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A nice before-and-after from a single session showing subtle and meaningful shifts. Her hips shift to the horizontal which remains an ongoing theme when working with clients toward integration. Her weight is more evenly balanced after, and her left leg moves from a medial to parallel orientation and her hips are moving and rotating right to left. In the after picture, her shoulder girdles elevate and become more congruent.

A significant and substantial shift in this before and after from a single session with my client. An affirmation to our shape shifting capabilities in our structures. There is reduced flexion in her thighs allowing her pelvis to move back to a lesser posterior tilt to a more natural anterior tilt.  She is taller after with lift in her torso allowing her shoulder girdles to move back with significantly less rounding in her shoulders. Her head is better positioned on top of her shoulder girdles and her eyes align to the horizon without looking up or down preserving an eye-catching lateral line of integration in the field of gravity.

Very nice movement with my client in this before and after image from a single session. Although my client’s hips are horizontal to begin with which is one of the primary integrative goals in a person’s structure, hers are rotated and so what you can see is the movement right to left which moves everything above and below the rotation into better alignment for her structure. Her left leg is slightly outwardly rotated in the before picture and that leg rotates to the midline working in tandem with her pelvis in the after picture. In the after picture her pelvis has much better balance which reverberates in a sense up and down from the rotation to create a more integrated structure and there is some lift, so she gains a little height.

A few weeks ago, I profiled this client when we were working on getting her hips level back in September. This session since her hips held level, we worked on getting length on her left and right side and creating lift.  Often when working with people carrying extra weight this is an area that gets very compressed, and my client here is petite, and weight is not the issue. This client makes the point that even slim clients have the opportunity for expansion and more lift. Making space where it is needed and whole-body integration is part of the focus in Rolfing Structural Integration.

A before and after from a single session showing marked improvement. My client had been involved in a serious auto accident from 50 years prior involving injuries to his right side which included a broken pelvis, ribs, collar bone, and ankle. The lengthening in his right side is dramatic in the after picture as his hips move to a more horizontal presentation which is one of the major themes in the Rolfing integrative process. It is important that clients pay attention to the shifts happening in their structure which helps considerably in the process of retaining more of it as we progress to more whole-body integration.

Clear example of a before and after image from a first session working with an athletic client. Her left leg moves medially to a more supportive position for her pelvis. Although my client is in very good shape she was compressed in the top of the hip crest to the 12^th rib. After the session significant length was gained on both sides which you can easily see on the graph. The more extra weight one is carrying the more working in this area can be helpful and necessary for your structure. In this case it was not weight driven as it is for many. Some of this shortness in this area can be genetically driven and even in those cases there is much one can do to improve the span in this area for more length.

This is a clear example of nice movement in my client’s structure from before and after a single session. One of the primary goals we discussed was finding ways to make room to allow his head to move back on top of his shoulder girdle which you can see in the after picture.  My client has spent a lifetime of working out with weights and developing dense muscle tissue contributing to his head’s forward position. Having a forward head presentation increases compressive loading on connective tissues in the cervical spine, including the facet joints and ligaments. Respiratory function is also weakened and can even have a negative effect on static balance. His structure is more balanced, and his lateral line are much improved in the after image.

Before and after image from a single session showing a very nice shift in my client’s structure. The heel of her left foot moves medially, left posterior lower leg muscles rotate medially, and her adductor compartment of her thigh moves to a more supportive position for her pelvis. The heel of her right foot moves outwardly and her entire foot moves to a more parallel position, posterior lower right leg muscles are rotating laterally, her upper thigh repositions to a more supportive position for her pelvis. This translates to more equal weight distribution down each leg creating a more horizontal pelvis girdle and the direction of movement in the pelvis is left to right.

Another great example of the emerging lateral line in the Rolfing experience. Here, in this before and after of my clients first session is a clear example of that. The entire lateral line is moving to a better position toward a more integrated structure. Fibularis longus, (peroneus) fibularis brevis, (peroneus) fibularis tertius (peroneus), move back as well as less flexion in her thigh. Her frontline moves back, and she has lift and much less rounding in her shoulder girdle and her head sits on top of her shoulder girdle in a better position as her posterior neck lengthens.

Great example in this before and after from a single session showing significant shift in my client. His left lower leg rotates medially, and his foot moves more toward a parallel position. His gastrocnemius moves to the back of his leg where it belongs. His right leg moves in and is more supportive of his pelvis. It’s always interesting of how working the lower body effects the upper body and, in this case, creates lift in the torso and allows more length in his sides from the hip crest to the axilla creating a taller structure in an already tall individual. The basis of support starts at your feet, and one can’t overstate this concept as it is built into the Rolfing paradigm.