Structure In Motion

Rolfing is about Core Experience and Effortless Being

Dr. Ida Rolf is the originator of my craft.  Born in the late 19th century, she was a research scientist who studied biochemistry; Ida also had a sincere yoga practice and knowledge of osteopathy.  In the 1950s, after years of study and practice, she integrated her background to develop her method of bodywork: she called it “Structural Integration”.  She did not teach it until she found a group of willing students at  Esalen in the 1960s.  My mentor, the famous-in-this-field psychologist and Rolfer Dr. Edward Maupin, was one of her first students.  The people she taught called her method “Rolfing”.

I met Ed and learned this work from him while earning my MA in Somatic Psychology and HHP in massage at IPSB in San Diego in the mid-1990s.  At the same time I was competing and winning gold medals in national and international internal Chinese martial arts competition (Tai Chi, Ba Gua, Liu He Ba Fa) and so my initial insight into this method of manual therapy was from the perspective of how it would benefit a competitive athlete.  After my apprenticeship and further study at the Guild for Structural Integration with Peter Melchior,  Ed and I created a full program to teach others in Rolfing and movement training,  wrote the most used book on the subject together, travelled to teach all around the US and in Asia, and I developed new classes for training body mechanics and the experiencing the body-mind connection.  After firmly setting my roots in the work of Ida Rolf and the psychological implications of touch in practice, I moved forward into more scientific studies of structure to further develop my understanding of what Rolfing is, earning a PhD in Civil and Structural Engineering from UC Berkeley.

My background in this work is comprehensive and deeply informed through study and experience.   I make contact and train movement in a clear and direct line from Ida Rolf’s own hands; not just in my technique, but with the theory of the body she presented as fundamental to Rolfing and Structural Integration.  My practice incorporates scientific understanding, embodied presence,  and compassionate touch to deliver an experience of internal discovery and physical effortlessness focused in the present moment.  I work with questions of embodied being as well as discovering solutions for injury, teaching how to avoid chronic pain before it begins, and optimizing physical performance.   Come meet with me and explore what we can do together to cultivate the experience of being in your body you are looking for.