edward Jen- ever. Many American physicians were mak- greatest scientists of the day actively prob- ner published a work that would become ing their pilgrimages to study at the great ing the nature of the body, exploring its a beacon of the new scientific method. He research centers in Europe; but they came parts and their functions in a manner that discovered that immunizing people with home to a giant void where their education

Structural Integration / June 2007 www.rolf.org 11 PERSPECTIVES and skills had no outlet. American medicine environment that colleagues would liken available. Doctors now had an actual tool to was still in limbo and adrift. That was about to the passionate single-mindedness of a prevent and cure deadly disease. It would to change. monastery. Everyone shared the vision that be the first of many. they were creating something new and im- The field of medicine was now a science, portant. The students did something no U.S The Revolution and the reductionist revolution was nearly medical students had ever done before: they Hits America complete. Its successes were created in visited hospitals and saw patients and made the laboratory (and increasingly in the When Johns Hopkins died in 1873, he left diagnoses, learned to use laboratories to operating theatre as well). The fields of a large trust to found a university and test their ideas, performed autopsies. They pathology, epidemiology, chemotherapy, hospital. His trustees, seeing the numbers didn’t just attend lectures like students at forensic science, and bacteriology, were all of American medical students who were other schools; the immersed themselves in exploding. The battleground of medicine studying in Europe, decided (against the the science and the practice of medicine. advice of the most well-known educators had moved from the physician’s office to of the day) to model the university after the Knowing that this was available, students the laboratory. flocked to Hopkins. Their entrance require- great German universities. It was at those The magnitude of the paradigm change ments were strict, unheard of in America, universities that open inquiry and research from the days of Hippocratic thought was but students arrived in droves anyway. It were not just allowed, but demanded, and stunning. For two millennia, health was was the place everyone wanted to be. It also where students were expected to meet understood to be a reflection of balance at became the place that every trustee at every strict entrance requirements, something a systemic level. Now the focus had shifted competing university wanted to (or was unknown in any American medical insti- from the macro to the micro, from the whole forced to) emulate. Their graduates and re- tution. The trustees intended to create an system to the minute parts. Reductionism searchers were in demand—some hospitals institution that would be as rigorous as its was the order of the day, and Hippocrates would only hire Hopkins-trained doctors. European counterparts. had given way almost completely to Des- Of the first four Nobel laureates in medi- cartes. Medicine was now a study of tiny After its founding in 1876, the new presi- cine or physiology, three were trained at things, the smaller pieces of the machine dent of Johns Hopkins University began Hopkins (the fourth was trained in Europe). that could only be seen with help. The mi- assembling an international faculty, and the Hopkins graduates would move on to run croscope was the most powerful tool in the school started modestly by offering gradu- medical schools at Harvard, Yale, Colum- researcher’s arsenal, and it symbolized the ate courses. In 1884 William Welch was bia, Rochester, and elsewhere, and would shift – it brought the world of tiny things hired to found and run the medical school. transform them to Hopkins standards. The medical school itself would not open to light. The modern cures were imparted for nine more years, but the Pathological Welch was the driving force behind all from the outside, aimed to do battle with Laboratory opened right away. And almost this, and he continued to press for change. the microscopic, external invaders that at- immediately, American medicine was He began directing the flow of millions of tacked the body. dollars into research, to laboratories and transformed, and Welch would eventually And research was where the action was. researchers he deemed worthy. One of become one of the most (if not the most) The next big development would involve his protégés would spearhead the effort influential scientists in the world. the research institution that would become to force minimum standards on medical a model for the scientific world. In 1901, Welch had trained as a doctor and studied schools and on physicians themselves. overseen by William Welch, the Rock- extensively in Germany. He had worked Within twenty-five years of accepting his efeller Institute for Medical Research was with and studied under the greatest sci- post at Johns Hopkins, Welch would have founded. entists in Europe; and at a young age (he overseen the transformation of medicine was only 34 when offered his position at in this country, and that transformation al- Hopkins), he was already highly regarded lowed the American scientific community The Institute in the profession. And more importantly, to catch up with and in some areas surpass AND Its Mission he had also developed contacts and friend- that of Europe. Here is an institution whose value touches ships across the scientific world. He was not the life of every man that lives…Who has not a great researcher—over his career he made Meanwhile, the assault on infectious felt the throbbing of desire to be useful to the only minor contributions to the field—but diseases continued in laboratories across whole wide world? Here at least is a work for he had a rare gift to inspire trust and loyalty Europe, and real results were appearing. all humanity, which fully satisfies and fills that from almost everyone he came into contact The germ theory had opened the floodgates glorious aspiration…Your vocation goes to the with, and he had impeccable judgment, for researchers. In 1880 Pasteur success- foundations of life itself…2 both about people and about science. fully vaccinated animals against cholera, then anthrax. Cholera and typhoid were Frederick Gates to the staff of the He assembled a faculty and opened his being contained for the first time, based Rockefeller Institute on the tenth an- laboratory, and the Hopkins campus very on an understanding of how they spread. niversary of the laboratories, 1914 quickly became something unique, a caul- Then finally, in 1891 in Berlin, researchers dron of inquiry unlike anything anyone successfully cured a patient suffering from The Rockefeller Institute’s purpose was had seen before. The faculty, researchers diphtheria using an antitoxin. It was the straightforward – to give scientists the and students would meet on a daily basis, first actual cure of the new era. Researchers resources to do research in medical fields. socializing, debating, collaborating, gener- in New York City learned how to mass-pro- It had a broader aim than the European ating new ideas, prodding each other, in an duce the antitoxin, and it became widely institutes, most which focused primarily on

12 www.rolf.org Structural Integration / June 2007 PERSPECTIVES infectious diseases. Rockefeller aimed at the the medical universe. Many of the pro- in lower or entry-level positions. It was full scope of medical practice. In addition cesses for preparing cultures, conducting much less likely for a woman to advance to studying infectious disease, its scientists research, treating infectious disease, etc., up the rungs of the scientific ladder. In would explore surgical techniques (paving that were developed during those early 1918 Ida Rolf returned to Barnard to talk the way for organ transplants) and would days, are still in practice today; and in some to undergraduates about employment at begin research into cancer (Peyton Rous, a cases, the early researchers achieved results Rockefeller. She reported that “…in all the Hopkins grad doing research at Rockefeller, with patients that were superior to more laboratories women are employed without discovered in 1911 that a virus can cause modern pharmaceutical approaches. The discrimination and hold many responsible cancer, and half a century later he won a great plagues that had stalked mankind positions.”5 Nobel Prize for his efforts). They also did for centuries – smallpox, cholera, typhoid, However, in A History of the Rockefeller In- the basic work that would lead to one of the bubonic plague, yellow fever - were being stitute, George Washington Carver makes great scientific feats of the 20th century—the contained and lives were being saved from almost no mention of women scientists in mapping of the DNA molecule. epidemic by the millions. that early era. All of the department heads Welch picked a protégé, Simon Flexner, and numerous associates and assistants to head the new institute. Flexner created Ida Rolf, Chemist are mentioned, along with their work, the institute in his mold – “sharp, edgy, This was the scientific culture in which and there is scarcely any mention of any 3 cold.” He was described as rough, bril- Ida Rolf started her professional career. woman. In a description of the head of the liant and intimidating. He was feared, by She had earned her undergraduate degree Chemistry laboratory, Carver notes “ap- 6 some of the best scientists in the world. He from Barnard College in 1916, and officially proximately 40 men” passing through his demanded only the best to work for him, began working as a technician at the Rock- lab during his tenure. The author describes and would dismiss those whose work he efeller Institute in 1917. At about the same an organization which was almost exclu- believed did not match his standards. But time she also began her doctoral studies at sively the domain of men, at least at the he could be patient and nurturing when Columbia University. So she was accepted level of researchers. he saw promise, and he gave wide latitude as a biological chemist, at the zenith of Most of the women who were employed when he saw a researcher with real talent. the biological science-driven revolution in at Rockefeller very probably began either He also valued openness and debate, fric- scientific medicine, at the institution that in administrative positions or started as tion and disagreement, and he sought out was ground zero for laboratory research technicians in the laboratories. Moving up individualists, mavericks unafraid to think in America, arguably the most prestigious was the challenge. Ida Rolf was apparently in new directions, and encouraged regular, place in the world for a scientist to work. one of the very few who did advance. lively exchanges of ideas. His goal was to create not an institute but a living organism, It is commonly thought that she was ac- Ida Rolf was officially first listed as an em- and the result was an environment that was cepted because of a lack of qualified men at ployee at the Institute sometime in 1917. She equally demanding and exciting, provoca- the time – the boys were off at war and so also began her studies in Biological Chem- tive and creative. women were given a chance to study and istry at Columbia in late 1917. At the time, practice in the scientific arena. This may Rockefeller was basically functioning as a From the beginning, the new institute regu- partly explain her acceptance to Columbia post-doctorate university. Almost all the larly made headlines, not just in America (she didn’t begin her studies at Columbia scientists already had their Ph.D.’s before but internationally. It immediately had a until late 1917, after the U.S. entry into the being hired. However, like Ida Rolf, several huge impact on the scientific world and on war), but probably not to Rockefeller itself. others began as technicians and used their the public as well. Accomplishments were She apparently had some connection to the work at Rockefeller to earn Ph.D.’s from publicized, often and with much fanfare. Rockefeller family of organizations in New Columbia. Most would spend a few years The press loved Flexner and his institute, York City while still an undergraduate – five to seven at most – at the Institute, then and he loved them back. Although it at Barnard. An April 3, 1916 entry in the leave to take university positions or work had its critics who mocked the publicity Barnard College newspaper mentioned Ida in industry. Only a very few would become machine, Rockefeller quickly became to Rolf, then a senior soon to graduate, as an full Members with lifetime tenure. research what the Hopkins had become to alternate for a fellowship, and noted that medical study and training – the place to she was “doing work in chemistry at the Dr. Rolf was soon working in the Chemis- be for a scientist wanting to make a name Rockefeller Foundation”.4 The Rockefeller try Laboratory as an Assistant to Phoebus for himself in research. The Rockefeller Foundation was a charitable foundation, Levene. Levene was brought to the Institute Institute would be involved in, and often also established by the Rockefeller family, by Flexner in 1905 and two years later was at the center of, seemingly every significant which at the time focused on the sciences, named as a full Member and was appointed medical development in America for some public health and medical education. It is as head of the Chemistry Laboratory. He time to come. not known whether she actually worked for had emigrated to the U.S. in 1893 and, like Ida Rolf, enrolled in Columbia and began This era, the late 19th to early 20th century, the Foundation, or whether the entry was his research in chemistry. Over the course of has been referred to as the golden age of a misstatement and she already was doing his professional life, he contributed a huge American medicine. Major discoveries were work for the Institute. But at any rate, this body of research in biological chemistry occurring seemingly every day, vaccines was over a year before the United States across several areas of interest. He is most and treatments for some of humanity’s entered World War I. known for two major contributions (and deadliest diseases were appearing, and Rockefeller had many women employees one major mistake he made) with regard the biological sciences were the center of at the time, but most were apparently only

Structural Integration / June 2007 www.rolf.org 13 PERSPECTIVES to the discovery and understanding of the 1922 she was promoted to Associate, the 1916 re-election campaign was “He Kept DNA molecule. highest non-tenured position for a scientist Us Out of War.” He did not finally request at Rockefeller. She remained as an Associate that Congress declare war until April 1917, The Levene Laboratory until her departure. From 1919 to 1927, she after a series of German submarine attacks published fifteen research articles that are on American merchant ships. The war draft known, in addition was instated in May 1917. to her doctoral dis- As soon as war was declared, virtually sertation, mainly on every public and private institution in the two phosphatides, country was converted in one form or an- lecithin and cepha- other to the war effort. This included most lin. educational institutions. After America D r. R o l f ’ s ro l e , committed to the war effort, there was some through most of her fear at Rockefeller that scientists would be time at Rockefeller, lost, either to enlistment or to the draft. was to further ex- So Flexner arranged to have the entire plore the structure Institute incorporated into the army. The and nature of leci- Rockefeller Institute officially became thin and its chemical Army Auxiliary Laboratory Number One. cousins (the phos- Scientists received officer rank and were phatides were one saluted by sergeants, who were abundant of Levene’s personal in the hallways, holding rank over janitors areas of interest). It Levene was cultured and highly educated, and technicians (which at the time would was the step-by-step, detailed work of conversant in six languages, an art lover, have included Ida Rolf). The work of the laboratory science – how to extract lecithin generous and popular with his colleagues. staff was changed. Most researchers either efficiently from egg yolks, how to more ex- He also was in some ways an imperfect began instructing military doctors or shift- actly determine its chemical structure. Her fit for Rockefeller. Flexner was initially ing to war-related research. At least one published papers are, in a word, dry (one concerned that Levene was “esoteric in his biochemist studied poison gas. Another 7 scientist who has read them, describes them scientific interests” (the meaning of that worked on bomb-making materials. Others as a wonderful cure for insomnia). statement is unknown, but it leads to a cu- trained army doctors in treating infectious riosity about whether Levene, as Ida Rolf’s disease. As a technician (and as a woman), direct supervisor, influenced her in her own Ida Rolf likely would not have been offered esoteric pursuits during the 1920s). He also a commission. There is no record that she had developed a reputation as an ineffective was offered one, and it is likely that she administrator – the practical details of run- spent much of her time during her first ning a laboratory often escaped him. years in class work and doctoral work at Levene had another quality that may have Columbia. eventually led to Ida Rolf’s restlessness The second war, and one in which Dr. Rolf Simon Flexner Phoebus Levene at Rockefeller. All the department heads might have played a minor role, was waged had full control over their laboratories. Rolf’s research was all co-authored with at laboratories worldwide, and with a much Some gave their assistants and associates Levene - his name always appeared above deadlier enemy. In late January 1918, in wide leeway to follow their own research hers in their papers. It was common at the Haskell County, Kansas, a local doctor interests. Levene was at the other extreme time to have heads of laboratories put their began noting patients suffering from what – his assistants were expected to do only name on any research that came out of their seemed to be a particularly violent, fast- research that Levene himself found com- laboratory, regardless of whether the labo- developing and deadly form of influenza. pelling. They had little freedom to explore ratory head had actually participated in the It is believed by epidemiologists that a local their own interests; and as a result, he de- study. So it is not know whether he actively soldier home on leave later carried the flu veloped fewer prominent scientists than the worked with her in her published research back to his army base, where it gradually other department heads. This led Flexner or simply acted as supervisor. worked its way across the country, across to express concern in 1919 that Levene’s the ocean on troop ships, and eventually to scientists “…were not being trained for almost every corner of the earth. It was the 8 Two Wars independent work.” His department had likely beginning of what became the deadli- a lot of churn – scientists would leave, Through the early years of Ida Rolf’s tenure est plague in human history, the influenza looking for other opportunities. As popular at Rockefeller, the work and environment of pandemic of 1918-1919, with a worldwide and well-liked as he was, and despite his the Institute was heavily influenced by two death toll estimated as high as 50-100 mil- reputation as an excellent teacher, he didn’t wars. The first was World War I. Although lion lives lost. have a gift for developing talent. the war began in Europe in 1914, President It is difficult to conceive today of the level After a year as a technician, Ida Rolf was Woodrow Wilson was determined throughout his first term to keep the country out of hysteria and paralyzing fear that swept named as an assistant in 1918. In 1920 she the country (and the rest of the world) as received her PhD from Columbia and in of the conflict. His campaign theme in his

14 www.rolf.org Structural Integration / June 2007 PERSPECTIVES the virus spread slowly from one city, one professional lives on influenza-inspired what she was feeling about her relationship army base, one state to another. It was a research. with Rockefeller. He said in part, “I have strain of flu never seen before, character- thought for some time that you had both It is possible to make some guesses about ized in part by the speed and ferocity received and given services to the Institute the nature of Ida Rolf’s research. Her work with which it killed. Countless cases were which about fulfilled the advantages to us was centered on the nature of phosphatides, recorded worldwide in which people who both.”9 He encouraged her to begin looking, and in particular, lecithin. Lecithin plays a showed no symptoms at all, suddenly were soon after her return to America, for another key role in the structure of cell membranes struck down and dead within hours. And position. (This is pretty consistent with – without it, cells couldn’t maintain their unlike most influenza, it struck the most what is known about Flexner. Ida Rolf had structure distinct from their surroundings. viciously at the most vigorous members been employed at the Assistant/Associate Lecithin was discovered in 1846, and by the of a population – somehow, it attacked the level for seven years, about the maximum time of Dr Rolf’s work at Rockefeller, was immune systems of the healthiest people so time for most non-tenured employees to a source of curiosity in biochemistry. Some suddenly that their own immune response stay with the Institute. Flexner was never of the interest may have had to do with the killed them, and killed them with a breath- shy about telling scientists what he thought nature of viruses. taking speed. Using the upper estimates of was best for them and when it was time for the death toll (which are conceded by many When a virus attacks the body, much of the them to go.) epidemiologists today to very probably be life-or-death action takes place at the cell Dr Rolf received the letter while in Paris. reasonable estimates), 5% of the world’s membrane. It is at the membrane that the She replied in a handwritten note to Flexner. population was killed, and an unusu- virus attempts to attach grappling hooks “… I am in complete accord with your opin- ally high percentage of that number were and bind itself to the cell (or in the case of ion that the period of maximum efficiency young adults, the healthiest members of the influenza, to slip into the lung cell itself and of that tenure, for both the Institute and population. Most of the deaths took place totally avoid detection by the immune sys- myself, is past.”10 She went on to describe worldwide during a horrific twelve-week tem). So an understanding of lecithin’s role her relief at not having to make the deci- span in late 1918. in the structure of the cell membrane would sion to leave the Institute. She expressed be important to understanding what actu- The epidemic was made worse by the her gratitude towards Flexner and Levene ally occurs at the virus’ point of attack. propaganda machine that was in full force for the opportunity they had given her and to rally support for the war effort. The It is not known if Dr. Rolf’s work with her sense of obligation to repay them for the government didn’t want fear of influenza lecithin took place in the context of the chance afforded by the leave of absence. She to distract the country from a total support Rockefeller Institute’s focus in the midst of sounded both relieved and excited, describ- for the war, and so accurate and truthful the influenza epidemic to understand the ing her adventures in learning French and information about the danger was not nature of how a virus attacks the body. But her studies at the Pasteur Institute. communicated to the public until too late in it is worth noting that Levene paid very Dr. Rolf, in Ida Rolf Talks: About Rolfing and city after city. The army ignored the advice little attention to lecithin until early 1918, Physical Reality, mentions studying physics (the pleadings, more accurately) of its own and then published dozens of articles and in Zurich during her leave, and visiting surgeon general and didn’t take adequate papers on the subject, with Ida Rolf and Geneva to study homeopathy.11 Not much safeguards, and its bases were devastated others, until the 1930s when he seemed to else is known about her time in Europe, by the virus. lose interest in it. So her work was probably including when she returned. partly pure science and possibly at least in In the hardest-hit communities, public and part stimulated by influenza and infectious (How exciting must it have been to study private business simply shut down—no disease research. physics in Europe in 1926? The 1920s were one wanted to go near anyone else. Entire possibly the most exciting period in the his- households died, time and again, because tory of physics, and Europe was the scene of no one would go near their homes to help, From Chemistry to Physics the drama. Heisenberg, Schrodinger, Niels afraid of the virus. The supply of doctors In 1925 Dr. Rolf applied for a leave of ab- Bohr, Einstein and others were hashing out and nurses was hopelessly inadequate sence to study in Europe. She had wanted the details of quantum mechanics, creating to make even a minimal impact in most to continue her studies in Europe ever since an entire new physics and changing our un- areas. graduating from Barnard, like countless derstanding of the universe at a rapid-fire th By late 1918, when the deadly second other scientists had done since the late 19 pace. Ida Rolf began her shift to physics at wave of the epidemic was in full force and century, but the war prevented her from almost precisely the moment that the world the magnitude of the crisis was tragically traveling. By 1925, from the tone of letters of physics was experiencing a paradigm apparent, a massive worldwide research she wrote to Simon Flexner during her shift every bit as significant as that ushered effort had already mobilized to isolate the leave, she was in need of a rest and break in by Descartes.) influenza virus, to find effective treatments, from her work, and was increasingly rest- Two more papers later appeared in 1927, and to develop a vaccine. The scientific less at the Institute. She was granted the coauthored by Dr Rolf and Levene, concern- community focused its attention (as much leave late in the year, and in January 1926 ing lecithin and cephalin. They possibly as possible with the war still in full sway) she sailed for France to begin her trip by represented work she completed before her on the disease. The Rockefeller Institute studying at the Pasteur Institute. leave, or possibly she returned to complete was no different, and some of its best and While she was en route, Flexner wrote her. her work before parting ways with the Insti- most well-known scientists would tackle He enclosed a check for $200 to help pay tute. Her tenure at Rockefeller was officially the problem and later spend most of their for her stay in Europe, and he confirmed

