My Los Angeles Rolfing Experience

Okay my first session of Rolfing was pretty cool. I read up a little bit about it on the Internet but really did not know what to expect.

When I first arrived, I met my rolfer and we spent a good 5 to 10 minutes discussing what Rolfing is and how our connective muscle tissue is like a web connecting throughout our entire body.

Also Al answered any questions that I had. The only question I had was that I heard Rolfing is extremely hard in terms of the pressure on the muscles. I said this is a good thing because whenever I got a massage I would always ask the massage therapists if they could massage me a little harder because I’ve always liked a hard massage. I am one of those people that ask my friends to walk on my back because it feels good.

Al kind of just laughed as he explained, I work with everyone’s capacity.

Anyway after that he evaluated my current posture in a few different positions both sitting down and standing both at the front and the side. It’s amazing how a simple evaluation from a trained professional can add insight to where we hold her attention. I highly recommend anyone interested in getting Rolfing done here in Los Angeles to request an evaluation if your rolfer offers it.

I am usually not a big fan of a long winded consultation I mean I’m here to get Rolf not chat. But I cannot tell you how important it is to at least take 10 to 15 minutes for a brief introduction before starting. As I realize now Rolfing is very different than any other body work and going over the process and expectations, in my opinion, will greatly enhance the desired results.

Okay now for actually going over session 1

The first session of Rolfing was mainly focused on my rib cage and shoulder girdle. To be honest the first couple of minutes felt very similar to a massage. However I soon realized that it was just a way to evaluate the body for deeper work to begin.

The attention to detail was astounding. I mean an entire hour and 10 minutes was dedicated just on my rib cage both front and back and shoulder girdle. When the work was being done around the shoulder girdle my rolfer also worked on specific parts of my neck. I guess this is when I had my first breakthrough!

You see when most massage therapists come to a knot they might spend a little extra time quote working it out. However to be perfectly honest all I ever felt from that was them going over and over it again and again with very little effectiveness. I never minded because as I said before I like hard massages, but the knots never seemed to go away.

When Al found a knot in my neck he not only worked directly on the not but spent just as much time on the areas around the knot as well. I immediately felt an instant relief in terms of tension in my neck but a few days later I noticed that the knot was completely gone.

Other benefits I noticed from session 1 was that I was immediately able to breathe much easier. I would compare this to the last couple minutes of a good yoga class in your entire body stretched out and you feel that error is being drawn in from the belly rather than calling in from the throat muscles.

Anyway I went back for more Rolfing for session number two about 12 days later. I have noticed that many rolfer’s recommend going anywhere from twice a week to only once every other week. For me once a week and works fast for a number of reasons but will leave that for another post.

Hope this was helpful especially for those people thinking about getting Rolfing done in Los Angeles New York or were ever.

If you haven’t gotten Rolfing done and would like to share your Rolfing experience especially the first session please comments below.

Till next time, Happy Rolfing,

Dave