Charles
Self-Employed Graphic Designer, Wallingford, Oxfordshire
After suffering with severe back pain for over 15 years caused by a herniated disk in my lumber (L4/5) whilst playing squash. I had stopped almost all physical activity and was wary of even picking moderately heavy objects up.
I had a martial arts background and was familiar with a lot of body work therapy having experienced osteopathy, chiropractic, shiatsu, massage, Pilates etc. all to no great avail; I was still stuck in a broken body.
I then tried something I had always wanted to, Yoga, hoping for it to unlock and strengthen my back as well as being great fun to practice, I was nervous but ready to get on with life... It was great but my back/body was not playing along so I had to stop after a year or so.
Properly dejected I ploughed on as best I could whilst trying to enjoy life and enjoy my young son’s vibrance and desire to jump on me whenever the mood took (mostly all the time it seemed). But I was not right and had to find a way to get my life back.
With the wonders of Youtube I spent idol time surfing back cures and therapies, none of which seemed more than an excuse to relieve me of cash by regurgitating various forms of what I had tried before, I even bought an inversion table (pleasant, but not a cure for me anyway, it’s still in the cupboard).
Whilst Youtubing I came across Rolfing (structural integration) and it what I saw intrigued me, it seemed intuitively to be a more intelligent and insightful path to recovery and no one seems to be shouting at me the way some evangelical ‘back cures’ can do.
What I saw really didn’t explain much of the process and a I couldn’t quite grasp the physiology of it, yet I was drawn to seek it out.
So, after a quick ‘search’ I found Vicky Wright and a phone call later, was happy to put scepticism aside and see her... After the first session I was not jumping around like a spring lamb but feeling both comforted and confident that here was a path worth travelling. I had heard (on the web) that it was going to hurt, but I found it exhilarating not painful at all.
Vicky was wonderful and I decided to do the full 10 series with one a week suiting me very well. Each week I felt more and more comfortable with my body and came to look forward to the sessions as the highlight of my week.
The first light bulb moment came oddly quite early on when Vicky worked on my legs and knees, I had overstressed my outer knee doing the yoga and it had not gone away, after the session my knee felt great and a full range of movement came back somehow translating to my whole body and allowing me, with help from Vicky, to get into a position where I could ‘breathe’ into my low back and expand that area as I breathed, this felt great and released a lot of built up tension.
From then on everything got better and better, I am now back doing yoga and can jump on my boy should the need arise. I feel so much more in control of things, and whilst I still have to be careful I am not bound by my body, when I get the feeling of tension building up in my back I can recall Vicky’s sessions and ‘think’ how to get back on track.
What I found great about SI/Rolfing was the bliss of the hands on therapy and most importantly the guided self awareness brought about.
So, thanks Vicky and thanks to Ida Rolf for an intelligent path to recovery.
"If you can imagine how it feels to have a fluid, light, balanced body, free of pain, stiffness, and chronic stress, at ease with itself and the earth's gravitational field, then you will understand the goals of Structural Integration "
- Ida P. Rolf.