Structural Integration / June 2007 www.rolf.org 15 PERSPECTIVES over in 1927 when she left the world of However, the early 20th century was not Barnard College, Einstein added gravity scientific medicine for good. Approximately kind to the new modalities. The political to the mix to present his general relativity fourteen years after her last scientific article and cultural environment was swinging theory. (Gravity according to Einstein is not was submitted for publication, around 1940, almost totally in favor of biomedicine. a force as Newton claimed, but a warping she saw her first client, a piano teacher in In 1910, commissioned by the Carnegie of space-time. The Earth doesn’t move in the Bronx, doing the work that would later Foundation, the Flexner Report was issued, an elliptical orbit around the sun; rather, it develop into structural integration. authored by Simon Flexner’s brother Abra- moves in an apparent straight line through ham. Its aim was to examine the conditions the curvature of space.) And you see all of this is a something, which if in American medical schools, and it was a you are really considering man,…you have to The implications of relativity theory and scathing indictment, recommending that think of in those terms, because this is the man, quantum theory, and their impact on sci- 80% of all medical schools be shut down. the man is the energy field, the energy consolida- ence and culture in the 20th century are way, But it focused on homeopathic and osteo- tion….In terms of the orthodox methods used by way beyond the scope of this article (Fritjof pathic schools as well, and it was blistering your doctor, in general they are dealing with the Capra alone has several books on the sub- in its assessment of their activities. The chemistry of the body. They are not dealing with ject). But 20th century physics – especially report used the terms “utterly hopeless”, this low man on the totem pole, this forgotten quantum theory - set a scientific framework “absurdly inadequate”, and “fatally defec- man, this forgotten element of the body, this by which wholism could be understood tive” to describe the wholistic schools that element of the actual physics of the body.12 and appreciated. It also showed Descartes Flexner visited. He regarded chiropractic as to be wrong, or at least limited, in at least Ida Rolf, 1966 not even worthy of consideration, calling one key way. chiropractors “unconscionable quacks” and Ida Rolf had begun her career as a product recommending that “the public prosecutor Descartes believed in a physical universe of the biggest paradigm shift in the history and the grand jury are the proper agen- made of discrete parts, which could be stud- of medicine. From the 1920s to the early cies for dealing with them”. He regarded ied and understood. Quantum theory has 1940s her professional shift took her from wholistic or alternative approaches as shown this not to be the case. At the small- scientific medicine back to wholism. There “indefensible”13 in the new era of scientific est, most fundamental level – the atomic is irony in her trip to Europe. During the medicine. level – the smallest particles are not discrete last decades of the 19th century, American things, but are more accurately thought of scientists had made their pilgrimages to Out of the Flexner Report, wholistic schools as interconnections (the word “particle” Europe to embrace the biological sciences. and practitioners came to be viewed, by itself is inadequate and misleading at the It was where they could go to study the the medical world and to a degree by the atomic level). Quantum theory leads not tiny things, so they headed towards the public at large, as incompetent at best, and to things, but to constant relationship. The microscope. Decades later she made her as frauds at worst. At the same time, Wil- world can be broken down into parts to a pilgrimage as a scientist as well, but it also liam Welch was using his powers to direct point, but as the parts get tinier and tinier, symbolized her transition. She began the the flow of research money in the field, and they become something else, less accurately leave as a biological chemist, studying at the money decidedly did not flow in the thought of as parts and more accurately as the laboratory founded by Pasteur. Then direction of any of the wholistic disciplines. a complex web of relations. she left the microscope behind and in Zur- As a result, wholistic practitioners were left ich, studied mathematics and physics, the marginalized on the fringes of health care. Descartes also believed that there is ab- language of energy. Just as Descartes was solute truth in science, and that truth can (One of the ironies of D. Rolf’s career is that achieving supremacy in American science, be proven by the scientific method. In The the brother of her boss at Rockefeller—and she headed back to Hippocrates. Turning Point, Fritjof Capra argues: “Twen- she had a great deal of admiration and tieth century physics has shown us very respect for Simon Flexner— had as his forcefully that there is no absolute truth in Wholism, To and Fro partial goal the eradication of the field in science, that all our concepts and theories which she would later spend most of her Meanwhile, wholism had taken a hit dur- are limited and approximate.”14 The critics professional life.) ing the scientific paradigm’s emergence as of reductionism argue that the scientific a dominant force. During the vacuum the method, while useful and powerful, has its American medical world experienced in the Einstein and Wholism, limits in understanding reality. 19th century, several wholistic disciplines Part Two had emerged. Homeopathy and Natural (A note about relativity theory is useful But while reductionism was reigning Hygiene arose in the early 1800s, and then here. Einstein never believed that his supreme in the medical world as the 20th in the last decades of the century, chiro- theory should or could be accurately ap- century dawned, the scientific world was practic, naturopathy and osteopathy were plied to moral or metaphysical matters. A about to undergo another tectonic shift. developed. All were firmly in the wholistic great many philosophers and physicists Hippocrates was about to fight back, and tradition, all dedicated to the Hippocratic believe that Capra and others have misused in the unlikely person of a Swiss patent goal of supporting a return to systemic bal- relativity theory by making claims about its clerk. In 1905, Albert Einstein published ance as the basis for healing. All enjoyed application to relativism in other arenas. two papers, one on special relativity theory varying degrees of public favor (John D Quantum theory is a different matter, and and one that would help develop quantum Rockefeller had a homeopathic physician Capra is probably on firmer ground by ap- theory (Max Plank had introduced the idea even as he was forming his namesake plying it to these issues.) that energy is quantized five year earlier). institute.) In 1916, while Ida Rolf was graduating from The world thus appears as a complicated tissue

16 www.rolf.org Structural Integration / June 2007 PERSPECTIVES of events, in which connections of different kinds the interrelatedness of all aspects of the what? What do we want research to prove alternate or overlap or combine and thereby universe – makes studying the parts to be about our field? Do we desire proof that it determine the texture of the whole.15 much more of a challenge. Wholism by its improves overall health and vitality and very nature resists the notion of isolating functioning (defined by what?) To prove Werner Heisenberg – the act of isolating the parts for the pur- our effectiveness, research must start Your security comes only from relationships…A poses of research will lead to a result that breaking our work, or its effects, down Rolfer’s only secure ground in a body is to estab- is incomplete and partial. into pieces. Does it improve balance? Does lish balanced relationship. That is your secure it lessen pain? Does it provide more en- The question arises: Can effective research ground, and it is not possible to convert it into ergy (and proven by what means)? Does be done within the wholistic paradigm? something that is solid like a wall.16 it strengthen the immune system? Does it Our field is a wonderful example, since it lessen or alleviate the symptoms of a variety Ida Rolf is difficult to imagine a more thoroughly of diseases and conditions? wholistic discipline. (The human being Research and the considered as a relationship within gravity It is a fair question to ask ourselves exactly Two Paradigms – Einstein and Heisenberg would have been what we want from research. It is also im- proud.) So what part of structural integra- portant to note that research is, to a large de- It is easy to understand how the biomedical tion is the key part - the sequence of the gree, a phenomenon of another paradigm. revolution came to dismiss wholism. Sci- series? The relationship between the practi- As useful and powerful and insightful it entific medicine and the modern scientific tioner and client? The techniques used? The will be to interact with the Cartesian para- method make for a perfect marriage. Both experience and training of the practitioner, digm and the world of scientific research, are firmly rooted in Cartesian assump- or his hands-on skill, or ability to listen, or it may also be useful to remind ourselves tions…the universe is composed of discrete his intelligence, or capacity for compassion? that we are not of that paradigm. Our as- parts that can be isolated and studied and The client’s willingness to change? Which sumptions are fundamentally different understood. Relationships between the session makes the most difference? How from theirs. Descartes may be a wonderful parts do matter, but the nature of each part do you possibly separate out those factors dance partner, worthy of spending time can be studied and understood in isolation from the whole of the process? with and learning from, but he goes home from the others. to a different bed than ours. A vivid example of the difference between The contributions of the reductionist ap- the two paradigms is the placebo effect But Ida Rolf was from that world, and she proach to medicine have been enormous. (defined as the improvement in health not was a scientist long before she created struc- An obvious example is modern surgery and attributable to treatment). The Cartesian tural integration. So I would throw out a trauma care. Another example is the area paradigm regards the placebo effect as a couple of reasons that research is vital to our of infectious disease, where countless lives factor to isolate out to gauge a treatment’s field, among the many other worthy reasons have been saved because of the discover- effectiveness. Wholism embraces the pla- for us to continue to press for the scientific ies made by scientific medicine. The great cebo effect – the client’s belief, psychology community to poke and prod us. plagues that killed millions throughout and expectations about the treatment are a First, we need our feet held to the fire, as human history are now largely prevent- vital part of the treatment itself. The very does every discipline that makes claims able and treatable. (Ironically, many of the definition of placebo, useful in reduction- about its effects on health and well-being. breakthroughs in fighting the great plagues ism, is meaningless in wholism. validated Hippocrates – keeping the water It is good and healthy and honest to be supply clean, washing hands, and keeping Having said that, there is much that rigorous and to have our claims and beliefs the environment clean of waste, were some wholism can learn from Descartes. From examined continually. As children of Hip- of the early breakthroughs that helped to its beginnings, wholism has had a problem pocrates, that is the greatest lesson we can arrest the deadliest diseases.) The scientific with rigor. It has traditionally been too easy learn from Descartes – continuing to ask method has provided a model for rigorous and tempting for wholistic practitioners to hard questions about our work and what inquiry that has been adopted by all the write off their failures or missteps without it does, and inviting others to do the same, sciences. rigorously testing their ideas, and without and paying attention if the answers do not making sure that their treatments actually meet our expectations or hopes. However, in many ways, we are witnessing do what they claim they do. There was Second, it honors our founder and her spirit today the biomedical revolution taken to its some truth to Abraham Flexner’s critiques of inquiry. Through her, we have our roots logical extreme. If humans are biological of wholistic schools. They made claims in Descartes. The woman who created our machines, then biology is the answer for all that they never bothered to verify. To this field was raised professionally in the world problems. What we now see are drugs intro- day, wholistic practitioners too often claim of scientific medicine, and her story is the duced for every conceivable affliction, ev- benefits for their approach without a shred story of two paradigms, not one. To honor ery aberration from the norm, physical and of anything other than self-selected “suc- her best, and to honor the spirit of our own emotional. The marriage of the scientific cesses” as proof. method and biological medicine has resulted beginnings, means honoring the best of in Viagra, Prozac, and the little purple pill. This is a challenge for structural integration, both worlds. On the other hand, wholism and the even though our field claims to not cure or scientific method make for an uneasy retreat anything. We as a profession have a Epilogue strong desire for research, to validate our lationship. One of the basic assumptions th field’s effectiveness. But effectiveness at By the middle of the 20 century, the Rock- of wholism – the primacy of relationship, efeller Institute’s glory days as the center of

Structural Integration / June 2007 www.rolf.org 17 PERSPECTIVES

American medical research were over for Our choices fan out before us, continually. 3. “History of Genetics.” Available at: good. In 1955, the Institute began admitting We write our story now. http://www.modares.ac.ir/elearning/ graduate students for the first time. Its vital- mnaderi/Genetic%20Engineering%20cou ity could no longer be maintained as purely Endnotes rse%20II/Pages/history_of_genetics5.htm a research institution, and admitting stu- 30 August 2006. dents was an acknowledgement on the part 1 John M Barry, The Great Influenza: The Epic 4. Rosenfeld, Louis. Donald Dexter Van Slyke of its leadership that times had changed. Story of the Deadliest Plague in History (New (1883—1971): An Oral Biography. Available In some ways, it had become a victim of York: Viking Books, 2004), p. 28. at http://www.clinchem.org/cgi/content/ its own success. In large part because of 2 George W. Carver, A History of the Rock- full/45/5/703. 20 July 2006. the Institute’s influence, a career in teach- efeller Institute, 1901-1953: Origins and ing and research had become so desirable Growth (New York: Rockefeller Institute 5. The Barnard Bulletin: Digital Archive. Avail- that graduate schools, with their ongoing Press, 1964), preface. able at http://www.barnard.columbia. dialogue between teacher and student, had edu/archives/bulletin.html. 15 September become the hotbeds of research. Rockefeller 3 Barry, p. 75. 2006. could no longer compete with colleges for 4 The Barnard Bulletin Digital Archive, Vol 6. The Big View. Available at http://www. the best and brightest scientists. In 1965 it XX, No. 23, Page 1, 3 April 1916. http:// thebigview.com. 25 August 2006. would officially change its name to Rock- www.barnard.columbia.edu/archives/bul- efeller University. During its prime, in the letin.html 7. Audiofiles and Transcripts of the Class- early part of the 20th century, it had been at room Lectures of Dr. Ida P. Rolf. Available at the center of a revolution in medicine, the 5 Ibid., Vol XXII, No. 14, Page 1, 17 Janu- http://www.rolfguild.org/av/intro.html. place to be for pure scientific research in the ary 1918. 10 May 2006. biological sciences and the most important 6 Carver, p. 341. Thanks to Renee Mastrocco at the Rock- scientific institution in America. But its mo- efeller Archive Center for archival informa- ment in the sun had passed. 7 Ibid., p. 57. tion on Ida Rolf. At about the same time, in late 1954/early 8 Ibid., p. 341. Thanks to Marvin Solit for information on 1955, Ida Rolf taught her first structural in- 9 Simon Flexner, letter to Ida Rolf, 12 Janu- Ida Rolf’s class at the Kansas City College of tegration class west of the Mississippi River, ary 1926, The Rockefeller Archive Center, Osteopathy and Surgery, 1954/1955. at the Kansas City College of Osteopathy Sleepy Hollow, NY. and Surgery. At the time, she called her Thanks to Jeff Linn for access to audio files creation Postural Dynamics and taught it in 10 Ida Rolf, letter to Simon Flexner, 18 Feb- of Ida Rolf lectures and talks. roughly the same ten-session series format ruary 1926, The Rockefeller Archive Center, that she would still be teaching two decades Sleepy Hollow, NY. Thanks to Nicholas French, Marilyn Beech later. In almost every way imaginable it and Sandy Collins for encouragement, ideas 11 Ida Rolf, Ida Rolf Talks: About Rolfing and and editing help. was a world apart from her professional Physical Reality, ed. Rosemary Feitis (Roch- beginnings almost forty years earlier in the ester, NY: Harper & Row, 1978), p. 6. Copyright 2006 Sam Johnson. chemistry laboratory at Rockefeller. But…in the class, she and her students conducted 12 Ida Rolf, Big Sur Lecture/Demo, July two research projects, including a study of 1966, audiofile from Guild for Structural the effects of her work on cholesterol levels. Integration website, http://www.rolfguild. As enormous as her professional leap had org been, she was still poking and prodding 13 James C. Whorton, Nature Cures: The with the spirit of a scientist, straddling History of Alternative Medicine in America two worlds. (New York: Oxford University Press), p. So, what next? Ida Rolf courted Descartes 226-227. and then chose Hippocrates, but that was 14 Fritjof Capra, The Turning Point (New her story. Now we as a profession have York: Simon Schuster, 1982.), p. 57. choices to make. We are a young field, already with some self-inflicted wounds, 15 Ibid., p. 81. trying to fit the pieces back into a coherent 16 Rolf, p. 111. and healthy whole. We get to grapple with how to define ourselves, who we are, how to speak about our work and how to relate Bibliography and to a wider world of medicine and health Acknowledgements that often does not share our sensibilities, 1. Ida Rolf Archival Records. The Rockefell- how to adapt while the sands continue to er Archive Center, Sleepy Hollow, NY. shift. We face questions in how and when to meet others halfway, when to play on their 2. Audiofiles and Transcripts of the Classroom turf, when to stand our ground, and how Lectures of Dr. Ida P. Rolf. Available at: to continually stay rigorous with ourselves. http://www.rolfguild.org/av/intro.html. 10 May 2006.

18 www.rolf.org Structural Integration / June 2007 PERSPECTIVES

resources, the public is quite able to verify practitioners’ credentials. Impostors will be discovered; and incompetents will not survive the rigors of the marketplace. Rolfing will thrive by the well-deserved reputations of competent and responsible practitioners Licensure: – just as each of us succeeds or fails on our own merits. Those with low self-esteem. To feel good An Existential Dilemma about themselves, they need an author- By Heidi Massa, J.D., Certified Advanced RolferTM ity figure to validate them. We demand to be recognized and treated like professionals! But professionalism does not issue from degrees, certificates or licenses. It is a state of being, a calling to bring specialized skill s State licensure of Rolfing® structural in- one has a greater ability than we have to or knowledge to the world. We feel the Itegration practitioners good for us? This is discipline and correct practitioners who power of a professional by instinct; and just more than a practical question. It might be have violated the public trust. But would as instinctively, we sense the weakness of the turning point at an existential brink. To State regulation – as opposed to the pri- anyone who whines about not being treated me, the answer is obvious. Not now. Not vate variety we already enjoy through our like one. The NCBTMB comes to mind. ever. No way. Granted, I assert an extreme training, certification, continuing education position — perhaps because I’m a dyed-in- and ethics implementation procedures Those who need bigger practices. They want the-wool libertarian for whom some of the — advance any properly informed and regulation so they can make more money. scariest words in the English language are, motivated interest of our own? If so, none With state licenses, they could more easily “I’m from the government and I’m here to of its proponents has ever articulated one to bill health insurers. I could have so many help you.” But beyond that, it is a reflection me. They propose a gamut of questionable more clients if only I had a license! But why of what I feel Rolfing is and who we, its justifications, and cluster into five camps. should we expect health insurance pay- practitioners, should be. ments? Health insurers pay for health Those who take Big Government for granted. care, and Rolfing is not and should not be Because they see regulation as a natural described as health care. Persons having The Justifications condition, a necessary corollary to the doubts about this should check their states’ for Regulation existence of Rolfing is the need to regulate medical practice acts and stay out of jail. it. Isn’t everything regulated? Not yet. That The State’s strongest argument is that in the When we started our Rolfing training, each regulation is becoming ubiquitous does not absence of its benevolent oversight, Rolfers of us knew that Rolfing is not alternative make it a law of nature. present a threat to the public. We might be medicine. To claim otherwise to an insurer incompetent or unethical, or even harm Those who believe regulation to be inevitable. or a client is fraud. Those who need to be someone. But one need look no further They don’t see regulation as natural or even co-opted into the insurance morass just to than our insurance premiums to see that good – only unavoidable. Let’s hurry up and make a buck should take responsibility for this argument is specious: Rolfers can buy get ourselves regulated before someone else does that personal deficit and get some other cre- insurance in the amount of $2 to $3 million it for us. This recalls the argument that the dential. Pass a state massage exam and hire per occurrence for yearly premiums that impositions of technology are inevitable. yourself out in someone else’s office. Go to barely cover the cost of administering the Can’t stop progress, you know. In fact, regula- school for physical therapy or osteopathy. policies. Such is the actuaries’ judgment on tion is just another man-made tool. In the The options are many. how likely we are to harm anyone. The in- mid-19th century, Karl Marx articulated the frequency of ethics violations are similarly absurdity of being slaves to our tools, which The Existential telling: In my time as a member of our own are, after all, no more than the work of our Implications of Ethics and Business Practices Committee own hands; more recently, Stanley Kubrick Regulation since 1997 – despite our eminently fair and warned of the consequences. The threat the open policy toward public complaints – I Inevitability Camp recognizes is real, but To me, the obvious best choice for any know of only two cases in which we had can be met by exempting ourselves from human being is to make a living free of to discipline members for ethical impro- regulation as well as by embracing it. State imprimatur or interference. Given prieties. the twisted reality of today’s world, that Those who are insecure. They argue either Our track record is this good because we might mean seeking regulation of Rolfing that State regulation would save the public by legislative exemption. This is a reality are a self-regulating body. Our private from untrained or unscrupulous practi- regulation through certification is superior in several states, often based in part on the tioners, or that it would protect their own existence of our trademarks. Absent exemp- to public regulation through licensure. No legitimate practices from unfair competition one knows more than we know about what tion, we have four options – listed below by pretenders. Mommy, Mommy – Billy’s from bad to worst: we do, or has greater motivation to make telling lies to Sally so she’ll play with him and sure Rolfers are competent and responsible not with me! This infantilizes everyone but 1. Continue the fine American tradition of in their dealings with the public. And no the regulator. With today’s information civil disobedience (they have to find you

Structural Integration / June 2007 www.rolf.org 19 PERSPECTIVES

to shut you down); War, peace, the gods, agriculture, politics, and so on? Why shouldn’t you do both?” 2. Seek licensure specific to structural integration (SI) from state departments of Poor Ion is dumbfounded. He must have professional regulation; been thinking, “Where shall I even begin to explain myself to this clod?” 3. Accept “bodywork” licensure through state massage boards under standards In the dialogues, what Socrates says is appropriate to SI; or not necessarily the best position; he often makes his point by playing a naïf or buf- 4. Submit to “massage” licensure by state foon. Socrates’ line of questioning here is massage boards under generic stan- deliberately preposterous. It shows not dards. even the slightest sense of the bardship Civil disobedience or licensure of SI as a calling. It’s as clueless as asking a Catholic distinct profession are alternatives to ex- priest why he reads the Bible every day, emption that we can live with. However, but not the Koran. “What’s the difference? any form of regulation by State massage They’re both holy books in the Abrahamic boards is unacceptable. Beyond the diffi- tradition, aren’t they?” culty of backing out from under the dubious This is exactly our problem. “You’re a shelter of the massage umbrella, it would Rolfer. Surely you do massage, too. Both accelerate the degradation of RolfingTM from touch the body and release tight tissues, a profession to a technique. This is already don’t they? Don’t clients in both modali- happening as massage schools purport to ties get on a table with their clothes off and teach SI. It does not help that the Rolf Insti- have you touch them? People do feel better tuteTM implicitly represents itself on its web after Rolfing, don’t they? And, I’ve heard site and elsewhere as a graduate school for that fascia runs along the same planes as massage therapists wanting more – and is acupuncture meridians. Gosh, that must even seeking to get the School certified as mean you do Chinese medicine, too.” In a massage school by COMTA. And all of each instance, the questioners miss the this goes hand-in-hand with regulation by essence of the subject. They would fancy state massage boards: If the Rolf Institute anyone with a Sub-zero and a Vulcan to be operates a massage school, why shouldn’t a chef; and anyone who plants a bush to other massage schools teach SI? And why be a gardener. shouldn’t massage boards regulate it? Rolfing is not a technique, a formula, or a Anyone perceiving me as alarmist, elitist bag of party tricks, nor is it just a peculiar and paranoid would be correct – but those take on human anatomy. To the contrary, it attributes don’t make me wrong. The infil- is a singular view of the world, actualized tration of SI by massage therapists wield- by practicing a certain protocol for making ing power tools might not kill us, but it is decisions about how to optimize the func- debilitating. Massage schools should not tion of a human being. Like any profession, teach SI – and Rolfers or other SI practitio- it’s about being — not doing. The essence of ners should not instruct massage therapists our training is to form Rolfing beings. And, – because our habits of mind are and should yes, the students get some tools along the remain fundamentally different. Police way. A massage school can deliver tools, academies cannot produce Navy Seals just techniques and formulas; but it can’t reli- because both cops and Seals use guns and ably produce Rolfers because it is the rare chase bad guys. The key is not subject mat- student that can be formed into both a ter, but existential orientation. Rolfing being and a massage being. They’re The Socratic dialogue The Ion illustrates different animals. the problem. Ion is a Homeric bard. He State licensure or regulation of Rolfers as travels to public festivals to recite Homer. anything less than a distinct profession To ancient Greeks, bards were inspired by would further blur the distinction between muses; a bard had a special calling — just Rolfing and massage not only for the public, like any professional. Socrates asks Ion why but for ourselves. There’s quite a bit in a he doesn’t do Hesiod, too. name. If we fail to stand up for who we are, “But I can’t do Hesiod,” exclaims the per- we are in danger of becoming less. plexed Ion. “I’m a Homeric bard!” © 2007, Heidi Massa. A previous version of this Socrates presses on: “So what? Don’t Hom- article appeared in the 2007 IASI Yearbook. er and Hesiod talk about the same things?

