Dr. Ida Rolf
Dr. Ida P. Rolf, the founder of Structural Integration work, was known by her students and associates to have a sharp mind and tongue. She had an insatiable scientific curiosity and a gift for putting sometimes complex ideas into concise phrases. My teachers frequently used three of her aphorisms to remind us of the basic principles of Structural Integration. Here we will look at the first of them.
“Where you think it is, it ain’t.”
Dr. Ida Rolf
Dr Ida P Rolf (1896-1979) was a respected scholar and medical researcher. She earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Columbia University in her native city of New York in 1920. For the next nine years she worked at the Rockefeller Institute in the department of organic chemistry. Her search for solutions to her own and family health problems lead her to an exploration of homeopathy, osteopathy and chiropractic healing methods. From her practice of yoga she became fascinated with movement and the relationship between form and function. She determined that impaired function could be improved if form was changed by restoring length to the connective tissue in and around the impaired area. Finding ways to encourage length into these areas is the art of Structural Integration. Continue reading
Dr. Ida Rolf
“Movement is something we ARE, not something we do,” says Continuum Movement founder the late Emilie Conrad. As we breathe and our blood circulates our bodies are in constant motion; indeed, lack of movement is a prime indicator of death. Movement happens when a signal from the central nervous system stimulates a muscle to contract causing the body part to which the muscle is attached to move in a controlled manner. Controlled movement results from the dynamic tension existing in our myofascial/muscle system. Continue reading
