A Timely Interview about Climbing, Rolfing® Structural Integration, and Medicine

I was interviewed recently on Flash Foxy, a website dedicated to female climbers. The interviewer is a talented writer and photographer originally from Santa Cruz, CA, Sasha Turrentine. I watched Sasha grow up at the climbing gym in Santa Cruz (Pacific Edge) and it was truly inspiring to come full-circle and interact with Sasha in this new, professional role as an editor/writer.

I first met Elaine about 17 years ago at Pacific Edge Climbing Gym in Santa Cruz, California. As a fairly new climber at the time, Elaine was a major female role model for me. Her passion, strength and dedication to climbing was so inspiring. Her ability to laugh and have fun and not let her ego get in the way was what was most encouraging to see...[more]

New Beginnings! Bittersweet Endings! All Coming 2016!

Next year will an exciting time for me as I embark on an new journey: I will be starting medical school at Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Vallejo, CA! This is the realization of a long-cherished ambition to serve the needs of those who are most vulnerable. I am forever indebted to the practice of Rolfing® Structural Integration, for inspiring me to move in this direction. But even more so, I am indebted to each of my clients for nurturing me on this journey and showing me countless shades of humanity, wisdom, humor and grace while inviting me--however briefly--into your lives.

My practice will be open through May, 2016. I will be working a normal schedule and taking new clients throughout the spring. As of June, I will be passing the Rolfing® SI reins into the capable hands of the talented (and growing) crew at Midline, and others in the Santa Cruz area. Stay tuned for more updates to come, including a big client Thank-You party around Memorial Day!

A Climb Called Homunculus

In Rifle Mountain Park, a sport climber's mecca in western Colorado, lurks a steep test piece of a climb. It is called Homunculus, and it is an overhanging prow of limestone dripping with improbable holds on which a climber hangs hopefully, her or his body sagging between the dismal points of contact offered to feet and hands.

The first ascent was made by a climber/physician who--I'm purely speculating here--noted the resemblance between a climber on Homunculus and the popular graphic depicting a homunculus. For a homunculus is a thing. 

It is an area of the cerebral cortex dedicated to sensing and moving different parts of the body. The graphic is a map showing what areas of the cortex are associated with the various body parts. The disproportionate sizes of body parts in the graphic represent the number of neurons dedicated to them. As you can see, the hands and face are pretty big. There are a large number of sensory and motor neurons innervating those areas. Makes sense: we need a lot of sensitivity and control in our mouths and hands to manipulate, masticate, and communicate. 

It's hard to see in this graphic, but it's also true that the toes and feet take up as much real estate in the homunculus as the entire trunk and neck put together. Why would that be? If you've been through the Rolfing® Structural Integration Ten Series, you may recall Session #2 and it's focus on the feet and lower legs. You may also recall the increased connection with the ground and improved balance you experienced after the session. Your feet and toes felt alive. 

When we esconce our feet inside protective shoes, we blunt the sensations those richly innervated appendages crave: our primary physical connection with the environment has historically occurred through our feet. The millions of nerve impulses traveling between the feet and the homunculus enable us to stand upright, balance on one foot, push off while throwing a spear, and chase down an antelope. That's why it feels so good to awaken the sensations of our feet, and probably why so many of us love receiving foot massages. Those nerves thrive on stimulation.

So, next time you wiggle your feet in the sand or tickle the bottoms of your feet with blades of grass (although not likely in California!), imagine that area of your homunculus lighting up. I will continue to daydream about that other Homunculus and imagine myself as the little figure with huge hands and feet splayed on its brainy underside.

Smart Stretching

Most of us learned to stretch in middle school gym class. For example, to stretch the hamstrings, we learned to stand with one foot crossed over the other and then bent over to touch our toes (or made a brave attempt). Problem is, we all learned it wrong.

How can that be? Well, consider your gym teacher. Where did she or he learn it? Probably not a physical therapist, kinesiologist or exercise physiologist. It's just the way she or he was taught, probably in junior high. There's no real science or reasoning behind it. Yet most people (even trainers and coaches) persist in teaching us to stretch that way. I've learned a lot about stretching from a book called The Stark Reality of Stretching, by Dr. Steven Stark. You can buy this book for 3 cents on Amazon--not joking. Or, give me a heads up and I'll have it in my office for you to borrow. 

