Structural Integration (SI) and Chiropractic:
(Chiropractors, I have a valuable special offer for you at the end of this page.)
People often wonder how Structural Integration and Chiropractic can work together, in partnership. How do they compliment one another? I always answer; exceedingly well. They were meant to be together. Over the past forty five years I have personally experienced both structural integration and chiropractic as major contributors to my health, well being, and especially my ability to operate efficiently and pain free in the world. I have often referred clients to chiropractic doctors with satisfying results. Both Chiropractic and structural integration work splendidly alone, although I find that Structural Integration and Chiropractic work best when applied together.
Structural Integration
Structural Integration is the generic term for the type of connective tissue structural balancing and body aligning work that I do. Hellerwork, Guild for Structural Integration, Rolfing, Soma Institute, etc are all schools of Structural Integration. I had the good fortune to train with Joseph Heller in Hellerwork in 1981. In 1996 I took the six week Advanced Rolfing training offered at the Guild for Structural Integration with Emmett Hutchins (one of Ida Rolf’s first Rolfing teachers).
The purpose of Structural Integration is optimal health, posture, and function. Chiropractic has a similar purpose. Structural Integration helps people function in the field of gravity by decompressing the body in all three dimensions and helping it find its full length and full volume. It helps people align themselves with gravity, and as Dr. Ida Rolf pointed out, then gravity becomes the teacher and healer rather than the enemy. In my opinion SI can be a stellar adjunct to chiropractic care, and vice versa.
Unlike massage and “deep tissue” or other fascial bodywork methods, SI holds a true three dimensional tensegrity view of the body, fascia, movement, and function; working from the most superficial layers to the deepest layers, from front to back, left to right, and bottom to top. We are continually cognizant of how all the layers of the body interact and relate to one another, and especially how our work in any one area affects all the other areas of the body. We take into account how connective tissue wraps everything down to the cellular and dna level. It secures and supports every structure in the body, from skin, to muscle, to bone, to blood and nerve vessels, to each cell, to each organ, including the brain, and again we are especially concerned with how our work in any one area affects all the other elements everywhere else.
We observe, follow, and reorganize the lines of tensional force along fascial membranes and meridians, aligning them with the forces of gravity and movement. As an example, we observe how a change (of stuckness or dysfunction) at the feet flows up and spirals around until it reaches the carriage of the shoulder girdle and head above (and elegantly relieves those headaches, shoulder pains, etc).
Dr. Rolf
Structural Integration was originally developed by Dr. Ida P. Rolf. Click this link to read an National Institutes of Health article about her. Ida P. Rolf, developer of Structural Integration.
Some simple illustrations of Structural Integration results in gravity:
So, do Chiropractic and Structural Integration work together?
Yes, together we can work for the ultimate benefit of our clients.
In addition to my training and forty-five years experience in Hellerwork Structural Integration, I have also trained extensively in other modalities, and I have certified in Feldenkrais functional integration, Alexander technique, Laban movement analysis, Cranial Sacral Therapy of John Upledger, Classical Osteopathy and Visceral Work, and most recently in Zhealth Brain Based Body Education, to name a few.
If you are a chiropractor….. Here is my special offer for you!
Let me demonstrate to you that chiropractic plus structural Integration is a better way to go; better, quicker, longer lasting results. If you are curious now, let’s chat about how we can work together..
Perhaps you might want to experience the work and experience the results for yourself. I am happy to offer you this Special – Complimentary First Session of the Hellerwork Structural Integration Eleven Series. From that you should be able to experience the true value of the work for you and your clients.
Contact me at Contact Stuart Bell.
Thank you for your curiosity.