FYI UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Rolfing aids in aligning bodies
Edmée Rodriguez/KANSAN
By Liping Chow Special to the Kansan
Debra Stang lies on a cushioned table, her body covered by a towel, breathing rhythmically as another woman leans over her, pressing on the joint of Stang's elbow and asking her to move it as firm pressure is applied.
Carol Rasor calls herself a certified roller, practicing her therapy at 303 W. 11th St.
Carol Rasor, certified roffer, applies pressure to Rod Runyan's back to release tension in the tissue layers. Rolfing is performed to align the body to its center of gravity.
"Rolfing is one of the methods of body structure integration and the oldest method," Rasor said. "Rolfing is about getting the body aligned in gravity and releasing tension in tissue layers."
Ida Rolf is the founder and namesake of rofling. She recognized that gravity was the basic shaper of the body. When the body's natural balance is disturbed, it causes body misalignment and subsequent strain, lowered vitality and impaired biological and psychological functioning.
This is where rofling comes in. Rasor said that rofling released the body's segments — legs, torso, arms
from lifelong patterns of tension and bracing. By doing this, it permits gravity to realign and balance the body. Because the body is better balanced, it expends less of its vital energies against gravity. Therefore, the body will feel lighter and movement will be easier.
"But the true ideal is doing it once a week because it allows the body enough time to integrate the work in the last session, and it allows continuity of the work." she said.
A person wanting to undergo rofing therapy first answers a health questionnaire and discusses what he or she hopes to gain from the sessions with the rolfer. Then the person is asked to stand in front of a full-length mirror in his or her underwear. The rolfer will show the person where the body is not aligned. After that, the rofing session begins.
Rasor said that scheduling 10 sessions is a client's choice.
"Rolling is broken down into 10 sessions," Rasor said. "Each session has a specific goal and territory."
The first seven sessions remove strain from specific areas of the body. The remaining sessions organize and align the body as a whole.
The person is asked to breathe in and, at the same time, move the part the roller holds. The tension created by the pressure and movement will free and reposition the connecting tissue and align the body's segments.
Rasor said that the goal of a rofter is to help a client discover the most efficient way of using his or her body and to bring the body close to its center line of gravity so fewer muscles are required when standing or sitting.
Rasor, who charges $65 a session,
said all kinds of people are roffed,
and the reasons vary. Some people do it because they have physical pains, and some just want the benefits of roffing.
A study by Valerie Hunt and Wayne Massey in the department of kinesiology at the University of California-Los Angeles found that the
benefits of roling are better posture, more flexibility and relief of pain, tension and stress.
Stang, Lawrence graduate students and a regular client of Rasor's, had a specific reason for being rolled.
"I wasn't even able to feel if I was hungry or tired. I just was tuned out so much," Stang said. "I thought that might get me back in touch to paying attention to my body signals again."
Stang said that rofing helped her to call attention back to her body.
"I notice that I have a lot more flexibility. I feel that I'm standing taller," she said. "I could move easier and breath easier because some of the work she did in certain areas."
People who have heard of rolling but never experienced or seen it may think it is painful. Rasor said that when the technique was created 50 years ago, it was painful but
is usually more gentle now,depending on the roller.
"Rolfing is about changing of the body, and for some people that is really threatening," Rasor said. "A lot of the pain factor is the fear that it is going to be painful."
She said that she usually had an on-going dialogue with her clients about pain.
"It shouldn't be painful. If it is, tell me, and I will change the way that I'm doing it so that it's not painful," Rasor says to them.
Stang said that there were times when she had felt a little uncomfortable, but that it wasn't painful.
Rolfing is completed when the 10 sessions are over, but some people go back 10 more sessions because they want to reach a higher level, Rasor said.
"Rolfing is permanent. The work holds forever, but there is always more to get," she said.
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