The online edition of Massage Magazine has published my article entitled "How a Rolfer Looks at Fascia." I wrote this at their request to help distinguish how Rolfers™/structural integrators and massage therapists look at and work with fascia, and I hope it proves useful to non-bodyworkers as well.
The key point is that Rolfing® Structural Integration is "not a technique so much as a modality embedded in and dependent upon a specific view of the body. Practicing it is inseparable from thinking and perceiving in terms of Rolf's comprehensive view of the body in gravity, which runs the gamut from specific understanding of the hallmarks of structural integration, in terms of anatomical relationships and movement, to a broader philosophical notion of the role of the work in the evolutionary optimization of the human form. Studying at the Rolf Institute® is as much about becoming steeped in this conceptual and perceptual framework as it is about learning technique."
In simple terms, this means that you could see a Rolfer and a massage therapist doing something that looks kind of similar, yet the reasons for doing it are different, and as a result of the different conceptualization and strategizing, the results can be different. Rolfing work is aiming for a "third-paradigm" holistic impact on the whole structure of the body, while massage is in the "second-paradigm" of work to fix things (e.g., relieve pain without necessarily changing the whole body).
I hope you enjoy the article!
