Pilates Digest website currently has an article on rolfing and the author says Pilates and rolfing are made for one another.
“Over a series of sessions (typically 10-12) the Rolfer uses his or her fingers, soft fists, and even elbows in concert with gentle client movements to lengthen and unwind the investing connective tissue of the body in a systematic way. It can be intense and yet can also be amazingly pleasurable and even relaxing.
Rolfing is not so much a technique, though it has developed and appropriated many over the years. It is an approach to finding and uncovering what can be called “the animal body” – that innate somatic intelligence inside each of us that knows how to sit, stand, and move with ease and dynamic strength.”
The link between Pilate and rolfing comes in here -
When a Pilates client has plateaued, reached an impasse, or is in pain, we frequently recommend that they see a Rolfer. Hands-on work has a level of specificity and precision that can open things up like nothing else. Likewise, our SI practitioners see so much value in the stability, strength, process ownership, and joy that Pilates engenders that they frequently refer clients to the Pilates side of the studio. It’s a win-win for everyone, especially the clients!
A search for ‘Rolfing Australia’ brings up Gary Hehirs’ website, he’s based in Sydney and has this to say,
I employ a variety of techniques in my work including;
MYO-FASCIAL RELEASE – frees fascial and muscular restrictions
JOINT MOBILISATION – frees restricted joints without manipulation
MYO-FASCIAL NEEDLING – quickly releases trigger points and provides rapid pain relief
GUA SHA THERAPY – removes toxic wastes from the tissue resulting in rapid relief from pain.
Ida Rolf developed this system,
“Rolfing® Structural Integration is named after Dr Ida P Rolf. Dr Rolf began an enquiry into human well-being more than fifty years ago and devoted her energy to creating a holistic system of soft tissue manipulation and movement education that organized the whole body in gravity. She eventually named this system Structural Integration. She discovered that she could achieve remarkable changes in posture and structure by manipulating the body’s myofascial system.”
