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Q&A
Q: What is Rolfing® and how does it differ from traditional massage?
A: Massage relieves stress, alleviates soft tissue pain, improves circulation and body functions and improves mental outlook. It is extremely beneficial to an ongoing health and fitness regime. Rolfing® goes further to actually change the structure of the body to correct the sources of tension, so that the tension is unnecessary and the body and spirit are intrinsically improved.
Q: What types of people tend to be interested in Rolfing®?
A: Serious athletes interested in improving their performance in sports such as golfing and tennis will often pursue Rolfing®. Also people with chronic orthopedic problems caused by accidents and lifetime poor posture. Often, people pursue Rolfing® as an alternative to surgery. The common thread is an openness and intention to change their bodies in a positive way to improve their lives.
Q: How would you technically define Rolfing® massage?
A: Well, I did not invent Rolfing®, but according to the to the official Rolfing® website, www.rolf.org, “Rolfing® Structural Integration is… a holistic system of soft tissue manipulation and movement education that organizes the whole body in gravity…”
Findings are that we can “achieve remarkable changes in posture and structure by manipulating the body's myofascial system.” The Rolfing® site includes many testimonials and research to that effect.
Also from www.rolf.org, “Research has demonstrated that Rolfing creates a more efficient use of the muscles, allows the body to conserve energy, and creates more economical and refined patterns of movement. Research also shows that Rolfing significantly reduces chronic stress and changes in the body structure. For example, a study showed that Rolfing significantly reduced the spinal curvature of subjects with lordosis (sway back); it also showed that Rolfing enhances neurological functioning.”
Q: What kind of results can people expect with Rolfing®?
A: I have seen people dramatically and visibly improve their structural balance and posture, often actually becoming an inch or more taller after several sessions. The most important result is the reduction or elimination of pain due to improper structural balance, and as a result improved performance and freedom of movement.
Q: How does a person typically feel after a Rolfing® massage?
A: A person will feel lighter and freer in movement immediately. They will be able to maintain good posture with much less effort, due to improved alignment. Other people will typically notice the visible change in posture post-massage.
Q: What is your intention in providing Rolfing® massage”
A: I intend to basically re-sculpt the body to allow gravity to work with the person rather than against them. I work to enhance their freedom of movement back to a more natural state, removing the artificial constraints imposed by a high-stress lifestyle and possibly years of neglect.
Q: What kind of people would you advise to avoid Rolfing® massage?
A: People who accept that age, accidents and sports-related conditions inevitably cause lifetime lack of function and pain. Rolfing massage treatments may be uncomfortable, and not suited for people without serious intention to change their structural integration and their lives in a positive way.
Kate Brew is the co-owner of Aegean Skin and Massage Therapies. Above is Kate’s interview one of Boca’s two certified Rolfing ® practitioners, Harvey Smith. Harvey is certified by the prestigious Rolf Institute of Human Structural Integration of Boulder, Colorado and provides Rolfing® massage at Aegean Skin and Massage Therapies. You can find out more by contacting Aegean Skin and Massage Therapies at 561-392-7446 and on the web at www.aegeantherapies.com.
East Boca location
289 E. Palmetto Park Rd.
Boca Raton, FL 33432
Central Boca location
6018 SW 18th St. C-1
Boca Raton, FL 33433
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