Do you ever notice how dogs and cats seem so relaxed, so present, so embodied—happy and not tormented by their own minds? If you do, you are sensing one of life’s great secrets: the more we live in our body, rather than locked in our mind, the more peace, joy, presence and aliveness we experience.

Living in our felt, somatic experience quiets the mind, vivifies our emotions and opens us to the richness of the eternal now. To quote Eckhart Tolle, “Body awareness not only anchors you in the present moment. It is a doorway out of the prison that is the ego.” A hidden gem that can help us awaken to this radiant embodiment is Rolfing Structural Integration.

Most people, if they have heard of Rolfing, know it only as a classic bodywork system for improving posture and relieving musculoskeletal pain. What few people know is that back in the 1960s and 70s, when the human potential movement was exploding, many people sought out Rolfers not just for pain relief, but for personal transformation.

Living in Our Bodies Requires Relaxation

It is hard to feel richly embodied when the body is chronically tense. That is one reason Rolfing draws us so deeply into our bodily experience; it tends to create an extraordinary depth of relaxation. Research conducted by Dr. Valerie Hunt and Dr. James Oschman showed that Rolfing relaxed people more deeply than the other styles of bodywork to which it was compared.

Many people today have never experienced profound relaxation. In today’s fast-paced and distracted world, stress, tension and “living in their heads” is often all they have known. Rolfing can offer a first taste of real relaxation, providing a new “true north” on the inner somatic compass.

Intense Sensation Opens Us to the Present Moment

Rolfing also draws people into embodiment—and therefore into the richness of the present moment—simply because it can be deep and, at times, intense. Not painful; that would be counterproductive, but intense, pure sensation. 

It is very difficult to remain “in your head” while immersed in that level of sensation. Attention is absorbed into the vivid textures of the bodily experience, and therefore into the present moment. After a session, people often report feeling as though they are in an altered state of consciousness. The mind is quiet, time feels slower and more spacious.

Stuck Emotions Make it Hard to be in Our Bodies

Quite often, what prevents us from living fully in our bodies are chronic patterns of “muscular armoring” formed around past emotional wounds. We develop unconscious tension to suppress or avoid feeling.

Here, too, Rolfing can offer support. By softening and releasing these muscular and fascial patterns, it allows old, stuck emotions to move through the system. As these long-held tensions ease, many people begin to feel safer inhabiting their bodies and softening into present-moment experience.

No bodywork modality can magically create transformation on its own. We must participate fully and engage with the process. But after receiving Rolfing, the body knows uncommon relaxation, embodied being and somatic presence. And it knows them directly, as lived, felt experiences. Just like a dog or a cat knows them.

Mark Powell has been a certified Rolfer practicing in South Minneapolis since 1997. To book an appointment or learn more, visit MinneapolisRolfingCenter.com, email [email protected] or call 612-872-6055. Mark is also a meditator, writer, spiritual coach and healthy eating coach. He lives with his wife of more than 30 years and their two cats.