Organizing the shoulder
Summary
The body seeks order: it self-organizes. During our lives, we encounter all kinds of demands on our bodies which challenge the order, ease and comfort we start out with. These include injuries and trauma, overuse, disease, postural and movement habits—and most consistently, the constant pull of gravity. How we've reckoned with all of these demands is written into the structure of our bodies.
Ease, comfort and efficiency are the hallmarks of a high degree of order in the body. Rolfing works to help the body reach a better level of order (integration), while alleviating problems that are disrupting that order. Some common reasons for receiving Rolfing Structural Integration are:
- improved physical performance for athletes and others
- an increased sense of ease and energy in the body
- recovery from injury and trauma including accidents, surgeries and repetitive strain
- chronic pain issues such as joint pain, headaches, back and neck pain
- postural problems like scoliosis, hunching, etc.
In a series of sessions, Rolfing facilitates a deep, organic reorganization of the client's body and movement patterns. Rolfers work with two media to improve how a person's body is organized: the connective tissue, fascia, that pervades the body and organizes its form and its movement; and the client's own body awareness and coordination. This makes the experience not simply "passive" but an involved learning and repatterning process that goes on deep within the body, one that lasts.