Beating the Effects of Gravity with Rolfling
By Jackie Christensen, BS, HHP, NC, MH
Faculty Member of GCNM
Rolfing was founded by Dr. Ida P. Rolf in the early to mid 1950’s. Dr. Rolf devoted her life to creating a holistic system of soft tissue manipulation and movement education that organized the whole body structurally and in relation to gravity. She believed that to be healthy one must align their head, ankles, hips, thorax, pelvis, knees, shoulders, ears, etc., in the correct way or else the negative effects of gravity will be felt.
Rolfing has been used to improve posture, relieve chronic pain, and reduce stress. It can also improve breathing, increase energy, improve self-confidence, and relieve physical and mental stress. Rolfers believe that blocked energy is accumulated in the soft tissue from emotional tension and is released through the Rolfing treatment, causing the patient to feel more energetic and have a more positive state of mind.
Research has demonstrated that Rolfing creates a more efficient use of the muscles, allows the body to conserve energy, and creates more refined patterns of movement. One study revealed that Rolfing significantly reduced the spinal curvature of those with lordosis (sway back) and enhanced neurological functioning. Many athletes both amateur and professional use Rolfing to keep in top condition, to prevent injuries, and to recover more quickly from injuries.
The basic Rolfing treatment consists of ten sessions, a.k.a. the Ten Series, to gradually unlock the whole body. Each session lasts sixty to ninety minutes and has a specific goal. The sessions are spaced a week or longer apart and generally cost about one hundred dollars per session. Prior to the first session the client is asked to complete a health questionnaire, and photographs are taken to assist with evaluation of his or her progress. The treatment is usually done on a massage table with the patient wearing only undergarments. During a Rolfing session, a client generally lies down and is guided through specific movements. With each progressive session the Rolfer can go deeper and deeper into the restrictions of the connective tissue. As the Rolfer moves through the body, the release spreads through all the tissues and organs. The Rolfer uses his or her fingers, hands, knuckles, and elbows to rework the connective tissue over the entire body. The tissues are worked until they become pliable, allowing the muscles to lengthen and return to their normal alignment. As the Rolfer applies pressure, he or she can feel the facia release. After a period of integration, specialized or advanced treatment sessions are available and a "tune-up" session is recommended every six months.
Rolfing has continued to evolve over the decades into a far more gentle practice than in its early days. However, since Rolfing involves vigorous deep tissue manipulation, it is often described as uncomfortable, especially during the first several sessions. Rolfing is generally regarded as safe. However, pregnant women and people with skeletal, vascular, or clot disorders should consult a health care provider before undertaking Rolfing sessions. Rolfing is now a registered service in 27 countries. Today, there are more than 1,550 Rolfers and Rolf Movement Practitioners worldwide and it’s estimated that more than 1 million people have received Rolfing work.
Book Review
How You Stand, How You Move, How You Live
By Missy Vineyard
The Alexander Technique (AT) is a remarkably simple but powerful method for learning to skillfully control how your brain and body interact, allowing you to better coordinate your movements while increasing the accuracy of your mind’s thoughts and perceptions.
Now, in How You Stand, How You Move, How You Live, leading Alexander Technique master teacher Missy Vineyard sheds a completely fresh light on this revolutionary method and, in the process, offers path-breaking insight into the mind-body connection. Vineyard thoroughly explains and teaches the central skills of the AT through simple self-experiments, and she offers engaging stories of students in their lessons to show its effective application across a range of disciplines, including the performing arts, athletics, health, psychology, and education.
How You Stand, How You Move, How You Live introduces us to a world within ourselves that we know surprisingly little about--and thereby helps us to understand why we often cannot do what we should be able to do, why we harm ourselves with chronic tension and anxiety, and why our thoughts often seem beyond our control. Vineyard is also the first AT teacher to draw on cutting-edge research in neuroscience and to synthesize those findings with AT theories and techniques. She fully illuminates the benefits to be reaped by mastery of the Alexander Technique, which include:
- Release from acute or chronic physical pain
- Enhanced mental attention and focus
- Reduced anxiety
- Improved balance and coordination
- Relief from tension and stress
- Increased ease and efficiency performing precise movement skills
Book Summary from www.amazon.com 
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Missy Vineyard is one of the foremost master teachers of the Alexander Technique in the United States today. Vineyard is the director of the Alexander Technique School of New England (ATSNE), which she founded in 1987, and the author of numerous articles on the technique. For the last 19 years she has devoted the majority of her schedule to teacher training and to developing a unique, systematic curriculum designed to ensure the highest level of hands-on skill among the graduates of ATSNE. In addition to her work at ATSNE, she maintains a busy private teaching practice and conducts workshops on the Technique to a wide variety of groups, large and small, young and old. She lives in Amherst, Mass.
Student Profile
Barbara Lodge
Barbara is a current student of GCNM’s Bachelor’s of Science in Holistic Health (BSHH) degree program. She has been kind enough to share her experiences and aspirations with us in the interview below. Thank you again!
