Rolfing is a hands-on method of soft tissue manipulation that balances and realigns the body.  Its founder, Dr. Ida P. Rolf, named her method Structural Integration but her students affectionately called it 'Rolfing', after her. 

Dr. Rolf's genius lay in identifying the importance of the connective tissue system and how the body moves most efficiently and easily when it is optimally aligned and balanced in the field of gravity.  She recognized that the body is a system of seamless networks of tissues rather than a collection of separate parts. 

These connective tissues surround and penetrate all of the muscles, bones, nerves and organs.  Rolfing works on this web-like complex of connective tissues to release, realign and balance the whole body, thus resolving discomfort, reducing compensations and alleviating pain.

Dr. Rolf's method was strongly influenced by her in-depth study of Yoga and traditional osteopathy.  It emerged out of a period called the Human Potential Movement when other pioneers in physical and emotional therapies were also developing their work: Moshe Feldenkrais, F.M. Alexander and Fritz Perls, the founder of Gestalt Therapy.

 In 1971 Dr. Rolf founded the Rolf Institute of Structural Integration (RISI) in Boulder, Colorado.   There are now over 1,550 highly-skilled graduates of the RISI practising wordwide.