Empowerment Rolfing

09/11/2025

Neck and shoulder tension is one of the most common reasons people seek bodywork. Constant screen use, stress, and repetitive activities can cause the fascia and muscles in these areas to shorten and hold, limiting your range of motion and creating discomfort.

Rolfing® Structural Integration addresses the underlying structural patterns that keep tension returning.

By working with fascia throughout the whole body, Rolfers™ can relieve restrictions that start in your feet, hips, or spine and travel upward into your neck and shoulders.

The result is more space for movement, better posture, and a release of chronic holding patterns that have been weighing you down.

07/28/2025

What if ease wasn’t about doing more – but about doing less?

Rolfing® Structural Integration can help identify and release deep-seated tension patterns, inviting a sense of lightness and alignment through touch and body awareness.

In today’s fast-paced world, this shift in perspective can be transformative – not by force, but through gentle reorientation.

Curious what that might feel like?
👉 Find a qualified Rolfer® near you and explore what letting go can lead to:
🔗 https://rolfing.org/find-rolfer

06/10/2025

Did you know chronic pain isn't always just about tissue damage? 🤔 The European Rolfing Association's blog explores the nervous system's role and how Rolfing® Structural Integration offers a holistic approach to finding relief. Discover how gentle touch and movement can help you regain control and move without fear of pain.

Read the blog: https://rolfing.org/articles/blog/rolfing-and-chronic-pain



ERA website: https://rolfing.org

05/15/2025

As I was gently freeing some tissue deep in the bowl of a recent client's pelvis, she asked me “How come when my doctor presses there, it always hurts, but not when you do it?”

The answer is that I'm not just doing things to people's bodies, I'm also listening to them. Rolfing is an interaction. When I feel a space is guarded, I respect what the nervous system is telling me. When people listen to us and respect our boundaries, we tend to be more inclined to let them in. Your nervous system is no different. The truth is sometimes things still do hurt, just as an emotional trauma might be painful to work through with a psychologist. Rolfing is all about improving physical relationships in our body, but it is also dependant, to an extent, on human relationships.

One difference between an average and a great practitioner is knowing when to lean in with a heavy elbow, and when to approach things more thoughtfully. The truth is, even my elbows strive to be thoughtful, and I'm sure I will never stop working to improve on this.

The result of all this is that with any luck, the next time that woman's doctor presses on her pelvis, it might just be a little less painful, or perhaps even not at all.

Image Credit: https://monicaaissamartinez.com/

11/12/2024

🌿 Struggling with a herniated disc? There’s hope beyond surgery! 🌿

Herniated discs are a common and painful issue, but surgery isn’t the only solution.
Rolfing® Structural Integration offers a holistic approach to pain relief by addressing the root causes, such as poor posture, tension, and imbalanced movement patterns. By releasing tension in the fascia, Rolfing helps realign your structure and eases pressure on the spine.

10/27/2024

Check out our bio or visit http://www.rolf.org for more information about Dr. Rolf and her work taught at the Dr. Ida Rolf Institute®.

10/08/2024

Diving into Barral's "Manual Therapy for the Peripheral Nervous System" and amazed at the depth at which osteopaths are able to manually explore, understand, and improve nerve/body relationships. Also pretty cool to see in my own practice how releasing the subtle restriction of a skin level sensory nerve near someone's belly button can cause their distant lower back and spine to suddenly relax and find mobility where movement was significantly restricted.

09/27/2024

Can a person get taller and more vital at 71 years old? This client of mine is pretty spry and does not show his age but is struggling against a forward postural habit that has slowly closed his front line over the years, pulling his head and shoulders forward and rounding his spine. Today he was happy to get almost 2 cm of his old height back!

The lower mark in the picture is after our 4th session in August, after we both noticed he had already shifted perceptibly upwards.

This afternoon was our 6th session. After some careful indirect and decompression work freeing structures deep in the thorax around heart and lungs, he stood up and we were both immediately struck that he had again gained some more height in addition to moving more freely.

Even after many decades, soft tissue remains amazingly adaptable. Sometimes it just needs the right encouragement! Very exciting to see the deeper anatomical understanding I gained recently in Colorado already manifesting clear benefits for my clients.

www.empowermentrolfing.com

Empowerment Rolfing, now serving Calgary and Edmonton. Empowering bodies and minds to change. For freedom of movement, posture, pain, and other soft tissue problems.

09/25/2024

Our knowledge about the human body is so small compared with the unbounded intricacy and richness it possesses. It is important to start the journey of discovery even though we cannot see where it will lead.
- Jean Pierre Barral, Osteopath

This week I am back from a class in Colorado and appreciating the exceptional men and women with great, persistant curiosities who have enriched my life and countless others beyond belief. I'm proud and humbled to be able to bring this work to the people of Calgary, and grateful for the amazing Rolfing community I have to learn from.

08/06/2024

As the world eagerly anticipates the thrilling diving competitions at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, dive into the inspiring story of Olympic diver Marion Reiff! 🏅

In this in-depth interview, Marion reflects on her illustrious 17-year career as a 10m platform diver, representing Austria at the highest levels of competition. Discover how she overcame extreme physical demands, coped with injuries, and ultimately found a new passion in Rolfing® Structural Integration.

🔹 Topics Covered:
• The intense physical challenges of competitive diving
• Coping with and recovering from sports-related injuries
• The transformative power of Rolfing® for athletes
• Marion's journey from Olympic diver to holistic bodywork professional

Don't miss this inspiring conversation with a true champion who continues to make waves beyond the diving platform. Whether you're an athlete, a sports enthusiast, or interested in holistic bodywork, Marion's story will leave you motivated and informed!

👉 Read the full interview now – https://rolfing.org/articles/rolfing-has-helped-me-learn-alternative-movement-patterns/?fb

08/04/2024

How can we improve quality of life through fascial manipulation and body education? I will be talking to people and giving away free 10-20 minute Rolfing Sessions at the PineRidge Community Association on September 7th. If you're in Calgary come check out the market and say hi! Or tell a friend or loved one if they have body, movement, or pain issues and they can get a bit of free work and maybe learn something about their body in the process! This is a great opportunity to experience this powerful fascia focused therapy for yourself or to help someone you love.

07/22/2024

What are we thinking about in a Rolfing session? What are we actually doing? What are we trying to achieve? Let's break it down with an example.

Your shoulders are meant to glide freely and softly over your rib cage while you walk. Yet too often (and for many reasons) this natural and important part of movement becomes muted. When sliding surfaces between muscles remain immobile for long periods of time, nerve endings live in silence, without stimulation. Our mind's body maps become disconnected from this part of our body. Lack of movement leads to chronic tension, nerve impingement, or other problems while the disconnected state of our brain may lead to a heightened pain response and spastic muscle reactivity. Lack of movement in our shoulders necessarily restricts ease and balance of movement in our entire bodies.

Thankfully by addressing both the physical restrictions in fascia and soft tissue, and the learned patterns of movement that accompany them, you can be empowered to better understand your own body and overcome these issues or prevent them altogether.

When you apply this idea holistically to all of the important relationships in your body, then you are really Rolfing! That's how we facilitate transforming people's experience in their bodies. Whether you are working to recover and get back to being active, or trying to identify and address problems before they start, I would love to be a resource in that journey, and I'm confident I can help.