Rolfing

Release the tension in your muscles to help realign and provide lasting stability to a body.

alleviates pain and stress by aligning the body’s structure

great for increasing flexibility and overall performance

works with the body, not against it

Rolfing Colorado Springs

What is Rolfing?

In short, Rolfing is a hands-on healing modality which corrects posture and offers pain relief by releasing the tension in the connective tissues that surround the muscles to align and provide lasting stability to the body.

How does Rolfing Work?

Rolfing uses physical pressure (with hands and fingers) to lengthen and return the entire body’s connective tissue to its original symmetry and balance. This whole-body treatment is necessary in order to enable the changes to be integrated throughout.

The aim is to achieve the optimal alignment for that person that gives a lasting stability, with no need for constant return visits.

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What clients have to say

"I have recently finished the 10 session Rolfing treatment with Dick Larson. I am very pleased with what resulted. Instead of my legs toeing out when I walk or stand, I now can walk naturally straight ahead. My balance is much improved. My shoulders now are lower and set further back rather than being rounded and right. My whole system is less tense and much looser."

S.P.

"I must extend my sincere gratitude for your talent and skills. Your insights and helpful hints on sitting, standing, body awareness, etc. were as helpful as the actual Rolfing, or maybe even more so. I also said I knew you were the person to trust! …. I was right."

E.C

"Rolfing with the ten session series proved to be a most remarkable transforming bodywork for myself, especially being a massage therapist. I highly recommend the Rolfing treatment. Chronic pain patterns I had for years disappeared. Rolfing with Dick Larson is a foundation for life. It changed my life."

R.L

"I embarked on a Rolfing adventure with Dick Larson when I realized that massage, pain relievers, and ignorance were not moving my body in the way I wanted. Ten sessions later I can say with confidence, Rolfing with Dick Larson is transformative.  Of all the things I’ve gained from the experience, I most value: a feeling of connectedness throughout my body, heightened awareness of tension, and empowerment to embrace my body’s natural healing abilities. Dick is a true professional. I would recommend Rolfing to anyone who wants to break the cycle of oppression they’ve forced their body to endure. You can feel better."

K.K
January 18, 2022

I heard about Rolfing from a friend and thought it might be able to help my
9 year old daughter with Cerebral Palsy who was facing multiple surgeries.
We had the initial consultation with Dick and he explained everything. We gave it a try and the results were above and beyond our expectations. Over the course of treatment with Dick, my daughter's leg length differences began to resolve - from over 2 mm to less than 1 mm. No surgery needed. Her arches began to strengthen and improve, and we were able to forego surgery for that as well. The team at Children's Hospital who had seen her in March prior to starting Rolfing with Dick, were COMPLETELY blown away when we returned in September. So many issues with her balance and flexibility had
improved. She no longer had a contusion of the toes/mid foot and ankle but had flexibility and movement and did not require surgical intervention. She no longer required braces or wedges to walk. The tightness in her hips improved and she was able to bend and stretch in ways that had never been possible before. She grew stronger and gained balance and flexibility and her gait and upper body motion became smoother and less rigid or robotic. Dick was absolutely wonderful with her and put her and me completely at ease. She loved going to see him and looked forward to each session. She was always excited to see how she would improve each week. Knowing she will continue to make progress even after our 10 sessions have ended, gives me full confidence we made the right decision. There is a Stanford Study using Rolfing for children with Cerebral Palsy age 3 and under. Myself, and much of the team at Children's Hospital are now firm believers that every child with Cerebral Palsy could benefit from adding Rolfing to their treatment. We can't praise Dick and the work he is doing enough.
- J.P.

A Brief History of Rolfing

Rolfing is a whole-body system of health care originated by and named for Dr. Ida P. Rolf, Ph.D. Dr. Rolf called her work "Structural Integration", because it focuses on the structure of the body, releasing the body from lifelong patterns of tension, to change posture and alignment.

Rolfing became more widely known after Dr. Rolf helped a young boy, named Tim Law, in 1959. Tim was diagnosed by doctors as suffering from Legg-Perthes disease: doctors were certain that by the time he was 20, he would be confined to life in a wheelchair.

The doctors only recommendation was to put Tim into a cast - for 5 years - to help rectify his condition. After much consideration, Tim's mother made a difficult, yet courageous, decision to have Dr. Rolf work with her son.