20 www.rolf.org Structural Integration / June 2007 PERSPECTIVES

Health is Returning to Zero Contrary to a popular way of thinking, oneness with the Source is not some sort of peak experience that only shows up in extraor- Zen and the Art of Healing dinary moments or as the result of years of By Jeffrey Maitland, Ph.D., Certified Advanced Rolfer™ relentless effort. Although most of us don’t realize it, we die to our self and become one with the Source, and then resurrect thousands of times a day. In the very first instant you perceive the people and things of your world, your self and the object of t has been over twenty-five years since meant, I really didn’t begin to understand perception, your experience of space and II asked my Zen teacher, Kyozan Joshu his answer until years later. When the mean- time, all disappear into the unity and love Sasaki Roshi, “How do you heal people?” ing and experience of Roshi’s answer finally of the Source. In the very next instant, faster When this question arrived I had been began to dawn on me, it was accompanied than the blink of an eye, self and world, practicing Zen for quite a while and mak- by a memory of an experience in which the subject and object, and your experience of ing a living practicing a gentle, but highly wonder of oneness was first revealed to me. time and space, reappear. Also contrary effective form of manual therapy known It was just a glimpse, however, and hap- to a popular interpretation of Buddhism, ® as Rolfing . Understandably, I was quite pened a few years before I began practicing your mind does not create the world and interested in the nature of healing. “Who Zen. Although I remembered it as a deeply its contents in some Kantian-like fashion. better to ask about healing,” I thought, moving experience, I certainly didn’t grasp Rather you, the objects of your perception, “than Roshi?” its significance at the time. your experience of space and time, and the At the next sesshin (Zen retreat) I attended I I was in my last year of graduate school contents of your world all arise and disap- resolved to ask Roshi my burning question writing my Ph.D. dissertation on Kant’s pear together. All day long, day after day, during sanzen. To my great consternation aesthetics. My wife had gone to work and you and your world die in love, resurrect in as soon as I found myself in his presence, I it was my turn to take care of our infant love, and are sustained in love. Zen medita- utterly forgot my question. The intensity of daughter. She was particularly fussy that tion is not about willfully trying to get rid of koan practice was simply so overwhelming day, requiring a lot of attention and love. the self – it is disappearing in love moment and compelling that it obliterated all of my That afternoon she awoke from a fitful by moment, after all. Rather zazen is about other concerns. No matter how hard I tried, nap full of tears. As soon as I picked her contemplating the love and ever-ongoing sanzen after sanzen, I lost my question. I up, she wrapped her little body around self-begetting activity of death and resur- knew, of course, that sanzen was about koan me and stopped crying. As I comforted rection that is the heart of everything. practice. It was a profound opportunity to her she immediately melted into me with This experience of oneness and unencum- meet the Roshi where he was by manifest- such sweet open heartedness that I lost all bered love is also at the center of healing. ing the wisdom that knows the activity of sense of my self and completely dissolved “Health,” Roshi once said, “is going to the Source. It was not a time to be posing into her. I was so moved by the depth of zero.” Zero is one of the many terms he uses my questions and chatting with the Roshi the boundless, unencumbered love and to refer to unity with the Source. When you about theoretical matters. But here I was, oneness in which we were embraced that dissolve your self by returning to zero you caught in the exasperating position of be- my eyes filled with tears. simultaneously dissolve your conflicts and ing possessed by a question that wouldn’t Years later and after countless sanzens with fixations. If you let go completely and ex- leave me alone and losing it when I was Roshi I came to understand more clearly perience what is called the great death, you with the only person in my life I thought the love that was revealed to me by the will drop all your suffering and dis-ease could answer it. grace of my daughter. Prior to the birth of and resurrect a new self that is free and at I continued with my best effort to answer your self and beyond all boundaries, the peace with the world. The great Zen teacher my koan and at the same time to remember unencumbered love that manifests when Hakiun made a similar point in his famous to ask my question when Roshi was finished you drop your self permeates the entire The Song of Zazen. He wrote, “Even those instructing me. But my best effort got me cosmos. It sits at the Source of everything who have practiced it [zazen or zero] for nowhere. Finally, during the last sanzen of – you and me, our experience of time and just one sitting will see all their evil karma the retreat I somehow recovered my will space, and the contents of our world – and erased.” A person who truly experiences and memory again and asked Roshi, “How manifests when you thoroughly dissolve zero is also capable of manifesting the love do you heal people?” Without a moment’s your self and become one with the Source. of the Source in every thing she does, and, thought, he answered, “Ahhh, Doctor, you Babies are filled with this love because, like what comes the same thing, manifesting must become one with them!” the Source, they have no self, will, or agenda the wisdom that knows the activity of the to get in the way. Short of spending years Source. Baby Wisdom doing zazen (Zen meditation), holding a Typically it takes years of Zen practice to baby is one of the sweetest and purest ways grasp the full significance of your and the Although I had been practicing with Roshi to get a felt sense of it. long enough to have some notion of what he world’s death and resurrection. Coming to this understanding requires you to repeat-

Structural Integration / June 2007 www.rolf.org 21 PERSPECTIVES edly burn away your conflicts and fixations healing I only sketched above, it will be force change on the body should not imply in the fires of sesshin and daily zazen. Then helpful to lay out some of the other more that they are not beneficial. In most cases at some point you will begin to manifest familiar ways of facilitating healing and they can be highly effective. the freedom from dis-ease that inevitably compare how they accomplish their results. The second form of intervention can be results from this kind of practice and with To avoid confusion, I need to confess at the called the Indirect Approach. It is more re- it you will get inklings of what it means to outset that I come to this discussion as a fined than the direct approach because it say that health is returning to zero. practicing manual therapist. As a result, I takes advantage of the body’s intelligence articulate the four ways of intervening in As it turns out, going to zero is also essential and drive toward wellness. Like so many terms most suited for and familiar to the for the work of healing. The closer the heal- remarkable techniques, indirect techniques manual therapist. With a little more expla- er is to zero as he does his work, the more were discovered and cultivated by the os- nation, however, this way of dividing things effective, effortless, and profound his work teopaths. Instead of taking the lesion to its up can be shown to apply to all systems and becomes. The astonishing phenomenon that barrier or pressuring soft tissue to release disciplines of healing. every healer must come to appreciate is that in a certain direction, indirect techniques the more selfless, spacious, unencumbered The most common way of facilitating heal- do just the opposite. his heart is, the more the client’s body willing is through what can be called the Direct For illustration, let’s look at an overly ingly and eagerly communicates the secrets Approach. Most people are familiar with an simplified example. Imagine a structure of its dis-ease to his hands and senses. The example of this kind of intervention from that is bent to the left. Instead of trying to body actually shows where and what its being treated by osteopaths and chiroprac- straighten it out by pushing it to the right, problems are to the open-hearted healer. In tors. The technique is delivered as a high the indirect approach gently takes the lesion order to hear what the body has to say, the velocity, low amplitude thrust that “pops” further into its strain. In the application healer must transcend the ken and confines or releases a fixed joint. A different kind of of the first part of the technique, with the of his ordinary, everyday ways of thinking direct technique that is designed to release body’s permission the practitioner slowly and drop his self by returning to zero. Since soft tissue can be found in the practice of and carefully pushes the structure further zero is without will, guile, or agenda, the Rolfing®. These direct soft tissue techniques to the left as though to complete an arrested body instantly knows and trusts the healer effectively release fibrous myofasciae that gestalt. When the structure reaches the limit who practices zero. interfere with normal function and the of its strain and cannot go any further, a body’s ability to balance in gravity. For The body and the whole of our being par- pause or suspension of activity occurs. example, when a Rolfer places her client ticipates in, or better, is this ocean of sentient Then after a moment of stillness an amazing in a seated position directing him to curl feeling and when approached with an open shift happens. All on its own, the structure forward while applying heavy pressure reverential heart, immediately recognizes begins to move this way and that in the with her elbow as she runs it down his itself in the being of the healer. The intelli- most unpredictable ways as it unwinds back, she is employing a direct myofascial gence of the body knows what it needs to be itself out of its left side bending and even- technique. well and in the loving openness that arises tually straightens itself out. In the second in the unity of client and healer it reveals Direct techniques are many, but these part of applying an indirect technique, the its problems. As far as the actual healing two examples should be sufficient to il- practitioner’s job is to suspend his will, goes, the healer who practices zero allows luminate how the direct approach works. drop any intention for change, and let the the body’s intelligence to find its own way With respect to manual therapy, all direct body find its own way to normal. to health. Since he doesn’t willfully force the techniques employ the direct application Unlike the direct approach where the direction the healing takes or blindly apply of energy to problem areas. The purpose is practitioner’s orientation is one of willfully formulaic protocols, the body more readily to release fixations and restrictions by forc- forcing change, the remarkable effective- and easily gives up its dis-ease into the ing the body to change in a predetermined ness of the indirect approach rests on the openness and love the healer manifests. way. Recall the experience of getting your practitioner’s ability to cultivate the body’s neck adjusted, for example. The practitioner The practice of zero is not just about heal- natural propensity to seek normal func- turns your head and neck in the direction ing, however. It is about something much tion. The practitioner accomplishes this it is stuck and cannot turn easily. Then bigger. By transcending the fixations of extraordinary feat not by any simple act when he cannot turn you any further, he ordinary thinking, ultimately the practice of changing techniques, but by fundamen- applies a quick thrust forcing your neck of zero makes it possible to experience the tally changing his orientation to the client. past its motion barrier thereby freeing the true nature of what is by means of a pro- He shifts his orientation from willing and facet restriction. The adjustment is usually foundly awake, unencumbered activity of intending change to allowing the body’s accompanied by a pop, but it needn’t be to feeling. In the last analysis this activity of intelligence to find its own path to healing. be effective. feeling is the same unencumbered activity For the second part of the treatment, if only by which the Source knows itself and we At bottom, the direct approach does not for a brief and not always clear moment, he know the Source. permit the body to release in its own way. returns to zero and the client’s body does There is no attempt to listen to how the the rest. body needs to be approached because the The Healer’s Way of Being: The third approach to facilitating healing healer is forcing his will and intentions on Four Ways of is best exemplified by the work of William the body in a very basic way. Direct tech- Facilitating Healing Garner Sutherland, D.O. His discoveries niques, like all techniques, have their limi- constitute nothing short of a Copernican In order to better understand the way of tations. But the fact that direct techniques

22 www.rolf.org Structural Integration / June 2007 PERSPECTIVES revolution in how to deliver therapy. From As a preliminary way to get a handle on a large potent field phenomenon around the his discovery of the inherent movement what these organizing forces are, consider body that also envelops the practitioner in of the cranial bones, coupled with his a water fountain. Like the human body, its spiral-like centrifugal/centripetal mo- understanding of the importance of the the form of the fountain remains relatively tion. The breath of life generates a potency craniosacral system and how to manipulate constant while the constituent materials are that conveys its ordering function through it through indirect techniques, to his aston- being constantly turned over and renewed. the fluids of the body. The fluids become ishing discovery of the breath of life, Dr. The difference, of course, is that in the case potentized with the ordering nature of the Sutherland’s revolutionary discoveries and of a water fountain the organizing force that breath of life. The breath of life also creates ways of working are brilliant, momentous, maintains the form is an external machine, a biosphere that surrounds and is part of and many. In order to advance our discus- while in the body, the organizing forces the wholeness of the body. With the creation sion of how to facilitate healing, instead of that sustain and maintain us are inherent of the biosphere comes the manifestation enunciating all of his contributions, I want to life and the wholeness of the body itself. of the mid-tide, which has a longitudinal to focus our attention on the discovery that This last point is important. The organizing fluctuation. It is less intense than the long came to him late in his life, a phenomenon forces are in no way external to the whole- tide and, like the CRI, more associated with he called the breath of life. The approach ness of the body. They are a manifestation the particularities of the client’s individual to facilitating healing that evolved from of wholeness itself. Since the wholeness embodiment. its perception is known in most circles as lives in every detail, much in the way the Following Dr. Sutherland’s early ways of Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy. For our complete image of a hologram is manifest working, dysfunction of the CRI is usually purpose we will call this third approach The in all the pieces of a broken holographic handled by means of direct and indirect Organizing Forces Approach. This approach plate, the wholeness of life and its organiz- techniques. By changing his orientation and includes any system of facilitating healing ing forces are one and the same and live in using his intention the healer can call on the that requires the healer to change her ori- every detail of the body. mid-tide to release restrictions throughout entation as a way to activate the organizing Dr. Sutherland’s momentous discovery was the body. Unlike the mid-tide and the CRI, forces to perform the work of healing. This learning how to perceive these forces and the long tide does not seem to respond to approach also judiciously applies the use how they work. Even more remarkable was intention or any techniques or attempts of intention to affect the organizing forces. the realization that when the practitioner on the part of the practitioner to affect its Unlike the previous two ways of facilitat- cultivates what we are calling the practice of functioning. It appears when the practitio- ing healing, the organizing forces approach zero, the intelligence of these forces is stim- ner approaches zero. When it shows up it does not at first involve the administration ulated to do the work of restoring health. in a session, it works on the dysfunctions it of any kind of technique. When the practi- The manner, order, and timing in which this uncovers according to its own design and tioner places her hands on the client’s com- intelligence treats the client’s problems is accelerates the healing process. plaint, there is no application of subtle pres- called the inherent treatment plan. These Our investigation into the third approach to sure, no attempt to gently move a structure, forces are not senseless mechanical forces, facilitating healing demonstrates two pro- no application of energy, no negotiation but posses a kind of intelligence that knows foundly important points about the nature with the body, and above all, no intention to what is best for the organism and knows of healing. First, it shows that healing can change or heal anything. In the first phase, how to best use the knowledge and skills of occur simply in response to the orientation the healer’s primary job is not to change the practitioner for restoring health. These of the healer. Indeed, as long as the healer her client, but to fundamentally change her organizing forces want to be perceived. practices zero it is possible for him to heal orientation toward her client. She must get They act with purpose and intelligence, are without the application of any technique out of the way, drop her self and any agenda goal directed, respond to the practitioner’s whatsoever. Second, the organizing forces for change she might have, and simply lis- intentions and intentionality, and are sen- approach partially revealed what is at work ten to what the body wants to reveal to her. tient through and through. in all forms of healing. As we continue our Before she applies any technique, she also The mother of these organizing forces was to deepen explorations, it becomes increas- must keep a wide perceptual field and hold called the breath of life by Dr. Sutherland. ingly more evident that what makes itself open or allow a space to appear in which Although it has been subject to all manner present in all healing is a loving faceless the ordering forces in and around the cli- of speculative metaphysical and theological activity that cannot be reduced to technique, ent can manifest. Simply stated, the healer interpretations, the breath of life in all its intention, will, skill, or the application of must return to zero. Otherwise, in this first incarnations can be perceived. The breath force. Yet, even though it cannot be reduced phase, even the slightest intention to help of life manifests in three distinct but related to any of these ways of intervening, it never- the client or intervene in some way that con- expanding and contracting, or inhalation theless is present and at work in each. travenes what the body wants can interfere and exhalation, phases called the long tide, with the healing and in some cases actually This loving faceless activity manifests most the mid-tide, and the cranial rhythmical create further dysfunction. When the forces clearly in the fourth way of facilitating heal- impulse (CRI). The CRI occurs eight to reveal the patterns of dysfunction and how ing. For it to make itself known to us, we fourteen cycles a minute, the mid-tide is they want to be treated, the second phase must change our orientation from trying to two and a half cycles a minute, and long begins. In the second phase, the practitioner heal through the application of techniques tide occurs one cycle every one hundred decides to either allow the organizing forces to practicing zero with the client. We must seconds or six times in ten minutes. to perform the work of healing or employs also work without touching the client. techniques that use intention to direct the The long tide is the most powerful expres- Practicing zero without touching the client forces to behave in certain ways. sion of the breath of life and is perceived as allows this loving faceless activity to come

Structural Integration / June 2007 www.rolf.org 23 PERSPECTIVES to presence in the intervention form most about rolling up his sleeves, pitching in, Intentionality and suited to the problem and perform the work and working alongside the workers. What Intention of healing. When all is said and done, the the workers need from the healer to do fourth way demonstrates most clearly just their work, it seems, is the light and the in- These days among healers of every persua- what Roshi said. Healing is about being one formed perceptual vitality the healer brings. sion you often hear it said that intention is with the person to be healed. Or what comes Repairs are complete when the healer no more important than technique. Sometimes to the same thing — it is about being one longer feels there are any more problems. it is stated more modestly as intention is with the Source and its unifying love. When there is nothing left to feel or attend every bit as important as technique. Un- to, the light withdraws. fortunately, just as often as you hear one of The fourth way of facilitating healing is these claims made is how often you never often seen as a form of energy healing. But Central to the fourth way is the practice of hear it explained. Therapists nod their head since energy healing techniques are found zero (or unification with the client) in which in enthusiastic approval when they hear in every approach, calling the fourth way an healing is the result of the healer’s orienta- a version of this maxim stated, but what energy approach is not precise enough. For tion rather than the application of technique does it really mean? What is the relation- reasons that will soon be clear we will name or intention. Equally important is the ship between intention and technique? it The Zero Distance Approach. The fourth healer’s ability to maintain the experience Does intending make it so or does intention way of facilitating healing cultivates the of unity while simultaneously being able plus technique make it so? Unfortunately, loving faceless source of healing. Embracing to see and feel what is chosen to be worked these maxims embody confusion between and being embraced by the unifying, unen- on and the manner in which problems are intention and intentionality which obscures cumbered love of the Source, it allows the released. Since the healer schooled in the the important insights they are trying to coming to presence of that activity which is fourth way does his work without touching express. As we shall see, if healing and the not reducible to technique, intention, will, his clients, his perception is not narrowed increased effectiveness of technique both skill, or the application of force, and yet, is down by the limitations inherent to perceiv- can be a result of the orientation of the present in all healing. In retrospect we can ing with his hands. Becoming free of his healer, then it is the nature of the healer’s see that the fourth way is prefigured in hands allows him to expand his perception intentionality (what I have been calling his the second and especially the third ways. so that he sees with his whole being, body orientation) that makes all the difference, Consequently, at first glance the fourth way and all. When he listens with his whole not his intention. appears to be a variation of the third form being, rather than just the hands alone, of intervention. But it actually differs in two he sees and feels more. His perception is In order to better grasp the relationships ways. First, it does not resort to technique much more vital and expansive. Deeper, between orientation, intention, and tech- or intention because its way of working is more difficult problems are more precisely nique we need to flesh out the concept of completely a function of the orientation of revealed. He also sees and feels more order- orientation. What I mean by orientation is the healer. Second, and perhaps most sur- ing forces and energies than were revealed the same as what is referred to in phenom- prisingly, the fourth way does not involve in the third way. And most remarkable of enology as intentionality. One of the impor- touching the client. all, his perception of, and effect on, his client tant discoveries of phenomenology was that is not limited by distance. It does not mat- intentionality is an essential structure of To get a feel for how the fourth way works ter whether the client is in the room or on our being. Intentionality is an orientation let’s look at a simple allegory. Imagine a the other side of the world. Either way the toward and opening onto the world. It is room that contains many workers and vari- healer’s orientation still provides a loving always directing itself toward and being ous powerful tools to assist them with their space in which the body eagerly reveals its solicited by the world. We are much less maintenance and repair work. The room is problems and is healed. Whether he is in the passive receivers of incoming data and dark, however — pitch black, in fact. Nor- room with the client or in another country, much more active interrogators reaching mally, the darkness poses no problem. The the zero distance healer’s job is fundamen- out, groping for variegated contours of workers are comfortable and happy in the tally twofold: to become one with the client meaning or sense. Phenomenologists tend dark, and as long as the work is routine the (clear a space or light up the room) so that to refer to the meaning-bearing intentional workers can do it blindfolded, as it were. the myriad organizing forces and energies capacity of consciousness by saying, “Con- But when there are emergencies the workers can appear in order to do their work, and sciousness is always the consciousness of need to not only see, but see with informed see and feel what is being worked on until something.” eyes. Unfortunately, even though the work- it is no longer felt. ers are very motivated and want to get to In order to see through the confusions work as soon as possible, they do not know Before we leave the four ways of facilitat- surrounding intention and technique, it is how to turn on the lights and their eyes ing healing, I want to clarify a point about crucial to realize that intention and inten- don’t work very well. In emergencies the their use. I don’t want to leave the impres- tionality are not the same concepts. Inten- healer is absolutely critical because his first sion that in trying to differentiate clearly tionality is an essential structure of every job is to turn on the lights. His other job is between them in thought, I am advocating form of consciousness. The intention to do to simply lend his attention to the problems that they should be kept separate in prac- something, therefore, is just one example the workers uncover and continue attend- tice. In the hands of experienced practitio- or kind of intentionality. According to ing to them while they are being repaired ners educated in all four approaches, they phenomenology, any form of consciousness until he no longer feels them. Neither of the are often mixed together according to what you can imagine is a form of intentional- healer’s jobs require his onsite presence to is deemed the best and most effective treat- ity. Daydreaming, anger, fear, sadness, be effective. Also the healer’s work is not ment that can be tailored for the individual lust, problem-solving, hope, faith, charity, client. forgiveness, feelings, negotiation, abstract

