Debbie Mihal’s Blog

The gravitational force of the earth plays a key role in the work of Dr. Rolf. To better understand how alignment with gravity can help save energy, consider the effort it takes to pick up something large and long, such as a ladder, or even a child. Picking up a ladder that is lying horizontal on the ground feels much more difficult than when picking it up when it’s leaning against a building. Likewise with children: a still child who is standing feels almost lighter to pick up than when he or she is lying down.

Literally take a minute, if you will, to hold your arm straight up over your head, then straight out in front of you. Can tell that holding your arm in front of you takes more effort? This is because you can balance your arm over your head, but holding it in front of you requires working against gravity with muscular effort.

Now imagine holding a bowling ball in these two positions. (DON’T actually try this!) Which would you prefer to do for about twelve hours a day: hold the ball over your head, or straight out in front of you? (Again, don’t try this!) Both options would be exhausting, but you know now that the latter would be much more difficult to do. Considering that a bowling ball is about the weight of your head and that most of us carry our heads in front of our bodies rather than over them, do you realize that many of us are already holding the equivalent of a bowling ball out in front of us all day long? Check yourself out in a mirror. Do you hold your head square over your shoulders, or does it lead the rest of your body? Are you even able to center your head over your shoulders, or does your tissue hold you back? Think of the energy you would conserve if your head sat comfortably on top of your shoulders and needed no muscular effort to hold it there. That kind of balance can be accomplished with Structural Integration.