The Clinic For Funny Walks

"I walk funny.  I just walk... funny. I went to the doctor and he gave me muscle relaxers."

This was actually spoken in my office.

And again, recently:

"Some of my friends make fun of me and ask, 'Why do you walk so stiff?' I can't help it, that's just the way I walk!"

Well, you've come to the right place. My job is to fix those funny walks. But to understand this whole situation better, let's take a closer look at those special gaits.

Question #1: Why do I walk funny?

Hey You, Special People: 5 Qualities My Rolfing Clients Have

Japanese Acrobats/ wikimedia commons

What kind of people come for Rolfing?

The list is long: judges, computer programmers, nurses, ballet dancers, merchant marines, architects, bassoonists, lawyers, dentists, stock traders, fashion designers, cooks, bank tellers, pilots, surgeons, dog-walkers, painters, stay-at-home mothers, biologists, CEO's, psychotherapists, real estate agents, acrobats, poets, some busking street musicians on one hand, then a number of artists who can boast their Oscars, Grammys, Emmys. I've even had Republicans in my practice. And this list can go on.

But still... I can't say that "everyone" should come for Rolfing. Because despite their wild diversity, all my clients have these five qualities in common. 

Artists! Get Rolfing! Here!

This is the definition of sympathy. Aside from my Rolfing practice, I'm also a cellist and writer. To be honest, I'm a teeny bit more passionate about creative endeavors than I am about fixing bodies. Inevitably, I combine the two.

Artists, musicians, dancers, singers, and actors are exactly the people who really need Rolfing. I know this very well myself. The reasons are obvious: Rolfing frees the body to be more expressive, and many performers rely on their bodies for their livelihoods. Yet, sadly, exactly these people rarely earn enough to afford Rolfing.

I've heard this from too many artists: "I saved up all year for one Rolfing session!" And truly, they can only afford to come that one time. A year later, they will come back for another session, at which point we have to start from the beginning again. It pains me because Rolfing is a series of sessions that greatly benefits these creative people, yet the people who can't afford a Rolfing 10-session series eventually pay more for the complete series, if they ever get through one. 

So to buck this trend, I will bend over backwards to offer performing artists – and also teachers, non-profit employees, and caretakers – all sorts of reduced rates and payment plans. I want artists to get through a Rolfing series in the same time that a real estate agent, lawyer, or engineer does.

But I need your help. Rolfing is expensive because we Rolfers take much more time per client and have limited hours in a week. In addition, the Rolfing process is finite, not open-ended; after a Rolfing series, the body self-heals for a long time and successful, responsible Rolfers let their clients go when the 10-series is done. 

The more full-paying clients I have, the better I can afford to serve the creative community. I greatly appreciate it if you can spread the word and refer my practice to your friends and family! Thank you for helping the flow and keeping our creative community alive and well.

Audrey Mei, Certified Advanced Rolfer 

Find more information at www.standard-gravity.com. Feel free to contact me. My Rolfing office is located at 220 Bush Street #1084 in San Francisco, CA 94104.

Emotional Complexity, Longevity, and Your Posture

Did you know? 

Black-and-white thinking makes you age faster. 

On the other hand, being able to see that nothing is all good or all bad has been found to slow aging in your DNA because it spares you the stress of extreme emotions. Here's how Rolfing, by improving your posture, helps you mellow out and keeps you young.

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"It's amazing, I can see the silver lining!"

"Things that used to bother me just don't anymore."

"You know that movie The Matrix? That's me, dodging all the bullets, but instead I'm dodging stress at work."

I hear it often from my Rolfing clients. It's similar to what I felt when I received my first Rolfing 10-session series back in the 90s: At the time, I was in a double-degree program studying cello and biopsychology in Boston, and to top that off, I was pushing myself through pre-med, preparing for the MCAT, and applying for a Fulbright Grant at the same time. 

Needless to say, the stress was high. A C+ on an exam, an audition that I didn't have time to practice for, a glare from the conductor when I got to orchestra rehearsal late... Life was full of little awful events that made me feel horrible.

But how bad would I feel, and how long would it bother me? Those changed while I was getting my Rolfing series. I remember telling my Rolfer, Aline Newton, "It feels like stress used to cling to me like rain on a cotton jacket. Negative thoughts would hang around for days or weeks. But now it feels like the stress literally slides away. It rolls off me like water." In addition, I told her: "I can see how things are never all bad." 

And unbeknownst to me, I had gained a powerful tool for staying young and healthy, longer. In my 20s, it mattered little, but now being "greater" than 40 (ahem), this is worth gold.

Study: Rolfing Improves Neck Pain, Range Of Motion

This is from a 2009 article from Massage Magazine. I've been practicing for over 17 years at this point and can say that increased range of motion (ROM) from Rolfing applies to much more than just the neck, as many of my clients move more gracefully and more efficiently than before the 10-session series. "I use a lot less energy to walk, so I'm not exhausted by the end of the day" is a common thing I hear in my office.

And the article...

"Completing 10 sessions of Rolfing® structural integration (RSI) was shown to decrease pain and improve range of motion among people who sought treatment for complaints of neck pain and limited neck motion.

The study, “Rolfing structural integration treatment of cervical spine dysfunction,” was retrospective research that involved a total of 31 patients, six males and 25 females, ages 22 to 66, with a median age of 52 years.