I FIRST met Anna Collins at a press reception at The Como Hotel in London, one of the many locations she practices in. We made the usual polite greetings and then she told me she was a Rolfer. I was intrigued and, as a firm believer in alternative therapies, was keen to hear more. She explained that Rolfing is a form of “Structural Integration” that realigns the body, improves posture and peels back layers (hence the name of her business – The Polished Onion) of tension and emotions that we hold on to in our bodies.
I was fascinated but heavily pregnant at the time. She gave me her card and we said our goodbyes. I then moved house, had my son and after two years of carrying around a baby – and then toddler – I realised that my back was in a terrible state. My posture was slumped, my pelvis pushed forwards (accentuating my post baby belly), my back curved and I was constantly suffering from nagging twinges alternating in my neck, shoulders and back. I remembered Anna and, miraculously, I found that I still had her business card.
What ensued was a series of 10 sessions that completely transformed my body and mind. By the end of the “series” I stood taller, my knees no longer locked, I had addressed relationship issues which I had previously ignored and I no longer had any back pain. Friends actually asked me if I had grown because I was noticeably taller and my baby belly had disappeared because I was no longer slouching. Six months on and the effects have held – unlike other therapies I had tried such as chiropractic.
Given the stress and tension of this year, there can be no better time to offload, upgrade and reveal the better, taller, stronger you. I caught up with Anna post-lockdown in London, where she is once again practicing, to learn more about the origins and benefits of Rolfing.
Anna Collins performing Rolfing at the COMO Maalifushi resort in the Maldives
What is Rolfing?
Rolfing is a moniker for Dr Rolf’s work. Her preferred term is “structural integration”, which she thought sounded more scientific, at a time when women weren’t taken very seriously, least of all in the scientific fields. She did have reason to count herself as a scientist though – she got her PHD in biochemistry from Columbia University (NY) in 1920.
Industry politics now mean that some schools call it one name, some the other, but essentially it’s all the same work. The whole idea is to get the body into better alignment so that energy can flow more freely. As a side effect of this goal, there are a plethora of other benefits to this process.
Rolfing is primarily used to improve posture. How does Rolfing differ from chiropractic treatments and other posture improving techniques?
Primarily it is to get the body into better alignment. Better posture is one of the main benefits of the work and I have yet to see anyone not achieve this. It’s amazing to see it happen time and time again – and even more rewarding to watch clients see the transformation for themselves, often in one session, both externally (ie. standing taller, looking slimmer) and internally (feel better, stronger, energised). I am no expert in other treatments, but I have had my fair share of time on other practitioners’ tables over the years, so I can speak from experience.
Simply, the results don’t tend to last as long because typically they just deal with the area of complaint rather than addressing the whole body. Rolfing affects the fascia, which is a continuous web of connective tissue throughout the body. You cannot do something to one part without it having an effect somewhere else. So you need to balance the body as a whole to get it working properly.
Anna Collins performing Rolfing at the COMO Maalifushi resort in the
Maldives where she will be practicing from December until January
Besides posture improvement, what are other benefits people can experience from rolfing?
There are so many! Not everyone will get them all, by any means, but usually a good handful of these will happen to each person: standing taller, looking slimmer, clothes fit better, they present better which in turn affects their relationships both at home and work – one guy even started getting noticed and got a pay rise! Easier breathing, more relaxed, have more energy, less fidgeting during meditation, feeling lighter, feeling stronger, feeling more grounded, feeling more ’them’, aches and pains significantly reduced or completely eliminated.
If they do a sport, they tend to do it better/faster/stronger, yogis can usually get deeper into positions without forcing it. People often find that there is a knock-on effect on their mental/emotional/spiritual wellbeing so they get more clarity in their lives in those areas. Often they become ready to let go of situations that they realise are no longer serving them.
Halfway through the Rolfing series I started to experience a keener sense of what I wanted in life and started to evaluate things I had previously ignored. How is it that Rolfing can create such emotional and consciousness shifts?
Everything is connected. On a physical level everything in the body is connected via fascia, which is why it is so important to keep it healthy and happy. On a spiritual level, we have ‘other’ bodies that generally we don’t perceive, but they are there, surrounding our physical bodies. (Think of a Russian doll situation, without the wood!).
Each “level” corresponds to a different plane, such as mental, emotional, spiritual, etc. and usually these fields get dented first, but we are generally hopeless at noticing these, and only start paying attention when it starts affecting us on a physical level.
And even then we don’t usually do something about it immediately because we hope it will just go away. But these are signs that something is not quite right elsewhere, so we need to learn to pay attention to them. Once I am able to start making shifts on someone at a physical level, it will also affect those other planes.
As you release something at the physical level, you also release any memory or trauma tied up in those tissues at the time of injury. The “injury” could be obvious, like falling off a bike, or less so, such as bullying at school. It could be anything. The body doesn’t forget and over time it does whatever it can to protect you, which is helpful in the short-term, but less so long-term.
Creating space in all these planes (physical, mental, emotional) helps the body sort itself out, and once it is free from the aches and pains, that’s one less thing for it to worry about, so it can turn its attention to other things that need addressing. As sessions progress I’ve had people question their family situations, their job/career, their life choices to date, and then either take steps to make it better, or simply realise it’s not for them and go do something different that does fulfil them.
Anna Collins performing Rolfing at the COMO Maalifushi resort in the Maldives
Anna Collins performing Rolfing at the COMO Maalifushi resort in the Maldives
What made you want to become a Rolfing practitioner?
I came across it quite by chance, but because of the transformation I experienced in my first ten series of Structural Integration, I couldn’t ignore the potential. So I went off to get trained with Dr Rolf’s protégé in the US before he passed. I played tennis and golf to a pretty serious level when I was younger and got the odd niggle here and there but assumed (as all young people do) that they would go away. They didn’t. Life as a ski instructor in NZ and US added to my athletic woes and by the time I came back home, I was seeing every type of therapist I could find, including surgeons.
Nothing was outrageously serious, but annoying enough to be aware of 24/7, and ibuprofen was a constant companion. I just couldn’t fathom how none of these experts could figure out what was going on and why their interventions weren’t helping. Following my discovery of Rolfing, I haven’t taken any pills or potions for anything, and, whilst I no longer compete at the level I did, or indeed play much at all anymore, I’m far stronger than I ever used to be than when I was training.
What is your favourite thing about Rolfing?
Watching people transform – I love seeing the smiles and getting the hugs when they feel so much better! Over the ten series, we build up a really special relationship that just doesn’t feel like a traditional therapist-client interaction, and by supporting them holistically, the results speak for themselves.
by Nicola Kavanagh
Anna is based in London but practices around the world and can travel for private bookings. For more a full list of her practice venues and for contact info please visit Polished Onion
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