David Delaney, Certified Advanced Rolfer® since 1985
What is Rolfing® Structural Integration?
Named after its founder, Dr. Ida P. Rolf, Rolfing® Structural Integration is a form of bodywork that reorganizes the connective tissue, called fascia, that permeate the entire body. Its goal is to improve our ability to function efficiently and effectively in the field of Gravity. When the major segments of our body in a more vertical alignment, we move and function better in our life. The truth is that either Gravity is working for you, or it is working against you, based on the laws of physics.
More than fifty years ago, Dr. Rolf recognized that the body is inherently a system of seamless, unified network of tissue rather than a collection of separate parts. These connective tissues surround, support and penetrate all of the muscles, bones, nerves and organs. It is the single, unified packaging material of everything that we are. Rolfing Structural Integration works with this web-like complex of connective tissues to release, realign and balance the whole body in 3 dimensional space, thus potentially resolving discomfort, reducing compensations and alleviating pain, though this is not the main goal. Rolfing SI aims to restore flexibility, revitalize your energy and leave you feeling more comfortable in your body.
Essentially, the Rolfing process enables the body to regain the natural integrity of its form and function, thus enhancing postural efficiency and your freedom of movement. And it can have a dramatic benefit to our singing voice because your entire body is your instrument when you discover how it really works.
Let me know if you would like to book a session and have questions. See the contact form to reach out to me.
David’s Background
I began Rolfing clients in 1985 after being certified as a Rolf Practitioner after 5 years of prerequisites. I have worked with hundreds upon hundred of individuals, assisting them to regain their structural integrity, posture, resilience, endurance and functional dynamic relaxation. I was told by an actor who I was in Sam Shepard’s play with, “Cowboys Two” at the Actors Collective Theatre in NYC, that ‘singers love Rolfing’! That is all I needed to hear. I was studying singing with the well known Bel Canto Singing teacher Margaret Laughlin Riddleberger who taught broadway actors in NYC. My instincts heard what he was pointing me to. I made my first appointment and was on Patrick Clough’s Rolfing table the next morning at 7:30 AM! That was in 1979.
Rolfing uncovered my authentic voice with Margaret’s vocal guidance and helped me accelerate my study and performance to a maximum degree. I was able to achieve the level of virtuosic singing that I had been yet been unable to attain due to unresolved trauma that my body was carrying from my complex past, as well as having had a poor understanding how the human singing voice really comes together..
I have also worked as a Rolfer with professional athletes, actors, artists, lots of musicians, and people for all walks of life. Everyone can benefit from Rolfing because our bodies are made of a plastic medium (fascia) and over the course of our life- injuries, accidents, mental & emotional wear and tear, medical interventions, poor diet, unresolved trauma, eco-anxiety and many other experiences can have an impact on this all-pervasive and unified packaging material that carries our stress. It also is the organ of movement and when we are carrying too much unresolved stress, it can become mis-shapen and deformed. This is a metabolic process that cannot be avoided, unfortunately; but can be rectified with skilled and experienced intervention.
Because Dr. Rolf discovered (while doing cancer research as a Ph.D. Fellow at Rockefeller Institute in NYC) that fascia can be brought back to its normal orientation and shape, Rolfing was born. It is used all over the world to bring people’s bodies back toward the original vertical orientation and proportional three dimensionality that Nature intends for us to perform as artists and problems-solvers in support of the integrity of Humanity and our Planet.