Holy ****, I just got rolf'd!

Rolfing. Yes, it's a word. I didn't know it was a word a few months ago. Rolfing. By a Rolfer. What is it? Well, where massage is for muscles and chiropractors are for bones, rolfing is for tissues - specifically, the tissues that hold in the muscles. The casing, if you will. The idea being that habitual movement forms our tissues in certain ways and therefore our muscles in certain ways - sometimes for good, sometimes for not so good.

I've had issues with my hips for many many years. Perhaps the word 'pelvis' is more accurate. I've also had a good deal of massage and chiatsu done for someone my age, and had chiropractic work done to try and fix this hip stuff a long time ago - and it never really went away. Sometimes it was better, sometimes it was worse. Sometimes it was so bad that if I were lying flat on my back, I could not sit up directly. I frequently had to roll on to one side and ease myself up that way, since my lower back was so tight and knotted that I couldn't make it bend, curve so that I could sit. When I lie down to go to bed, my lower back usually feels like it's hovering, not sinking in to the mattress with the rest of me.

So, my dad suggested a rolfer. 1. maybe it will help. 2. This is Santa Cruz. And this is such a Santa Cruz thing. So, I went for my first session tonight - one third getting to know the rolfer (recommended by my father's yoga teacher), one third explaining my particular physical problems and her explaining what she would plan on doing for me if I wanted to work with her, and then a very short session of me just getting to know what rolfing really feels like, to see if it will be helpful for me. So, the first two thirds were quite enjoyable - nothing like explaining an ailment you have and having someone saying something new, insightful, and undeniably accurate in response. Not only that, but in just getting to know each other, we realized that one of the dancers that I admired most (still admire - but did so actively when I was dancing so much during high school) was her very own modern dance teacher (Bill T. Jones!!), which was a fun connection. And then - I think she said it ended up being only 12 minutes - of her figuring out what my body was actually doing and me feeling what rolfing was actually like.

And don't get me wrong - it's kind of painful, the same way massage can be. But I swear, I can feel it. She had me stand up halfway through, after she had worked on my right side, and had me tell her what I was feeling. I said that it felt like my right hip was floating. And she said, "yeah. It shouldn't have to be that much work to stand. What your left leg is still doing, do you feel that? " and I responded that my left side felt normal, and she chuckled and said. "Alright. Other side. Let's get you evened out." And I felt like I floated the entire walk home.