Customer Reviews

Rolfing: Reestablishing the Natural Alignment and Structural Integration of the Human Body for Vitality and Well-Being

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Rolfing can make profound changes in posture and movement. This book tries to get beyond the medical dissection model of anatomy and really get at the way the core postural muscles are supposed to coordinate movement. The chapter on the psoas is worth the price of the book.

This IS NOT a how-to on Rolfing nor does it get into the transformative powers of Rolfing from the perspective of someone who is undergoing processing. It is more a book of anatomy and kinesiology.

I found this book to be very helpful in deepening my understanding of the way the different parts of the body are interconnected and interdependent. It has influenced my yoga practice and my teaching. I better understand how the physical practice of yoga helps with spiritual transformation. I highly recommend this to anyone who wishes to be actively involved in your own transformation and evolution. This book will help yoga teachers identify the bony landmarks on the body to help brighten a student's alignment and free up energy in the body. It starts from the feet and moves up, just as you would create any pose. The language is easy to understand and there are many valuable drawings and photographs which illustrate each point.

This book is invaluable in understanding the inter-relationships within the human body--and nothing is more important for proper assessment and treatment of myofascia. This is not a technique book, rather a book which details the fundamental principles of stuctural bodywork. It will aid any therapist in gaining a deeper understanding of the human body and avoiding the all-too-common problem of symptom chasing. Read this book to understand how structure effects function, and function effects health.

I am a clinical massage therapist in Seattle, WA. I was trained in a method of manual therapy called Neuromuscular therapy by its founder, Paul St. John I came to understand the importance of balance in the structure of the body. When a friend gave me an original copy of this book: 'Rolfing: Reestabling...' by Dr. Rolf I fell right into it. Dr. Rolf was the progenitor of a point of view that stresses a.}close examination of the alignment and physical (or structural) balance of the body, b.} a direct relationship between structure and function in this regard, and c.} the notion that a manual approach can re-organize the body in a deep and meaninful way. I kept discovering very quotable passages, and thinking 'That's what I always say'. I came to see that without Ida Rolf as my grandmother in the field of hands on therapy, I could never have been trained in a way that I could have had those insights. A very validating experience to find that you had got the message, even when you really derived it from things that you heard second hand.

As a text, this book goes a long ways to filling in some of the mysterious blanks in our understanding of the body and it's function in gravity. It has enjoyable prose, flowing description and explanation, countless photos of case studies, and even more valuably it has a great number of hand-drawn illustrations, I beleive by Ida Rolf herself. The book covers specific subjects that are not undertaken by any other texts I have read in this field, where balance and structural orientation are concerned (look for the biomechanical description of the function of the pelvic floor, for example).
For people who work with the body in a hands-on clinical fashion, this book is a classic. It would fill a great gap on the shelf on anyone concerned with physical examination as well.

I can heartilly reccommend the book at this price,too.

I was very gladly surprised when I saw how well Rolf writes, as I was expecting the originator of Structural Integration therapy to use a "heavy" language, like F.M. Alexander did in his books on the Alexander Technique. The only thing keeping me from breezing through this book are my own ponderings on the insights Rolf constantly gives me. If you are interested in the human body in any way, get this (you should get it anyway, you will become interested!).

It was the perfect intro prior to taking my first Structural Bodywork course.

I would recommend this for the professional.
Ie: Physical or massage therapist etcetera.

Additional Suggestions to Consider
The other book that took my therapeutic massage into structurally based application is Anatomy Trains: Myofascial Meridians for Manual and Movement Therapists by Tom Myer's (a student of Ida Rolf).

The DVD of Art Rigg's - Deep Tissue Massage and Myofascial Release: A Video Guide to Techniques is also highly recommended. He goes (and shows) in detail along with good explanations and share tips that only a veteran bodywork would have. Seeing a moving hands-on application completely revamped my massage practice.
FYI: Skip the book version - go straight for the DVD.

Right, so, I was looking for a book on rolfing and this is THE book written by THE doctor. I figured there'd be a lot of great information in it.

Well, there are a lot of convincing before and after pictures that suggest that rolfing really does work for some people. But there was none of the practical hands-on information about how to find what is wrong and how to make it better.

I Do think it's a useful book, but it only goes part of the way. It ends up being one part anatomy book, one part philosophical manifesto, one part marketing. I want the chapters on how to identify problems and fix them.

Do you walk with your feet splayed outwards? Strengthen the adductors of your thighs (thighmaster) and watch your feet turn inward.
Do you slump your shoulders forward? Strengthen your rhomboids (between your shoulder blades) and watch your cervical spine straighten.

Ida Rolf makes an excellent case for correcting your structural alignment by identifying weak muscles or groups.

This is a must read for anyone interested in the body and health-- with one caveat!

After making a very scientific case in support of structural alignment and identifying weak muscles,
Ida Rolf then goes on to invent a digital manipulation technique that has more to do with New Age optimism
rather than science-- this is PURE EGO! She obviously wanted to see herself as a mystic healer (not just a scientist).
In my opinion this was inevitably damaging to her important work and contributions on the body.

It seems obvious to me now that weak muscles are best treated by strengthening them! You can't strengthen a muscle with digital manipulation (or weaken a muscle by
'fingering it'!). But if she admitted this there wouldn't exist the "Rolfing Technique" which bears her name-- her highly specialized method which requires
12 expensive treatments with a certified Rolfer (and questionable results).

At least one of the models in the book (of which there are many compelling before-and-after photographs of their posture and walk) were her students.
The results are impressive, but one can't help but wonder if her students went and strengthened their weak muscles on their own rather than depending only
on her "digital manipulation" techniques so that they could enjoy the full benefit of her ideas.

Rolfers, unlike Chiropractors however, at least understand that the structural alignment of our bones can be "integrated"
with the proper understanding of the muscle system. It's their method I disagree with.

For helping my body and others I had excellent results by IDENTIFYING the weak muscles (thanks to this book or with the help
of a physical therapist or even a Rolfer) and by STRENGTHENING the muscles with pilates and light weight training in the gym.

In conclusion, I believe her "diagnostics" of poor anatomical structure are correct but her "treatment" is all wrong.
Much can be gleaned from the book as long as the reader stays critical of her corrective measures which is known today as Rolfing.

It is a good book on how to see the human being as a whole and putting the body, its structure, as part of a healthy life.