Healing Journeys with Suzie Daggett
Suzie Daggett interviews Alex Lukeman, Ph.D., Rolf Practitioner/Structural Integration Guild Member, author of four books and a dream study teacher. Alex has been in practice for over 25 years, helping people regain fluidity and freedom in their bodies. He has written several books, including What Your Dreams Can Teach You and Sleep Well, Sleep Deep. Besides his Rolfing work he helps people understand the symbols of their dreams for a deeper, conscious knowing in their life.
How did you get interested in Rolfing as a profession?
It was really the experience of my own body – I was a young construction worker who felt quite strong in my body. A co-worker suggested I try Rolfing after her experience. Figuring I had nothing to lose, I went for one session. In that first session, after Jim Asher (one of Ida Rolf’s students) worked on just one side of my body, he showed me in a mirror the difference between the side Rolfed and the other – it was extraordinary! I was so free and open on one side and closed on the other. After he finished the other side and I got off the table I felt like a different person, breathing deeply and feeling my body move in new ways. He encouraged me to become a Rolf Practitioner. My training included intense massage schooling, in-depth physiology studies, supervised hands-on work and much more before my certification.
What is Rolfing/Structural Integration?
Dr. Ida Rolf created Rolfing from a need to help with family medical problems that could not be addressed through traditional medicine. She got her Doctorate in bio-chemistry from Columbia University in the 20s, worked at the Rockefeller Institute and studied many modalities like homeopathy, osteopathy, yoga and chiropractic. She knew from her scientific work that molecules and proteins composing the fascia (connective tissue) in the body can move and change with appropriate pressure, thus changing the structural relationships. She created a specific protocol to be applied over a 10-session period. It is followed to this day, helping people realign their bodies and achieve better health.
Is Structural Integration painful?
In the early days Rolfing had a reputation for pain – that is not the case today, although there can sometimes be minor discomfort. I only go to the depths in the body that will bring change and relief. Through experience and intuition, my fingers know exactly how deep to move and where to benefit the body.
Explain the 10-session series.
The process is designed to evoke balance within the field of gravity– this takes 10 separate sessions. It’s a gradual, educational process, building session upon session. It’s amazing it can even be done in ten sessions and that was Dr. Rolf’s genius. The body is beautifully designed but goes off center because of gravity, accidents, stress, trauma, sickness – all the life events that move us out of ideal alignment. Consider a plumb line going from the top of your head to your feet – when you draw that line, parts of your body will be all over the place! Your pelvis may be tipped and rotated, your head forward, your legs locked up, the shoulder girdle out of alignment.
In the first three sessions we free up body structure for deeper work. The next sessions affect deep levels and aim for integration of the whole. The Practitioner works to affect structures in front of the spine and to help the pelvis move to balanced alignment. Once that happens, many stresses in the body and spine are lastingly corrected. The ideal is to get movement like Fred Astaire - moving freely, having your legs drop out of the pelvis, rather than lifting with those large muscles on the front of the leg.
What are the benefits of Rolfing?
Freedom! People don’t realize how much freedom they lack in their body until they experience the difference. One client recently commented that her leg did not feel “hollow” any more. Before that, she had no idea her leg was not fluid. We are only aware of something changing in our body when we experience the change. When someone begins to breathe freely again for the first time in 30 or 40 years, it is very big! It is a wonderful feeling to connect back with your body when it has been bothering you, especially when you were unaware of how out of wellness you have been. This work is excellent for many chronic back and neck problems, giving the client lasting freedom and relief.
What do you get out of your profession?
I love it! The miracle Ida Rolf developed in Structural Integration is incredible. I love to see people smile as they get off the table and really feel the change they have gone through. It is a Wow!
You can visit Alex Lukeman at the upcoming Mind Body Spirit Health Fair, March 19 & 20 at Miners Foundry along with many other healing arts practitioners. He can be reached at his office, 419 Broad St. NC or 530-277-9884. His website is www.alexlukeman.com
Healing Journeys is a column written by Suzie Daggett for the Grass Valley Union newspaper. Suzie interviews a variety of health practitioners most Fridays in the Wellness section. Click here to read past articles prior to 2005. Enter "Suzie Daggett" in the search box to get listing of all articles.
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