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| Rolfing and Yoga |
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Yoga and Rolfing share a common goal: to improve structure, balance,
flexibility and mobility. Yoga has played an important part in Dr. Ida
Rolf’s development of our understanding of Structural Integration.
Before she started practicing Rolfing, Dr Rolf used yoga to address
back problems related to a scoliosis. In the 1930's, at a time when
yoga was seen as unusual with good teachers hard to find, Dr Rolf
studied yoga with Pierre Bernard, a yoga teacher in Nyack, N.Y. Her
yoga practice, combined with her study of osteopathy and homeopathy
contributed to the development of Rolfing Structural Integration.
Her vision of Rolfing aligned with the goals of yoga, seeking to
develop "…a physical system that enriches the student's body, mind and
spiritual well being through an understanding of structural balance."
"Dr. Rolf always investigated what was new and was never afraid to take
what she learned and use it," says Rosemarie Feitus, Certified Rolfer,
in the introduction to her book, Ida Rolf Talks: About Rolfing and
Physical Reality. "In those years of practicing and discussing the
principles of yoga, (Dr. Rolf) was establishing the basis of her future
work; that bodies need to lengthen and be balanced, and that a balanced
body will give rise to a better human being. Slowly she realized that
the asanas did not achieve length and separation of the joints and that
in too many cases there was actual contraction of the joint surfaces.
Something else was needed." Rolfing later emerged from this insight.
Rolfing works primarily in two ways, through hands-on manipulation and
movement education. This combination physically changes the body's
structure and energetically improves movement and function. Rolfing
reaches where yoga sometimes can’t get to, and yoga can support these
changes by building upon them with further awareness, while
strengthening your body efficiently.
(Mattheus Juan Els)
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