Who was Dr. Ida Rolf?

Dr. Ida P. Rolf (1896-1979) was an American scientist and the founder of the bodywork "Structural Integration", which became known under the protected brand Rolfing®.

She studied biochemistry at Columbia University in New York and graduated in 1920 as one of the first women with a doctorate. Subsequently, she worked at the Rockefeller Institute and focused on the field of connective tissue (fascia). Later she studied mathematics and atomic physics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. Ida Rolf studied yoga, osteopathy, homeopathy, chiropractic and other manual therapies. From this knowledge, she developed her own concept, named "Structural integration".

She investigated the effect of gravity on an unbalanced body structure. A body that works against gravity has to apply significantly more energy to function and also has other negative effects such as tension, pain and wear. Through her work, she wanted to structure the body so that muscles, fascia and bones communicate better with each other and can better adapt to external and internal stress. Ida Rolf came to the conviction that by manual work on the body, the connective tissue and the whole body static can be influenced.

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