I teach a form of bodywork called the Alexander Technique. I have been studying it for seven years.
I also work as a yoga instructor, so by the nature of the work I have spent a great deal of time observing my own body and my students’ bodies, and refining how the body is used at a fine level of detail. Because of that I have some confidence that my knowledge of the body and my understanding of how to use it sit above the ordinary level — though of course neither is complete, and I keep studying. Along the way, Rolfing was something I had heard about often.
This time I had the chance to receive ten Rolfing sessions from Otsuka, and because the experience was such a significant one for me, I would like to share it.
In my case it was not a shock from the start. I came to feel the effects gradually.
In the first few sessions, which work with the surface layers of the body, it was less that I felt something distinct and more that I noticed small changes. My breathing felt somewhat easier. And — this is a strange way to put it — I had the impression that sensation was reaching parts of my body I had never registered before. At this stage the changes were not yet large, but even so I had a sense that something new was beginning to appear in my body, something that made me expect more.
Then, having come through the surface sessions, in the middle part where the deeper layers are worked with, that expectation turned into something close to certainty.
Up to then I had a weak sense of connection down into my legs, and I felt I was not good at moving them at a fine level. There was a period when I was doing ballet and other dance alongside yoga, and even then, compared with other parts, moving my legs felt heavy — as though I were forcing a part of me to move on its own.
But as Otsuka worked with the deeper layers session after session, the sense of my legs connecting to my upper body grew clearer by the day, and because of that there was a large change in the yoga practice I keep up. A movement using that connection between legs and upper body, one I had never been able to do before, became possible for the first time: from a long sit, on an inhalation, moving with the legs straight up into a handstand — an advanced movement that uses the psoas. It was my first success after all the attempts.
Even after a gain like that in the middle part, in the final part — where the sessions are tailored to the individual and lead toward a more integrated whole — the feeling of my body settling into where it belongs grew stronger with each session, and by the time all ten were finished I could feel more clearly the kind of whole-body integration Rolfing speaks of.
Beyond that, over the ten sessions I felt psychological changes as well. I think my sense of safety and stability increased. Lately I have often been told by others that I have “become more masculine.”
There are probably various factors behind that besides Rolfing, but I feel it in my body, without any doubt, that one of them is the psychological stability brought about by the process of integration through Rolfing.
Otsuka engaged with me not only in the work itself but with real care on the psychological side, and that let me come into each session at ease.
I am grateful. Thank you very much.