Frequently asked questions Structural Integration

Is Structural Integration right for me?

Everyone under the sun can enrich their lives with postural balance and alignment. People of all ages, children to the elderly, benefit from the series. Some seek out Structural Integration to alleviate chronic pain issues. Others undergo the series preemptively as a preventative means for greater health and well-being.

Overall, Structural Integration (often referred to as Rolfing) will improve your quality of life and heighten your sense of well-being in all that you do. With structured balance and the long-term benefits that result from the series, you will embody a higher level of functioning in every activity. We can work collaboratively to refine and improve your abilities in sports, work, favorite hobbies, and day-to-day activities

What happens during a session?

Structural Integration is performed in ten sessions. Each session is approximately one hour in length. The practitioner sensitively applies pressure where the fascia is restricted. You may be asked to breathe into an area and/or make synchronized movements. The combination of applied pressure and synchronized response frees and repositions the fascia, which in turn, realigns the body's segments.

How often do you come?

It is preferable that the sessions are received, one per week or two weeks. The ten sessions are administered progressively; each session builds upon the last until complete integration of the body is achieved. 

How long do the results last?

The beauty of structural bodywork is that this work continues to integrate into your body long after a session/series. Structural changes may not be visibly drastic at first but may be seen and felt after some time has passed.

Also, the movement education following each session is essential to maintaining your postural balance and alignment. Persistent and patient practice of the movement lessons in the real-world environment will allow your healthy posture to endure and remain throughout your lifetime.

Does Structural Integration hurt?

In the old days some practitioners worked in a painful way, and many people giving or getting bodywork still equate "pain" and "intensity" with deep work and results. The truth is, we can do very deep, even intense work with very light pressure. It's not a relaxing massage - we want you to feel your body! But that doesn't mean that it has to be painful. In fact, many people find it pleasant or even like it more than massage. You will generally feel stretch of tight tissue and sensation ("a good burn") at some points but not throughout the session, and pressure and sensation are always adjusted for where you are.

What should I wear to a session?

It’s important that we can easily see and assess your body structure, but also important is that you are comfortable. Most clients wear their undergarment or loose-fitting shorts and a bra or sports bra. As long as there aren’t buttons or zippers, we’re happy to work with whatever makes you feel the most comfortable 

How does Structural Integration differ from Massage Therapy?

The only similarity shared between SI and massage is skin-to-skin contact. Structural Integration deals with and manipulates the fascial matrix that courses throughout the entire body. SI and massage have different goals. SI focuses on re-balancing your entire structure by lengthening and releasing connective tissue which enwraps every organ, muscle, bone, nerve and blood vessels. Massage therapy focuses on lengthening and relieving tension of the muscular system.

Unique to Structural Integration is the therapeutic partnership between the client and practitioner. The client does not passively lie on the table with the intention to relax and restore usually found in massage sessions. The client takes an active role throughout the series with their awareness, breath, and conscious movements on the table.

Another difference is the treatment of pain. Structural Integrators believe that the pain and symptom are not in the same location. We assert pain is usually caused by structural imbalances occurring in other areas of the body (e.g., chronic pain of the neck may be due to imbalances in the feet, knees, and hips).  Massage therapy is beneficial to address localized pain and releasing stiffness and tension at the symptom area (working where it hurts).

Structural Integration and massage therapy are highly complementary to one another, and each modality is very effective. It is a question of which modality is right for you.

Why 10 Sessions?

The ‘recipe’ of the 10-session series is a systematic approach to re-balancing and reorganizing the entire body in all three dimensions in gravity. It is a collaborative journey between the client and practitioner and operates as a process treating the client’s entire structure from head-to-toe, instead of treating his/her symptoms. Each session focuses on different terrains of the body, ultimately relating each part to the whole structure, and each have their own specific intention.

What is a 4 handed session?

Four handed sessions are highly efficient, effective and transformative sessions where two practitioners are working on you at the same time. The advantage of having two people working on you is the ability to connect and shift longer planes of fascial, creating a deeper change.  When Jaci and Toni are working together, the client gets the combined knowledge of both practitioners, and the unwinding that only comes with 4 handed work.