What do I wear?

Here are some suggestions for what clients typically wear to sessions. Women: running shorts and a sports bra, or underwear. Men: running shorts, underwear.

What is a first session like?

Typically, a first session is scheduled for 75 minutes and begins with an intake interview where we discuss why you want to receive Rolfing, your physical history, and how you are currently feeling. This is also a time when I can answer any questions you have about the Rolfing process. Next I will analyze your body structure and its functioning. To do this I look at you in standing or walking, places hands on your shoulders and hips to feel the alignment of your body and how it is balanced. From the analysis, I form an outline of a treatment plan. At each step of the process we are evaluating the progress of treatment based on your body’s response, and your feedback.

What are follow up sessions like? 

Sessions are 60-70 minutes and are spaced a week or more apart in most cases. Sessions typically begin with a standing structural analysis where I look for patterns, assess function, and observe changes session to session. Hands-on work is done on a comfortable table as well as seated. The practitioner will apply pressure to the fascia, working the entire body in a systematic way. The client participates in the process by moving, breathing and releasing the holding patterns within the connective tissue, allowing the innate balance of the body to guide the process.

Each Rolfing session concentrates on different aspects of your body’s structural and functional pattern. The results become cumulative as each session’s results add to the previous ones.

How is Rolfing different from Massage and Chiropractic? 

Certified Rolfers are trained to detect and improve the structural aspect of many bodily discomforts. Rolfers employ individualized treatment plans tailored specifically to each client’s needs. The results of Rolfing are lasting and often permanent.

In general the term massage is a broad term that refers to many styles of bodywork. The focus of most massage therapy training is relaxation not structural balance. Some “deep tissue” massage works to release local patterns of structural strain, but this is not usually done as part of a strategy to balance the whole body.

Chiropractic is primarily concerned with freeing spinal joint restrictions and promoting nerve flow to and from the spine. It does not address the soft tissue patterns of the whole body and their influence on structural balance. Rolfing uses gentle soft tissue techniques to treat osseous restrictions that are a part of the overall body pattern.

Rolfing, massage and Chiropractic care can be used together in a complimentary way.

Where does Rolfing come from? 

When she pioneered her work more than 50 years ago, Dr. Ida P. Rolf, Ph.D., first called her work Structural Integration. The genius of the work rests on Dr. Rolf’s insight that the body is more at ease and functions most effectively when its structure is balanced in gravity. She observed that, over time, the field of gravity actually accentuates the body’s imbalances and diminishes its flexibility. Based on these core observations, she developed her groundbreaking methods of hands-on manipulation which later became known as Rolfing – to reduce gravity’s adverse effects on the body

Where do Rolfers get their training? 

All Certified Rolfing Practitioners are trained at the Dr. Ida Rolf Institute in Boulder, Colorado.

David Welker’s Rolfing practice is based in Austin, Texas and is conveniently located in Creekeside Whole Health on N. Lamar.