What this book explains is that certain muscles in our bodies are stabilizers; meaning, they stabilize our joints so that we can safely execute movements without falling over or hurting ourselves. Stabilizer muscles are almost always partially contracted--they have tonicity--because that's their job. They are controlled unconsciously by our brains, and it's very difficult to turn them "off" consciously. Our hamstrings are an example of stabilizer muscles. Yes, they powerfully flex the knee; but more importantly, they stabilize the pelvis when we are standing. 

What does this mean? When you are standing, and bending over to stretch the hamstrings, the said muscles are firing like crazy to control your pelvis. In other words, they are NOT STRETCHING. Quite the opposite: they are shortening so that you don't pitch face-forward onto the ground. That "stretching" feeling you experience in the backs of your thighs during this maneuver is likely the sensation of tearing muscle fibers that are loaded beyond their capacity. You could also be stretching your glutes, paraspinals (in your back), or calves. But you aren't stretching the hamstrings.

So how should you stretch? Take gravity out of the equation: if you are in a sitting position with your weight resting on your sit bones, then your hamstrings have no work to do and they can relax. Alternatively, you can lie down on your back (my favorite) with your leg resting up against a wall. A doorframe works well for this because there's someplace for your other leg to go. 

Either way, aim for a gentle stretching sensation. Your body is smart: it has stretch receptors strategically placed in the belly of every muscle. These stretch receptors detect changes in length of the muscle, and most often the body's response to a lengthening muscle is to contract, or shorten, it. The more aggressively you challenge the the muscle by forcing it to lengthen, the stronger the contraction response. Therefore, aim to fly under the radar by stretching very slowly and very gently. You should feel distinctly under-challenged, but that's ok. Again, you should only feel a very mild stretch.

There's tons more about how to stretch effectively and how to stretch different parts of the body, so I encourage you to either get the book, or talk to me. Your body will thank you.

Fall Updates and Osteopathy

As many of you know, I am taking my healing practice to the next level by applying to osteopathic medical school with the goal of becoming an osteopathic physician, or D.O. (Doctor of Osteopathy). If you're curious what the difference is between a D.O. and an M.D., I've included a brief explanation at the bottom of this post.

The good news is, I am done with most of the major hurdles of coursework and the application process. Therefore, my schedule has opened up recently and I am back to working four days/week at Midline! (I am also involved in volunteer and internship positions, which takes up the rest of the week, in case you're wondering).

If you've been frustrated lately with finding an appointment time that works for you, I encourage you to try again, as I now have plenty of openings to go around.

The better news is, my summer vacation to Colorado was a SUCCESS--meaning there was much mountain biking, rock climbing, and rambling through the mountains with my dog Moab, and I am BACK TO WORK with renewed focus and vigor. I also attended the first of four (so far) medical school interviews while out there and my fingers are crossed for a good outcome.

The GREAT news is, all this talk of osteopathy and med school has done nothing to diminish my enthusiasm and love of Rolfing® Structural Integration. If anything, I am more excited than ever about what Rolfing SI has to offer and I have an even greater appreciation for how unique and valuable the work is, both in terms of its rightful place in anybody's overall healthcare strategy (IMHO) and its potential to elevate the human potential and spirit. I am determined to serve you, my clients, as diligently and excellently as possible in the time I have left.

Speaking of, plan on scheduling appointments with me through next June, 2016, give or take a week or two. That's almost ten whole months left to finally deal with that shoulder, or knee, or neck or...

Finally, some of you may be unaware that you can schedule appointments with me online. Just go to my website: http://rolfingsantacruz.com and click on the "Schedule Now" link at the top of the page. You'll be instructed to register (sigh) with a username and password, and then you'll be on your way.

As promised, here is an explanation of what an osteopathic physician is:

An osteopathic physician has the same rights and responsibilities as an M.D. and undergoes similar training. However, D.O.'s receive additional training in Osteopathic Manual Manipulation (OMM)--a hands-on set of techniques designed to balance and align the body's structure in order to positively affect health (sound familiar?). D.O.'s also approach the body from a holistic perspective, acknowledging the unity of the body, mind and spirit, and looking for the root cause of illness rather than treating the symptoms. For more information, click here.

Support a Good Cause, Get a Mini-Rolfing® SI Session!

