Structural Integration practiced in Massachusetts by Owner/Operator of CORE Structural Therapy Joe Ackerman is a somatic practice utilizing fascial manipulation, awareness, and movement education. Structural Integration is a way of working with the body that changes the way you sit, stand, move or feel your body when you are doing those things. In the early days of Dr. Ida Rolf’s teachings her followers nicknamed her work Rolfing. As Dr. Rolf chose to call the work by her designation of Structural Integration, we will do so here. Structural Integration is practiced in an organized series of 10 sessions designed to restore postural balance and functional ease by aligning and integrating the body in gravity.
The goal of Structural Integration as Dr. Ida Rolf originally set out was to increase the human potential of each person from the structural to the cellular level. She was not so concerned with ‘fixing’ ailments, but changing the person. She frequently said if you change the structure of the individual you will no doubt increase the ‘function and vitality’ of that person, whether the function is a stay at home mother, factory worker, athlete, yogi, etc… However, with that said we know that people feel common strains and pains and that these symptoms (i.e. low back pain) are the end point of structural imbalances. A common and easy to follow example that Dr. Rolf once gave was the child who falls off his bicycle and badly hurts his thigh, and so for the next several days when he walks his leg hurts him, and it also hurts if he carries his body in a certain pattern. The problem here is that the pattern of movement that hurts is typically the ‘normal’ pattern. So this boy will shift from that ‘normal pattern’ to a pattern that will remove the pain or discomfort [a random pattern].
Once the body has assumed this ‘non
– normal or random’ position the affect of this on his balance is that
there will be less motility in the region of the unbalance, there is less movement,
muscles then begin to shorten and harden. And as that happens there is a
progression, this vicious cycle is started, this progression toward hardening,
towards less movement, less flow of vital fluids, less pumping of nourishment
in and out of that area, muscle
continue to harden and gristle, fascial envelopes around individual muscles
begin to adhere together with their neighbors. The overall area begins to turn
towards fibrous material. And historically this process repeats itself over and
over with further trauma’s overuse conditions adding disorganization and
randomness to the structure. Structural Integration seeks to reverse this
process by introducing ‘patterned’ energy into the system, as disorder
increases in any system the only way it can change is with the introduction of
energy directed in a particular thrust. In SI we utilize a goal oriented
systematic approach of reorganizing major joints, and body segments, while releasing
the chronically held tension and torsion patterns. It is through this approach
that we are able to make dramatic changes in both structure and function in a
very rapid period of time.
The Importance of SI
One important principle of Structural Integration is that the body is
significantly affected by the powerful force of gravity. In a misaligned state,
the body's valuable resources are used inefficiently, laboring to keep a person
upright in the field of gravity. In addition, the stresses of daily life,
physical injuries, unhealthy movement patterns and attitudes are things that
can take a toll on one’s physical structure. Over time, the body will shorten
and tighten to accommodate stresses, creating stiffness, pain, fatigue and lack
of well being.
One
metaphor that is often used to illustrate this point is that of a house built
on a sinking foundation. The
homeowner, clueless to the potentially catastrophic hazard developing
underfoot, probably thinks he is doing everything he needs to do to keep his
house operating smoothly. He might
even invest in home improvement projects to enhance visual aesthetics and property
value. But then he begins to
notice symptoms of something being wrong in his house. Perhaps he sees that doors are no
longer functioning as they were made to. He could address the problem with temporary means - like shimming the
door - or he can go to the problem's origin and repair it there.
Structural
Integration (SI) is about addressing problems at their origin. Through a systematic series of
sessions, I work with my clients to restore balance to the body (front to back;
side to side; top to bottom, inside to outside). As each part of the body is realigned to its original place
and function, things begin to work the way they were intended.
The
benefits of SI are many, and they all relate back to the essential truth that a
body in proper alignment will function optimally.
Some
benefits, like enhanced flexibility, apply to everyone. But when that flexibility is restored
to a yoga practitioner, it takes on additional significance when it allows her
to hold poses that she couldn't attain prior to SI therapy. Additional benefits
of Structural Integration are:
- IMPROVED POSTURE AND ALIGNMENT
- DECREASED ACHES AND PAINS
- INCREASED FLEXIBILITY
- IMPROVED FLUIDITY OF MOVEMENT
- INCREASED OXYGENATION
- IMPROVE ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE
- IMPROVED EVERYDAY PERFORMANCE
TO LEARN MORE VISIT MY HOME SITE AT WWW.CORESTRUCTURALTHERAPY.COM
joe@corestructuraltherapy.com
978.270.3487CORE Structural Therapy
Joe Ackerman, S.I.P.
83 Cambridge St | Suite 3a - Burlington Ma 01803
Who was Dr. Ida P. Rolf
Dr. Ida P. Rolf earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University in 1920. During the ensuing 12 years, she worked at The Rockefeller Institute in the Department of Chemotherapy and later in the Department of Organic Chemistry. During her time at the Institute, she took a leave of absence to study atomic physics at the Swiss Technical Institute in Zurich.
