What is Structural Integration? There are lots of different opinions out there about what it is; let’s talk about a few ideas that Dr. Rolf left for us to meditate upon. She said that knowledge of anatomy is a primary way of conveying what we see and do, so others may learn. Whole mastery of anatomy does not allow you to see, you learn to see the body first then go to the anatomy book. The basic structure of the body is the fascial structure not the bones. The bones act as spanners for the muscles, and they hold the plastic sheets of fascia in position so that they can function. When we work as Rolfers, we need only bone and fascia to restore function, unless the bone has been dramatically moved. The essence of exercise is a sliding and movement of fascial planes upon each other.  

 Structural integration is the relating of segments, so that they act harmoniously as a single unit. The closer a segment lies to the centerline, the greater the force must be to move it, so that the structure gets more stable as the work progresses. That’s why we often do 10 to 15 hours of work in the Rolfing process, sometimes called the “Recipe”. Randomness means not only misalignment in 3-D space, but that the individual parts do not match. If this is true, there cannot be physiological order. It is very easy to change your body from one random pattern to another. It is not so easy to put order into a body. Changing posture changes physiological function. The idea that you can change physical structure is not as revolutionary to the medical community, as the idea that you can change physiological function by working with space in which the body functions. 

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