For those of you who climb at the Pacific Edge Climbing Gym, I will be offering 15-20 minute Rolfing SI sessions by donation to benefit the Access Fund during the 20th Anniversary Member's Party. I'll post a sign-up sheet at the front desk.

Sign up early--sessions are limited and they get snapped up quick!

Date: October 26, 2013
Time: 5-8 (Party starts at 4)

I hear that it's a Lycra-and-Big-Hair 90's Retro kind of shindig. Kind of soon to relive the trauma of those years, IMHO, but some of you youngsters won't mind.

A Modest Video Introduction to Rolfing® SI

Osteopathic Medicine and Rolfing® SI

Doctors of Osteopathy (D.O.'s) in the U.S. are medical doctors with additional expertise in Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM). You may be wondering what a D.O. can do, so I'll highlight a few key points:

•  D.O.'s focus on treating the whole body and on preventive care. This means a D.O. looks beyond symptoms and seeks the root causes of illness or disease. In addition to the regular treatment you may find with a typical M.D., a D.O. seeks to enhance overall health to support healing.

•  D.O.'s use OMM--a hands-on treatment--to support the goals of better health and faster healing. It feels very gentle and is done while the patient is fully clothed. OMM is mainly concerned with improving fluid flow: blood, lymph, and cerebrospinal fluid. These fluids must be able to flow freely through your body or disease, injury, and illness result.

 



*Note: traditional medicine may not detect problems with your body's circulation of fluids until an obvious symptom arises (like a sickness). The most efficient way to detect those issues is with touch. Just good old-fashioned hands-on palpation. D.O.'s are trained in this touch.

•  Rolfing® SI dovetails wonderfully with OMM in that structural alignment--the main goal of Rolfing SI--helps to support and maintain good fluid flow. The human body, among other things, is a series of fluid pumps separated by pressure membranes. In an organized body, walking and breathing generate the mechanical pressure needed to pumps fluids efficiently into and out of all of its tissues. 

If your ankles have ever swollen during a long plane ride, you have experienced the consequence of a fluid imbalance. The remedy? Walking. The muscle contractions in your legs pump the lymph fluid out.

 Side-effects of an organized body are ease of movement, a feeling of lightness, and a sense of groundedness at the same time. Since our minds and bodies are inextricably linked, feeling good in your body has profound effects emotionally and psychologically. Dr. Ida Rolf, the progenitor of Rolfing Structural Integration, stated as her goal for the work the full realization of human potential.

Nerves and Rolfing

I've just finished a four-day workshop on Nerve Manipulation. As usual, workshops taught by Rolfers™ open my eyes to whole dimensions that were right before me all the time, but somehow eluded detection.

I'd like to formally issue a Recall Notice to any and all clients that I have ever treated for hip pain, low back pain, plantar fasciitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, thoracic outlet syndrome, numbness or tingling anywhere, sciatica, neck pain, and etc (there's more, but I'll stop there) because there was probably nerve impingement involved and I now have mo' better tools in my kit.

I'm only partially kidding, by the way.

An excellent news piece on Rolfing!

Find balance and better health through rolfing - AmericaNowNews.com

Leon Fleischer and Rolfing

 One of my childhood friends took lessons from Leon Fleischer. His experience with Rolfing®SI mirrors those of many who find their way to my office--filling in the gaps of traditional medicine. Enjoy!

Watch Piano Virtuoso Fleisher on Overcoming Disability That Nearly Silenced Career on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

Too Much of a Good Thing?

Many of my clients come to me for some kind of painful condition. Often, we are able to find greater range of motion with less pain as a result of treatment. While this is a very good thing, we must remember that if our body is used to operating within certain parameters (like a sore back or twisted toe) for say, some number of years, you will need a period of adjustment before jumping back into normal activity.

 For example, two weeks ago I was preparing for a solo backpacking trip into the High Sierra. Recalling past experiences of painful bunions while carrying a pack, I booked a couple of appointments with my Rolfer™ to help my feet get ready for the trip.

Sure enough, during those sessions we found that the bones of my midfoot were jammed and the tendons correspondingly displaced, predisposing my feet to that painful process of bone formation that we call a bunion. My Rolfer eased the bones back into place and relocated the tendons, so that immediately upon standing up my feet felt like leaf springs instead of stumps. My feet also pointed forward, rather than splaying outward as they had done since childhood.

