They might be best known for their luxury lakeside lodges and swanky poolside villas but Bainland Lo
In Part One, I explained how I found myself in Certified Rolfer Sibyl Darrington’s clinic and that there wasn’t anything wrong with me. It turns out this wasn’t quite the case. Here, I am going to try and explain what Rolfing did for me and why it has been just so transformative.
Rolfer Sibyl’s personal assessment of me
It transpires that whilst I stand in a ‘strong’ and ‘grounded’ way, I am quite left-leaning. The outer sides of my legs also really take the brunt and this transfers a lot of pressure to my hips. My more left-sided balance, combined with this outer leg strain, places a lot of pressure on my right hip (the one I explained was a bit stiff from carrying children). My right shoulder is also not level with the left shoulder; it is sky high in fact probably from regularly having to tote a laptop around town as well as school bags in the morning. My toes slightly grip the ground.
My Rolfing Chart with Sibyl’s observations
The Process
I had to stand at the beginning of each session in my underwear, standing front, back and side ways, and then walk to and fro. Sibyl noted her observations and asked me how I was feeling. Then Sibyl applied her Rolfing technique on me with each session based around the framework laid out in Dr Ida Rolf’s Ten Series. Sibyl adapted this however to her own personal style and my own personal situation and feedback.
Being Rolfed is more dynamic than a massage; at times I had to stretch, stand, sit, lie or breathe in a particular way while Sibyl rolfed me. Sometimes I was asked to also visualise, for example ‘gaze out in front of you as if to an expanding horizon’, or ‘gently move your heel towards me whilst imagining a thin thread pulling your toe towards you’. I found the visualisation work combined with the fascial (connective tissue) massage particularly powerful.
Rolfing is a mix of massage without oil, osteopathy and mindfulness. I would describe the sensation of having my fascia worked on (the really tense areas) as an intense burning or ‘scratchy’ feeling which quickly subsides. There is a certain artistry in the way Sibyl works. I sometimes felt like clay in the hands of a sculptor, being gently moulded while Sibyl occasionally stood back to appraise her work. Certainly, I am not sure now that I could ever be content with just a regular massage after experiencing Rolfing, it felt much more profound.
At the end of each session, I was asked to walk across the room a few times with Sibyl observing me. I was usually deliciously spaced out at this time to feel self-conscious, although I found my strides getting longer and the room smaller as the weeks passed.
The results
There have innumerable positive changes however the easiest way for me to encapsulate them is as follows:
In nutrition, I now realise we focus a lot on the physiological processes or ‘software’ of the body, and have only a surface understanding of the anatomical structures or ‘hardware’. In focusing on the internal scaffolding (the fascia or connective tissue) – the internal web that permeates our entire body, every bone and every organ – Rolfing really transcends the ‘soft-’ and the ‘hard’ ware, making it an exciting and, in my mind, truly holistic therapy that deserves far greater attention.
We upgrade our technology nowadays without a second thought, however what Rolfing has taught me is that it never too late to recalibrate oneself. I only wish I had discovered it sooner.
For more information, visit: www.RolfingUK.co.uk
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