What is Connective Tissue?
Fascia, or connective tissue, is considered the “organ of form” in the body. It is a very tough, strong, and fibrous tissue in the body. All of our muscles, organs, nerves, and blood vessels are ensheathed in connective tissue. Tendons and ligaments, the pulleys and levers of the body, are made up of connective tissue. When connective tissue is healthy it is pliable and elastic, it allows the muscles, tendons, and ligaments to shorten and lengthen with flexibility.
What Happens When Connective Tissue Is Unhealthy?
When imbalances exist within the body, the health of the connective tissue is affected. Unhealthy connective tissue is thicker, harder and much less resilient. It becomes dehydrated and it shortens – this significantly affects how our muscles and joints function, and ultimately how we feel.
Chronic pain, neck aches, back aches, stiffness and discomfort in the body are often the result of these structural imbalances.
How Structural Integration Repairs Connective Tissue
The interesting thing about connective tissue is that it has the unique ability to change form. It has a plastic like quality. Heat and pressure from the practitioner’s hands, combined with the intention of creating positive change in the tissue, softens, opens and lengthens the connective tissue.
Tension and stress that has been held in the tissue begins to melt beneath the practitioner’s hands.
The Ten Series Process
“Rolfing can be like making your bed in the morning. You think you’re going to get by without pulling that bed apart, so you pull up this cover and the next cover. When you get all the covers puffed up, you’ve got nine ridges running across the bed. Now you’ve got to go to a deeper layer and organize the deeper layer, and make your bed on top of that. Then you’ve got a made bed. Well it’s the same with the body: you’ve got to organize those deeper layers.”
– Ida P. Rolf, Ph.D.
