Ida Rolf on “Rolfing” Structural Integration
Posted in Structural Integration on 05/03/2009 05:24 pm by AMMATHE VERTICAL-EXPERIENTIAL SIDE TO HUMAN POTENTIAL
An essay by Ida P. Rolf, founder of Rolfing® Structural Integration, dated March 1977
Like so many teachers, some of them very close to home, I complain that people do not seem to understand my basic goals, the fundamental purpose for which Rolfing has been developed. In an effort to lessen this type of frustration, I offer the following summary of Rolfing developments, purposes, and ideas.
First, let me reiterate what I have often said before: I as an individual, am not primarily interested in the relief of symptoms, either physical or mental. To hear Rolfees tell of their “wonderful”, “unbelievable” symptom alleviation, it is hard not to accept this assessment as a goal. However, I am interested in human potential, and human potential per se neither includes nor excludes the palliation of symptoms.
As of today, Rolfing is accepted as being one of the most basic, one of the most reliable means of developing whatever potential is latent in any given human, psychological as well as physical. By what route did Rolfing reach this particular eminence? We assume that human beings are, as a species, evolving toward verticality. What are the intellectual considerations which can speed us on our way toward understanding the value of this verticality?
