The Classic Rolf 10 Series
1-3 Sleeve Sessions
“When the Body gets working appropriately, the force of Gravity can flow through, then spontaneously, the body heals itself.” – Ida P. Rolf, Ph.D.
The series starts by opening up the superficial fascia that lies just under the skin, giving the body more room for deeper patterns to emerge and unwind. In these sessions we will work to decompress the body by opening up the chest and freeing the breath, aligning the legs and feet for greater support, and balancing the front and back of the body. These superficial sessions prepare the body for deeper core work.
4-7 Core Sessions
“Rolfing can be like making your bed in the morning. You think you’re going to get by without pulling that bed apart, so you pull up this cover and the next cover. When you get all the covers puffed up, you’ve got nine ridges running across the bed. Now you’ve got to go to a deeper layer and organize the deeper layer, and make your bed on top of that. Then you’ve got a made bed. Well it’s the same with the body: you’ve got to organize those deeper layers.” – Ida P. Rolf, Ph.D.
As the series progresses, we organize the muscle groups in the core of the body beginning at the feet and working our way up to the head. We will address the midline of the legs and the pelvic floor (session 4), The torso or “center” of the core (session 5), the back (session 6), and finally (my personal favorite) the head and neck (session 7).
*Clients who desire further work on the head and neck or additional mouth work may be interested in CranioSacral sessions. These sessions use gentle touch to balance and decompress the cranial bones and pair very well at this point in the 10- series.
8-10 Integrative Sessions
“It is easy to take a body apart, but it takes skill and understanding to put it back together.” – Ida P. Rolf, Ph.D.
The final sessions are where the magic of SI really happens! We’ve opened up the body (1-3), re-organized core structures for optimal alignment (4-7), and now the body is ready for integration. Here we work to balance and connect the sleeve with the core, so movements are fluid throughout the body- starting from the core and expressing freely through the sleeve and joints.
Sessions 8 and 9 will work the body asymmetrically as needed to address and neutralize any twists and rotations in the body, bringing it to a happy center. Finally, in session 10 the work concludes by ensuring the joints of the body are horizontal to support and continue the body’s renewed structure. You can think of Session 10 as installing new frames for your newly refitted doors and windows- without it, the upgrades (work done in Sessions 1-9) wouldn’t be as complete and long lasting.
