Commemorating 125 year of Dr Ida Rolf with Rita Geirola

Describe how Ida’s words have inspired your work and life…

‘Receiving the Rolfing sessions has been a deep trust formative experience for me. At that time, I was already working in the field, I was using Mézières method. That is a technique that addresses the physical structure of the body and sometimes people have emotional reactions when working, so even though I was capable to be there and support, it was not clear for me how touching the body could trigger this kind of emotion. So, I went through my Rolfing process in 84 and it was such an unexpected gift because without looking for it, I could experience that all the levels of my body were finally integrated and available for me. I was then certified as a Rolfer in 87 and since then I have been working as a Rolfer and the beauty of the story is that this trust formative process, this improving as a human being in a new level of my existence is still happening even when I am working with other people. So, I think I am very lucky to have found Rolfing along my way’.

How does Ida’s work continue to be relevant in the 21st century?

‘In my understanding, orientation and adaptability are qualities that are needed for surviving. And as human beings we have these qualities and we have been able, all along our evolution, to adapt and change, not only on the level of the physical structure of the body in order to survive and adapt to the context in which we live.  The thing is that this context has been accelerating a lot along the last century and becoming even more demanding on a level of stress that is not only physical. So, even in my experience as a body worker and as a Rolfer, I have seen how different it is the quality of the demand that is bringing people to my office compared to what was 30 years ago. So, in my opinion, Rolfing can be a great support because in this need for surviving for adaptation, what happens now is that we very often see that people lose themselves. Instead of evolving, their spoil themselves, abusing their system. What we can do as Rolfers is to support them in order to reconnect to their resources, to re-orient and to make this process a growing process that is not detaching the human being from their deep great capacity to express and be happy with life’.

Learn more about Rolfing.

Find a Rolfer near you.

Train to become a Certified Rolfer®.