“Our business as Rolfers™ is to understand that we are working in a gravitational field. It is gravity that is the tool, it is gravity that is the therapist. All we are doing is directing the flow of gravity by virtue of organizing the body as though it were an electric wire so that gravity can flow through it.”
Dr. Ida P. Rolf (IPR)
"In Rolfing®, we work in terms of alignment. We align the myofascial structure, which is the connective tissue system. Fascial connective tissue is the organ of structure, the organ that holds the body appropriately in the three-dimensional material world."
- IPR
"As people come to Rolfers™ with their aches and their pains, we can see where their bodies have shifted to the gravitational forces. Sometimes by a physical traumatic episode - a fall down the steps, out of a tree, out of a high chair, off a bicycle, out of a speeding automobile etc."
- IPR
"Rolfers™ make a life study of relating bodies and their fields to the earth and its gravity field, and we so organize the body that the gravity field can reinforce the body's energy field. This is our primary concept"
- IPR
"If the body is out of balance, gravity is pulling in an imbalanced fashion"
- IPR
"To be comfortable, weight must go through the middle of the joint, be it the hip joint, the knee joint, or the ankle joint."
- IPR
"The overall problem was he had so consistently exercised in one way that he had shortened some of his muscles. Those short muscles were not able to permit his joints to get the relationship that is necessary for verticality."
- IPR
"In order for a living body to be at ease in its spatial environment on earth, gravity must be able to deal positively with it."
- IPR
"There is something about the fact that we live in a gravitational field which makes us insensitive to the recognition of that field."
-IPR
"You can change human beings. You can change their structure, and in changing their structure you are able to change their function."
-IPR
"When the body gets working appropriately, the force of gravity can flow through."
- IPR
"To me, strength is balance. Maximum strength exists in terms of muscles that are balanced."
-IPR
"People go into flexion for emotional security. They curl up for protection."
-IPR
"To get balance in the neck, you must bring harmony to the rest of the body first."
-IPR
"We are not truly upright, we are only on our way to being upright.... One of the jobs of a Rolfer is to speed that process along.... to get... into a place where gravity reinforces [us] and is a friend, a nourishing force."
- IPR
"Feet have to be on the ground, but I don't mean flat-footed. The bones of the legs have to be directly over the ankles."
- IPR
"The paradox is that when a balanced body bends there is a flexing movement but the body lengthens. There is no shortening."
- IPR
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"In Rolfing®, we work in terms of alignment. We align the myofascial structure, which is the connective tissue system. Fascial connective tissue is the organ of structure, the organ that holds the body appropriately in the three-dimensional material world." - IPR
"As people come to Rolfers™ with their aches and their pains, we can see where their bodies have shifted to the gravitational forces. Sometimes by a physical traumatic episode - a fall down the steps, out of a tree, out of a high chair, off a bicycle, out of a speeding automobile etc." - IPR
"Rolfers™ make a life study of relating bodies and their fields to the earth and its gravity field, and we so organize the body that the gravity field can reinforce the body's energy field. This is our primary concept" - IPR
"If the body is out of balance, gravity is pulling in an imbalanced fashion" - IPR
"To be comfortable, weight must go through the middle of the joint, be it the hip joint, the knee joint, or the ankle joint." - IPR
"The overall problem was he had so consistently exercised in one way that he had shortened some of his muscles. Those short muscles were not able to permit his joints to get the relationship that is necessary for verticality." - IPR
"In order for a living body to be at ease in its spatial environment on earth, gravity must be able to deal positively with it." - IPR
"There is something about the fact that we live in a gravitational field which makes us insensitive to the recognition of that field." -IPR
"You can change human beings. You can change their structure, and in changing their structure you are able to change their function." -IPR
"When the body gets working appropriately, the force of gravity can flow through." - IPR
"To me, strength is balance. Maximum strength exists in terms of muscles that are balanced." -IPR
"People go into flexion for emotional security. They curl up for protection." -IPR
"To get balance in the neck, you must bring harmony to the rest of the body first." -IPR
"We are not truly upright, we are only on our way to being upright.... One of the jobs of a Rolfer is to speed that process along.... to get... into a place where gravity reinforces [us] and is a friend, a nourishing force." - IPR
"Feet have to be on the ground, but I don't mean flat-footed. The bones of the legs have to be directly over the ankles." - IPR
"The paradox is that when a balanced body bends there is a flexing movement but the body lengthens. There is no shortening." - IPR