Emotions in the body

Healing from Trauma

The body tenses in self-defense when threatened. Whether traumatized physically or emotionally, the original self-defense mechanism of muscle tension and nervous system activation can become a habit, showing up when it doesn't help to keep you safe.  

Tensing and preparing to fight when a car backfires, or freezing and spacing out when a certain type of person is nearby are both examples of how an old pattern of defense can interfere with day to day functioning. The process of Rolfing can help release the hold of these old defense patterns, helping you to relate more fully with the present moment.
"The way we walk across the room is the way
​we move through life."
                                                       -Vivian Jay
Changing posture and chronic movement patterns can dramatically change peoples experiences of themselves and the world. Rolfing® clients often gain new insight into their own habitual patterns and attitudes, as well as an empowering sense of the freedom to change patterns which are no longer desirable. Rolfing Structural Integration is a powerful tool for those who are on the path of self-discovery.
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One of the ways we humans avoid feeling pain is by holding the hurt part of us still. This coping mechanism can be used for emotional pain as well- we freeze the muscles associated with the expression of a difficult feeling and the awareness of that feeling subsides. Rolfing S.I. can help you reclaim the freedom of movement that was lost in attempt to protect yourself from pain.

​Rather than feeling like a frustrated mind trapped in an uncomfortable and confusing body, you can experience life as an integrated, embodied human with tremendous capacity to learn and change.


Nearly all forms of psychotherapy are based on the premise that
"awareness in and of itself is curative."
-Ken Wilber


"So many therapists are striking at the pattern of disease,
instead of supporting the pattern of health.
One of the things that you as Rolfers™ must always emphasize is that
you are not practitioners curing disease: you are practitioners invoking health.
Invocation is possible by an understanding of what the pattern is, the structural pattern of health.
As you bring a man's structure to conform to that pattern of health
you achieve health. You invoke health."

-Dr. Ida P. Rolf, Ph.D.