Your Standing On Earth

GRAVITY: FRIEND ... OR, FOE?

GRAVITY: 

FRIEND ... OR, FOE?

Gravity. Friend or foe? 

Now, there's a question. 

We know enough about Gravity to launch rockets into space. Every architect and building trade worker knows that things have to be stacked up straight, all level and even. In their parlance, "Plumb and square."

Even as small children we've all learned that a stack of blocks will stand on its own if they are arranged one on top of the other. Maybe not in words, as such. But, by pure trial and error, we come to directly see that it is so.

Yet, isn't it something, with all we know about Gravity in terms of science and practical technology, how we humans as individuals operate in Earth's gravitational field is still unexplored territory.

So, when it comes to the makeup of our bodies — how they stack up as we know any structure should — where are we?

The visionary Dr. Ida P. Rolf observed ... 

Some individuals may perceive their losing fight with gravity as a sharp pain in their back, others as the unflattering contour of their body, others as constant fatigue, yet others as an unrelentingly threatening environment. Those over forty may call it old age. And yet all these signals may be pointing to a single problem so prominent in their own structure, as well as others, that it has been ignored: they are off balance, they are at war with gravity.

Dr. Rolf didn't leave it at that. She bequeathed an approach for people to easily and gracefully cultivate and recover a body arrangement more in line with the dictates of Gravity. It's called Structural Integration. Individualized expert assistance to transform the arrangement of the body to an unstressed, effortlessly upright, even, balanced, healthy stance.

But, before even considering working with a professional in this peerless and definitive field, there are things anybody can do right now. Stand up straight. Sit tall. Walk moving your whole body. (There are pages on this website going into such things in depth. For now, noticing the situation in itself would be an epiphany.)

Here's an idea. Why leave such things to chance? How about including lessons on how to stand, to sit, and to move in cooperation with the action of Gravity in the general school curriculum? 

Again, in her words ...

Gravity is the tool. Gravity is the therapist.

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.

What you should know:

The human body is an interconnected whole. Not only in terms of its various segments, but also in a very basic ecological, environmental way. We are rooted to the Earth. 

All the tissues of the body and all its bones and organs live in a 3-dimensional matrix of structural support. 

The body is plastic. It takes shape in the course of daily living. Over time, with repeated patterns of use — and misuse — the body takes a shape which testifies to each of our unique personal histories.

Since the body is plastic it can change. Most people do something when they are looking for relief from chronic pain and stress. If they happen to have an appointment with a Rolf Practitioner they will be educated on how many conditions are directly related to, or exacerbated by body imbalances. And, fortunately, they also will discover in the course of a set series of sessions of soft tissue manipulation and movement coaching the joy and freedom of living in balance. A balance which is anatomically correct and healthy. A balance which is supported and nourished by the action of Gravity itself.

You feel it. Plain as day. And, it lasts. 

It feels right. It feels great!

In short, you can learn to make friends with gravity.