If something keeps coming back or hasn’t fully improved, this is the kind of work I do. Working with a client we’re trying to facilitate ways of moving that are more functional for their bodies, new pathways of function. Neuroplasticity means this is possible. How you hold your body while you practice a movement affects how your nervous system takes in the information - it can make learning a new
thing easier. We want to find the conditions that allow a client to transcend their current way of being. How we use a technique should arise from our understanding of where a client is in relationship to our working on them. What we’re working with is relationships - how the body relates to gravity; how different parts of the body relate to other parts of the body. Working on “deep” tissue is still about relationship - that tissue is only “deep” in relationship to other tissue. Rolfing™ Structural Integration, approaches each session with specific goals, based on principles of intervention. The recommendation being a Ten session series, allows for these specific goals and principles to build off of each other, balancing the tissue from Left to Right, Front to Back and Outer to Inner. This outer to inner balancing is the most important because we are focusing on other areas in the structure that may be contributing to the disorganization of the main problem source. Here are some words from Ida herSelf on the Ten session series,
“In Structural Integration, we expect to give a cycle of 10 sessions. There is a reason for this. We are not dealing with local problems. We are not dealing with the kind of thing that you can say, ‘Well, I fixed that, that’s all.’ We are dealing with an intent to make a body more secure, more adequate within the field of gravity. This requires that muscles be balanced, and need to be balanced around a vertical line. And when I talk about balancing muscles, I’m talking about balancing the right side against the left side. About balancing the front of the body against the back of the body and, finally, about balancing the innermost muscles against the outermost, the inside against the outside, this is the most important of these balances, and we start from the outside working in, and it takes ten hours before we can get to the place where we can really balance the outside against the inside.”
–Ida P. Stephen B. Waddell was originally led to bodywork through a series of experiences in his own journey of healing. Through his own process of obtaining a healthier quality of life within the vehicle of his own body, he has been able to achieve greater awareness and understanding of the healing process, allowing him to better assist this process in others. He loves this work and hopes to help others in their personal quests for greater health along the way. Stephen completed his certification in Rolfing™ Structural Integration from the Rolf Institute in Boulder, CO in 2012 and has been fortunate enough to be practicing at Richmond Rolfing for the past three years under the personal mentorship of Rob Miller, Certified Advanced Rolfer™.Stephen was most recently given a unique opportunity to participate in a Spinal Mechanics Workshop, which was facilitated and taught by one of Ida Rolf’s first advanced students, Jim Asher. In addition to Stephens Rolfing Certification, He is a Certified Massage Therapist (CMT), licensed by the Board of Nursing. He received his Massage Certification from the Virginia School of Massage in Charlottesville, VA in 2008. He has practiced Massage Therapy in various places in the Charlottesville, and Richmond, VA areas. His interests are, Rolfing SI, Ving Tsun Kung Fu, Qigong, nature, hiking, climbing, traveling, and most anything that involves physical movement, but most of all, spending time with his Wonderful Wife, while loving and raising their beautiful daughter. Come and experience the process of Transformation with me!
