Rolfing Releases Chronic Tension and Pain

I had my fourth Rolfing session today. My right hip has been bothering me as has my right shoulder. I’ve had the shoulder trouble before and pain in my hip as well, but in a different area. A few months go I fell in my warehouse right onto my right shoulder, which was already bothering me. This week I’ve had a lot of pain and tension in my ribcage as a result of the change in the way I walk from previous sessions and the shifting of chronic patterns.

My Rolfer worked on my ribs and back again and released a lot of tension. She feels some of it is related to my liver, possibly from my addiction to sugar (that’s a subject for another post). We discussed inflammation in the intestines and how it can affect organs and muscles, such as the back. The inflammation in the intestines can be from a food sensitivity or allergy, most commonly grains, wheat being the main villain.

The rib pain is gone. I had trouble after the session standing and walking because all my muscles had to readjust and familiarize themselves with the new alignment. I had to take baby steps. I was also pretty high on endorphins. My torso is much more flexible now, and my walk has a certain sashay because my torso beneath my ribs has been freed from the constriction to my ribcage. It’s hard to explain, but it feels great!

I strongly recommend Rolfing for those suffering from restriction of movement, such as that which occurs following accidents or injuries. Chronic patterns may also occur simply from repetitive stress, habitual postures (cowering in defense or submission, bending over to avoid attracting attention to breasts, arching the back in rebellion), or vocational repetition or requirements (such as police officers wearing gear around their waists which interferes with sitting properly in a car seat).

For more information, please see the Rolfing Frequently Asked Questions page.

I’ve found a fabulous Web site for you to visit. Please, open your mind, take some time, and visit Somatics on the Web.

The Paradigm of Somatic Education

Here is a quote from the the Somatic website:

The primary observation of somatic education is that people tend to accumulate the effects of injuries and stress. How we recover from the insults and injuries of life largely determines our health, both in the short term and in the long term. The rule governing this viewpoint is, “release reactions that are no longer necessary and cultivate optimal patterns of functioning.”

With somatic education, the individual learns to correct bodily malfunctions through an internalized learning process. For certain conditions, such as chronic pain following injury, this approach is the only way that works in the long run. When a person has accumulated injuries and nervous tension from long-term stress over a lifetime, they may become so tense that their muscles hurt from sheer muscle fatigue. Spasms may occur. Joints get compressed by those muscle pulls. Nerves get pinched. Breathing and physiological functions get impaired. Posture gets distorted. People suffer “body aches”. They “age”. However, there is nothing wrong with their muscles; they are working as they should. They are only obeying the nervous system. The problems that result can be reversed only by releasing the accumulated effects of injuries and stress.

This page is also a nice explanation of somatics and here are some articles from the same site. Got back pain? Check this page out. This site is worth visiting for a while. Enjoy!