The last 46 years have borne out the correctness of her decision: Tim went on to be a champion surfer in high school and college, father two children, and live a happy and fulfilling life until his passing in 2017.

Rolfing Logo

The Dr. Ida Rolf Institute’s “little-boy” logo is based on the actual before and after of a four-year old boy named Tim Law.

Dr. Rolf's discovery was that if specific kinds of pressure were applied to fascia, the body shape will change in a lasting way. The body is changeable, a plastic medium.

To illustrate the possible consequences of the body’s changeability, consider a twisted ankle. The connective tissue in the affected ankle area will shorten and thicken (for support) causing a temporary limp. This shifting of weight to the other leg restructures the muscles in the legs, pelvis, spine, and eventually throughout the body.

Although the limp disappears after a few weeks, the overall pattern in the muscles and tissues continues. As time goes by, the pelvis continues to tilt, the lower back becomes painful, and tensions and pains appear in the body without any obvious reason. The person is left with an ever-increasing distortion.

What to Expect during your Rolfing Sessions

Rolfing is performed in a series of ten distinct sessions, each an hour to an hour and a quarter long. Dr. Larson uses physical pressure (with hands and fingers) to lengthen and return the body’s connective tissue to its original symmetry and balance.

Does Rolfing hurt?

It shouldn't. Much of the reputation for pain came from the early days when Rolfing was first gaining public recognition. Practitioners were a bit “over-zealous”, and techniques were crude (heavy-handed) by today’s standards. Since that time, the process has evolved significantly. More refined methods have been found, allowing the same or often better results to be achieved without the intense discomfort.

Frequently tissue does not really need much pressure to change; rather it is the practitioner’s sensitivity to what is going on in the tissue and the ability to respond appropriately that is necessary.

What should I wear to a Rolfing session?

Please come for your session in appropriate attire: for men, boxer shorts or briefs. For women: a sports bra and full coverage underwear. 

It is important for me to be able to see your physical structure and the changes that occur to it during the session, but is also important for you to feel comfortable during the session.

Please wear what you feel is appropriate; my years of experience permit me to adjust to whatever allows you to feel at ease.

You're body may be out of balance

Individuals may perceive this gradual misalignment of structure as a sharp pain in the back, another as the unflattering contour of the belly. For someone it may show up as constant fatigue, and yet another as permanent anxiety or depression. All these symptoms point to a single problem: the body is out of balance.

Frequently Asked Questions

YES! Photographs taken of clients years after the Basic Ten Series show that changes are still present and structure is enhanced. The basic series addresses patterns of tension and restriction accumulated in your body since childhood, including past injuries and their many compensations. Fortunately, you won’t recreate that history again.

And indeed, your body, having been Rolfed, continues to improve. Your body’s shape and condition are constantly being maintained and recreated by its movement patterns. If the movement patterns are imbalanced and restricted, they will continue to break down the structure (typical degeneration attributed to “getting older”). After Rolfing, the movement patterns begin to improve and re-create a balanced structure. Through the improved movement patterns made possible by a more flexible and free structure, the Rolfing continues after the 10 sessions have been completed.

Is there scientific proof about Rolfing?

YES! Rolfing has been studied scientifically several times, with very positive results (more studies are currently ongoing). One example is a five year study conducted by Dr. Valerie Hunt and Dr. Wayne Massey at the UCLA Department of Kinesiology, called “A Study of Structural Integration from Neuromuscular, Energy Field and Emotional Approaches”. There were measurements before and after Rolfing of anxiety states, brain hemisphere activity, energy field photography, DC recordings of energy flow in electrical voltage readings, EMG recordings from sixteen separate muscles, electromyograms of neuromuscular patterning of energy, and electronic auric field study.
This study produced many results, difficult to briefly summarize. These are a few of the outstanding results:

  • Greater physical skill
  • Greater movement efficiency
  • Improved neuromuscular balance
  • Emotional calmness; decrease in anxiety state
  • Improved social interaction
  • Feelings of well being
  • Better memory recall
  • Enhanced ability to access different states of consciousness
  • Increasing right hemisphere brain dominance when needed for right brain activity
  • Positive changes in ways of processing data and the nature of thought processes that ensue
  • More energy; less fatigue
  • Greater energy flow and balanced distribution of energy

Have more questions? Please feel free to get in touch so we can answer any specific questions you have about Rolfing.