What is Structural Integration?

By Donielle Saxton & Todd Nyholm

This article was originally featured in the Jan. 2003 CCMA Martial Arts newsletter.  It is reprinted with permission from Dr. Tim Sheehan, Chief Instructor.

Consider the value of being more structurally integrated. What would the benefit be if the extrinsic were more balanced to the intrinsic and we moved from our core?  What if we were able to work as one unit rather than as a group of segmented pieces?  How about if our joints moved in a more functional way and we could use only the muscles necessary for a specific movement?  Think of how much energy would be saved if our body worked in a more efficient manner and what difference we would see in our lives if we felt this way all the time, as one person, supported by gravity, moving as one integrated structure in one direction, rather than as a group of segmented parts that needs to be dragged along, against rather than with the flow of gravity?  

Some of you have heard of Rolfing. Rolfing is a brand name for Structural Integration (SI); it was nicknamed Rolfing after its founder Dr. Ida Rolf. Dr. Rolf said, “you can’t talk about just a little of Rolfing. You have to tell it all. People don’t know, they have never seriously thought about that level in which the essence is relationship, where the noumena go looking for the phenomena.”  Structural Integration is a body of work with the primary goal of integrating the physical human structure around a central vertical axis or line.

The human body has several systems that keep us functioning; one thing that is common to all of these systems is the connective tissue.  The connective tissue webbing consists of a fibrous net (reticulin, elastin and collagen) and a ground substance (a watery gel consisting of colloids); these together are known as Fascia.  Fascia is the medium in which SI practioners work.  Fascia is like an envelope through which the body gets its shape and support. It can be thick or thin, covering muscle, bone, and organs; it works its way throughout the body even going as deep as enveloping the muscle fibers themselves. If we were to remove everything outside of the fascia, we would still be able to recognize the shape of the person.  With heat and energy, the practioner melts the ground substance of the fascia, then slides the fibrous net in a desired direction.  Once the heat and energy are taken off, the ground substance thickens and stays where it is put. It is similar to stretching a plastic bag. By moving the fascia, practioners can assist in ordering the structure to achieve integration, thereby changing the functioning of the person.

           The practioners job is to bring forgotten, or more functional, shape back to a person’s body. This involves work from the recipient as well (they have to use their shape). SI works with the idea that structure is function and function is structure, like two sides of the same coin. If we can integrate and improve the structure, then we can integrate and improve the functioning, as well.  There are many ways we compromise our integration: accidents, illnesses, postures, habitual attitudes and thinking processes, molding to popular culture and standards, and so on. As there are many ways to break our integration down, there are also just as many issues that can begin to be changed by reintegrating ourselves. Dr. Rolf created a body of work that not only helped the injured and infirm, but also one that would make healthy people even healthier. 

           As practitioners of Structural Integration we look at someone’s shape and ask the recipient and ourselves where could they use more length? Where could they use more balance? We then lengthen the fascia, which gives the person more room, more balance and more options to move. Structural integration works in a basic series of 10 to 12 sessions. The sessions are put together in a recipe that works from superficial to deep levels going around the body from head to toe. The fascia of the body is put together in one extensive, continuous sheet.  If one section is not functioning properly, it distributes the load to the rest of the system. What this means is that the problem is not localized to one area, and that the area of discomfort or pain might not even be where the root of the problem exists. Knowing this, the practitioner works the whole body so that they not only remove the pain momentarily, but also so that they can get to the root of the problem and all its manifestations.  Dr. Rolf was not merely looking to cure symptoms, she was looking to change the whole being. She found after decades of work that the ills would cure themselves as the organism became balanced. The effects of the sessions tend to be profound yet subtle to the recipient. The changes can also reflect out in the recipients’ life, causing them to want to change other aspects of their life. The physical results are permanent, as long as the recipient is willing to change old patterns and explore their new body. We tend to get stuck in our habits; structural integration gives us the opportunity to change these habits and explore the full benefit of having alignment and balance in gravity. Dr. Rolf called this “the gospel of Rolfing: when the body is working properly, the force of gravity can flow through it. Then, spontaneously, the body heals itself.”

Quotes by Ida Rolf taken from Rolfing and Physical Reality by Ida Rolf.  Healing Arts Press 1978, 1990.

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