Marion
Stroud, Gloucestershire
Over the years I had picked up my supply of ankle, knee and lower back injuries. Despite various therapies which use tissue manipulation my pelvis remained askew. I go to line dance classes and after each class was experiencing ever worsening pains in my knees, Achilles, ankles, top and bottom of feet, lower back and legs.
Many years previously, I had read a book about Rolfing, as it was then known and had been excited by its description. I wanted my body to be re-aligned and to gain a greater sense of integration and ease of movement both without and within.
My own experience was generally that of gentle manipulation which would locate a place within my body where there was a stasis, almost a “holding in” of breath which was then followed by a “breathing out” and release in that area. The effect of this would then ripple throughout the surrounding tissues. Occasionally, old memories would surface. Sometimes I would enter into a very deep place especially during the later sessions. At the end of each session when I stood up my body would be better aligned and more at ease than it had been at the start of the session. I had not realised how it was possible that simply standing on my feet could be so different.
All those aches and pains have disappeared and my pelvis is now properly aligned. There is a sense of flow and ease throughout my body. This has increased with time. My weight is now evenly balanced down each leg (I had been standing lopsided). I have more energy and more flexibility from my hip area. All in all, I feel more integrated and settled within my body and myself. Fabulous
"Structural Integration is about the whole person, it is about fascia and feeling. The sensation of moving from weakness to strength, the exhilaration of owning a new part of oneself, the immediate and simultaneous re-education of one's being and action, the joy of self – empowerment, waking up, these are the experiences of Structural Integration."
- Emmett Hutchins