This is a description of Structural Integration. It is arguably the definitive statement on the approach — which is itself definitive and peerless — originated by Dr. Ida P. Rolf to educate living in balance in respect to the demands of the force of Gravity.
It is written by one of the first of Dr. Ida P. Rolf's teachers of Rolfing ... the esteemed and beloved Emmett Hutchins. Reading his words it will be obvious that he is an inheritor of Dr. Rolf's vision.
When Dr. Rolf decided to name her work, it was after years of careful contemplation. She selected her words well. Indeed, the name Structural Integration, doesn’t imply the full scope of her teaching. To begin with, her choice of the word, “structure” is clearly descriptive. For it was her way of looking at the human physical body as one would any other material structure, which grounded her work upon the basic laws of Physics. However, since structural analysis alone is of limited value, it was Dr. Rolf’s original research in biochemistry which provided a key for unlocking the human structure and which gave birth to her method.
Dr. Rolf’s work and major discoveries lie firmly rooted in physical reality. She used to say: “because that’s what I can get my hands on”. But the full focus of her intellectual curiosity was not aimed towards structure alone. Rather, her motivating interest was in the energy fields which surround human structures. The Gravity field and its relationship to structure, therefore, became the dominant theme of her teaching. What if the human structure could be integrated within the Gravity field so that all movement could flow in continuous balance? Would the effects and experience of Gravity not change from a downward, negative, entropic force into a supportive, positive, organizing force? (Many of us would now answer a resounding “yes”, from personal witness. This is remarkable, since even the best of us lives in this balanced state for brief periods of time only!) Would this person live longer? Stronger? Healthier? Happier? How would this affect mental health and function? How would this alter emotional health? Maturity? Responsiveness? Sensitivity? What would be the effect of a life lived with the perpetual support of our own cosmic field — rather than in conflict with it?
What about the discipline of mind and spirit? Surely, this path of the Masters cannot be reduced to mere biophysics. Here, Dr. Rolf would suggest that, in addition to whatever spiritual and religious practice might empower an individual, the practitioner of Structural Integration chooses a path of service to his species. And with this service, whether conscious or not, comes refinement of mind and spirit, the ability to “LOVE” in its highest sense. Additionally, the Recipe is the vehicle through which the practitioner focuses and develops clear intention. The Recipe is the ritual and the discipline of this path of service. Dr. Rolf’s belief in the personal energy body was evidenced in many ways. She would often refer to this personal field as the “causal body”, indicating her high regard for its function. Dr. Rolf’s preference for Homeopathy over Allopathy was strong evidence of her belief in the “causal” nature of the body’s energy fields. During her work, when presented with symptoms of autonomic nervous system activity or emotional distress, she would turn her attention to the energy field. Early students were instructed in the rudiments of a technique for finding and sealing holes or “hotspots” in the field, in order to bring the energy field back to equilibrium. In the last major research project of her life, the UCLA project led by Dr. [Valerie] Hunt, she insisted upon adding the observations of an aura reader to the test data. Admittedly, the presence of the aura reader discredited the entire project in the eyes of many serious researchers. But her interest in exploring the personal energy body was compelling. She wanted to extend the boundaries of knowledge about the relationship between physical flesh and its surrounding energy field. It was she who said, “There’s no such thing as metaphysics. There is only the physics we’ve not yet discovered”.
Emmett's clarity and depth of understanding of the subject stands out. His dedication and love for the work is plain to see. He is held within the our field as an exemplary leader in the practice and teaching of Dr. Rolf's traditional approach, unalloyed with the many changes and "improvements" that have been tacked onto the work since Dr. Rolf's time.
Ida P. Rolf, PhD
Structural
Integration
(A Path of Personal Growth and Development)
by Emmett Hutchins
When Dr. Rolf decided to name her work, it was after years of careful contemplation. She selected her words well. Indeed, the name Structural Integration, doesn’t imply the full scope of her teaching. To begin with, her choice of the word, “structure” is clearly descriptive. For it was her way of looking at the human physical body as one would any other material structure, which grounded her work upon the basic laws of Physics. However, since structural analysis alone is of limited value, it was Dr. Rolf’s original research in biochemistry which provided a key for unlocking the human structure and which gave birth to her method.
