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Photo credits: Camille Lagrange

As a Rolfer, Jennifer-Lynn brings an in-depth understanding of physical change and movement education from 15 years working as a professional contemporary dancer, yoga practitioner/teacher and lecturer in the UK’s conservatoire system of HE vocational training.

 

She first encountered Rolfing Structural Integration as a dance artist, looking to understand and shift some patterns of strain that were becoming increasingly part of both dancing and everyday life, including a grumbling lower back linked with sciatic issues, some shallow breathing patterns and an overall tendency towards anxiety. A long-standing curiosity about Ida Rolf’s ideas led her to the Rolfing Series, which in turn opened up a deeper inquiry through and into movement and touch that has been both influenced by and influential in her work as a dancer and dance pedagogue. Breathing, walking, standing and everyday relationship became (and continue to become) more spacious.

 

Jennifer-Lynn is fascinated by how the Rolfing process supports individuals to explore and integrate their own best way of embodying their physical structures, of understanding how their specific life experience impacts their bodies, their breath and their movement; a process where each can find greater ease, expression and fulfilment in their everyday selves. She offers a warm and gentle presence, tuning to issues around past/present trauma and the needs of performance artists in particular.

BEFORE YOUR FIRST ROLFING SESSION (what to expect):

 

Rolfing is a manual therapeutic and educational approach that works on the connective tissue net that invests our entire structure. The educational aspect means that you should be awake and aware for your nervous system to re-pattern (i.e., it isn't a massage or designed to relax you towards sleep, although that might happen sometimes depending on what we do). It has the overall effect of offering better balance for you, as an individual, inside your body and general daily movement habits.

 

That means the kind of session you experience is totally specific to your needs and although in line with the general Rolfing recipe, it would differ from any other session. As an Advanced Rolfing SI practitioner, I can tailor a shorter series to your needs, or we can work within the frame of the 10 series, where each session has a different thematic focus. In between sessions, your nervous system and connective tissues will continue to assimilate changes, so we don't usually do more than one per week and ideally, once every two weeks. Rolfing SI can alleviate long term and short term issues, but isn't designed to 'fix' problems... having said that, we would aim to address acute issues inside each session to help ease pain and increase functionality as far as possible. This is different from an osteopathic/physiotherapy approach where the interventions are sometimes focused around where the dysfunction and pain is presenting. For example: in Rolfing, we might consider symptoms expressing through your shoulder as a consequence of how you carry your head, or how your pelvis supports your thorax. 

 

Each session starts with a bit of discussion about what the focus of that particular session is and some body reading. Body reading involves standing and walking so I can see and you can start to sense what we'll be working on. This is usually done in underwear, or whatever you feel comfortable in that is closest to underwear. Please ask if unsure what might be appropriate - sometimes it’s easier to work with loose clothing that can be moved rather than tight, thick sportswear.

 

As Rolfers, to help us track structural change, we can use photographs. These would be taken before the series starts, after 3, after 7 and at the end. Please let me know if this is not something you feel comfortable with. The photos are entirely private between you and your Rolfer and available in digital format at the end of the series.

 

Please leave 24-48 hours to let each session settle before engaging in demanding physical work/experiences - walking and gentle stretching/yoga can help integrate change, but a challenging workout/demand (running, Ashtanga/hot yogas, lengthy/speedy/hilly cycling, long practice sessions for musicians and long periods of sitting) will be hard for your system with so much new information and won’t help you make the most of the session. 

 

If possible, please avoid using moisturiser or other skin products immediately prior to your session (or at least for a few hours beforehand). 

STRUCTURE:

 

Rolfing normally takes place over ten sessions, sometimes a few more. Often clients sign up to do the first three, as these can stand alone as a mini-series and are an easier commitment to make. We usually recommend a week at least between sessions, although two weeks suits most people. Anything over a month and we lose a bit of ground.

 

I work during normal 'office' hours. I can do occasional later appointments by arrangement. 

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Photo credits: Camille Lagrange
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