24 www.rolf.org Structural Integration / June 2007 PERSPECTIVES thinking (indeed all forms of thinking), non-spatial, self-reflexive, isolated, private, effect change, he is employing intention as gardening, perception, and so on are all mental phenomenon. But what we call a technique. Consider the implications of forms of intentionality. consciousness is not something non-bodily the second point. If intention is just another and private at all. Rather it is very much a kind of technique, if it is just one technique Every time you try to describe some form spatial, bodily orientation toward and en- among many, then the maxim reduces to the of consciousness, notice how a preposition gagement with the world. Intentionality is a nonsensical claim that technique is more turns up in your description. In saying, “I way of bodily orienting and being present. important than technique. For the same am angry at you,’ or, “I am happy for you,” Since self and body cannot be separated, the reason, the more modest maxim that inten- or, “I am afraid of guns,” or, “I am thinking very nature of our being-in-the-world is a tion is equally important as technique also about her,” or, “I am not sure of all the impli- bodily directing-itself-toward. Conscious- reduces to nonsense, namely, that technique cations of the proposition,” the placement ness is a psychobiological orientation, a way is just as important as technique. For the of the preposition usually indicates a form of coming to presence, a way of occupying, sake of clarity, the various maxims should of intentionality. The preposition displays inhabiting, and organizing space, a way of be refurbished to simply recognize that the way in which consciousness is oriented spatializing intentions, purposes, energies, intention is a technique the effectiveness toward reality and that consciousness is and desires. Fundamentally, intentional- of which is dependent on the intentionality already embedded in a context and imbued ity is a meaning-bearing psychobiological of the healer. If we want to create a maxim with meaning. Consciousness is always the orientation to and engagement with the we could say that intentionality is more consciousness of something. world, a way of being bodily toward and important than intention and technique. Imagine that you are looking at a flower. with the world. But the truly important point is that the You can distinguish two sides to this situ- psychobiological intentionality of the healer With this all too brief explication of inten- ation: your consciousness and the flower, who practices zero is the way to the face- tionality behind us we can return to the re- or datum as meant. If you are studying the less loving activity that sits at the heart of lationship between intention and technique. flower as a botanist, the flower becomes an all healing. Recall what we discovered in our examina- object to be classified or analyzed, and your tion of the four ways of facilitating heal- consciousness is in the reflective mode. If ing. We learned that the closer the healer Conclusion you are lost in the beauty of the flower, the is to zero, the more his psychobiological flower is no longer an object, but a won- Having come to the end of our explora- intentionality manifests the unifying love drous bursting forth of color and life in tion of the Zen of healing, I recall Roshi’s of the Source, and as a result, the more ef- which you are participating, and your con- simple statement about becoming one with fective, effortless, and profound his work sciousness is in the prereflective mode. the person to be healed and I am struck by becomes. Whatever techniques he may how many words it took to get here. This Depending upon what sort of thing you are employ become that much more effective. realization is a reminder that although the looking at and whether you are objectifying We also learned that the psychobiological intellect is not irrelevant to our quest, the it in reflection or participating with it in orientation of the healer was sufficient to insights articulated here arose from the prereflection, your orientation will be corre- bring about healing. From these observa- always-ongoing practice of learning how spondingly different. The prepositions that tions we can conclude that the healer’s to see and feel freely without the encum- occur in your descriptions of experience, (“I intention, attitude, or thinking is not as brances of everyday perception. was overwhelmed by its beauty”) indicate therapeutically significant as many thera- that you are embedded in and actively pists imagine. Rather, it is the nature of the engaged in many ways and at many levels healer’s psychobiological intentionality, with the world. his orientation to and engagement with the client, his way of being bodily toward and The prereflective absorption and participa- with the client that makes all the difference tion with beauty is obviously different from — not his intention. the prereflective intentionality involved in witnessing an automobile accident. The re- Clearly, intentionality is profoundly more flective understanding involved in classify- important than intention. All by itself, ing a flower is quite different from reflecting just holding an intention for change is not on and reporting an accident hours after it enough to effect change in a client. More has occurred. The way in which you are than any other kind of technique, intentions oriented toward reality depends upon the are effective only to the extent that they are nature of that toward which you are orient- held by a healer whose psychobiological ing (a flower or an automobile accident) intentionality is oriented correctly. But if and whether you are orienting reflectively the effectiveness of both technique and or prereflectively. Each of these ways of intention are enhanced by the healer’s orienting is a kind of intentionality. intentionality, then the maxim that intention is more important than technique can- Intentionality is a meaning-bearing, multi- not be true for two reasons: 1) intentions faceted orientation to and engagement with administered without the right kind of the world. Because of our philosophical intentionality have little or no effect; and tradition, when we hear the word conscious- 2) when the healer uses his intention to ness we most often think of a non-bodily,

Structural Integration / June 2007 www.rolf.org 25 PERSPECTIVES

riences are imprinted in the fluids of our bodies as well as tissues, bones, and cellular memory.4 Embryology expands somatic understanding, deepening contact with the pre-conscious impulses and gestures within tissues, bones and physiological systems Embryology: The Emergence as well as with the metabolic motions that are directing and shaping the process of growth. Dr. James Jealous, D.O., the fore- most teacher-physician of the biodynamic of Function and Form model of osteopathy in the cranial field, By Carol Agneessens, M.Sc., CertifiedA dvanced RolferTM speaks of three different bodies. The first is the physical body, which is our soma made up of connective, nerve and visceral Editor’s Note: The December 2005 issue of Structural Integration contained three articles tissues. The second is the fluid body, which on “biodynamics” written by Rolfers. Subsequent to that, an exchange of Letters to the is the living, instinctual organism. The fluid Editor appeared wherein it was clarified that the word “Biodynamic” is used in differ- body permeates and contains the physical ent contexts by Franklyn Sills (with whom many Rolfers have studied “Biodynamic body. The fluid body carries ‘lesions’, which Craniosacral Therapy”), by Jim Jealous, D.O. (who teaches osteopaths the “Biodynamic” can be felt as a hardened and un-respon- model as it applies to Osteopathy in the Cranial Field), and by Dr. Erich Blechschmidt, an sive density within the tissues. The fluid embryologist. As the term “biodynamics” is not service-marked, and as the paradigm is and physical body both respond to what of interest to Rolfers, Structural Integration will continue to publish articles on the topic, Sutherland called “primary respiration” or but ask authors to identify the basis of their use of the term. the “tidal body” which transmits or carries The basis for all body form is embryology. In understanding embryology, we understand how the the potency of life. The fluid body is holographic – or as Sutherland, is often quoted adult structure came to be. Embryology does not stop at birth; we have the potential for change all 5 along. In a sense, we are embryos throughout our lifetime.1 as saying, “Every drop knows the tide.” …All living things were water things, living inside the sea. Then a few hun- ® TM ccording to The New Webster’s Lexicon of Rolfing teacher, and Rolfing Movement dred million years ago, maybe a little Athe English Language, embryology is the instructor. more – just a little while, really in the branch of biology that is concerned with the Embryology offers the humbling experience big history of the Earth – the living formation of the embryo from conception of touching a living function. An under- things began to be living on the land as through birth.2 This paper explores the sci- standing of embryonic development, differ- well. But in a way you can say that after ence of embryology from the perspective of entiation and birthing broadens the scope of leaving the sea, after all those millions biodynamic craniosacral therapy (BDCST), structural knowledge and expands the con- of years of living inside of the sea, we and from the embryological research of Eric versation that a body is able to ‘speak’ and took the ocean with us. We carry oceans Blechschmidt. 6 that a practitioner can learn to ‘hear’. As inside of us. BDCST attunes to the three major therapeu- a practitioner of structural integration for It is possible to touch the ongoing process tic forces: “dynamic stillness”, “primary more than twenty-five years, the realm of of development and change that is the adult respiration”, and the “mid-tide”/”fluid embryology has stretched my understand- embryo. For many years, I have been a dedi- body” tempos that Dr. William Sutherland ing of human morphology and unlocked a cated student of a biodynamic approach to (the founder of osteopathy in the cranial doorway into the dynamic process of life craniosacral therapy. BDCT allows the sen- field) began working with in his osteopathic unfolding. My hope is that the following sation and lived experience of these forma- practice in the later years of his life. Dr. Eric article will inspire embryological inquiry tive processes perceived through a dynamic Blechschmidt, the German embryologist, and study and highlight the importance of stillness that is at the embryological core used the term “biodynamic” to” refer to the this branch of science as a means of deepen- of midline formation and through syn- forces in the fluids which caused order and ing our knowledge of integration and of the chronization with the very slow universal 3 organization to occur.” A biodynamic ap- inherent motion within our bodies. tempos that shape and organize the arising proach to embryology is an exploration of Embryology broadens the conversation and of function and structure. These tempos and the movements, occurring through the fluid relationship I can engage in with another’s the embryological imperative that informs body, which sustain, shape and resource system. An embryological understanding anatomy can be touched, through learned the ‘whole’ person. This paper represents enriches the scope of dialogue. If the body processes that cultivate sensorial states of my personal understanding and integra- holds memories, it also holds the memory perception. BDCT is a perceptual unfolding, tion of the embryological work of Dr. Eric of its beginnings – not through cognitive grounded through the lived experience of a Blechschmidt, the writing and lectures of process and cortical circuitry, but through practitioner’s body. The disciplined practice Dr. James Jealous, the continuing study I the instinctual knowing and bio-kinetics of allowing is a whole-body sensation. The have pursued with Thomas Shaver, D.O. that are shaping its form and that continue art of perceiving certain tempos of growth, and Michael Shea, Ph.D., and the way in to move, shape and maintain both function the qualities underlying these tempos and which these approaches continue to in- and structure in the adult body. Our expe- the dynamic morphology of the embryo form my ongoing education as a RolferTM,

26 www.rolf.org Structural Integration / June 2007 PERSPECTIVES support an acausal way of thinking and being her spine, a deep concavity in the center After a few sessions, Michele reported that ing. These sensory states contact the move- of her sternum, the spiraling strain through it was easier for her to stand up straight ment of life that vivifies all living things. her right pelvic bones, pelvic floor and legs. and that her feeling of being upright was This movement is undiminished, whether She complained of the pain and struggle sustained between sessions. She reported we are ill, aged or healthy. By coming into she experienced while trying to “stand up- that her chronic sense of being “compressed relationship with the underlying whole- straight” and feel aligned with her life and from behind” had diminished greatly and ness, it is possible to cultivate a relationship her youth. For many years, she had been was no longer a source of discomfort. with an intelligence that is bigger than my battling chronic fatigue.. In the fourth session of our Rolfing series I oftentimes-narrow assumptions about what As we began working, I casually inquired held the spiraling shapes of her tibia, fibula, a body is. about her mother’s pregnancy and her birth leg tissues and feet. By the fifth session, I process. Michele quickly answered that began working with the concavity in the The Shaping of Experience she had been a large baby and was born center of her sternum. The delicate function The child’s position in the uterus is thus two and a half weeks overdue. Her mother and early shaping of heart and pericardial important in its structural development and opted for a C-section. The way the baby lies tissues rose into my hands. I was not look- alignment. Whether the head is to the right or to within the uterus determines the ultimate pat- ing or searching her system for this history. the left of the knees, where the arms are in rela- tern of the spine.9 A felt-reality of this movement arose as if tionship to the spine these factors establish the to be seen and acknowledged as a process – As I worked with Michele, I entertained individual pattern of the vertebral column. 7 occurring in time that was now able to the possibility that the compressive forces complete itself. It was Ida Rolf’s assumption that this spinal arising between the walls of her mother’s shaping is established as early as the first week womb (the environment) and her grow- Presently, the concavity in the center of her of pregnancy.8 Such primary rotations are ing fetal body (the formative experience) sternum has begun to soften. Her clavicles augmented and compensated by intrauter- contributed to her structural discomfort. now appear to support the emergence of ine limitations during late pregnancy. The Her body did not end at the edges of her her thorax through their subtle yet essential threads of embryological understanding skin. Rather, I perceived a fluid membrane response to breath and movement. In all of weave a three-dimensional tapestry be- extending beyond the edges of her physi- these sessions, it was as if we were working tween an individual’s movement patterns, cal boundary. My current understanding within a non-linear time capsule, touching structural design, perceptual preferences of the fluid body involves that part of us the beginnings of functions developing into and early intrauterine imprints. At one time that does not stop at the edges of our skin a form and echoing Michele’s embryonic or another, we have all felt the whole-body but permeates into the space around us. journey. The fluid body feels like a viscous-filled moldings, arising from accident, injury and Our work allowed direct feedback about the membrane, enveloping and permeating other life experiences, mirrored though the nature of the forces that sustain and main- the physical body. The compressive forces connective tissue. Imagine contacting the tain present-time structures. Through an arising between the uterine walls and the origin of these shapes as imprints from the understanding of embryology, and with a growing embryo imprinted these malleable intrauterine environment. An individual’s felt-sense of working within the slow tempo tissues. Protoplasm is the first moldable history of accidents and injuries may actu- of primary respiration and stillness, I was substance of life that can be imprinted ally be a recapitulation of his or her forma- able to dialogue with her system’s memory with an image.10 The imprints or lesions tive embryological and fetal period. of its beginnings. These early embryologi- held within an individual’s structure are cal imprints are functional patterns; when Experiences in life create shapes of experi- also held within the fluid body. Within the acknowledged, they transformed and mo- ence that express as patterns or perceptual intrauterine environs, we begin as an undif- bilized the structural shifts necessary for preferences. These patterns or perceptual ferentiated mass of protoplasm, about the integration and balance. “We are embryos preferences organize around a center, or ful- size of a mulberry. crum, leading to a compensated system. Be- throughout our lifetime.” As the develop- low is a case study illustrating the breadth Throughout the sessions, my hands were mental arrests within a client’s system are of experience that meets our hands. passively receiving the embryological recognized by the practitioner, the reality imprints her system revealed. Through an of what we might imagine a body to be is Case Study: Michele L. afferent recognition of the origins of her turned around, upside down and inside spinal patterns, and by perceiving these out. Yet as these embryological functions Michele, a 26-year-old woman, came to beginnings via a ‘slower-than-slow’ tempo are ‘worked with’, a coherent maturity see me because of what she called “her ter- of not-doing, Michele’s system began to emerges throughout the individual. rible posture and scoliosis.” She had been express its history. The felt-reality of her Biodynamic Principle: One’s embryonic receiving a continuing series of advanced early uterine confinement, which seemed ® journey does not stop at birth. The potential for Rolfing over the years to address her to be at the core of her structural issues, change and differentiation continues throughout postural issues and had benefited greatly expressed itself through a variety of shape a lifetime. from this work. According to her physi- changes and internally sensed pressures. cal therapist, Michele had a 20º curvature. By recognizing these shapes, and listening to Heraclitus, the Greek philosopher (486 BC), What I saw was the gestalt of her struggle: the release of the corresponding connec- said “you can never put your foot in the her left shoulder rolling forward “into” her tive tissue holding, her structure began to same river twice”. Knowledge of embryonic sternum (as if being pushed from behind), change. development broadens and enriches the rotations, compressions and s-curves shap- ‘river’ of contact. Structural issues are often

Structural Integration / June 2007 www.rolf.org 27 PERSPECTIVES directly related to the intra-uterine environ- way, the body as a unified and holographic metabolic fields. The embryo is shaped by ment or a difficult birth process. The orga- structure exchanges information with its pressure gradients from within and with- nizing patterns initiated at that moment in surrounding environment. Our bodies out interacting with its protoplasmic fluid time continue through our lives. They are cannot be viewed as separate from the en- nature. We are mostly fluid and the embryo whole-body patterns that shape every nook vironment in which they live and breathe. is 99% fluid. and cranny of the body, including the fluid There is a mutual exchange, whether we Protoplasm means the first moldable space around it, and yet, the body is always acknowledge it or not. substance. It’s the first substance of life, at potential to change.11 A fluid body permeates the physical body. which can maintain an image, which Biodynamic Principle: The tempo of your The fluid body is different than the physi- can sustain an image, which can imprint work supports an individual’s system opening cal body: with an image….So we have this kind of (in time) to the potency of life moving through jello-like elastic protoplasm that can take A patient’s physical body is actually it. in an idea and express it as a form.15 inside the fluid body. … The thing is According to biodynamic theory, embry- that when we are healthy, the fluid body A therapist can learn to have a sensorial onic growth is carried by the rhythm and and the physical body commingle, so experience of the movement of protoplasm wave of primary respiration – the pulse that they feel like one substance and so you being shaped by the interaction of the meta- carries life.12 This tempo continues through- could say when a person is healthy you bolic fields and the morphogenic forces of out a lifetime and carries us through to can’t feel an acute boundary at the edge tensegrity. Primary respiration is initiating death. When I contacted Michele’s system of the skin.14 the shaping, and moving the field. Embry- from this very slow pace, her adult embryo onic growth synchronizes with this rhythm. We do not stop at our skin boundary. There emerged. I did not search for these imprints. Growth is a function of the external world is a resonant field surrounding the body They arose and I recognized the shaping. shaping the internal world and vise versa. that is continuous with the permeating The tempo of primary respiration allows matrix of wholeness. This resonant field Detecting the fluid body surrounding and for the differentiation of these embryonic is as real – as much a part of the body – as permeating the physical body requires both imprints to arise from an individual’s sys- the physical matter of our anatomy. It is not discipline and the cultivation of a listening tem. empty space but alive and vital. The fluid and receptive contact. As practitioners of How slow is slow? Primary respiration has body is not just the electromagnetic field of structural bodywork, we have developed a 100-second cycle. And what does a 100- auric studies. The fluid body is not a water skill of an efferent quality. Structural change second cycle feel like? If you haven’t a clue, body. It is not watery at all, but rather a kind is effected through our hands. Essential to then the following experiential exercise may of viscous substance that can be viscerally the sensing of the fluid body and the kinetic be helpful. This exploration will give you sensed. The fluid body cannot be relegated movements that are shaping the embryo is the sense of the pace of ‘slowing down’ to the interstitial fluids or extracellular ma- afferent contact and perceptual receptiv- that needs to occur within your own sys- trix. It is not that. This ‘body’ is perceiving, ity. It is an afferent, or allowing, hand that tem in order to perceive these movements. intelligent and responsive. In cultivating a senses the subtle shifts and movements Primary respiration is not a technique. It sense of my fluid body, a sense of connec- within the fluid body. is a state of consciousness. The tempo of tion to something other than my small self Somatic Exploration primary respiration is a superficial way to emerges. Perhaps health is a reflection of Picture yourself within a gelatinous egg sense it. The quality of sitting in primary the coherence between our physical and that permeates to the center of your core and respiration is a deeper, dimensional, and fluid bodies. extends around you about eight to twelve whole-body experience and brings within Somatic Exploration inches. The fluid body is breathing right out it a state of mind. Recall a time in your life when you experi- through the skin. Without effort or will can Somatic Exploration enced a deep connection with something in you develop a sense of this body. Can you Set a tea timer for fifty-second intervals that nature (a place, an animal, a tree or cave, sense a vitality, a wholeness and breath? Can will repeat for about five minutes. Sitting etc.). Remember that time. Remember the you sense this body sensing you? with the palms of your hands together, let sensations that you experienced. Can you Biodynamic Principle: “Life is matter in your hands open slowly for fifty seconds, name some of those sensations? Through this motion.” (Andrew Taylor Still, founder of then come back together slowly for fifty connection, do you remember having a sense osteopathy) seconds, continuing this for five minutes. of communion with something bigger than First notice the timing, and then notice if yourself? – intelligence, a presence? This The embryologist Blechschmidt used the your mind begins to wander. Notice what, sense of ‘other’ or presence is non-personal. phrase “metabolic field” to describe the if anything, arises as you slow to this pace mechanism by which fluids ‘behave’ to Biodynamic Principle: The fluid forces that of primary respiration. both form and differentiate the growth of shaped the embryo are dynamic and function the developing embryo. The submicrosco- Biodynamic Principle: The space surrounding in the maintenance of structure throughout a pic movements that these fields direct are the body is as much a part of the body as our lifetime. ordered and precise in their tempo and physical matter. The embryo grows by varying pressures, direction. In Blechschmidt’s understanding, The semi-permeable membranes of our cells gradients and concentrations of proteins these metabolic forces are moving at a slow exchange information with the interstitial and genetic materials along with the in- tempo, this growth all occurs according to a spaces around them.13 In much the same teraction and formative movements of pulse – the natural rhythm of the developing

