Rolfing®---The
Rolf
Technique of Structural Integration
and Movement Education
Back, neck, hip and knee pain are needless conditions in most
peoples
lives
Is Rolfing for you?
Movement Education
Change your structure and comfort level yourself, through
guided movement and easy exercises.
Click
Here for a page of links to video clips for your use.
These movements may or may not be appropriate for you. Your best option is to know yourself and your limits, don't cause strain or pain, and consult your practitioner when in doubt.
Practioners may freely link to these exercises on your website or email. Just copy and paste the name of the exercise to an email to your client.
The doctor of the future
will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human
frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.
Thomas Edison
Every day, you do a 16 hour marathon, or 16 hour workout (however you want to look at it. If you do this work with good, appropriate form, you will strengthen and build yourself up for a healthy vigorous life. If you Do this workout in poor form, consistantly straining at your tasks, you will tear yourself down and suffer the ravaging effects we blame on aging.
Vic Braden (an old tennis teacher) said that if you improve your game by 10%, you will have to totally change the group you challenge because of your new level. Could a 10% difference make this kind of difference in your athletic, family, work, or social life?
Have you ever talked to someone who thought you were sad, and after a few moments -sure enough- you are sad? Did you know that more of what we communicate comes from visual and auditory cues, other than the words we speak? People make assumptions about us from our body language and treat us accordingly. We in return, respond to them within this paradigm.
Have you noticed that when you stub your toe or get a blister, that you alter your gait, change the way you hold your back, and maybe even change the way you use your arms and hold your head. These patterns can get stuck into your body and become a part of your physical "Schtick".
In 10 short sessions of Rolfing, you can change these patterns of pain, strain, immobility, to improve your abilities, appearance, self concept, and communication.
A consultation with your Rolfer could serve as a chance to talk about your pains and strains and to explore some of the possibilities of Rolfing in your specific case.
"Soul
and body, I suggest, react sympathetically upon each other: A change
in the
state of the soul produces a change in the shape of the body, and conversely:
A change in the shape of the body produces a change in the state of
the soul."
Aristotle
Victor Geberin is a member of the Rolf Institute of Structural Integration, a Certified Advanced Rolfer®, and affiliated with the Guild for Structural Integration.
Victor practices in the San Diego area, to assist individuals and groups in personal presentation, performance, rehabilitation following injury or surgery, and unwinding old chronic patterns that are now painful problems.
Victor's work is built around the Rolf Technique of Structural Integration. He has developed part of his practice around the "four handed" technique. The planes of fascia are frequently pulled in opposing directions by the two practitioners, allowing for a more rapid and gentle approach to deep layers within a structural problem. Each of his associates come from a private practice to work with Victor in this technique.
Rolfing® Is
The Rolf Technique of Structural Integration, Rolfing®, includes connective tissue manipulation and movement education.
The goal is finding better body alignment, greater variety of actions available, and appropriate ease in daily activities, as well as enhancing performance. Hips, knees, back and neck work more as designed.
This technique was developed by Dr. Ida Rolf as an aid to recovery in orthopedics.
Connective Tissue?
Fascia or connective tissue is the basic organ of structure. It is the envelope that contains and gives shape to the whole body as well as each body part. Each muscle is wrapped in this fascia to give it it's individual shape. Each group of muscles is also wrapped in this same fascia, as is the whole body part.
This results in a multi-layered muscle-fascia (myofascial) network.
What Is Manipulation?
Dr. Rolf discovered that the fascia is plastic (moldable) and can be changed dimensionally and in location through the use of pressure and movement. Layers of fascia that have adhered to one another can be freed or separated with pressure and movement in the same manner.
Movement Education
Movement education can be very direct (didactic) or explorative. I use both in my practice but lean more to the explorative.
Most of the chronic problems we experience are a result of inhibiting movement. Inhibition of motion leads directly to atrophy, adhering of various tissues, and infiltration of the soft tissue, like muscle, with hard materials, further inhibiting motion.
When we soften these hardened tissues enough to allow movement and reeducate ourselves to appropriately move these areas, this process of hardening can be effectively halted and often reversed.
Inhibited Movement
Movement inhibition can be a result of injury (to protect the injured site), as an expression (as in emotional response), learned habits, overuse, or misuse. These patterns can become habitual and outlive their usefulness as a genuine expression or protection and become a chronic holding pattern.
A pattern that may apparently involve only a shoulder, may be found to have consequences remote from the shoulder. As one part of the body is reduced in mobility, an adjacent part responds with excess mobility.
