Hello. If you haven’t heard, I’m in Vancouver now. I re-located to Vancouver in the fall of 2013 and I’ve been softly opening my Structural Integration practice since February 2014. I started working at a lovely little Mount Pleasant massage therapy clinic on Main and Broadway in Vancouver. I lucked out to share space with good people – two Registered Massage Therapists and a Mayan Abdominal Massage Practitioner – within the solid old bones of the historic Lee Building. Together we make up the boutique clinic that is  Therapy Health Studio. After almost a year of gradual landing in Vancouver I’m realizing – I live in Vancouver! So it’s about time I officially announce that I am up and running my SI practice too!

COME AND SEE ME!!! Get $15 off your first session! (Mention that you’ve seen this post).

We’ll talk all things posture, movement, and mindfulness, the permutations of the three, and dive into your connective tissue too.

But just what is it, this Structural Integration?

It’s a good question. One I will attempt to answer in many ways, from a variety of angles, as this blog evolves. It’s not that a definition is elusive, well…no more elusive than any other definition of anything else…it’s just that it works best when defined in a few ways, even better when through the wisdom of experts in various fields: I’ll be drawing from the work of biomechanics, other Rolfers, yoga teachers, movement therapists, physicists, dharma teachers and more…circling the wagons to attempt to peel away the layers of connective tissue encasing this work to reveal its essence(s).

Starting with the most concrete and succinct I know of, and paraphrased from my alma mater, here goes…

The Rolf Method of Structural Integration is a scientifically validated body therapy that focuses on the fascia, (connective tissue) the protective layer of tissue that surrounds muscles, bones, and organs, and gives the body its structure. By lengthening and repositioning the fascia through manual pressure the entire fascial system is affected, muscles move more efficiently, and the body returns to a more optimal alignment and balance.

ahh…Do you feel a little lighter already? My spine lengthened just writing that. Here’s a little more from where it came from, the Guild for Structural Integration. It will get more fun from here on in. I promise to make it interesting, be you a body nerd or not.

And whichever you are, here’s a pretty picture of some fascia, up real close.