28 www.rolf.org Structural Integration / June 2007 PERSPECTIVES organism.16 According to biodynamic theory, or trauma that occurred at that time and an easing in what I sensed as tension the tempo of embryological development is could be uncoupled and resolved into in the center of her chest. Another curious found to have a 100-second cycle. the process of stillness and reoriented note: Karen often spoke of feeling tiny and to midline (function).19 small, although her image of ‘being small’ Is it not a striking phenomenon that in was not my experience of her. I imagined the midst of flowing movement forms Somatic Exploration that somewhere in time, the development arise, not through any differentiation of Find a comfortable place to lie down, sup- of the bones of her arms had been arrested. substance, but simply through the inter- porting your body as needed. Settle into a Without looking for any specific cause, I play of currents and their forces?17 felt-sense of the weight of your body being stayed open to the felt-reality of the devel- supported by the table, bed or floor that you Blechschmidt identified different metabolic opment of the embryonic limb buds. With are lying upon. Breathe. Imagine the inside fields that order the kinetic development of a contact that allowed this possibility, the of your body to be ‘fluid-filled’ and contained the embryo. He elaborated nine different metabolic forces were momentarily en- by the limiting boundary of your skin. Place fields of motion by which fluids behave gaged and ‘something’ began to change. I your hands on your lower abdomen. Slow internally, creating function, out of which began with her right arm and cradled her down and allow your perception to open to emerges structure: corrosion, contusion, elbow and forearm with my right arm. I the quality and tempo of primary respira- distusion, dilation, retension, detraction, contacted her thoracic spine (T4+T5) with tion. Sense the viscosity of your fluid body densation, loosening and suction. These the palm of my left hand. Both hands were enveloping you, with its natural potency. mechanisms are driven by the metabolism engaged yet transparent in their contact. Notice the vibratory aliveness of the space of cellular tissues. I waited and settled more into myself. I around you… You may begin to sense made a note that the sense of weight com- Biokinetics is the study of how the fluid long, slow wave-like motions moving from ing through her bones was negligible. Very body (as a moving system of metabolic the space surrounding your body, through slowly, Karen’s elbow began to drop into fields) congeals, solidifies and differenti- your body. my palm. I waited, challenging my curiosity ates into the structural components of the Through biodynamic study, I have been and desire to direct the result. I waited as embryo, whether the blood, lymph, bone, able to expand my appreciation of the a slow, spiraling gesture of her ‘embryonic’ muscle, nerve tissue, etc. This stepping body’s inherent motility to include the pos- elbow began to lengthen and orient toward down into form and the refining of struc- sibility of tissues and systems being moved the back of her body. I began to sense tures and functions from the biodynamic by something from outside the body, spe- subtle shifts in the density and weight of self-organizing whole, defines the embry- cifically primary respiration shaping both her bones. When she returned for her third onic process. function and structure. session, her arms seemed more lively and The entire embryo functions as a whole hung in a different way. At this time, Karen unit to maintain its metabolism. The Case Study: Karen B. still experiences a degree of wrist pain, but various metabolic fields dance together it seems to ‘come and go’ rather than be a all at once. Restraint in one area is Karen, a forty-five-year-old mother of two, chronic companion. countered with growth in another area, came to see me about the severe wrist pain and vice versa. Flexion of the embryo she was experiencing. She works as a com- Conclusion occurs as a result of the dorsal branches puter programmer. Initially, I thought her Life is that calm force sent by Deity to vivify of the aorta tethering the neural tube to complaints stemmed from her work, and all of nature. the more ventrally located, and more possible carpel tunnel or thoracic outlet Andrew Taylor Still, D.O. slowly growing, aorta. The more rapidly syndrome. However, she did not complain (founder of Osteopathy) growing neural tube bends forward as of any of the nerve impingement symptoms that usually occur with these presenting a result. The aorta and dorsal aorta Sensing the arrested development within conditions. Instead it was the ligamentous branches restrain while the neural tube adult tissues has turned inside-out my 18 tissues in her wrist that were chronically grows. reality of structure, function and what it is inflamed, and aggravated by an uncommon possible to perceive. Touching an embryo- These metabolic fields can be experienced stiffness in her arms. logical process is a humbling experience removing the adult ‘embryo’: shaping, main- quiring an attitude of allowing ‘something’ taining, and sustaining the health of the During our second session, I had the im- to unfold within its own time. It is through organism. pression that I was holding the arm of a fragile bird. The bones felt as if they had a cultivated and whole-body receptivity to The developmental motions and re- not fully formed even though her arms a permeating wholeness and vitality of the lationships between the fields are looked ‘normal’. potency of life, moving through my hands, important considerations in the heal- unobstructed by (my) personal directives or Karen had a difficult time finding weight ing process as the embryo in the adult intentions, that this process reveals itself. in her arms, and there was very little sense continues to generate its form, maintain The mind always wants to take a closer of direction/orientation in her elbow. Her its form and repair its form moment look because it is so amazing. However, that arms did not swing when she walked. Both to moment. Healing would then be kind of curiosity seems to close the system. arms felt tethered to an encapsulating ten- considered to be…synchronized with It is like watching an animal in the forest sion around her heart. It seemed that in Primary Respiration, containing the or a bird in a tree: with gentle awareness order for Karen to experience the relief she original function of the metabolic fields (without thought), and a wide peripheral was seeking, she needed to develop a sense so that any imprinted memory of stress sight, the animal or bird will remain in a of weight through the bones of her arms

Structural Integration / June 2007 www.rolf.org 29 PERSPECTIVES human’s field of vision. Similarly, with the Endnotes cultivation of a perceptual state that reaches 1. Feitis, Rosemary, D.O., and Schultz, to the horizon, the embryonic expression of Louis, Ph.D. The Endless Web, North Atlantic embedded history might have the safety Books, 1996, pg. 3. and space to be expressed. 2. The New Webster’s Dictionary. Encyclope- As I explore the far reaches of a biodynamic dic Edition. Lexicon Pub., 1987, pg. 308. state of perception, there is an allowing of 3. Shea, Michael, Ph.D. Biodynamic Cranio- the wholeness of life, this “breath of life”, sacral Therapy, North Atlantic Books, 2007, this potency that moves life, and which pg. 447. moves through me, my hands, my client, and is undiminished. I have to get out of 4. Emoto, Masura, The Hidden Messages of the way. Usually it is with the recognition of Water, Beyond Words Publishing, 2004. the embryologic field that a client’s system 5. Jealous, James, DO. The Fluid Body, lecture is released from an arrested pattern, and series, 2003. evolves from that point. There is also a 6. Roberts, Gregory David, Shataram, St. systemic response in the client’s field, which Martin’s Press, 2003, pg. 373. verifies to me that ‘yes’ that was somewhat important for the organism. At the same 7. Feitis, Schultz, op.cit., pg. 15. time, my own mind will go through a shift 8. Ibid. in consciousness. Sometimes a client will 9. Ibid., pg. 12. tell me that something is different but they can’t name it specifically. In Karen’s case, 10. Jealous, James. DO., Dural Sacs, lecture I no longer heard her describe herself as series, 2007. child-sized, and her arms began to swing 11. Feitis, Schultz, op.cit., pg. 3. more naturally as she walked. 12. Seifitz, William, Ph.D., Protoplasm of a The secrets and stories embedded within Slime Mold: The Stuff of Life, video. the many dimensions of our bodies carry 13. Varela, Franciso and Frenk, Samy, “The our personal histories in the layered wrap- Organ of Form”, Journal of Social Biol- pings of tissues, cells and fluid imprints. ogy,1987,10, 73-83. The forces that shape the embryonic body 14. Jealous, James, D.O. The Fluid Body & continue to sustain, shape and heal the Rebalancing, CD lecture series, 2006. ‘adult embryo’. These are the expansive, thrilling and transformative moments in 15. Jealous, James, D.O., Dural Sacs, lecture my practice that leave me both awed and series, 2006. inspired by the incredible complexity and 16. Paoletti, Serge, The Fasciae, Eastland intelligence of this living process we call Press, 2006, pg. 14. a body. 17. Schwenk, Theodore, Sensitive Chaos, Our bodies are a central focus for our Rudolf Steiner Press, London, 1965. experiences as human beings. Therefore, 18. Hoelscher ,Sharalee, “Understanding it is important to carefully examine what the Embryo”, unpublished paper, 2006. typically makes up our conception of 19. Shea, Michael, Metabolic Fields: Palpation a ‘body’—for the ‘typical’ is taken for and Sensory Experience, 2007, pg. 2. granted all too often. A fresh perspective, grounded in ‘felt-reality’, thus 20. Tulku, Tarthang. Time, Space and Knowl- may emerge from a kind of experiential edge, Dharma Publishing, 1977, pg. 21. review and challenge of our usual pre- conceptions. 20 Carol Agneessens, is a longstanding member of the Rolfing community, and Rolf Institute® faculty, teaching both Rolfing® Structural and Movement Integration. She is also a certified instructor of Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy trainings. For more information: carolagnees- [email protected]

30 www.rolf.org Structural Integration / June 2007 Research

Introduction to Dr. Langevin’s Research By Robert Schleip, Ph.D., Certified Advanced RolferTM

here has been very little research in the the superficial fascia holds onto the needle and eighty patients without back pain. In Tpast three decades on the relationships and wraps around it, much like spaghetti a previous pilot study conducted by Lan- between connective tissue morphology and wound around a fork. Langevin’s further gevin and her colleagues, it appeared that the central nervous system. Similarly, the research has shown that this fascial stretch needle response was abnormal in people role of fascia in musculoskeletal dynam- creates an active response in the connec- with low back pain. ics has been largely overlooked among tive tissue cells (fibroblasts), which could Langevin is on the Scientific Review Com- back-pain scientists. The following article, activate certain cellular pathways and mittee of the International Fascia Research by Helene Langevin, M.D. is therefore facilitate healing. Congress (to be held October 4-5, 2007) of particular interest, as it offers a model Among structural bodyworkers, it was her and has been one of the advisors for this that integrates connective tissue plasticity study “Relationship of acupuncture points landmark event from the very beginning. mechanisms with several well-explored and meridians to connective tissue planes” The following paper, which readers may areas of research in chronic back pain such ( Anat Rec 2002; 269: 257-65) that attracted enjoy as preparation for the Congress, was as pain psychology, postural control and the most attention. Using ultrasound im- recently published in the journal Medical central neural sensitization. aging on cadaver tissue sections, Langevin Hypotheses. This is an unusual Medline- Langevin is a French-Canadian internist and her team found an 80% correspondence indexed journal, devoted to serving as a and acupuncturist and works as research between the sites of acupuncture points bridge between cutting-edge theory and associate professor of neurology and or- and the location of intermuscular or in- the mainstream of medical and scientific thopedics at the University of Vermont. tramuscular fascial planes. She therefore communication. The respectability of this Recently featured in the Boston Globe Sun- proposed that the anatomical relationship journal is demonstrated by the outstanding day magazine Profile, she is a celebrity in of acupuncture points and meridians to scientists on its seventeen-member editorial the acupuncture field and in fact one of the fascial planes is relevant to acupuncture’s board (such as neurologists V.S. Ramachan- highest funded acupuncture researchers mechanism of action and suggestive of a dran and Antonio Damasio or the Nobel internationally. Having had the pleasure potentially important integrative role of laureate Arvid Carlsson). Langevin’s article of spending some personal time with her, fascial tissues. Langevin’s further research proposes a new explanatory model for during her recent lecture trip to Europe, of the superficial fascia revealed that the chronic low back pain, which for the first I was deeply impressed by the unusual fibroblasts in this tissue form a body-wide time integrates the role of fascial tissue and combination of a laser-like sharp critical interconnected cellular network, suggestive the nervous system by proposing that these mind, complemented by a very warm and of important integrative functions at the two systems are linked via changes in motor compassionate heart. level of the whole body. behavior. It is suggested that the described interactions play a key role in the natural Langevin’s first acupuncture study, begun In October of last year, Langevin won a history of chronic low back pain, as well as in 2000, demonstrated that the Fascia major grant from the National Institutes of in its treatment. Readers who will attend the superficialis (subcutaneous tissue) was Health’s National Center for Complemen- Congress look forward to finding out how involved in producing the “tug” (or needle tary and Alternative Medicine, bringing recent scientific findings from Langevin’s grasp) observed in acupuncture needling. her grant-funding total over the past seven team, as well as other presenters, fit the Her team had designed a robotic needling years to more than $4.4 million. This most clear and testable predictions made in the device that showed that when the needles recent award will fund research to compare concluding section of this article. are inserted into the skin and then turned, the acupuncture needling response in the fascia of eighty patients with back pain

Structural Integration / June 2007 www.rolf.org 31 Research

Pathophysiological model for chronic low back pain integrating connective tissue and nervous system mechanisms By Helene M. Langevin, M.D. and Karen J. Sherman, Ph.D. Helene M. Langevin, M.D.

Summary Introduction Although chronic low back pain (cLBP) is increasingly recognized as a complex syndrome Despite considerable research efforts, with multifactorial etiology, the pathogenic mechanisms leading to the development of chronic low back pain (cLBP) remains a chronic pain in this condition remain poorly understood. This article presents a new, poorly understood condition causing sub- testable pathophysiological model integrating connective tissue plasticity mechanisms stantial disability, work absenteeism and with several well-developed areas of research on cLBP (pain psychology, postural con- health care costs [1-4]. While it is known trol, neuroplasticity). We hypothesize that pain-related fear leads to a cycle of decreased that many patients with an episode of movement, connective tissue remodeling, inflammation, nervous system sensitization acute low back pain improve clinically and further decreased mobility. In addition to providing a new, testable framework for without specific treatment, it is less clear future mechanistic studies of cLBP, the integration of connective tissue and nervous why others progress to develop recurrent system plasticity into the model will potentially illuminate the mechanisms of a variety or chronic symptoms [5]. It is generally of treatments that may reverse these abnormalities by applying mechanical forces to recognized that cLBP is a dynamic, fluctuat- soft tissues (e.g. physical therapy, massage, chiropractic manipulation, acupuncture), by ing condition with multifactorial etiology changing specific movement patterns (e.g. movement therapies, yoga) or more generally and complex pathogenesis. Historically, by increasing activity levels (e.g. recreational exercise). Non-invasive measures of con- mechanistic models for cLBP have tended nective tissue remodeling may eventually become important tools to evaluate and follow to focus on musculoskeletal tissues, on the patients with cLBP in research and clinical practice. An integrative mechanistic model nervous system, or on behavior. In this incorporating behavioral and structural aspects of cLBP will strengthen the rationale for paper, we propose a new, dynamic and a multidisciplinary treatment approach including direct mechanical tissue stimulation, integrative pathophysiological model for movement reeducation, psychosocial intervention and pharmacological treatment to ad- cLBP bringing together recent research on dress this common and debilitating condition. movement and neuroplasticity along with wellestablished connective tissue remodeling mechanisms (Fig. 1). We hypothesize that plasticity in both connective tissue and nervous systems, linked to each other via changes in motor behavior, playa key role in the natural history of cLBP, as well as the response of cLBP to treatments and placebos.

What is already known about mechanistic factors contributing to cLBP? Tissue structural abnormalities To date, a considerable amount of research on low back pain has focused on structural abnormalities of spine-associated tissues (e.g. disc herniation, facet joint degeneration) with emphasis on diagnostic imaging (e.g. X-ray, CT scan, MRI). However, the association between symptoms and imag- Figure 1 Pathophysiological model for chronic low back pain ing results has been consistently weak, and linking somatic and behavioral components. up to 85% of patients with low back pain

32 www.rolf.org Structural Integration / June 2007 Research cannot be given a precise pathoanatomical ment, thus preventing further injuries, this matrix” including both sensory and motor diagnosis using these methods [6]. This, adaptation comes at the cost of a limited components [40-42]. along with the generally poor predictive range of motion [24]. Recent experiments value of diagnostic imaging in cLBP, and the in addition suggest that, in normal indi- Proposed role of often disappointing effects of many “lesion- viduals, fear of pain by itself can cause connective tissue specific” treatments such as intra-articular altered trunk muscle activation patterns remodeling in cLBP corticosteroid injections [7], has spurred during limb movement that resembles those research efforts toward”non-structural” observed in patients with cLBP [25]. Both We hypothesize that connective tissue psychological and behavioral aspects of experimental back pain (painful cutaneous remodeling occurs in cLBP as a result of cLBP, and away from tissue pathology. electrical stimulation) and anticipation of emotional, behavioral and motor dysfunc- pain (without electrical stimulation) caused tion. We further hypothesize that increased Psychological factors increased activity and co-contraction of connective tissue stiffness due to fibrosis superficial muscles along with delayed is an important link in the pathogenic A number of studies [8-10] have reported or decreased activation of deep muscles. mechanism leading to chronicity of pain, that, in patients with acute or subacute low Thus, patients with cLBP appear to have fearavoidance and further movement im- back pain, measures of emotional distress a constellation of motion-limiting muscle pairment. are associated with the future development activation patterns that may be initiated or of chronic pain and disability. Psychosocial aggravated by emotional factors. Effect of mechanical factors potentially contributing to emo- stress on connective tional distress in patients with cLBP include Neuroplasticity and tissue job dissatisfaction, poor social support and central sensitization the influence of pain-related behavior on Abnormal movement patterns can have work and family dynamics [11,12]. A key In addition to abnormal movement pat- important influences on the connective tis- component of pain-related behavior is terns, patients with cLBP have been sues that surround and infiltrate muscles. A fear of pain with consequent decrease in shown to have generalized augmented hallmark of connective tissue is its plasticity physical activity [13,14]. While rest may be pain sensitivity and cortical activation or “remodeling” in response to varying lev- initially important in the face of acute low patterns suggesting abnormal central pain els of mechanical stress [43]. Both increased back injury (e.g. disc herniation, muscle processing [26]. Ongoing pain is associated stress due to overuse, repetitive movement sprain), it is increasingly recognized that with widespread neuroplastic changes at and/or hypermobility, and decreased stress timely resumption of physical activity is multiple levels within the nervous system due to immobilization or hypo mobility can critical to successful rehabilitation [15] . [27-29] including primary afferent neurons, cause changes in connective tissue [44,45]. However, after an episode of acute low back spinal cord, brainstem, thalamus, limbic A chronic, local increase in stress can lead pain, patients often remain sedentary be- system and cortex [30-33]. Recent neu- to microinjury and inflammation (over- cause of fear that movement will cause pain. roimaging data have uncovered distinct use injury, cumulative trauma disorder) Such behavior is particularly detrimental “brain networks” involved in acute vs. [46-48]. A consistent absence of stress, on since decreased recreational activity leads chronic pain, with chronic pain specifically the other hand, leads to connective tissue to deconditioning, which further impacts involving regions related to cognition and atrophy, architectural disorganization, emotional well being [16,17]. emotions [34]. Recent findings of reduced fibrosis, adhesions and contractures [49- pre-frontal cortex N-acetyl aspartate levels 53]. Factors influencing whether atrophy Movement pattern and decreased pre-frontal and thalamic or fibrosis predominates during stress de- abnormalities gray matter density also have been de- privation include the concurrent presence scribed in cLBP, compared with controls, of inflammation, tissue hypo-oxygenation A growing body of evidence supports suggesting neuronal or glial loss, possibly and cytokines such as TGFIH that promote the notion that both pain and fear affect due to toxic effects of prolonged excitation fibrosis [54,55]. Fibrosis therefore can be not only how much, but also how patients [35,36]. At the level of the somatosensory the direct result of hypomobility or the with cLBP actually move. Abnormal trunk cortex, functional reorganization of so- indirect result of hypermobility via injury muscle activity during postural perturba- matosensory areas has been documented and inflammation. tion, impaired control of trunk and hip in chronic pain [37]. In patients with cLBP, during arm movements and abnormal pos- magnetoencephalography assessment of Connective tissue/muscle tural compensation for respiration all have cortical activation during painful stimuli interactions been documented in cLBP [18-21]. Several showed a shift and expansion of the cortical models have been proposed to explain such area representing the low back towards the In muscle, plasticity of perimuscular and abnormal movement patterns including the leg [38]. Pronounced shifts in motor corti- intramuscular connective tissue plays an “pain-spasm-pain” model (reflex sustained cal activation patterns during movement important role in how muscle responds co-contraction of agonists and antagonist in patients with phantom limb pain (but to mechanical stress. It has been shown, muscles) [22] and “pain adaptation” (slow- not in pain-free amputees) also suggests for example, that during the early phase ing and decreased range of motion due to that neuroplastic changes during chronic of immobilization, loss of muscle length is selective increased activation of antago- pain may involve motor as well as sensory primarily due to shortening of muscle-as- nists) [23]. Although it has been proposed cortical reorganization [39]. Indeed, current sociated connective tissue, which is only that altered muscle activation patterns in models increasingly view chronic pain as later followed by actual shortening of cLBP can stabilize the spine during move- a multisystem output, the “pain neuro- muscle fibers [56]. The poorly understood