New Client Manual
Rolfing Children
APPOINTMENT SCHEDULING
Some folks have arranged their schedule already. If not, this can be done after the consultation.
The fee is $150 per session, with no charge for the initial consultation. We take Mastercard, Visa, PayPal, and checks.
Sessions can be scheduled a week or more apart.
Please allow more than an hour for each session and inform us of time constraints.
Because a session can be active, a full stomach is not recommended.
APPOINTMENTS
An appointment is considered confirmed at the time it is scheduled.
You may have a reminder card mailed to you , a reminder email, or reminder call.
24 hour advanced notice of a cancellation or postponement is a courtesy we can both use.
WHAT IS NORMAL STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION?
That almost sounds like a trick question. We each are given certain structural qualities by heredity, and major events in our past. We must always work within certain individual constraints to maximize each person's ability to function effectively in our daily activities.
In general, though, there are
some common goals:
The waist moves back for a mild curve, and moves freely
The crown of the head extends up to impart length and lightness in movement
The knees travel directly forward in a line parallel the the earth as one walks
or runs
The toes hinge horizontally in walking and running
The elbows face somewhat laterally (sideways) with the point of the shoulder
balanced at midline
The whole body responds to the breath
A vertical line can pass through the ankle, hip, abdomen, ribcage and head
BETTER ALIGNMENT?
Yes. Rolfing® is a series of 10 or more sessions to realign the body to help you function more in accord with the design. Our structure can actually change to an amazing degree. Using a sequence of 10 or more sessions gives us a chance to address the body's needs from many perspectives and depths.
Because the connective tissue is moldable, the body's shape and therefore function can be changed. Finding the most appropriate combination of changes to achieve a permanent effect is our task, together.
WHAT MIGHT I FEEL?
You may find your painful areas awakening and functioning free of pain.
You will probably find an increased sense of ease in some aspect of your daily life, like sitting standing, or walking, that has perhaps been a problem. You may notice less strain or a sense of pleasure in a body part that used to hold pain.
You will probably find a new awareness of appropriate movement and it's relationship to your daily health. Runners find their stride increases in length and smoothness; speakers find a new sense of confidence and ease in their presentation.
Freeing an area where movement has been restricted and the subsequent realignment may bring up a memory of, or re-experience of a previous injury or emotional state. It may reveal the weakness or tenderness in a muscle that has been underused.
You could feel some soreness the next day, as if you had a good workout. Because you may be using new muscles or old muscles in new ways, there may be a period of getting used to the new movement. This could result in tired muscles. As you sit and stand in new ways, you may feel either a sense of self-consciousness or dis-ease as you accommodate your new and improved pattern.
Your Rolfer may give a movement pattern or exercise to Help you integrate the new pattern without constant, concious attention.
HOLISTIC?
The observation was
made that as a person changed, the way the person carried himself changed.
The questioned was proposed "Can the way that a person carries himself
initiate a change in the whole person?"
Rolfing has emerged as a true holistic art.
Rolfing is now sought as an aid in psychological-behavioral and spiritual growth
as well as an agent of physical change and rehabilitation.
TELEPHONE and EMAIL CONTACT
We stay in contact with the phone all day. Please leave a message and your call will be returned.
Email is a very good way of scheduling and communicating in general. I sometimes answer questions more fully in writing than by phone.
Schedule reminders may be sent to you periodically by email, so keep us abreast of email changes.
Telephone 760-839-6413
LOCATION in EscondidoMap
Our office is located northeast of Lake Hodges, on the edge of the San Deguito River Trail park. You can email or call me for a map to the office. We will automatically send you a map with your first appointment.
ADDRESS
The mailing address:
Victor Geberin,
Certified Advanced Rolfer
3131 Sans Souci Dr.
Escondido, CA 92029
A
personal note
from Victor Geberin:
May 2007 starts my 38th year of processing people's physical structure (Rolfing). I continue doing this for a very selfish reason. I get such positive feedback and praise for the work, that II would feel neglected without. 90% of my clients tell me of the positive changes in their life. The ultimate in praise is when the person refers a spouse, child, or beloved friend to me.
I also have 4 people a day coming to me, reminding me with their presence of the importance of being mindful of my own structure and movement. I get to exercise even as I teach new movement patterns to others.
Most Rolfers used to admit that they are in this field for their own good. I am filled with gratefulness for each person who has trusted themselves to me and my hands.
I really love leveraging my skills through mentoring the other Structural Integration Practitioners that come to work with me. I am so warmed by this work I fear I would find an emptiness without it.
Thank-you, Dr. Rolf
OTHER FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
WHAT CAN I DO TODAY?
