The purpose of Rolf Movement Integration is to work with the client to help him/her identify movement patterns that promote strain and asymmetry in her system. Once the patterns are identified, the Rolf Movement practitioner does not seek to change those patterns, which have served the client well, but rather to offer more economical solutions which promote greater balance and efficiency in the gravitational field.
Towards the end of her life, Dr. Rolf felt that a movement training component would be a valuable adjunct to her structural Ten-Series. In her lifetime, Dr. Rolf collaborated with first Dorothy Nolte and then Judith Aston to develop this aspect of Rolfing Structural Integration. Since Dr. Rolf’s death in 1979, many others have elevated this less familiar style of Rolfing SI to a level of high art with tremendous transformative value. Rolfers certify in Rolf Movement Integration as a way of enriching their work.
Typically, Rolf Movement Integration exercises are folded into structural sessions. Rolf Movement Integration can, however, also be taught as a sequence of sessions devoted to specific structural and movement themes. In a classic movement series, the first session is devoted to exploring breathing patterns and using the breath to promote ease and release holdings in the ribs, lungs and respiratory diaphragm. Subsequent sessions address movement patterns in the foot, ankle and knee joints, the hip joint, the arms and head and neck. These sessions are normally repeated to access deeper holding patterns and achieve higher levels of order just as structural Rolfers return to the extremities and upper and lower girdles (the shoulder and pelvis) in the latter sessions to more fully integrate structure and function. Rolf Movement Integration can be explored by clients who have completed a structural series and can serve equally well as an autonomous tool for achieving higher levels of self-awareness and coherence.
