What is the Rolfing 10-series?
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The Rolfing SI course of therapy is 10 sessions, typically done 1-3 weeks apart. Each session has a specific goal, building on the work of the previous one and preparing for the next. They progress in a systematic way, first working to free superficial restrictions and provide support, then working core layers to further build support and adaptability, and finally integrating results and coordinating movement. The goal of the 10-series is not to "fix" any one part of the body, but to balance and harmonize how the body works together as a whole.
The 10-series has a very different feel from doing individual bodywork sessions. It's a process that you finish over time. Because the individual sessions all build on each other, it allows for deeper work and insight It's like taking a semester-long course instead of attending random lectures at different times. Because things are done in a logical order, it produces more lasting results. While the 10-series follows a order and each session has general goals, specific sessions are tailored to the individual. Because everyone is different, the specific muscles worked and techniques used differ person to person. |
The goal of the 10-series is to produce lasting change in how the body functions.
Over the course of 10 sessions, the body becomes more aligned and a ease. Results are specific to the individual - there is no universal template for the body.
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Why 10 sessions?
Why do 10 sessions? Why not 5? Why not just jump ahead to the work you really need? The answer is that every session is preparing for the next. If we jump ahead to release your psoas without the proper groundwork, it will release but as soon as you walk around the block it will probably tighten up again. Just as likely, you'd be left feeling more unbalanced than when you came in.
The truth is - the 10-series protocol developed by Ida Rolf is really good. It makes sense. It was developed not out of biomechanical theory or an anatomy book, but from working with people and understanding what works. Some people feel change with every session. Others don't feel much at first, until it all comes together in the later sessions. But for most people every session is creating needed change - it does happen that a session can be skipped through, but rarely. It is very common at the end of one session that the area people feel "still needs work" is exactly the territory of the next session.
The truth is - the 10-series protocol developed by Ida Rolf is really good. It makes sense. It was developed not out of biomechanical theory or an anatomy book, but from working with people and understanding what works. Some people feel change with every session. Others don't feel much at first, until it all comes together in the later sessions. But for most people every session is creating needed change - it does happen that a session can be skipped through, but rarely. It is very common at the end of one session that the area people feel "still needs work" is exactly the territory of the next session.
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"...thank goodness I decided to do the entire series before I made a final judgement because it wasn’t until session 6/7 that we really started to get to the crux of things." Guardian reporter Lucy Fry on her Rolfing 10-series
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I recommend the 10-series for just about everyone. You don't need to commit to the entire series at once. A good strategy is to commit to the first three sessions and then see how the work feels and if you want to continue, but you can also try even the firs session. Even if you can only a few sessions, it's better to do them in an ordered, systematic way. You can always continue later.
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