The Recipe, her procedure for establishing myofascial balance and relieving chronic structural stress, is her gift to humankind. “Integration”, however, is the word which best describes the true thrust of her work. On the physical level, “integration” means: the relating of various parts so that they act as a unit. “Integration” includes the concepts of balance, symmetry, and wholeness. But it is here that we leave the realm of pure science. For we cannot understand “integration” until we first comprehend “relationship”. And Dr. Rolf believed that one cannot enter the complex world of “relationship” without leaving the world of “things”. This is a great challenge, a shift of consciousness. The world of “things” is a rational, linear, scientific, verbal world. Where the world of “relationships” is non-linear and non-verbal and, therefore, not accessible to the purely rational mind. So, it is here that we cross from science into art, from technique into mastery. As Dr. Rolf said, “it is the art of integration which separates the cooks from the chefs”.
Dr. Rolf’s work and major discoveries lie firmly rooted in physical reality. She used to say: “because that’s what I can get my hands on”. But the full focus of her intellectual curiosity was not aimed towards structure alone. Rather, her motivating interest was in the energy fields which surround human structures. The Gravity field and its relationship to structure, therefore, became the dominant theme of her teaching. What if the human structure could be integrated within the Gravity field so that all movement could flow in continuous balance? Would the effects and experience of Gravity not change from a downward, negative, entropic force into a supportive, positive, organizing force? (Many of us would now answer a resounding “yes”, from personal witness. This is remarkable, since even the best of us lives in this balanced state for brief periods of time only!) Would this person live longer? Stronger? Healthier? Happier? How would this affect mental health and function? How would this alter emotional health? Maturity? Responsiveness? Sensitivity? What would be the effect of a life lived with the perpetual support of our own cosmic field — rather than in conflict with it?
Unfortunately, organization of the structure, alone, does not permanently established this ideal, super balanced state. While fascial order may affect miracles in the relief of chronic symptoms and pain, and may commonly produce increased vitality and a new sense of general well-being, it does not fully integrate a living, moving structure within the surrounding Gravity field. Something is missing. The conscious will of that being that lives within the structure must be actively involved. Here, we glimpse Dr. Rolf's true genius with her invention of the concept of The Line. The Rolf Line is a line of vertical intention which extends through the bottoms of the feet to the center of the earth and through the top of the head to cosmic infinity. The Line, in her concept of the fully “evolved” structure, does not pass through bone (except at the top of the head). The Line is transcendental. It forms a bridge between physical reality and the realm of pure energy, the non-physical. The Line integrates the physical structure with the Gravity field. The Line joins Rolf physics and metaphysics into one clear concept. The awakening of The Line is the central challenge of her teaching. The awakening of The Line is the Rolf path for self-growth. The Line becomes our personal guide, our monitor of personal evolution. And, inculcation of The Line into the very essence of our consciousness becomes our preoccupation. Dr. Rolf's’ vision of unlimited human potential is inseparable from this personal path.
During the major portion of her life, Dr. Rolf's overriding personal interest was directed towards yet another field of energy. Here we leave Rolf physics behind and move clearly into metaphysics. We move from her public message into her private teaching which contends that humans are electromagnetic bodies with an electric core and a magnetic sleeve, similar to the earth itself. In an attempt to gain knowledge about this core energy and in pursuit of her interest in personal development, she undertook a study of tantric yoga. As a student under an Eastern master, for well over a decade, she carefully examined the teaching for physiological referents. She began to develop an idea. What if, after years of discipline and meditation, one was able to remove all physiological and energetic barriers to the free flow of electric, core energy? And what if one were to place the negative pole of this energized core (root chakra) firmly into the earth while also spanning upward through the positive pole (crown chakra) toward infinity? Would the personal electromagnetic field be reinforced and energized by the field of the earth? Could this not describe a transcendent state of energetic integration between human and cosmos? Could this correspond to awakening the kundalini and the appearance of super- normal powers of mind and body? Are chakras the vortices through which this highly empowered electromagnetic source communicates with matter?
