As a Rolfer®, why did you choose to do the Rolf Movement™ course?
When I first studied Rolfing® I was so fascinated by how my teachers talked about movement and how they themselves moved. But at that time, I never thought that I would become a Rolf Movement™ practitioner as I was not ready to show my clients and patients my own body limitations. I was always teaching exercises to my clients during the Rolfing sessions, but I did not feel secure in myself to demonstrate these exercises and be exposed to comments such as: but you can’t touch the floor either or you have scoliosis, and you have poor coordination, etc.
Then I studied Rolf Movement™ and suddenly like a “Voilà” Somatic Movement became a priority. I worked on myself from a different perspective, so I was able to see my clients with new eyes: I was not working only on the client, we became a team, my role went from therapy to education to coaching.
I have worked with a wide range of clients and I have realised that creating more sustainable solutions are the key points in enhancing balance and efficiency. Being a Rolfer® has allowed me to not only work with people with muscle and skeletal limitations but also people with all different challenges, and I have found that that puts me in a situation of continuous creativity and learning and I love it.
What are the benefits of Rolf Movement™?
Rolf Movement™ combines physical contact and verbal communication to teach body awareness, release accumulated tensions and discover a new, more harmonious way of being and moving. Our work integrates anatomy, coordination, perception and the meaning of body actions and our attitudes. This is so profound for some people and it requires us, as practitioners, to have the necessary presence to create a space for trust and security for our client’s transformation.
Rolf Movement™ also allows us to expand our capacity for personal growth through an awareness of our own physical and emotional being. I also work with corporate people and in international stress and burn out programs as a somatic Coach and most of the fundamentals that I use come from my Rolf Movement™ training. And I find that even teaching movement online with these fundamental is possible.
The ‘hands on work’ is necessary but I think what makes Rolfing so unique is that Dr Ida Rolf was a pioneer in observing the person in standing up, walking and seeing patterns, movement, coordination, expression, potential, limitations, fear, anger in clients, because under our skin there are not only tissues, muscles, organs and bones, our body is home to our innermost desires, our deepest emotions, small and large sensations and of course our intuition.
Now I cannot separate my structural sessions from my movement sessions. Rolf Movement™ is so powerful, it is not a tool, it is not a complement, it is necessary, it enables us to bring back the potential, it empowers our clients and helps them to take care of themselves throughout their lives.
Author and Photos: Certified Advanced Rolfer®, Mentor, Rolf Movement™ Practitioner, PT and Ismeta board member, Bibiana Badenes - Spain
