Friday, September 2, 2016, 7:45 a.m. We met at a restaurant near Paris Gare de l’Est (the Gare de l’Est). After a simple breakfast of a croissant and tea, I took Metro line 4 to Montparnasse–Bienvenüe station. With about a 30-minute ride, I arrived earlier than the scheduled time. After strolling around a little, at 9 a.m. I went to Hubert Godard’s apartment from his time living in Paris.
According to “Phenomenological Space,” an interview Caryn McHose conducted with Hubert Godard, Hubert Godard was originally active as a contemporary dancer, but through a knee injury he came to take an interest in osteopathy and bodywork. He is said to have nearly 50 years of experience.
Three of us took part in the Mentoring: Suzanne, who was with me in Phase I of the Munich training, and Arnaud, who was with me from Phase I through III. Taking part in Mentoring as a group was a first for me, but because we were able to receive a large time frame of three hours, it became a truly rich time. What’s more, at our first meeting, his smile gave a strong impression that anything was OK to ask.
Usually he is based in Milan, where he gives Rolfing sessions, and he stays in Paris in order to teach. I was able to seize the chance during that brief stay.
Not only did he share what he had learned so far without holding back, but he even took care to remember each person’s name — taking notes on his computer screen at the start, and then calling on us while occasionally glancing at the notes on the screen. By a degree of considerateness that would surprise even an acquaintance of mine in France, I, too, was moved, and at the same time I could feel his respect for Rolfers.
Those who have mastered something say, without exception, the same thing: that the foundations are to be valued. Hubert was no exception.
“What is important in Rolfing is grounding (Feel the 2 feet on the ground). Being able to use the foot as a whole, including the toes and the heel. On that basis, in order for the whole body to come to rest on those feet, attention goes to the sagittal plane. Movement in the front-back of the body is important, and there lies the meaning of looking at the breath. That is why there is a first session.”
— so he took a style of speaking, in an easy-to-understand way, about the idea of grounding, which is the foundation of Rolfing, touching on the principles and then stating the techniques required afterward.
Also, a review of the basic content of Body Reading was done. To check whether the feet are carrying the whole body, the body is observed; on that occasion, where should attention go? Observation including where there is tension in the shoulder girdle and the pelvic girdle, and how the spine is doing — since it entered from an explanation from the basics, it became, in a good sense, a review of the Basic Training. That the three of us were each a different type was good too, I think.
Then, on to technique.
What took up a large share of our questions was sitting work (treatment done when sitting up, mainly treatment done seated in a chair) rather than table work (treatment done on the table, in a lying state).
In sitting work, when looking at the spine, attention goes to front and back. Incorporating the back’s movement in the case of the front, and the front’s movement in the case of the back, while approaching the fascia with focus; and as for lateral flexion, he introduced work including the rotator cuff of the shoulder girdle.
What became clear this time is to value the foundations: the importance of the fact that skill rises only by practicing what has been learned and accumulating it.
I understood well that my stance so far — of faithfully trying out, as they are, the skills I have learned, true to the basics — is important, and I think I’ll proceed with sessions in that direction going forward.
I’d like to end this column by introducing, last, the meal after Hubert’s session ended.
