"Some individuals may perceive their losing fight with gravity as a sharp pain in their back, others as the
unflattering contour of their body, others as a constant fatigue, yet others as an unrelentingly threatening
environment. Those over 40 may call it old age. And yet all these signals may be pointing to a single problem,
so prominent in their own structure, as well as others, that it has been ignored: they are off balance. They
are at war with gravity."
-Ida P. Rolf, Ph.D.*
An unbalanced body represents a stressful relationship to gravity. If because of illness, injury, emotional trauma,
occupational stress or improper workout techniques your body adopts an unbalanced posture, the fascia adjusts to
contain and hold those patterns, stiffening into position. Although some of these adjustments may have originally
served a useful purpose, if they are increasing your struggle with gravity then they are also decreasing the energy
you have available for other pursuits.
Gravity cannot be defeated or avoided. What we can do is change our relationship to gravity. Your structure
can become realigned to exist more effectively within the gravitational field. The goal of Rolfing,
through the sensitive manipulation of the fascia, is to bring the body closer to its center line of gravity so
that less effort is required for living erect, less energy used for basic standing, sitting and other movements.
When your body is better aligned with gravity, you have more energy available for whatever you want your life
to be about.
*Courtesy of the Rolf Institute of Structural Integration®, Boulder, Colorado
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