Structural Integration / June 2007 www.rolf.org 33 Research phenomena of “myofascial trigger points”, muscle activation patterns causing muscle increased tissue stiffness. Peripheral and “taut muscle bands” and “muscle spasm” co-contraction, muscle spasm or tissue central nervous system sensitization will also may contribute to connective tissue microtrauma and (3) neurally-mediated then contribute to tissue inflammation, remodeling and fibrosis. Although there is inflammation. To date, there is a paucity of emotional distress, pain-related fear and some controversy as to the definition and published research devoted to connective decreased movement. Additional psycho- nature of these entities, and whether or tissue in relation to low back pain, reflecting social factors such as family dysfunction, not they are related to each other [57-59], the overall lack of attention to unspecial- secondary gain, job dissatisfaction and liti- decreased tissue pH and increased levels ized “loose” connective tissue and fasciae gation can further contribute to decreased of inflammatory cytokines were recently compared with specialized connective tis- physical activity and to the vicious cycle reported in myofascial trigger points in the sues such as cartilage. We hypothesize that illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. presence of pain [60]. Thus, the presence of connective tissue remodeling may play an In both connective tissue and nervous sys- painful muscle contraction or tender foci important role in the pathophysiology of tem, plasticity responses are characterized within perimuscular fascia may add to the LBP because (1) plasticity in response to by changes over time and the potential for factors promoting hypo mobility and tissue changing mechanical loads is one of con- reversibility. The mechanism presented in fibrosis. Regardless of its original cause, nective tissue’s fundamental properties this paper is compatible with the complex connective tissue fibrosis is detrimental, and (2) pathological remodeling (fibrosis) natural history of low back pain including as it leads to increased tissue stiffness and due to changes in tissue movement is well temporal variability (i.e. waxing and wan- further movement impairment. documented in other types of connective ing of symptoms and disability in recurrent tissues (e.g. ligaments, joint capsules). low back pain) and potential for “feed- Effect of connective tissue forward” acute exacerbation of symptoms pathology on sensory Dynamic (i.e. acute flareup). An acute flare-up of pain afferent modulation pathophysiological may be triggered by any situation causing model linking sensory, Tissue microinjury, inflammation and fibro- locally increased inflammatory cytokines, sis not only can change the biomechanics motor and emotional decreased tissue pH or oxygen content. of soft tissue (e.g. increased stiffness) but components of LBP In fibrosed connective tissue and muscle, also can profoundly alter the sensory input with connective tissue blood and lymphatic flow may be chroni- arising from the affected tissues. Connective plasticity cally compromised by the disorganized tissue is richly innervated with mecha- tissue architecture and thus vulnerable to Most episodes of acute low back pain unusual muscle activity (e.g. beginning a nosensory and nociceptive neurons [61]. resolve, allowing resumption of normal Modulation of nociceptor activity has been new work activity or sport), or to conditions activities. We propose that, in contrast, causing further decrease in perfusion such shown to occur in response to changes in the patients who develop fear of movement innervated tissue. Tissue levels of protons, as prolonged sitting. Once local activation in response to the acute pain episode will of nociceptors is initiated, peripheral and inflammatory mediators (prostaglandins, be more likely to develop cLBP. In our bradykinin), growth factors (NGFs) and central nervous system sensitization mecha- pathophysiological model, this progres- nism amplify both the tissue inflammation hormones (adrenaline) [30,62,63] all have sion to cLBP first involves changes in the been shown to influence sensory input to (via release of inflammatory neurotransmit- amount and pattern of movements leading ters such as Substance P) and the perceived the nervous system. Conversely, nociceptor to connective tissue remodeling and locally activation has been shown to modify the pain, leading to distress, fear of movement innervated tissue. Release of Substance P from sensory C-fibers in the skin can enhance the production of histamine and cytokines from mast cells, monocytes and endothelial cells [64,65]. Increased TGFp-1 production, stimulated by tissue injury and histamine release, is a powerful driver of fibroblast collagen synthesis and tissue fibrosis [54,66,67]. Thus, activation of nociceptors by itself can contribute to the development or worsening of fibrosis and inflammation, causing even more tissue stiffness and movement impairment.

Connective tissue remodeling and low back pain We propose that, in patients with cLBP, connective tissue fibrosis can occur in the lower back due to one or several of the following Figure 2 Relationship of proposed chronic low back pain pathogenic mechanism factors: (1) decreased activity, (2) changes in to precipitating factors and non-pharmacological therapeutic interventions.

34 www.rolf.org Structural Integration / June 2007 Research etc. Each exacerbation of pain potentially tissue remodeling is that it potentially un- synergistically in cLBP will support ef- leads to increased movement restriction derlies both beneficial and harmful effects forts to develop appropriate integrative and fibrosis, setting the patient up for more of mechanical forces, including those used approaches to treat this common and de- painful episodes. therapeutically. It is well known in physi- bilitating condition. cal therapy, for example, that application The proposed model links several well- of direct tissue stretch to ligaments and developed but separate areas of research Acknowledgements joint capsules needs to be gauged carefully into a comprehensive and testable model to avoid causing increased tissue inflam- We thank Drs. Lorimer Moseley, Magdalena that plausibly explains why a patient with mation [44]. Indeed, understanding how R. Nay¬lor, Janet R. Kahn, John J. Triano acute low back pain (e.g. due to acute back much force (or movement) is beneficial, and Robert W. Hamill for helpful discus- sprain) may go on to develop chronic or and how much can be harmful is one of sions. recurrent low back pain. By explicitly in- the challenges of these clinical modalities. cluding connective tissue plasticity as part © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. The hypothetical model presented in this of the mechanism, the model incorporates Reprinted with permission from Elsevier paper suggests that behavior modification additional factors that have not been linked Ltd. and movement reeducation may be most mechanistically to the pathogenesis of low effective in the early stages of cLBP (before back pain. Testing this model will first re- References extensive tissue fibrosis has occurred) and quire confirming the primary hypothesis that combining these approaches with care- [1] Williams DA, Feuerstein M, Durbin that connective tissue fibrosis occurs in fully applied direct tissue stretch may be D, Pezzullo J. Health care and indemnity cLBP, then testing the relationship between necessary in cases of long standing hypo costs across the natural history of disabil- movement, connective tissue fibrosis and mobility with pronounced fibrosis and ity in occupational low back pain. Spine persistent pain. stiffness. Understanding the underlying 1998;23(21):2329-36. pathophysiology of cLBP will help optimize [2] van den Hoogen HJ, Koes BW, van Eijk Effect of treatments and the selection of the best treatment or treat- placebos JT, Bouter LM, Deville W. On the course of ment combination. low back pain in general practice: a one year In addition to its role in the pathological follow up study. Ann Rheum Dis 1998;57(1 consequences of immobility and injury, Future testing of the ):13-9. the dynamic and potentially reversible model and clinical [3] De Luca CJ. Low back pain: a major nature of connective tissue plasticity may significance problem with low priority. J Rehabil Res be key to the beneficial effects of widely The model presented in this paper predicts Dev 1997;34(4):vii-viii. used physical therapy techniques as well that beneficial connective tissue remodel- as “alternative” treatments involving ex- [4] Van Nieuwenhuyse A, Fatkhutdinova L, ing can result from a variety of therapeutic ternal application of mechanical forces (e.g. Verbeke G, et al. Risk factors for first-ever interventions. The model also suggests that massage, chiropractic manipulation, acu- low back pain among workers in their first measures of connective tissue remodeling puncture), changes in specific movement employment. Occup Med (Lond) 2004;54(8): may become useful tools for evaluating the patterns (e.g. movement therapies, tai chi, 513-9. response to pharmacological and non-phar- yoga) or more general changes in activity macological treatments for LBP. Recently levels (e.g. increased recreational exercise) [5] Frymoyer JW. Back pain and sciatica. N developed non-invasive ultrasound based (Fig. 2). Connective tissue remodeling also Engl J Med 1988;318(5):291-300. techniques such as ultrasound elastography may be important in the therapeutic effect [6] Deyo RA, Weinstein IN. Low back pain. can be used for evaluation of connective of pharmacological treatments commonly N Engl J Med 2001 ;344(5 ):363-70. tissue structure and biomechanics in vivo used for cLBP via direct effects on tissues [68-70]. Such techniques may become use- (anti-inflammatories), reduction of muscle [7] Bogduk N. 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J therapeutic mechanisms is key to develop- highly dependent on understanding the Clin Epidemiol 2003;56(5):463-71. ing more effective treatment strategies for pathophysiological mechanisms of the cLBP with minimal adverse effects. While condition being treated. An integrative [9] Dionne CEo Psychological distress con- manual or movement-based treatments model incorporating behavioral and so firmed as predictor of long-term back-re- have the advantage of not causing drug- matic aspects of cLBP will strengthen the lated functional limitations in primary care induced side effects (e.g. gastritis, sedation), rationale for a multidisciplinary treatment settings. J Clin Epidemiol 2005;58(7):714- these treatments could conceivably worsen approach including direct mechanical tissue 8. cLBP if applied forces actually cause inflam- stimulation, movement reeducation and [10] Pincus T, Burton AK, Vogel S, Field AP. mation due to excessive tissue stretching or psychosocial intervention. Understanding A systematic review of psychological fac- pressure. A paradoxical aspect of connective how these various treatments may work tors as predictors of chronicity/disability in

Structural Integration / June 2007 www.rolf.org 35 Research prospective cohorts of low back pain. Spine disorders. Clin Biomech 1986;1(2):102-9. 36] Grachev ID, Fredrickson BE, Apkarian 2002;27(5):E109-20. AV. Brain chemistry reflects dual states of [23] Lund JP, Donga R, Widmer CG, Stohler pain and anxiety in chronic low back pain. [11] Elfering A, Semmer NK, Schade V, CS. The painadaptation model: a discussion J Neural Transm 2002;109(10):1309-34. Grund S, Boos N. Supportive colleague, un- of the relationship between chronic mus- supportive supervisor: the role of provider- culoskeletal pain and motor activity. Can J [37] Flor H. Cortical reorganisation and specific constellations of social support at Physiol Pharmacol1991 ;69(5):683-94. chronic pain implications for rehabilitation. work in the development of low back pain. J J Rehabil Med 2003(Suppl. 41): 66-72. [24] van Dieen JH, Selen LP, Cholewicki J. Occup Health Psychol 2002;7(2):130-40. Trunk muscle activation in low-back pain [38] Flor H, Braun C, Elbert T, Birbaumer [12] Linton SJ. A review of psychological patients, an analysis of the literature. J Elec- N. Extensive reorganization of primary risk factors in back and neck pain. Spine tromyogr KinesioI2oo3;13(4):333-51. somatosensory cortex in chronic back pain 2000;25(9):1148-56. patients. Neurosci Lett 1997;224(1):5-8. [25] Moseley GL, Nicholas MK, Hodges PW. [13] Woby SR, Watson PJ, Roach NK, Ur- Does anticipation of back pain predispose [39] Lotze M, Flor H, Grodd W, Larbig W, mston M. Adjustment to chronic low back to back trouble? Brain 2004; 127(Pt. 10): Birbaumer N. Phantom movements and pain-the relative influence of fearavoidance 2339-47. pain. An fMRI study in upper limb ampu beliefs, catastrophizing, and appraisals of tees. Brain 2001 ; 124(Pt 11 ):2268-77. [26] Giesecke T, Gracely RH, Grant MA, control. Behav Res Ther 2004;42(7):761-74. et al. Evidence of augmented central pain [40] Melzack R. From the gate to the neuro- [14] Swinkels-Meewisse IE, Roelofs J, Oos- processing in idiopathic chronic low back matrix. Pain 1999(Suppl. 6):S121-6. tendorp RA, Verbeek AL, Vlaeyen JW. Acute pain. Arthritis Rheum 2004;50(2):613-23. [41] Moseley GL. A pain neuromatrix ap- low back pain: pain-related fear and pain [27] Ji RR, Woolf CJ. Neuronal plasticity and proach to patients with chronic pain. Man catastrophizing influence physical perfor- signal transduction in nociceptive neurons: Ther 2003;8(3):130-40. mance and perceived disability. Pain 2005. implications for the initiation and mainte-

[15] van Tulder MW, Koes B, Malmivaara A. nance of pathological pain. Neurobiol Dis [42] Khalsa PS. Biomechanics of musculosk- Outcome of noninvasive treatment modali- 2001 ;8(1): 1-10. eletal pain: dynamics of the neuromatrix. J ties on back pain: an evidencebased review. [28] Boal RW, Gillette RG. Central neuronal Electromyogr Kinesiol 2004;14(1): 109-20. Eur Spine J 2006;15(SuppI.1 ):S64-81. plasticity, low back pain and spinal manipu- [43] Tillman LJ, Cummings GS. Biologic [16] Hurwitz EL, Morgenstern H, Chiao lative therapy. J Manipulative Physiol Ther mechanisms of connective tissue mutability. C. Effects of recreational physical activity 2004;27(5):314-26. In: Currier DP, Nelson RM, editors. Dynam- and back exercises on low back pain and [29] Coderre TJ, Katz J, Vaccarino AL, ics of human biologic tissues Contemporary psychological distress: findings from the Melzack R. Contribution of central neuro- perspectives in rehabilitation, vol. 8. Phila- UCLA Low Back Pain Study. Am J Public plasticity to pathological pain: review of delphia: F.A. Davis; 1992. p. 1-44. Health 2005;95(10):1817-24. clinical and experimental evidence. Pain [44] Cummings GS, Tillman LJ. Remodeling [17] Grotle M, Vollestad NK, Veierod MB, 1993;52(3): 259-85. of dense connective tissue in normal adult Brox Jl. Fear-avoidance beliefs and distress [30] Woolf CJ, Salter MW. Neuronal plas- tissues. In: Currier DP, Nelson RM, edi- in relation to disability in acute and chronic ticity: increasing the gain in pain. Science tors. Dynamics of human biologic tissues low back pain. Pain 2004;112(3):343-52. 2000;288(5472):1765-9. Contemporary perspectives in rehabilita- [18] Hodges PW, Richardson CA. Inefficient tion, vol. 8. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis; 1992. [31] Bolay H, Moskowitz MA. Mechanisms muscular stabilization of the lumbar spine p. 45-73. of pain modulation in chronic syndromes. associated with low back pain. A motor con- Neurology 2002;59(5 Suppl. 2):S2-7. [45] Videman T. Connective tissue and trol evaluation of transversus abdominis. immobilization. Key factors in musculosk- Spine 1996;21 (22):2640-50. [32] Ikeda H, Heinke B, Ruscheweyh R, eletal degeneration? Clin Orthop Relat Res Sandkuhler J. Synaptic plasticity in spinal [19] Reeves NP, Cholewicki J, Milner TE. 1987(221 ):26-32. lamina I projection neurons that mediate Muscle reflex classification of low-back hyperalgesia. Science 2003 ;299(561 0): [46] Carpenter JE, Flanagan CL, Thomo- pain. J Electromyogr Kinesiol 2005;15(1 1237-40. poulos S, Yian EH, Soslowsky LJ. The ef- ):53-60. fects of overuse combined with intrinsic or [33] Gebhart GF. Descending modula- [20] Grimstone SK, Hodges PW. Impaired extrinsic alterations in an animal model of tion of pain. Neurosci Biobehav Rev postural compensation for respiration in rotator cuff tendinosis. Am J Sports Med 2004;27(8):729-37. people with recurrent low back pain. Exp 1998;26(6):801-7. Brain Res 2003;151 (2):218-24. [34] Apkarian AV, Bushnell MC, Treede RD, [47] Ettema AM, Amadio PC, Zhao C, Wold Zubieta JK. Human brain mechanisms of [21] Mok NW, Brauer SG, Hodges PW. Hip LE, An KN. A histological and immuno- pain perception and regulation in health strategy for balance control in quiet stand- histochemical study of the subsynovial and disease. Eur J Pain 2005;9(4):463-84. ing is reduced in people with low back pain. connective tissue in idiopathic carpal Spine 2004;29(6):E107-12. [35] Apkarian A V, Sosa Y, Sonty S, et al. tunnel syndrome. J Bone Joint Surg Am A Chronic back pain is associated with de- 2004;86(7):1458-66. [22] Roland MO. A critical review of the evi- creased prefrontal and thalamic gray matter dence for a painspasm-pain cycle in spinal [48] Perry SM, Mcilhenny SE, Hoffman MC, density. J Neurosci 2004;24(46):10410-5.

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Soslowsky LJ. Inflammatory and angiogenic [61] Willis WD, Coggeshall RE. Sensory mRNA levels are altered in a supraspinatus mechanisms of the spinal cord. Second ed. tendon overuse animal model. J Shoulder New York: Plenum Press; 1991. Elbow Surg 2005;14(1 Suppl. S):79S-83S. [62] Koltzenburg M. The changing sen- [49] Savolainen J, Vaananen K, Vihko V, sitivity in the life of the nociceptor. Pain Puranen J, Takala TE. Effect of immobili- 1999;Suppl. 6:S93-S102. zation on collagen synthesis in rat skeletal [63] Waldmann R, Champigny G, Bassilana muscles. Am J PhysioI1987;252(5 Pt 2): F, Heurteaux C, Lazdunski M. A proton- R883-8. gated cation channel involved in acid-sens- [50] Uebelhart D, Bernard J, Hartmann DJ, ing. Nature 1997;386(6621 ):173-7. et al. Modifications of bone and connective [64] Bessou P, Laporte Y. Etude des re- tissue after orthostatic bed rest. Osteoporos cepteurs musculaires innerves par les fibres Int 2000;11(1):59-67. afferents du groupe III (fibres myelinisees [51] Williams PE, Catanese T, Lucey EG, fines) chez Ie chat. Arch Ital Bioi 1961 ;99: Goldspink G. The importance of stretch 293-321. and contractile activity in the prevention of [65] Ansel JC, Kaynard AH, Armstrong connective tissue accumulation in muscle. CA, Olerud J, Bunnett N, Payan D. Skin- J Anat 1988;158:109-14. nervous system interactions. J Invest Der [52] Woo SL, Matthews JV, Akeson WH, matoI1996;106(1 ):198-204. Amiel D, Convery FR. Connective tissue [66] Barnard JA, Lyons RM, Moses HL. The response to immobility. Correlative study cell biology of transforming growth factor of biomechanical and biochemical measure- beta. Biochim Biophys Acta 1990;1032(1 ments of normal and immobilized rabbit ):79-87. knees. Arthritis Rheum 1975;18(3):257-64. [67] Sporn MB, Roberts AB. TGF-beta: [53] Akeson WH, Amiel D, Woo SL. Immo- problems and prospects. Cell Regu11990;1 bility effects on synovial joints the pathome- (12):875-82. chanics of joint contracture. Biorheology 1980;17(1-2):95-110. [68] Ophir J, Cespedes I, Ponnekanti H, Yazdi Y, Li X. Elastography: a quantita- [54] Leask A, Abraham DJ. TGF.beta sig- tive method for imaging the elasticity of naling and the fibrotic response. FASEB J biological tissues. Ultrason Imaging 1991 2004;18(7):816-27. ;13(2):111-34. [55] Hunt TK, Banda MJ, Silver IA. Cell [69] Cespedes I, Ophir J, Ponnekanti H, interactions in posttraumatic fibrosis. Ciba Maklad N. Elastography: elasticity imag- Found Symp 1985;114:127-49. [56] Williams ing using ultrasound with application to PE, Goldspink G. Connective tissue changes muscle and breast in vivo. Ultrason Imaging in immobilised muscle. J Anat 1984;138(Pt 1993;15(2): 73-88. 2):343-50. [70] Langevin HM, Konofagou EE, Badger

GJ, et al. Tissue displacements during acu- [57] Hong CZ, Simons DG. Pathophysi- puncture using ultrasound elastography ologic and electrophysio logic mechanisms techniques. Ultrasound Med Bioi 2004;30(9): of myofascial trigger points. Arch Phys Med 1173-83. Rehabil1998;79(7):863-72. [58] Bohr T. Problems with myofascial pain syndrome and fibromyalgia syndrome. Neurology 1996;46(3):593-7. [59] Travell JG. Chronic myofascial pain syndromes. Mysteries of the history. In: Friction JR, Awad E, editors. Advances in Pain Research and Therapy. New York: Raven Press Ltd; 1990. p. 129-37. [60] Shah JP, Phillips TM, Danoff JV, Gerber LH. An in-vivo microanalytical technique for measuring the local biochemical milieu of human skeletal muscle. J Appl Physiol 2005.

