The Pain Game

"Why is Rolfing so painfull?" When I see a new client I often hear about Rolfing's painfull repuatation. This may be due to the nature of the therapy, people's expectations around Rolfing, and the communication that happens during a session. Fundamentally the pain happens when nerves are stimulated.

THE NATURE OF ROLFING

The nature of myofascial release work - and Rolfing therapy - is one that creates a deep and lasting change for the client. This said, the depth of the work, and the speed at which the tissue changes are two key components of the pain level experienced within the therapy. If I jump into your quadricep with my elbow, and start pushing hard and fast - that will create a lot of pain (unless you're particularly thick skinned). However, if I address outer layers of myofascia first, and unravel the tissue on different layers (outer to inner) with a slower approach the you will NOT experience much pain/neuro sensory overload.
This said, Rolfing isn't for the faint hearted (unless you found a particularly patient and unique practitioner). Tissue change is challenging, and I liken it to deep psychological work. Sometimes it feels great, and sometimes it just sucks. We go to therapy because we have problems, and want to elevate our overall quality of being/existence. A good therapist (whether myofascial release, deep tissue massage, Rolfing practitioner, chiropractor, etc.) will know your limits, know how to manage your pain level and not let it get out of control to the point where you just don't want to come back. A key question in deciding whether Rolfing is for you is deciding if want to confront the ingrained reality of inflexibility in your body. If this is true, a happy medium can be found. However, like talk therapy, sometimes the confrontation of self can be too much. Rolfing can end up feeling like a trap that you just want to get out of, and for that we need to allow agentle, kind, patient, loving presence in our work. I strive to provide this on balance to my clients and utilitze to outer to inner approach to unraveling as much as is possible in order to create a wholly satisfying, yet transformational client experience.

COMMUNICATION IN ROLFING

A key component in Rolfing is direct communication between client and therapist about the pain level, moderation of the level, and a mutual sense of satisfaction around this. Rolfers are not masochists or sadists. We care about helping people, creating new alignment, better posture, improved breathing, freedom from chronic pain and myofascial restriction, transformation in life, and many other things. For this reason, I am typically very direct with clients about the pain level in the session. A number scale is a quick and dirty way to find out where the client is with the therapy - "1 is nothing, 10 is excruciating, I never want to go above a 7 or 8 for you during the session, so please let me know if I'm getting there" is a typical statement I make to my clients when I first meet them, and during our first session I make a point of using this system a couple times so they get a good feel for it.

With the 1-10 scale in place, direct communication can still be still elusive. For this I typically watch breathing patterns (restricting breath can mean pain), and facial grimacing. Nonetheless, clients can withold their expression of pain, hide it from the practitioner, and go away feeling it was too much. Creating a promise to the client to moderate pressure and approach according to pain/sensation threshold is only as good as the client's expression of his/her threshold. Trust on the Rolfing table is not an easy thing to come by, especially if you have difficulty expressing your limits in day to day activity, or with your body in general. So Rolfing is not something I would recommend to people who struggle greatly in this area. Or if they do -to consider Rolfing but only with the open discussion of this boundary issue with your therapist. There are truly great moments in Rolfing when the client - choosing to face his/her inflexibility in an area can find great satisfaction, trust, and relief in literally handing his/her body over. This is built on trust with the practitioner, and trust of self. It intimate but not sexual. It is simply a state of being safe, met, and realized. For me, these are some of the finest moments in my practice.

Charity Promotion - Giving Back

Season's Greetings!

Transforming other's lives and bodies and bringing them deep relaxation and awareness is a great job, but I am looking to give some of what I do away this season. For this holiday season I'm giving back by donating new client session fees to charity. Best of all, you can choose your charity.

If you give $125 to a charity (listed below) through the link below for the holiday season I'll give you a Rolfing session. This is a great way to help get on track for 2009 as well as promote a worthy cause.

The charities you can give to for a free Rolfing session are:

AIDS Action Foundation
San Francisco AIDS Foundation
American Cancer Society
Humane Society of the U.S.
Marine Mammal Center
Kiva Microfunds
American National Red Cross
National Health Care for the Homeless
World Wildlife Fund. Inc.

Descriptions of these charities and payment must be made at my (Greg Brynelson) Registry through the link at justgive.org below:

http://www.justgive.org/basket?acton=viewList&donorId=208257&listTypeId=1

All scheduling can be done through my website online scheduling request forms (see cityrolfer.com). Please indicate your participation in the program either during donation checkout or on your session schedule request form.

Much love and good tidings!

Ida Rolf - A Quote

This is a great quote, revealing how Ida linked all aspects of life. Her unique gift for seeing the body in the context of the human condition.

"Old religions used to teach you to sit or kneel and always rock, gently but definitely rock. When you rock, you swing from prevertebral to postvertebral muscle. You'd see the same thing with sailors in the more active days of the war. You'd go down the street and you'd see a man in uniform, but you'd know without checking the uniform wheter that man was a seaman or a landman. The landman went down rolling- from the prevertebral to the postvertebral, the prevertebral to the posvertebral. He may not have had what we would call a really balanced gait, but he did use that alternation which kept the whole body at its peak. And they do this in many religious rituals. So much of ritual, if you look at it in the light of what you know of physiology, can be seen as a form of preventive medicine."

from, "Ida Rolf Talks About Rolfing and Physical Reality"
edited with an Introduction by Rosemary Fetis, 1987

Contact and connection

What is it about the touch of another that can bring satisfaction?
What is the difference between a skilled touch, and that of a friend or loved one?
Why does modern medicine ignore our need for touch?

We are a social species, and touch is an integral part of our basic needs. Babies know when they are being held, and when they are deprived of touch - actually grow up with brain damage. Touch is a universal language. We shake hands to greet, hug good friends, request back rubs (well some of us do ;-)), and pet animals to befriend them. Though the language of caring is conveyed through touch, I believe there is more to it. We become more connected to ourselves (and the other person) when physical contact happens. Touch brings a sense of relief and happiness, and also a sense of being known that cannot be captured by simple conversation. What would you rather have when you come home from a hard days work? An empathetic conversation or a shoulder and hand massage?

Though pills can do wondrous things for our physiology, I know of no pill that can bring the relief and connectedness found in a simple backrub. Why does modern medicine ignore this, and why is the insurance industry lax to cover any skilled touch? I'm not sure, but it has to do with our culture's desire to lead with our heads rather than our whole organic understanding.

Through my work as a nurse in several hospitals, I have seen that medicine is delivered primarily through pharmaceutical and surgical solutions. Cutting it off, open, or direct control of the bodies fluids and chemicals is the mainstay of Western medicine. You'll be lucky to get any other touch in the hospital besides a needle stick, IV line, bandage change, or repositioning in bed. Obviously our culture needs some help accepting the value, and fundamental NEED for this other part of health called skilled touch.

And why must touch be skilled? Well would you like to have a trained surgeon or layperson digging around for your inflamed appendix? Skill brings satisfying results. And if the primary goal is connection, integration, and relaxation you better call the best in the industry. Of course, once you are sold on an alternative route deciphering which alternative to take can be another ball of wax. I'll save that for another entry. Thanks for reading, now go touch somebody!