To understand gravity is saying a lot. But we need not understand what it is to feel its effects. The common conception of gravity is that the mass of the earth is exerting a force that pulls us down to its center. Isaac Newton was the first to figure out the mathematics behind the observable phenomenom of the descent of the apple. But when Einstein came on the scene his general theory of relativity reversed this idea of a pulling force to that of a pushing force for gravity. This is the most important concept to remember here and take with you out into the world. Mass in existence curves spacetime around it and thus spacetime pushes towards this mass. You are not pulled down by your feet you are pushed down from the top of your head. This is why proper posture and form matters so much to your overall health, to your emotional well-being, to your energy levels and to the expression of pains in your body. Pain, sadness, anger, fear, lethargy, are all various ways your body is communicating that it is collapsing in some capacity from gravity.

Rolfers make a life study of relating bodies and their fields to the earth and its gravity field, and we so organize the body that the gravity field can reinforce the body’s energy field. This is our primary concept. This is the gospel of Rolfing®: When the body gets working appropriately, the force of gravity can flow through. Then, spontaneously, the body heals itself. As people come to Rolfers™ with their aches and their pains, we can see where their bodies are literally offering blocks to the gravitational forces. The gravitational force is immense and their resistance isn’t much good except to close the body down, compress it. Sometimes the block has been put into the physical picture by a physical trauma. This block is in the actual structure, in the flesh of the body. Then there is the kind of block that is basically emotional.

-Ida P. Rolf PhD

The importance of maintaining a balanced, free, relaxed posture is paramount to your health. When the body is at ease and simultaneously balanced- gravity’s pressure is diminished. It takes less energy to stand, sit, move, and exist. Hands down the best therapy for changing the body is Structural Integration. Through Dr. Ida Rolf’s teachings the body can be unwound. The body has trauma induced blockages and tension patterns that have accumulated over a lifetime and have marinated globally through the entire fascial matrix (which is by far the largest organ in the body). This means a problem in one place is a problem everywhere. All of these problems can be solved when treated by the various modalities that come from Dr. Rolf’s legacy.