Q. Why did you choose the BSHH program over the certificate programs?
A. I have some 165 college credit hours, but no degree. I decided I really want a Bachelor’s degree. But, after reviewing many programs, I really didn’t believe it much of what was present in conventional degrees, including a BSN, which would have been a "natural" progression for an RN. When I discovered the BSHH program available with GCNM, I felt that this could be a degree I could believe in.
Q. What expectations did you have for the BSHH degree program?
A. Because I’m both an RN and a minister/missionary, I had been looking for something that could blend my profession and my ministry together. BSHH will allow me to help people as a practitioner, will give me a way to supplement my income, and eventually will become my profession. A certificate wouldn’t really do that.
Q. What was your experience with the materials provided and information presented in the BSHH degree program?
A. I’m still in the process of learning, and am currently working on the section that will give me a NC (Nutritional Consultant) certificate. Some of the information in the early classes was repetition of what I already knew as an RN, such as Anatomy and Physiology. However, I have found many of the books remarkably informative, and, in addition to being easy to read, they have been a wealth of very use-able knowledge. I find myself frequently referring to what I just read, as members of my congregation ask me for health information and help with their health problems.
Q. What have your experiences with distance study been like?
A. Sometimes it is slow-going, because of my very busy life. But, I find that I can learn at my own pace. There is a very low stress-level with distance study; a big plus for someone like me!
Q. What do you plan on doing with the knowledge gained by the BSHH degree program?
A. I have a couple of possibilities. The first could easily provide me with a second income. I am in my 50’s. I have a dream of having a free medical clinic in our area since there isn’t one now. I hope to offer some of my services free, as a ministry-outreach to my community. Also, I hope to begin doing NC (Nutritional Consultant) counseling by the end of this year (the local health-food stores are begging me to get my certificate ASAP, so they can begin to refer to me!!) Second, I hope to, in the course of the next 10 years, to build a clientele to the point that I can retire and continue to run my practice as my retirement support.
Once again, I thank Barbara for taking the time to share her experiences with us. All of at us at GCNM wish her the best.
Interviewer, Kate Marcinak, HHP, BA, C-PT, GCNM Newsletter Editor
Learn more about the Global College of Natural Medicine by logging on at http://www.GCNM.com, where you will find details on the school, its programs, tuition, and contact information.
Motivation Article
Taking the Stress out of Talk.
By Bill Scheinman
Ask yourself this: When you are speaking with someone, how often are you in touch with your body, your thoughts, and your emotional mood? When we speak, most of the time we are on automatic pilot, reacting out of habit without much awareness. Our minds tend to get completely lost in the verbal play of energy called words and sentences. The body and mind are often separated during conversation, and as we speak our stress response begins operating without our even being aware of it.
Have you ever noticed how excited and a little disoriented you can become after a talk with someone? And this isn’t just true of stressful or challenging conversations. Even after the friendliest discussion, we can often feel tense or disembodied, just because we’ve expended so much energy without being aware of it. And this disembodied experience happens when we are listening, too. When listening, we often put 100% of our energy on the other person, trying to be a good listener but stepping out of body awareness to do so. Yet this very energized attentiveness can make us tense. The fact is, talk — whether chitchat at the water cooler at work or a heated discussion about politics with your spouse — can often make us tense, mentally scattered and drain us of energy. But it doesn’t have to be this way. A simple mindfulness practice during conversation can keep us mentally centered and physically energized and calm. The result is that our mindful presence during and after a conversation remains intact.
Here’s how it works: As you speak, keep your main focus on your body sensations, while focusing on what you are saying secondarily. Notice the breath as it enters your body, and be aware of it as it leaves. Notice the touch points of the body — your sit bones and shoulders on the chair, your feet on the floor, your hands in your lap. Don’t be as concerned about what exactly it is you need to say or how people will perceive you as you say it. Your words will be just as comprehensible as before, but they’ll be more in tune with your inner presence, integrity and authenticity. One way of visualizing this is that as you speak, let the words come more from your body and less from your head. When you practice this mindful speaking, you might notice that you won’t speak as fast or automatically as before, and you may often find yourself pausing before speaking. That’s good — it means you’re not as caught in what you’re saying and you’ve maintained your awareness. Stress will not gain a foothold when you are this mindful.
Likewise, when listening to someone, put most of your attention on your body sensations and your breathing and much less attention on the words or the person who is speaking — you’ll still hear all the words and understand them just as well, but you’ll do so with more presence of mind and awareness. Indeed, when you stay connected to the body and the breath while listening you can often pay attention more deeply than before. This "active listening" allows you to be immersed in what someone tells you without losing yourself in the process. Mindful conversing takes practice, and you’ll find that you’ll often lose your awareness while speaking. But as in any mindfulness meditation practice, the moment you notice you haven’t been present, you are being present. And you can start over again. Mindful conversation is an accessible way of bringing more presence and satisfaction to the moments of our everyday lives.
Article Source http://www.ArticleBiz.com
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Bill Scheinman is the co-founder of Stress Reduction at Work, a business that brings mindfulness training as applied to stress management to workplaces. He has taught stress reduction and mindfulness courses to professionals, clinicians, and community activists.
Search online for values in the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference.