Her hypotheses do not stop here. She was not interested in trying to “improve” an ancient tradition. But what if this ancient path could be reformulated and restated for modern humans? What if the state of transcendent integration could be achieved while standing rather than sitting? How would human structure have to evolve? (The Recipe is full of goals which are her attempt to answer this question). Could we awaken a heel chakra, more negatively charged then the root chakra? Would the additional core length imply an even more powerful electromagnetic field then that of the Eastern Masters? And, further, what if the physical structure of this integrated well-being were so balanced, within the field of Gravity, that movement did not disturb the integrated state? Is this kind of evolutionary shift of structure and consciousness conceivable? Certainly, such flights of visionary fancy or not fit fair for many rational, educated humans. And it’s not certain that she developed this hypothesis in every training class. But in many of them, she did.
Her hypotheses do not stop here. She was not interested in trying to “improve” an ancient tradition. But what if this ancient path could be reformulated and restated for modern humans? What if the state of transcendent integration could be achieved while standing rather than sitting? How would human structure have to evolve? (The Recipe is full of goals which are her attempt to answer this question). Could we awaken a heel chakra, more negatively charged then the root chakra? Would the additional core length imply an even more powerful electromagnetic field then that of the Eastern Masters? And, further, what if the physical structure of this integrated well-being were so balanced, within the field of Gravity, that movement did not disturb the integrated state? Is this kind of evolutionary shift of structure and consciousness conceivable? Certainly, such flights of visionary fancy or not fit fair for many rational, educated humans. And it’s not certain that she developed this hypothesis in every training class. But in many of them, she did.
What about the discipline of mind and spirit? Surely, this path of the Masters cannot be reduced to mere biophysics. Here, Dr. Rolf would suggest that, in addition to whatever spiritual and religious practice might empower an individual, the practitioner of Structural Integration chooses a path of service to his species. And with this service, whether conscious or not, comes refinement of mind and spirit, the ability to “LOVE” in its highest sense. Additionally, the Recipe is the vehicle through which the practitioner focuses and develops clear intention. The Recipe is the ritual and the discipline of this path of service. Dr. Rolf’s belief in the personal energy body was evidenced in many ways. She would often refer to this personal field as the “causal body”, indicating her high regard for its function. Dr. Rolf’s preference for Homeopathy over Allopathy was strong evidence of her belief in the “causal” nature of the body’s energy fields. During her work, when presented with symptoms of autonomic nervous system activity or emotional distress, she would turn her attention to the energy field. Early students were instructed in the rudiments of a technique for finding and sealing holes or “hotspots” in the field, in order to bring the energy field back to equilibrium. In the last major research project of her life, the UCLA project led by Dr. [Valerie] Hunt, she insisted upon adding the observations of an aura reader to the test data. Admittedly, the presence of the aura reader discredited the entire project in the eyes of many serious researchers. But her interest in exploring the personal energy body was compelling. She wanted to extend the boundaries of knowledge about the relationship between physical flesh and its surrounding energy field. It was she who said, “There’s no such thing as metaphysics. There is only the physics we’ve not yet discovered”.
Dr. Rolf’s teachings and hypotheses covered so many areas of inquiry of inquiry that no one can explore them all with equal intensity and she certainly never expected most of her students to accept her work in its fully mystical context. So, she presented the challenge of her work in many ways more palatable to the practical mind. However, some degree of personal commitment to the idea of self-organization around the vertical line of intention is basic. When she said, “Structural Integration is a way of life”, she implied more than passive reorganization of the facial body. In a paper written two years before her death, Dr. Rolf stated: “The appropriate integration of the bodies of man in the Gravity field is a long-term evolutionary project. Not even the first page has been turned yet. It is possible that we are seeing the first conscious attempt at evolution that any species has ever evidenced”.
No comments:
Post a Comment