Rolfing
Sarah specializes in Rolfing® Structural Integration. She incorporates into her Rolfing® sessions her knowledge and training in Deep Tissue Massage, CranioSacral Therapy, Myofascial Release, Somato-Emotional Release, Viseral Work, Zero Balancing, and Healing with Imagery and Breath. Her goal is to assist people in achieving Deep Mind/Body/Spirit Healing.
Do you want to enhance your athletic performance? Do you want to feel better overall and move in an easier, more graceful, and more coordinated way? Do you need help with recovery from any of the following?
- Joint Replacements
- Injuries or Accidents
- Repetitive Strain injuries like Carpal Tunnel, Tennis Elbow,and Plantar Fasciitis, Sciatica
- Pregnancy and Birthing
- Headaches and Migraines
- Back, Neck,or Shoulder Pain
- TMJ, Clenching, or Grinding
- Chronic Ear Infections, Colic, ADD, and ADHD in Infants and Children
- Other Chronic Pain Conditions
If you answered yes to any of the above, Rolfing® treatment could be beneficial to your overall health.
What are the Goals of Rolfing®?
- Allow the painful areas of our bodies to become comfortable (alleviate pain)
- Help the places that don't move to move
- Align the body from head to toe, so the force of gravity does not weigh us down
- Lengthen the shortened areas
- Teach ourselves a new way of moving, standing and sitting which supports the new alignment
- Help our movement become less painful, easier, more efficient, and more coordinated
Rolfing® is not Massage.
Although Rolfing®therapy involves touch, there are two key differences between Rolfing® treatment and massage: there is no oil used and there is no stroking or kneading of the muscles.In Rolfing®, the touch is a slow steady pressure. It is vital to the process to convey to me when something is painful. The most important part of your treatment is for you to physically feel that something good is happening because of the pressure.
What is a Rolfing® Session Like?
First, we establish what you would like to get out of Rolfing®, including your goals and the specific needs you want addressed and improved.
In order to accomplish your goals, it is important to understand why your body is painful, tight, bent over, and cranky. What have you done, or are you still doing that contributes to the pattern of dysfunction? Patterns of behavior can create chronic pain conditions.
For your treatment sessions, it is best to wear loose shorts and a sports bra or camisole for women and loose shorts, briefs,or boxers for men.
To start your first Rolfing® session, I usually ask you to take a little walk around the office so I can see how you move. I often ask you what you notice about specific parts of your body or the way it functions. For example, I may ask you to notice your breathing and describe it to me, or to describe the sensation of your feet on the floor as you walk.
I’ll then have you lie down on the table on your back, belly, or sometimes on your side. It if is cold or you feel more comfortable with a cover, a cover will be provided. Some parts of the session may be done sitting.
The focus of your Rolfing® treatment depends on the areas of discomfort or dysfunction you have identified, what I see when you walk and move, and the other areas involved. Every Rolfing® session ends with neck and head work to help integrate the work done in other areas. In addition, we will talk about things for you to be aware of between sessions, ways to sit or move that will help preserve/maintain the new length and looseness in the body.
How Many Sessions Will You Need?
Generally, one Rolfing® session is not enough to undo the patterns that took years to establish,or to rectify an injury. If you have a specific issue which is acute, we can do a series of 3-5 sessions to work on the specific issue. After the focused sessions, we then transition to the Rolfing® Ten-Series. If you do not have an acute injury, you’ll begin the Ten-Series during your first session.
The Ten-Series is designed to work systematically through all areas of the body–separating, lengthening, opening, and realigning as we go. In the first 7 sessions, we work on differentiating/separating the parts of the body, helping them function independently. Sessions 8-10 are focused on integrating the body.
- Sessions 1-3:Focus on the superficial fascia
- Sessions 4-7:Focus on the core/deeper fascia
- Session 8-10:Focus on enabling the body to be functional as a whole in a more comfortable and coordinated way
(SER) is a therapeutic process that can occur during CranioSacral Therapy or Rolfing to help rid the mind and body of the residual effects of trauma.
CranioSacral Therapy CST was pioneered and developed by osteopathic physician John E. Upledger following extensive scientific studies from 1975 to 1983 at Michigan State University, where he served as a clinical researcher and Professor of Biomechanics.
Developed by Fritz Smith, MD in the early 1970s, Zero Balancing is a powerful body-mind therapy that uses skilled touch to address the relationship between energy and structures of the body.