Structural Integration / June 2007 www.rolf.org 37 thank youS

his new section will appear periodically to recognize certain individuals who have made an extraordinary Tcontribution to the Rolf Institute. The most appropriate and effective way to do that is by initiating a new feature in our journal, simply to thank them for all their efforts. There are many people over the years who deserve to be thanked for their contributions, but we will start by singling out three more recent people to begin with. Please keep us informed as to individuals who are deserving of special recognition! - The Editorial Staff

Thank You to Karna Knapp constructive possibilities amidst tough knowledgeable about everything…and he choices. was always right there.” They worked well It has been over a year since you moved as a team and really enjoyed brainstorming on from the Rolf Institute® of Structural You nurtured the Institute’s transition from for future issues. Integration. Things are going well, you will Pearl St. to the Canyon Building and then be pleased to know. ultimately our departure from Canyon and One of the outcomes of Stephen’s tenure transition to Gunbarrel. is that the journal has become increasingly However, all of professional. He played a key role by active- us would like to You ultimately became the single person ly soliciting articles from the membership, acknowledge the we depended on for institutional memory, increasing the use of graphics, and helping contributions you to remember what works and why, and to to create a new “look” that accompanied the made that helped remember who we are when we needed name change from Rolf Lines to the more our organiza- to speak to the “Institute.” Yours was the descriptive Structural Integration: The Journal tion survive and voice of a friend whom we knew, behind of the Rolf Institute. prosper through the menu of phone options. many challeng- Stephen held the role of Editor in Chief for What a workout it must have been! How ing moments. As about four years, then continued to work you must have yearned for a break from it you know, ours is with authors on projects in the pipeline all. The unselfish side of us is glad you were not an easy ship for about another year. He has since re- able to find your next step in life. to sail. tired completely from journal duties, but Bless you, from us all. Thank you for giv- continues his Rolfing® practice and the You came here back in 1993 in the years just ing so much of yourself to the mission of avid pursuit of photography. Thank you, following the “split,” first as our office man- structural integration. Stephen. ager and then as our membership director. You were one of the crew that helped the board and interim director to manage the Thank You to Stephen Paré Thank You to Tessy Brungardt Institute in 1994. Shall we count the number of directors you served under? The Rolf Institute, and particularly the The Board of Di- Under your care, we learned about service staff of Structural Integration, would like rectors, the staff mark issues, or if we didn’t, it wasn’t your to thank Certified Rolfer Stephen Paré for and the mem- his long tenure of service on our journal. bership of the fault. Goodness knows, you tried to help ® us get it right. You diligently tracked down In 2001, Stephen joined the editorial team, Rolf Institute the service mark violators in the U.S. and a group of Rolfers who volunteer their thank Certified helped others protect the mark throughout time to work with authors submitting Advanced Rolfer the world. You helped us to remember our articles to the journal. Out of his interest Tessy Brungardt “dues” and administered changes of mem- and dedication, Stephen became Editor in for her many bership status and listened to our stories of Chief – another volunteer position – about years of service hardship and special needs. a year later. In this role, he was the inter- as Board Chair. face between the editorial team and Karna Her hard work You tirelessly organized board meetings Knapp, who was Member Services Director and dedication have made a significant and annual meetings. You facilitated Rolf of the Rolf Institute and also the journal’s contribution to the betterment of the In- Lines, then Structural Integration, and put Managing Editor. He and Karna had the stitute. out Fascial Flashes, issue after issue. You sometimes-challenging duty of wrangling Her investment of self is particularly mean- were the central organizer for that special busy Rolfer-authors and Rolfer-editors to ingful because we know how demanding “meeting of reconciliation” in 2004. tight deadlines so that the journal could life can be. It is an honor to recognize Tessy meet its quarterly production schedule. You reminded us that just because a big for her outstanding work. While Tessy will While Stephen extends much credit to unsolvable problem loomed over us, we no longer be serving on the Board, she will Karna, who made it happen, in his words, didn’t have to become grumpy and polar- continue her role as an Advanced Rolfing by “kicking my butt every three months”, ized. You demonstrated what it means to instructor. be a solutions-based person, one who sees Karna says that Stephen “was always very

38 www.rolf.org Structural Integration / June 2007 Book Reviews

Yoga of the Mahamudra: The Mystical Way of Balance by Will Johnson Reviewed by Anne F. Hoff, Certified RolferTM

n the December 2006 issue of Structural of balance emerge, the body knows and IIntegration, I interviewed Will Johnson, a recognizes it in a flash. It is that distinct Certified Rolfer whose lifework as a Rolfer and different a feeling. (p. 77) and author has been an ongoing explora- For Johnson, this integrated feeling tone tion of the body as a doorway and path is not the endpoint – as it might be in the to spiritual unfoldment. As such, he is a ten-session series of Rolfing. Rather, the key proponent of what could be called the process of learning to surrender to ever- “mystical” side of Rolfing®: the viewpoint, changing balance is the starting point, an which hearkens back to Dr. Rolf herself, that ongoing practice that leads to awareness Rolfing is about more than integrating the of sensation and a concomitant cessation structure in gravity; that such integration of mental activity, and ultimately on to a itself becomes an evolutionary force act- deeper experience of self (prompted by the ing on the client’s life in many dimensions question, Who am I?) and the fruit of the – body, mind, spirit. mahamudra teachings. In Yoga of the Mahamudra: The Mystical Readers of Johnson’s other books will see Way of Balance (2005, Inner Traditions), familiar themes. For example, in The Posture Johnson interweaves his understanding of of Meditation (1996, Shambala), Johnson the body as a vehicle on the path to higher discussed how alignment based on ease consciousness with the mahamudra teach- supported the practice of and reasons ings of Tibetan Buddhism, which delineate for sitting meditation. Rumi Gazing at the an evolved quality of pure consciousness. Beloved (2003, Inner Traditions) delineated Johnson discusses some of the metaphors how gazing practice activated awareness used in Tilopa’s eleventh-century Buddhist of sensations that led to mystical states of teaching “Song of Mahamudra” – “do noth- union consciousness. ing with the body but relax,” “empty the mind, and let the mind cling to nothing,” Part One of Yoga of the Mahamudra maps and “become like a hollow bamboo” – from out the latest terrain of Johnson’s thought, the viewpoint that these are actually “very working from the mahamudra teachings. specific structural coordinates and condi- What will be most interesting to Rolfers at- tions in the body” (p. 7, 8). tracted to the mystical journey, as well as to practitioners of movement arts such as Au- While this may sound esoteric, reading fur- thentic Movement and Continuum, is Part ther one comes to descriptions of dynamic Two, which is a presentation of “somatic balance that sound like the hallmark of the koans”. These are essentially Johnson’s “Rolfed” body: invitation to the reader to “dance” – to join Moments of balance generate a feeling him in his practice of intensely exploring tone throughout the entire body that is dynamic balance, following it into the unmistakable. When we’re not in bal- mysteries and states of consciousness it ance, we’re unable to feel the body as reveals. For the reader who wants to con- a unified and integrated phenomena sume the book mentally, these koans will because there are too many small parts be somewhat interesting but ultimately of it that are in conflict not only with elusive. For those who choose to stand up one another, but with the gravitational and explore through their own experience field as well. But when the conditions of embodiment, Johnson promises a whole other level of adventure.

Structural Integration / June 2007 www.rolf.org 39 Book Reviews

Equine Structural Integration by Jim Pascucci Reviewed by Susanna Baxter, Certified RolferTM

ith Equine Structural Integration: Myo- Pascucci calls “predator eyes.” Moreover, training, ranging from “natural horseman- Wfascial Release Manual Manual (2007, horses are herd animals, and herd hierar- ship” concepts to more traditional methods Sane Systems Press), Certified Advanced chy is complex. Pascucci mentions certain of pressure and release. This understanding Rolfer Jim Pascucci has undertaken quite a equine social dynamics and how these play is invaluable for maintaining a healthy challenge. Although equine massage and out in the therapeutic environment, but he therapeutic environment. does not attempt a comprehensive discus- acupressure manuals abound, very little has Following introductory sections on the sion of how a human gains the trust and been published to date regarding structural horse as a client and the basics of fascia, Pas- respect of a horse. Again, this knowledge integration of horses. As a compendium of cucci describes techniques for manipulating comes from hours spent interacting with equine structural integration, Pascucci’s a horse’s body, dedicating one chapter to and observing horses, as well as further book is wide-ranging in its subject matter, each anatomical region: the head, the neck, study of detailed existing literature about touching on topics from general palpation the shoulder, etc. For each region, he pro- equine behavior patterns. techniques to the instincts and behavior of vides a chart that lists each muscle’s origin, horses. It includes discussions of safety-re- Even beyond herd dynamics, life in an un- insertion and actions. Unfortunately, the ref- lated matters, such as appropriate restraints natural environment with daily human in- erences for these landmarks are often only for the horse; the ins and outs of working teraction creates a unique equine mentality. photographs of anatomical areas so small with handlers; and the body language Pascucci acknowledges that whereas wild that they fail to show the location of their through which horses send social signals horses are reared in a herd consisting of subjects in the context of the horse’s entire or display release of stress. diverse age groups, domesticated equines body. This book neither is nor claims to be As a horsewoman and Rolfer, I applaud are often weaned at only a few months of an atlas of equine anatomy; those wishing to Pascucci for his insistence that anyone age. This causes a general lack of mental practice Pascucci’s techniques will require intending to work with horses must be maturity, as foals do not have the opportu- additional reference materials. nity to fully integrate the norms of equine – or become – intimately familiar with In conclusion, Equine Structural Integration: social behavior. Commonly, horses raised them. Gaining first-hand knowledge of Myofascial Release Manual is an excellent in this manner display some confusion as one’s prospective clients both enhances the guide to what is required for a compre- to whether they identify more with human practitioner’s perception of equine move- hensive understanding of equine structural or equine behaviorisms. Thus, Pascucci ment and behavior and creates a safer en- integration. Pascucci has amassed sufficient remarks that it’s important not only to un- vironment for all. Pascucci emphasizes that data through his own experience to give derstand functional herd dynamics, but also his own current ability to evaluate equine credit to his work, and his engineering to evaluate the relationship between horse movement aberrations developed only background lends a clear, scientific tone to and handler in order to determine whether from long and intensive study of the horse, his presentation. The book also begins the they have sufficient mutual respect. As the as well as consultations with veterinarians enormous task of bridging from the world handler is usually involved in restraining and other equine experts. of horses to that of bodywork. But like any the horse while you work, the handler Many of us are accustomed to interacting beginning, it has only touched the surface must have adequate control of the animal with cats and dogs and have some sense of a complex subject: although Pascucci to maintain everyone’s safety. of their natures; thus, we can translate the has done well to include knowledge from principles and techniques of integrative Additionally, it has been my own experi- both domains, an equestrian would find work with humans to work with pets. But ence as an equine structural integration the anatomy and physiology discussions as a client, a horse is nothing like a cat or practitioner that a horse’s entire attitude incomplete, while a structural integra- a dog. First — and not inconsequentially can be affected merely by the presence or tor would find the discussion of equine — it weighs, on average, 1400 pounds. It absence of its owner or handler, as the horse behavior overly general. However, when is a huge prey animal that is easily startled has habituated patterns of behavior around accompanied by supporting resources, the and readily exhibits fight-or-flight behavior that person based on their relationship book is valuable as both an introduction and when it senses peril. A practitioner can boundaries. It is my personal recommenda- a continuing reference for anyone consider- unwittingly threaten a horse by bringing tion that practitioners avail themselves of ing or actually practicing equine structural a laser-like attitude to the work — what the numerous published guides on equine integration.

40 www.rolf.org Structural Integration / June 2007 Book Reviews

The Fasciae – Anatomy, Dysfunction & Treatment by Serge Paoletti Reviewed by Stephen Evanko, Ph.D., Certified RolferTM

uropean Os- nection between these embryonic cellular chain. This is apropos for a book written from Eteopath Serge organizing fields and the inherent tissue the osteopathic perspective, which would P a o l e t t i , D . O . , motility we practitioners sense through our naturally include craniosacral and visceral brings us what hands, his explanation left me a bit fuzzy approaches. He also brings in the idea of might now be the on how — and if — these processes were lesional chains, the paths that membranous most comprehen- indeed related. tensions can follow to propagate over long sive organization distances. In my view, the ability to feel The book also illustrates and describes con- and presentation of these lesional chains is crucial for effective nective tissue at the microscopic level, and the current knowl- structural integration. offers a few details regarding biochemistry. edge about fascia in This section would have been well served The last third of the book is dedicated to his book The Fasciae by more careful editing, and I found myself quite a number of techniques for listening, – Anatomy, Dysfunc- wanting to see real micrographs of the tis- palpation and mobility testing, and treating tion & Treatment (2006, Eastland Press). sues instead of drawings. A short overview the fascia. Paoletti emphasizes how “listen- He begins where all fascia begins — with of connective tissue pathologies discusses ing” is feeling fascial restrictions using the embryos, and a short, rich trip through the central role of connective tissue for hands; and that we as practitioners apply embryonic development and the deriva- many disease processes. our own fascial systems to those of our cli- tives of the various layers. This 300-page ents in order to sense and understand the Chapters on the various roles of the fascia book includes detailed descriptions of the problems. He also states the principles and – such as suspension, protection, separa- anatomical distributions and attachments general technical aspects of inductive (i.e., tion and compartmentalization – are well of various fasciae throughout the body, indirect) techniques, as well as numerous written. Paoletti discusses the idea of with diagrammatic and three-dimensional direct techniques. I found many of the tests cleavage planes in the body, correspond- illustrations that are reasonably well-drawn and treatments new and useful and have ing to the softer connective tissues that (fascial layers colored and easy to follow). added them to my toolbox. One example is form the seams between muscles and how The few descriptions and illustrations of a release of the iliolumbar ligaments with these cleavage planes facilitate palpation nerves and vessels, however, are by no the client standing. Paoletti makes the point of deeper areas. These are also the spaces means exhaustive. I would have appreci- that the ligaments “must support weight through which nerves travel; and having ated more information regarding nerve in order to be ready for treatment”. With taken Rolfer Don Hazen’s wonderful class pathways in relation to fascias. considerable variation on this technique, on nerve manipulation, I particularly like to Paoletti gives an interesting synopsis of var- I’ve found work in the iliolumbar and iliac explore these places when I am working. ious biodynamic phenomena, wherein the crest area with the client standing to be cells of developing tissues organize them- Another chapter discusses fascial mechan- quite effective. ics, including the concept and roles of selves within different metabolic fields, All in all, this is a well-done book, and a fascial chains. Although his discussion such as densation fields, retention fields, valuable reference for anyone interested in is similar to Certified Rolfer Tom Myers’ dilatation fields, etc., and thus give rise to fascia. I would happily recommend it for Anatomy Trains, Paoletti includes more various tissues as development progresses. the libraries of all Rolfers and other struc- discussion and treatment of internal chains, Although the book jacket mentions a con- tural integration practitioners. such as the meningeal chain and central

Structural Integration / June 2007 www.rolf.org 41 Book Reviews

bodies, this material can be very useful for us Rolfers. This, of course, applies as well to the subsequent presentations of the various yoga postures in Coulter’s book. They Anatomy of Hatha Yoga: A Manual for are grouped systematically with relevant Students, Teachers and Practitioners anatomical background in chapters en- titled: “Standing Postures”, “Backbending by H. David Coulter Postures”, “Forward Bending Postures”, “Twisting Postures”, “The Headstand”, Reviewed by Claudius Nestvogel, Certified RolferTM “The Shoulderstand”, and “Relaxation and Meditation”. The beauty of this anatomy text is that it utside of a dissection room, anatomy scientific methodology are addressed to goes way beyond routine discussions of Ois very much a visual-imaginative en- the yoga community, where science and “this muscle has its origin at this part of terprise. Even those amongst us with a very “metaphysics” sometimes mingle into this bone and inserts at that part of that vivid three-dimensional imagination are pseudoscientific gibberish, but they are bone.” It is much more like a laboratory confronted with the tedious task of translat- relevant to the Rolfing community as well, inquiry: “Well, what exactly happens, if I ing two-dimensional pictures in anatomy for basically the same reason. texts into internal spatial representations. put my body into this position, turn my The book is written in a lively, easy-to- Unfortunately, even the best anatomy limb over here, and breathe like this?” As follow style full of fitting metaphors and atlases are rather bland and uncreative in such, this book should not only be read but elucidating examples. At the same time, the supporting readers in this enterprise, as also practiced. If the reader puts it down and text is at times dense with information and most illustrations refer to a person in the tries the different positions and exercises, it should be read slowly to allow ample time upright position, with minimal variation will really come to life. to digest the material. Very often Coulter even in the positioning of the limbs. One has The one major shortcoming of Anatomy helps his reader with this, explaining how to refer to books on kinesiology or anatomy of Hatha Yoga is the way it is illustrated. the anatomical and physiological facts have aimed at students of physical education to Presumably for financial reasons, Coulter useful application in bodywork and move- gain information about the anatomy of the chose to resort to the public domain: to old ment work, well beyond yoga. body in more animated positions. But even anatomy texts and their black-and-white there, the variety of the material is usually The first chapter about muscles, connective illustrations. The illustrations cover the nec- limited to discussions of bending, lifting tissue, and nervous control is a concise, essary basics, but it is very clear that having weights, jumping, and running. clear presentation of the necessary basics a modern atlas of anatomy at one‘s side of this subject. In its discussion of stretch- In this regard alone, H. David Coulter‘s while working with Coulter‘s book would Anatomy of Hatha Yoga: A Manual for Stu- ing, it demonstrates implicitly the gap be highly desirable. Also, the presentation that exists between the traditional fascial dents, Teachers and Practitioners (Body and of anatomy is far from complete. Not every hypotheses of Rolfing and the mainstream Breath, Honesdale, PA, 2001) fills a gap. muscle is mentioned; notably, the feet, the of physiology. Coulter systematically covers all the major hands and the face are very much neglected. One last complaint: this book is printed on yoga positions (asanas) from an anatomical The second chapter covers the anatomy and strong, alkaline glossy paper and therefore point of view, but does not stop there. He physiology of breathing, including topics made to last, but the light reflected from the includes relevant physiology concerning as hypo- and hyperventilation, constricted pages can be distracting. the workings of muscle, breathing, and thoracic, empowered thoracic, abdomino- the autonomic nervous system. Needless diaphragmatic, thoraco-diaphragmatic, and Overall, I highly recommend this wonder- to say, this book is a gem for serious yoga paradoxical breathing. Developing from ful book, which is textbook/workbook of students and teachers. And it is a fine book this there follows a thorough discussion of anatomy as well as some physiology in for Rolfers as well, not only because Rolfing yoga exercises, such as different leg lifts, action. If the reader is practicing yoga or and yoga share common interests, but also sit-ups and nauli (differentiated activation experienced in other kinds of movement because of the author’s credentials. Not of the abdominal musculature with the work and a newcomer to anatomy, Anatomy only has Coulter practiced yoga since 1974, belly “sucked in”). All of these exercises of Hatha Yoga – along with a good anatomy he is also a shiatsu practitioner and a Ph.D. put various constraints on the breathing atlas – would be an excellent and inspiring in anatomy. Hence, he knows his stuff. mechanism to achieve certain effects. A curriculum for learning anatomy through deeper understanding calls for knowledge Coulter presents the generally accepted experience. As such, it could become a of the musculature of the abdomen, the pel- facts and theories of anatomy and physiol- classic along the lines of Mabel Todd‘s The vis, the thighs, and the pelvic floor, which ogy. He has written a kind of textbook, not Thinking Body. For a non-yogic Rolfer, it is Coulter provides in this third chapter. As a book about the latest news in research or a wonderful way to ponder anatomy and the constraints Coulter discusses are also data from unreplicated studies and specula- the workings of the body, helping one to present – although to a minor degree – in tive theories. His remarks (p. 29 on) about understand the needs and problems of all the sundry inhibitions of breathing by habit critical thinking and the basics of empirical his clients, not only those who are practic- and structure that we find in our client‘s ing yoga.

