Socrates said, “Know thyself.” We must know ourselves in order that we might know the world because the world begins in ourselves. We cannot be overestimate how important it is especially for children, to understand this concept. We forget that childhood is charged with concerns and traumas, which the adult has survived and can only dimly recall, or perhaps has suppressed completely.
Control, confidence, and understanding of how one’s body truly works--its limits and its strengths, a trust in its essential fluidity and resiliency -- these are the aspects which give us confidence about the operation of the one organism we are closest to our individual selves.
Rolfing children addresses these concerns at an early age to give children ease with their own bodies and to allow them to develop the confidence that they carry their own state of grace within them. As their lives are just beginning to unfold there is no way to separate the physical child from his mental and spiritual self. A child who slumps physically slumps mentally and emotionally. Conversely, a child whose body is balanced and who moves gracefully and confidently reflects an inner grace and confidence.
However, as conscientious parents can be all too painfully aware, not all children carry their bodies so well. Thus, we have come to “read” those timid, tense, or distorted bodies as expressing needs, which are not otherwise being communicated. As parents one of our concerns is to produce a balanced child. Rolfing is an immediately effective means of addressing this objective.
“A Rolfer works with gravity. He understands the gravitational pull in everything that a human being does, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, from the moment he is conceived until the day the undertaker catches up with him. Gravity does not take a vacation.”
~ Dr. Ida Rolf
“Emotions are intimately involved with our muscular tone. They reflect the state of balance or imbalance in our bodies. i.e. the relationship of our body to the field of gravity...”
~ Dr. Ida Rolf
Imagine the body as a stack of segmented blocks: head, shoulders, thorax, pelvis, and legs. When these blocks are aligned correctly, a straight line can be drawn, beginning from the top of the head, which will touch the ear, shoulder, pelvis, leg, and ankle. In this optimal vertical alignment, gravity will work to support the body. This is because the weight of each “block “ is close to a common, central (vertical) axis. Hence, each block “rests” on the one below it. In such a “resting” state, our bodies use far less energy to move.
In a body that is out of alignment, however each of the “blocks” does not rest on the one below it. For example, when a person habitually hangs his head, the force of gravity reinforces this downward trend. If it weren’t for the muscles in the back of the neck that initially compensate for this condition, that person would always look as if he were about to fall over.
People expend a great deal of extra energy to deal with such imbalance. The purpose of Rolfing is to correct physical imbalance so that the body blocks are optimally aligned within the field of gravity. When this is accomplished, the person has increased energy available for use in more creative and joyful ways.
These are the objectives of our professional efforts with our clients. And, especially when these clients are children, we often observe in them a thrilling realization that at last, and perhaps for the first time, they understand what straight means, as they begin to assert control over their bodies and lives. The purpose of Rolfing is to better balance an individual’s body around a vertical line in the field of gravity so that gravity can support the body rather than tear it down. The result of this better balance through Rolfing is an enhancement not only of physical well-being, but also of emotional and spiritual well-being.
The average person of any age suffers from aches, stiffness, and musculoskeletal imbalance, and the amount of discomfort increases as he or she ages. The key factor here is not so much age as the force of gravity. We know that this force, which operates to press down on the body, can be used to support our bodies as well.
Rolfing involves manipulation of the major muscle groups and their connective tissue, called fascia. This manipulation is designed to bring the body’s soft tissue to its anatomically efficient position. The induced changes are eventually made permanent by the more efficient patterns of movement, which result. The net effect is a significant decrease in the amount of stress experienced in the body during both normal and strenuous activities.
In order to understand Rolfing, it is important to consider the nature of fascia. The word fascia comes from Latin and means “bands.” Fascia forms a continuous network throughout every part of the body.
Deep fascia, as the name suggests, is found deep inside the body. It surrounds and attaches itself to the various interior structures of the body: the membranes that cover the bones, the membranes that envelop each primary bundle of muscle fibers, ligaments, vessels, nerves, bursa, lymph nodes, viscera, joints, and cartilage. In the muscles, it forms walls and separates the major muscle groups. It functions as a system of protection, padding, insulation, separation, and support for various body tissues and organs and the nerves and vessels that run through them.
Facial tissue responds to physical and emotional trauma by shortening and thickening. Over time, this has the effect of pulling the body out of its balanced vertical alignment. An unbalanced body will compensate to combat the downward pull of gravity, and this drains additional energy. The resulting distress is cumulative-- the body becomes more and more out of balance as time passes.
Consider the example of a child who falls on his knee. Though this is not a serious injury, it causes pain for several days. To ease the discomfort, the child favors the leg. Neighboring muscle groups are used to support the changed pattern of weight bearing. The fascia in the distressed areas thickens or sticks together to support the increased load on these muscles. A lifetime of such bumps and knocks causes a body to lose its vertical alignment and natural grace.
Emotional trauma has a comparable effect. A child who is often yelled at and criticized may carry his head tipped downward as an emotional response to the hostility he has experienced. Over time, the head hanging reaction becomes chronic; the muscles in the back of the neck become enveloped with thickened fascia. The child develops and changes, but the head tends to remain in its set position. Not only does the imbalanced posture become set, but the associated emotional feelings of inadequacy become “locked up” in the musculature as well.
These distortions in one part of the body cause distorting compensations in other areas. The fascia has a tendency to tighten in a chain reaction. For example, a tilted head may cause thickening in the neck; at the other end of the trunk this imbalance may cause the pelvis to tilt; this in turn may cause the knees to lock, and so on.
This is why we observe and work on the entire body when an injury occurs. It is as important to work on the compensations, as it is to work on the original injury. As Dr. Rolf routinely said, “Work where it isn’t.” For if only the immediately distorted or immediately distressed areas are Rolfed, the ignored compensations eventually operate to pull the body out of line again.
Robert Toporek was trained and certified by Dr. Ida P. Rolf as an advanced Rolf practitioner. In 1978, Dr. Rolf and Robert began a project to bring this extraordinary healing work to babies and children. Toporek is respected worldwide for his pioneering efforts. Robert has helped thousands of men, women and children transform their posture, relieve chronic pain and turn tension into energy and vitality. In 1993, he began a project to bring this work to culturally and economically deprived children. Today more and more families are turning to Robert for his expertise.
