"Fascial planes are sometimes like bandages. The body ties itself together, winds itself around, and really pulls the fascial bandage tight. A Rolfer wants to get it so that individual elements inside that bandage are able to slide and organize and adjust with movement." Ida P. Rolf
In 1920, Ida Pauline Rolf received her Ph.D. in biochemistry from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. Despite the resistance she faced as a woman in the field of science, she furthered her knowledge of the body through research in organic chemistry at the Rockefeller Institute.
Driven to find solutions to her own health problems as well as those of her two sons, she spent many years studying and experimenting with different systems of healing and manipulation.
Throughout most of her life she was intrigued with and explored many forms of alternative healing including homeopathy, osteopathy, chiropractic and yoga. The notion that proper alignment, physiologic function and anatomical structure are related is the basis of many of these healing methods.
Dr. Rolf agreed that the body functions best when the bony segments are in proper alignment. She added her observations that lasting improvement in alignment and an overall sense of well-being required a closer look at the effects of gravity on our bodies.
Dr. Rolf posed this fundamental question: "What conditions must be fulfilled in order for the human body-structure to be organized and integrated in gravity so that the whole person can function in the most optimal and economical way?"
This investigation led to a system of soft tissue manipulation and movement education designed to organize the whole body in gravity. She discovered that she could achieve remarkable changes in posture and structure by manipulating the body's myofascial system.
Dr. Rolf eventually named this system Structural Integration and later it was nicknamed "Rolfing” by clients and practitioners. In order to pass along her work to others, and to make the education process accessible, she developed an expedient series of ten sessions which came to be known as the 10-Series.