42 www.rolf.org Structural Integration / June 2007 Memorial

arrangements and more enlightened polices and practices around work and work-life balance. • He knew, from his own experience and research, that the mechanisms of evolution were not just long-term gradual Marvin Solit, Remembered changes “natural selection” but could By Jean LeVaux be essentially done in real time – and amazingly, this idea has been found to be true as researchers delve into the world arvin Solit, director of the Founda- of the genome and the various switches Mtions for New Directions in Cam- and receptors that respond directly and bridge, MA, passed away December 29, predictably to environmental changes. 2006. A native of the Bronx, he graduated as an osteopath from the Kansas City College • The geometry of the six great circles that of Osteopathy and Surgery in the 1950s. will unlock new way of understanding There he met Dr. Ida Rolf whose perspec- physics. tives influenced his own. He became her Matthew Solit protégé, and would have shifted entirely to Son Rolfing® were it not for the compelling drive he felt towards non-directed healing. n Although I met Marvin only once in my Marvin became well-known for his com- life, he impressed me by his dedication to bination of osteopathy and Rolfing. Then, Synergetics, his depth of knowledge of the in the early 1960s, having explored other subject, and also by his strong belief in the healing modalities, he was inspired by a ‘simple complexity’ of nature. colleague to “just stand and pay attention” to his feelings. This turned out to be the Although Marvin mailed to me his dvd key to his future. It was to alter his entire with Synergetics 3 some time ago, it was practice. He disassembled the traditional just yesterday morning when I, for some unexplained reason, decided to put aside all client-therapist relationship to encompass getics 3”. The following are some memories my activities and began to watch the dvd. not only the personal, but also the interper- from those who knew him: sonal and community levels. He stopped Just as it was several years ago during our making appointments; instead he invited brainstorming session organized by Marvin n people to come when they wanted, stay as So what was my father Marvin all about? and Foster Gamble on the structure of at- long as they liked and contribute as each In his work and his life, he came to realize oms at Marvin’s house, I saw again a very saw fit. He removed obstacles in the path that the world profoundly lacked models confident and extremely competent Marvin of “unwinding trauma”. that could help us understand things in a sharing with other people his lifelong dis- truly holistic way. So he set out to find some, coveries. Marvin told me about his belief in His parameters of wholism expanded with and create some new ones, and then create the importance of the six great circles and the recognition that language, perceptions, some more. This was necessary because, advised me to investigate if these circles work, education, culture and the environ- after all, current models by their very nature define the orientation of the prime elements ment all affect health. In this dynamic and limit us - they filter out important things, used in my model of a nucleon. When I was nurturing environment, personal lives and prevent us from seeing the world in watching Marvin’s dvd, I was amazed by evolved. new ways. Breakthroughs in models and Marvin’s discovery of a completely unex- Although not widely known in Boston, technology almost always accompany pected correlation between the six great Marvin was in contact with such thinkers as breakthroughs in science. circles and the golden ratio. I am glad that I was able to share my amazement with Ashley Montagu, Buckminster Fuller, Ste- Until the very end, he was a seeker, and a Marvin before his untimely death. phen J. Gould, Lynn Margulis and Vladimir connector. He was ahead of his time in so Ginzburg. He explored with NASA whether many ways, and accepted that most of the Vladimir Ginzburg his unwinding approach to healing might world was not really ready for his ideas. Mathematician, author of be useful to astronauts in the aftermath of However, so many of his ideas have eventu- “Prime Elements of Ordinary Matter, weightlessness. ally proven to be on target. Dark Matter & Dark Energy” A true Pythagorean, Marvin sought to • He was very much at the forefront of ho- represent universal principles. He created listic healing, way before it was in vogue. n I met Marvin in 1960. I was working models of the wave/particle, the tensegrity Now holistic health is everywhere, and construction, shoveling concrete, had hurt of the cell, the “six great circles” (underpin- osteopaths are quite conventional! my back, was dating a woman from Ger- ning Platonic Solids), electromagnetism, etc. many whose German friend was a patient • His approach to business presaged He presented two workshops recently: “The of Marvin’s. I went to see him. He was the movement today for flexible work Geometry of Transformation” and “Syner- wearing a white coat. I had often feared that

Structural Integration / June 2007 www.rolf.org 43 Memorial men in white coats might get me. n Marvin was more than a great friend, he n From our first meeting — where we dis- was a pillar upon whom I could lean when cussed how Buckminster Fuller’s concept I got ‘rolfed’ that first session at Marvin’s. I needed encouragement and intellectual of the tensegrity mast column would be a The pain of the treatment far exceeded any stimulation. He was someone I could talk suitable suspension system to model some of the symptoms I had come with, a pun- to, and that is a rare commodity. I only hope of the marvels of the human spine — to our ishment that I relished since I arrived in his that he derived the same satisfaction that I last phone conversation sixteen months ago presence riddled with shame and guilt…but did from our conversations and exchanges — where he tried to entice me back to the I left standing up straight with a copy of of ideas. Marvin was a true original. He fold, to digitally 3-D model, some advanced Alfred Korzybski’s Science and Sanity under enriched my life immensely… geometry systems, that he was then abuzz my arm, on loan from Marvin – the first of with — the constant about Marvin through Dr. William Day many generosities I was to experience from all these encounters was his fantastic child- Chemist, author, The New Physics, him over the next thirty years. Science and like energy and passion for the pursuit of Genesis on Planet Earth Sanity was the first book I ever had which I knowledge. would read over and over, in small sections, finding it fresh and new each time. Marvin radiated the qualities of passion and n Marvin Solit was of a unique character; curiosity shared by the great thinkers and Quan says his eyes were those of a holy I didn’t realize at the time how serious the artists of our ages. He stood out by having man. In many ways a European intellectual guy in the white coat was about discovering a genuine spirit of the shaman, jokester stranded in the American wasteland, there the structure of the universe and getting his and healer all rolled into one rich loving was yet something quintessentially Ameri- language to correspond with it. personality. He was the real deal! can about his inventiveness and indefati- Marvin discarded his white coat, along with gable spirit. If he was American, he was of Peter Davidson office hours, appointments, and osteopathy. another time – a pre-beatnik, a leftist radical Artist, sculptor Even at my age and with my considerable of the 1930s, when there was still a hope of developmental deficits, I knew that these a socialist vision in these United States. As were acts that took a tremendous amount the hope for American culture faded, so of courage. During the ensuing years I can did Marvin, climbing ever-higher into the only imagine what guts it took to stay the esoteric realms of geometry and physics. course that Marvin had chosen. It was cer- And yet he was daily grounded by his work tainly not the easy road. As far as I could with movement and exquisitely sensitive to tell, Marvin never strayed from his original the inner life of anyone he was with. commitment to his original vision. So almost anything you say about him can Marvin Solit rarely thought a thought or be contradicted with equal truth. Such is advanced a concept that was not entirely the nature of a great man. Marvin and Har- unique. He was a human working model riett were beacons to so many lost souls, of inventive escapades beyond the compre- and navigable waypoints for a great many hension of most other humans. found ones….we will miss them both, but a Marvin was a very warm person, filled larger concern for me is where will we find with humor, and paradoxically the most this kind of person again? Are they still be- unsentimental man I ever knew. He held to ing made? Are they still being nurtured? his principles in the face of what I would Tom Myers call unspeakable difficulties and challenges. Certified RolferTM, Director KMI His path was not for sissies.

Barry Hughes n Foundation for New Directions - Marvin brought such technical brilliance community member of thirty years together with such human compassion and healing power. He helped me solve my quest for how the phi ratio fit into the structure of the atoms of the periodic table and I will always treasure the memories of my days sitting with Marvin and his remarkable models while he patiently shared his hard-won insights. Foster Gamble Mathematician

44 www.rolf.org Structural Integration / June 2007 Institute News

Research Foundation Announcement

he Board and the Research Committee of the Rolf Institute® of Structural In- Ttegration is proud to announce the establishment of the Ida P. Rolf Research Foundation, created to encourage and support valid, peer reviewed scientific research into subjects significant to the understanding and validation of Rolfing® structural integration in both theory and practice. Research has always been part of the RISI’s mission. Finally, we have gathered the resources to press forward. However, one of the Foundation’s principal functions is to serve as a recipient of grants and donations to fund research. We would be pleased to accept financial support from you, your clients, and others who appreciate and wish to enable the continuing development and validation of Dr. Rolf’s work. Contributions to the Foundation, which is a 501(c)(3) organization, are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. The Foundation will be announced to the public at the October 2007 First Inter- national Congress on Fascia Research in Boston. Hope to see you there! Valerie Berg On behalf of the Board and the Research Committee

Structural Integration / June 2007 www.rolf.org 45 Institute News

46 www.rolf.org Structural Integration / June 2007 Institute News

Graduates

Phase 3, March 2007, Europe From left to right, front row: Hilde Bönig, Sam Sykes, Becki Ruud, Claudia Studen, Martin Klinger. Back row: Karl Petersen, Uwe Rößler, Robert Schleip (Instructor), Isabell Brandt (Assistant Instructor), Andreas Klingebiel, Nicole Nagel.

Unit I, February 19, 2007 Boulder, CO Unit 2, February 2007, Brazil From left to right, front row: Michael Polon (Instructor), Lilah From left to right, front row: Maria Beatriz Vasconcellos, Perry (Assistant Instructor); Jodi Haines; Karin Sandberg; Yuki Lucila Brandão, Ana Cristina Guida. Middle row: Alfeu Ruggi Furuie; Sabrina Motta. Middle Row: Janice Sullivan; Yuriko (Assistant Instructor), Adriana Raucci, Monica Epperlein, Maria Naoi; Andy Browder; Joshua Malpass. Back row: Rosalie Cristina Ibiapina. Back row: Nailê Braga, Eloisa de Souza, Reymond; Ann Shankle; James Penn; Steve Rogers; Adam Rosângela Baía, Paula Mattoli (Instructor), Eliana Grotti, Liliane Oostema, Michael Valenti. Not shown: Ronda Bowlin, Jon Nakabara, Marlene Isola (Certified Rolfer). Martine (Instructor), Suzanne Picard, (Instructor).

Structural Integration / June 2007 www.rolf.org 47 Institute News

2007 Class Schedule

Boulder, Colorado 2008 Phase II: Fascial Perspectives Phase I: April 28 – May 16, 2008 – Understanding Structure Unit I: Foundations of Rolfing Phase II: August 4 - 15, 2008 Instructor: John Smith Instructors: TBA Structural Integration/ FORSI June 23-24 June 4 – July 16, 2007 Rolf Movement Training Phase III: Authentic Presence Coordinator: Michael Polon Location: TBA – Therapeutic Contact August 27 – October 8, 2007 Dates: TBA Coordinator: Michael Polon Instructor: Ashuan Seow January 28 – March 7, 2008 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON Unit II Embodiment of Rolfing & Coordinator: Juan David Velez Rolf Movement Integration Advanced Training Advanced Foundations of Rolfing (Extended Format) Oct.29-Dec. 21, 2007 Instructor: Ashuan Seow Structural Integration/ AFORSI Instructors: Tessy Brungardt, Assistant Instructor: TBA July 15 – July 28, 2007 Advanced Instructor & Michael Murphy, Instructor: Juan David Velez Assistant/Co-Instructor. Unit III Clinical Application of September 9 - September 22, 2007 Phase I: April 30 – May 18, 2007 Rolfing Theory Coordinator: John Schewe/Suzanne Picard Phase II: July 30 - August 10, 2007 April 7 –May 30 March 16 – March 29, 2008 Instructor: Micheal Stanborough Coordinator: Jon Martine / John Schewe TOKYO, JAPAN Assistant Instructor: TBA Unit II: Embodiment of Rolfing & Rolf Movement Certification Rolf Movement Integration BRAZIL September 25 - October 19, 2007 June 4 – July 26, 2007 Instructor : Carol Agneessens Phase I Instructor: Libby Eason Assistant : Hiroyoshi Tahata June 2-4 & 6-7, 2007 Principles Instructor: Carol Agneessens September 24 – November 15, 2007 GERMANY Phase II Instructor: TBA July 21-23 & 25-26, 2007 Principles Instructor: Jane Harrington Phase I: Foundations of Rolfing Instructor: Liz Gaggini October 15 – December 14, 2007 Structural Integration Instructor: Harvey Burns July 30- August 18, 2007 Salvador – Bahia Principles Instructor: Mary Bond Instructors: Giovanni Felicioni, Konrad January 7 – February 28, 2008 Obermeier, Pierpaola Volpones UNIT III Instructor: Valerie Berg October 8th – December 13th, 2007 Phase II: Embodiment of Rolfing & Principles Instructor: Lael Keen Instructors: Pedro Prado, Cornelia Rossi and Rolf Movement Integration Unit III: Clinical Application of Paula Mattoli October 8 - November 28, 2007 Rolfing Theory Instructor: Pierpaola Volpones June 4 – July 27, 2007 Pousada Fazenda Maristela Instructor: Ray McCall Phase III: Clinical Application of – Tremembe – São Paulo Anatomy Instructor: John Schewe Rolfing Theory Advanced Training August 20 - October 12, 2007 January 28 - March 21, 2008 Instructors: Hubert Godard and Pedro Prado Instructor: Russell Stolzoff Instructor: Ray McCall February 11th – March 14th, 2008 Anatomy Instructor: Juan David Velez October 15 – December 14, 2007 AUSTRALIA Instructor: Jon Martine Island of Santa Catarina Anatomy Instructor: Jon Martine Unit I: Foundations of Rolfing Rolfing® Movement Training March 3 – April 25, 2008 Structural Integration/ FORSI November 5-November 29, 2007 Instructor: Ashuan Seow June 9-10 Anatomy Instructor: TBA Instructors: Lael Katharine Keen and Kevin Frank Advanced Training Phase I: The Rolfing Touch - 2007 Myofascial Approaches Phase II: August 6 - 17, 2007 Instructor: Michael Stanborough Instructors: Ray McCall, Advanced Instructor June 16-17 & Jon Martine, Assistant/Co-Instructor

48 www.rolf.org Structural Integration / June 2007 CONTACTS

Officers & Brazilian Red River/USA Board of Directors Board of Directors Sam Johnson Maria Helena Orlando, President Mountain/USA Valerie Berg (Faculty) Marcia Cintra, Vice President Bryan Devine, Chair 3751 Manchester Dr. NW Alfeu Ruggi, Secretary Albuquerque, NM 87107 Maria da Conceição da Costa, Director (505) 341-1167 Heartland/USA Monica Caspari, Educational Director Dan Somers [email protected] European Officers & Board of Directors Peter Bolhuis (At-large/CFO) Hubert Ritter (Chair) Southwestern/USA 14130 Whitney Circle Angelika Clusen Bill LeGrave Broomfield, CO 80020 Dorit Schatz (303) 449-2800 Keith Graham N. California/USA [email protected] Nathan Ingvalson Douw Smith Australian Officers & Committee Tessy Brungardt (Faculty) Michael Stanborough, President Cascades/N. America Ruscombe Mansion John Smith, Secretary Vacant 4801 Yellowwood Ave. Chris Howe, Treasurer Baltimore, MD 21209 Vacant, Committee Alaska/USA (410) 367-4075 Vacant, Committee Ed Toal, Chair [email protected] Hawaii/USA Laura J. Curry (Eastern USA/Board Secretary) Japanese Officers & Vacant The Rolfing® Studio Board of Directors 22 Woburn St. #26 Yoshitaka Koda, President Reading, MA 01867 Tsuguo Hirata, Vice President European Regional (781) 492-ROLF Kunikazu Miyazawa, Inspector Contacts [email protected] Atsuko Hoshino, Kei Shiokawa (Secretary) Austria Benjamin Eichenauer (At-large) Madoka Toyoda, Director of Membership ANISHA - A Center for Holistic Health Takayuki Watanabe (Membership Services Jasmin Mirfakhrai Assistant) 4031 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Scandinavia Portland, OR 97214 Eiko Mizobe, Director of Education (503) 280-5665 Yoshiko Ikejima, Foreign Liaison Hans Gramstrup [email protected] Kazunori Kawakami, Shinnosuke Nakamura (Meeting Coordinator) France Gale Loveitt (Central USA/Board Chair) Takayo Miyamoto (Director of Website) Hubert Godard 40545 Sloop Circle Steamboat Springs, CO 80487 Italy (970) 870-2888 Standing Board Monica Marinelli [email protected] Committees Spain Jeff W. Ryder (Western USA) Academic Affairs Traugott Wahl 4004 S.W. Kelly, #201 Portland , OR 97239 (503) 250-3209 [email protected] Europe-Brazil and Switzerland Tina Collenberg Maria Helena Orlando (International /CID) Countries in Development R. Itapeaçu, 108 - Sao Paulo - SP Finance United Kingdom, Ireland Brazil - Zip Code 05670-020 Keith Graham 5511 3819.0153 Membership [email protected] Education Executive Christoph Sommer (Europe) Public Relations In Motion, Praxisgemeinschaft Committee Friedrichstr. 20 Law & Legislation Jonathan Martine, Chair D-80801 München Michael Wm. Murphy Valerie Berg Germany Libby Eason +49-89-330 79 664 Research Sally Klemm [email protected] Tom Findley, M.D. Jim Jones* Russell Stolzoff Maya J. Gammon* Executive Committee Officers of Peter Bolhuis Meeting Regions Gale Loveitt Laura J. Curry Southeastern/USA G. Thomas Manzione, Ph.D.* Vacant Mid-Atlantic/USA Bill Morrow, Chair Candace Frye, Sec’y-Treas. Northeastern/N. America Dameron Midgette, Chair Bill Short, Sec’y

Structural Integration / June 2007 www.rolf.org 49 CONTACTS

Rolfing Instructors Foundations of ROLFING Rolf Institute Staff Jonathan Martine, EEC Chair STRUCTURAL INTEGRATION G. Thomas Manzione, Ph.D., Carol Agneessens Executive Director Duffy Allen Faculty Brigitte Lause, Membership Services Valerie Berg Michael Polon, Co-Chair Coordinator Harvey Burns Suzanne Picard, Co-Chair Jim Jones, Director of Education Monica Caspari Til Luchau Michele Willingham, Admissions Counselor Libby Eason Jonathan Martine Maya J. Gammon, Faculty Liaison Patrick Ellinwood John Schewe Jill Bethany, Student Services Coordinator Ellen Freed Marius Strydom Heidi Hauge, Office Manager Jane Harrington Juan David Velez Sarah Luna, Bookkeeper Lael Katharine Keen Faculty Committees Susan Seecof, PR and Marketing Consultant Sally Klemm Paula Mattoli Faculty Development ® Ray McCall The Rolf Institute Kevin McCoy and Review Board of Structural Integration Jeff Maitland, Chair Jose Augusto Menegatti 5055 Chaparral Ct., Ste. 103 Maya J. Gammon* Michael Wm. Murphy Boulder, CO 80301 Jim Jones* Pedro Prado, Ph.D. (303) 449-5903 Ray McCall Cornelia Rossi (800) 530-8875 Pedro Prado Robert Schleip, Ph.D. (303) 449-5978 fax Pierpaola Volpones Peter Schwind [email protected] Tom Wing, Membership Rep. Ashuan Seow www.rolf.org Michael Stanborough Office Hours:Mon.-Fri. 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Russell Stolzoff Student Evaluation Marius Strydom Faculty Australian Rolfing Pierpaola Volpones Thomas Walker North America Association Marnie Fitzpatrick, Administrator Suzanne Picard, Chair Suite 15, 3 Richmond Avenue Duffy Allen Advanced Rolfing Sylvania Waters NSW 2224 Larry Koliha +61-2-9522 6770 Instructors Michael Polon Jim D. Asher +61-2-9522 6756 fax Jim Jones* Tessy Brungardt www.rolfing.org.au Jeffrey Maitland, Ph.D. Europe [email protected] Ray McCall Anna Neil-Raduner, Chair Pedro Prado, Ph.D. Hans Gramstrup Brazilian Rolfing Michael Salveson Isolde Specka Peter Schwind Association Jan Henry Sultan Sybille Cavalcanti, Administrative Director Continuing Education R. Cel. Arthur de Godoy, 83 Vila Mariana Teachers-In-Training Committee 04018-050-São Paulo-SP Lael Keen, Chair Karen Lackritz (Rolfing) Brazil Kevin McCoy Movement Instructors (11) 5574-5827 Thomas Walker Jane Harrington, Chair (11) 5539-8075 Maya J. Gammon* Carol Agneessens [email protected] Mary Bond www.rolfing.com.br Rebecca Carli-Mills Teacher-in-Training Office Hours:Mon.-Fri. 8:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Monica Caspari Hubert Godard Committee Sally Klemm, Chair France Hatt-Arnold European Rolfing Ellen Freed Vivian Jaye Maya J. Gammon* Association e.V. Lael Katherine Keen Angelika Simon , Executive Director Ashuan Seow Paula Mattoli Nymphenburgerstr. 86 Michael Stanborough Jose Augusto Menegatti D-80636 München Pedro Prado, Ph.D. Germany Pierpaola Volpones Curriculum Committee +49-89 54 37 09 40 Thomas Walker, Chair +49-89 54 37 09 42 fax Fascial Anatomy Jane Harrington www.rolfing.org Ray McCall [email protected] Instructors Maya J. Gammon* John Schewe, Chair Luiz Fernando Bertolucci Japanese Rolfing Paul Gordon, M.A. Association Jonathan Martine Sugimoto Bldg. 3rd Floor Michael Wm. Murphy 3-3-11 Nishi-Shinjuku Cornelia Rossi Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0023 Robert Schleip, Ph.D. Japan Louis Schultz, Ph.D., Emeritus Yoshiko Ikejima: [email protected] Juan David Velez +81-3-5339-7285 fax *Staff Representative Website: rolf.cute-site.org

50 www.rolf.org Structural Integration / June 2007