Ida Rolf, founder of Rolfing

Ida Rolf earned a PhD. in biochemistry from Columbia University in 1916. Somewhere in her scientific research, she made a fundamental discovery about the body: the same network of connective tissue which contains and links the muscle system when it's healthy can be used to reshape it when it's been pulled out of proper order. Dr. Rolf's realization of the importance of the fascial system revolutionized thinking about the body. As she taught her insights and techniques, her students focused not on muscles, but on the fascia that enwraps muscles, supporting them and holding muscle-bone combinations in place. The term "Rolfing" refers to the system of bodywork and movement education that Dr. Rolf originally called "structural integration." As we know it today, rolfing is the product of fifty years of study and practice by Dr. Rolf, and the efforts of many people who have carried on her work since her death in 1979.