Anybody been Rolfed?

[Ming Yue]

What's the deal with Rolfing? I know its supposed to realign your bones/muscles.... is the pain worth the results?

I got an offer for a couple free sessions and wanted to see if anyone had any experience/opinions about it.

Thx!
C

[Ming Yue]

tell me more... I'm assuming you had it done.

did you notice a big change? what was it like?

[Shaolin-Do]

wtf is rolfing?
Sounds like going outback to puke.
:)

[fa_jing]

yes, I went through a full course of 10 sessions, then had about 3 more sessions.

Your body type shouldn't matter, they just won't need to use as much pressure.

I'm a bit wary of free sessions? Rolfing usually costs a bundle.

The pain is worth it, but there is a big mental component. You have to ACCEPT the pain, WANT the pain. Because when your body represses pain, it tends to form little knots of connective tissue, to bury the pain. It is precisely those knots of connective tissue that you want to get rid of. The first sessions really suck (if done right,) then you get better at it. I went so far as to take a shot of liquor before a couple of the sessions. As you accept the pain, you will feel bubbling, pinging, traveling mini-waves, etc. This is called "myofascial release." The only other back treatment that I think is comparable is accupuncture - because they both touch your deeper muscle/tissue layers in ways that you don't want them to- but as you learn to want the intrusion, your tissue releases.

Rolfing + Chiro fixed up a bulging disk in my lower back. First I had just Chiro done, and had plateau'd in my progress. After four or five Rolfing sessions, the Chiropractor was astonished, my back looked way different, much better aligned. Some of his adjustments didn't even produce cracks anymore. Chiro is only good for a few months, anyway IME.

Nowadays I try to build on that progress on my own with Yoga and special back exercises. I would love to get Rolfed again, but it's too expensive. Maybe one day...

I still have some back problems, but manageable, nowhere near what I had before.

[fa_jing]

BTW, there is a "new" school of Rolfing, where less pain is inflicted upon the patient. I went to such a Rolfer once, and did not find it very beneficial. You want an old school Rolfer, one with a cruel streak. If you are a medium-to-large man, definitely do not get Rolfed by a woman. Even for Chiro, I'd say the same - once my Chiropractor was away, and his partner, a small lady tried to adjust me - nothing happened, except that she screwed me up worse.


Also I strongly recommend accupuncture - but from someone who was already a practicing physician in China, Japan etc, not just anybody.'


Good luck

[Ming Yue]

thanks all....

I got the offer for free sessions because I'm a graphic designer - I made an ad for her that brought lots of business.

She definitely strikes me as having a cruel streak. She's built like a linebacker. I'm a woman with an average frame size.

I have had and really benefitted from acupuncture in the past, and pain doesn't scare me so much. Thing is, I don't have any physical problems... no pain, no injury, work out regularly.... If this is a treatment that works better to repair problems, maybe I'll save my coupons 'till I need them.

:)

[fa_jing]

She can evaluate you just by looking at you carefully (especially the back) and watching you walk, and tell you if your structure needs improving. You may be just fine.

[Guile]

Sounds pretty cool:D

[MasterKiller]

I once got gang-Rolfed at a college frat party after someone slipped a Mickey into my drink.

[rubthebuddha]

ming yue,

i'd use them now if you could. rolfing now can tweak any slight problems you have but don't realize, and wouldn't realize until they actually got nasty. the goal of rolfing is to teach your body how it should behave.

think about running with your feet overly supinated or pronated for some years. it may not be a problem now, but over time, the feet and ankles will develop problems that will be a pain to fix, if they can be fixed.

thus, fix yourself while you're just slightly cracked (nothing personal ;)), and don't wait until you're truly breaking.

[Ming Yue]

ah.. an advocate of preventative maintenance. I think there's a dentist in you just dying to come out. :)

I'm still mulling it over - fact is the woman kind of freaks me out, which is why I wanted to know how invasive it was and what you guys thought it was like.

I really only like to get bodywork from people I trust.

[fa_jing]

Well, that she freaks you out is kinda good. The treatment is not confortable. It involves things like bearing down with all their weight through their elbow, in between the two bones of your lower leg. Things like pushing their fingers deep into your stomach, and up under your ribs. Try sticking your own thumb in between two ribs through your side as deeply as possible, for an idea. You do have to trust them that what they are doing isn't going to injure you. I really doubt that it would.

Then again, I've always said that if I could afford a daily Swedish massage, that would be a much nicer way to achieve bodywork goals. But it would have to be about 10 Swedish massage sessions to achieve the effect of 1 Rolfing session.

[rubthebuddha]

ming yue -- a dentist? :confused:

rather doubtful. if you saw how much refined sugar i eat on a weekly basis ... :D

but yeah, i think it's good to do while the little things are still little things. like annually checking and servicing the differentials on your car. sure, they'll work pretty well for a long time. but eventually, they'll get crusty and won't move well, and the repair job will be a lot more time consuming and invasive -- and much more expensive.

****, i love car metaphors. they work almost anywhere. :D

[Ming Yue]

Dentists are very pro-preventative maintenance, that's all. :)

and you know, I'm trying to think of somewhere where a car metaphor wouldn't work, and I can't.

ballroom dancing, maybe.

:D

[sticky fingers]

Was Rolfing invented by this guy???

http://www.rolfharris.com/

and she's buying a stairway to heaven,
Everybody now!
and she's buying a stairway to heaven...
(wobbleboard interlude)

[guohuen]

She danced with the grace and lines of an E type Jag. I dunno, that works for me.:D

[Ming Yue]

I stand corrected. That's freakin' poetry, as is the E-type. :D

completely OT, but werent those 12-cylinder?

[fa_jing]

www.idaprolf.org

http://www.rolf.org

[IronFist]

Originally posted by inic
i've been playing puter games too long... i thought it said "rofl" which means roll on floor laughing.
similar to "lol"

i was like what the.....
have i been rofled? lol

lol, j00 4R3 teh n3rD

IronFist

[guohuen]

Yep.:)