Standing Taller with Rolfing
By Certified Rolfer - Cindy Atkinson

"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" by Dr. Ida P. Rolf

It all began with a woman named Ida Rolf who founded Rolfing. Ida's extensive search for solutions to family health problems led her to examine many systems that studied the effect of structure on function, including Yoga, Osteopathy, and Chiropractic. From her research, a system of work emerged which she called Structural Integration. She developed her system into a series of ten sessions known as Rolfing. These ten sessions were designed to help balance and lengthen the body through deep tissue manipulation.

I have been fortunate to work with a client, shown here, who is very active and athletic with little complaints about his body. He was interested in Rolfing, so he could gain more flexibility and greater mobility through his hips mainly for athletic reasons. After ten sessions of Rolfing, my client was standing tall and better organized from top to bottom. The progress shown in these photos was over the course of seven sessions. He received the full ten series, where not only did his posture change from a forward head and slumped shoulders, the natural imbalances within the shoulders and hips down to his legs slowly began to balance out. Overall he has experienced less cramping of his muscles and sees an improvement in his flexibility. He is very aware of his new posture and stands looking more youthful, rather than drawn down from gravity.

I started on this path because I've always had a passion for massage and truly care about people. I believe in the wonderful benefits that deep tissue massage can provide. One client sent me a wonderful email stating, "So this is what it is like to be pain free." Something she had not experienced in years. I am a Certified Rolfer and studied at the Rolf Institute in Boulder, Colorado and the third at the European Rolfing Institute in Munich, Germany. I also have a Bachelors of Science degree in Genetics and Cell Biology. I would love to answer any questions you may have. You can also go to the Rolf Institute Website at www.rolf.org

By Certified Rolfer - Cindy Atkinson.

Structurally Sound. Penticton  structurallysound@shaw.ca