I bounced out of the office and shortly thereafter, hefted a fifty-pound pack up and down the passes of the High Sierra for dozens of rocky miles. I also developed a mild case of Achilles tendonitis in my left foot, a condition I had never experienced before in decades of backcountry travel.

Why now?

As I gimped morosely along the dusty trail leading back to the trailhead, I had plenty of time to ponder the pain now stabbing the back of my heel with every step.

In the high elevations of the Sierra are krummholz: sub-alpine pine trees that grow close to the ground. These trees are recognizable by their tortured and twisted countenances, their trunks leaning with the prevailing winds and the winter snowpack. They are perfectly adapted to their environment.

In a way, my feet were the same: the tendons and muscles, including the big Achilles attaching to the back of the heel, had adapted to the rotations and relatively limited mobility in their boney structure. After half of a lifetime, those soft tissue structures were quite happy and capable of doing their jobs within that context. I probably would never have noticed any limitations or wanted to correct them but for the unfortunate presence of those darn bunions. In the span of a week, my feet were Rolfed into achieving significantly more mobility, and then forced to carry loads much greater than my body weight without any pre-conditioning.

It would be like uprooting krummholz from its craggy granite perch and stuffing it feet first into a coastal redwood forest. It’s hard to undo millions of years of evolution that quickly. Of course, the tree will die.

Luckily, instead of dying, my foot simply developed an overuse injury. Also, luckily, that overuse injury has largely healed itself within a few days of easy walking around (and without a pack.)

 If you are an athlete, whether recreational or otherwise, make sure to ease back into your normal activities slowly after receiving treatment, even and especially if you feel better than ever before. The payoff will be many years of enhanced functionality and performance, without the risk of unanticipated injury.

Are you ready to Go Barefoot? Part II

Here's an excellent video showing some simple tests to evaluate your foot strength. It also shows exercises to increase the coordination and strength in your feet, so that you prepare yourself to make the leap.

Are you ready to Go Barefoot? Part I

Ok, so you read the book Born to Run and you are inspired to take your running to the next step, figuratively and literally. Do you just chuck your $125 shoes with the pronation control and inches of padding out the window and hit the pavement (or the beach, or the trails) sans shoes?

Definitely not! After a lifetime of a cozy, cushioned existence, your cossetted feet are mostly likely not ready for the demands of barefoot running. In fact, chances are high that you will hurt yourself if you try.

I was delighted to hear this very topic covered on NPR's Fresh Air. Give it a listen, and read the book if you're so inclined. Enjoy!

Click on this link: NPR's Happy Feet

And check out my next post for an informative video on how to assess your readiness to run barefoot, and if you're not, how to prepare yourself to minimize injuries before you try.

Yelp Help!

How often do you use Yelp to find services in Santa Cruz? I found myself shopping (strange thought) for an MD this morning, and one of the first places I looked was Yelp. It's an easy, quick way to vet somebody who would otherwise be a stranger on a list of names.

On that note, if you have experienced bodywork and/or Rolfing™ by me, and feel inclined to review me on Yelp, please act on that impulse! Search for "Elaine Lee Rolfing" in Santa Cruz, register as a user if you haven't already, and type away. You would have my sincere and heartfelt appreciation.

Help others find me in a sea of strangers!

Thanks, over and out.

Low Back Pain and Six-Pack Abs

 

Low back pain is as common as a double latte in downtown Santa Cruz. Our lifestyles, our culture and our furniture conspire to make us C-shaped retromorphs, hands affixed Tyrannosaurus-like to an imaginary keyboard. No wonder our bodies protest.

Biotensegrity Model by Tom Flemon

In truth, our spines are designed to float weightlessly, perfectly balanced by the precise and dynamic tensional “guy-wires” of our myofascia. The bones of our spine, the vertebrae, are not so much weight-bearing bricks as they are spacers and attachment points for muscles and ligaments. This is a concept known as biotensegrity.

It’s when some of those guy-wires become loose or flaccid—and then we do something requiring lumbar stability, like lifting a potted citrus tree—that problems arise. Lacking the lift provided by properly toned abdominal muscles, the spine essentially becomes a poorly aligned stack of bricks pulled catawampus.

Now before you hit the floor and double up on the crunches (“I thought you said we need strong abs!” Yes, I did, but keep reading…) here’s one more important factoid: rectus abdominus is only one of four abdominals (six if you count sides). Rectus gives us that glorious six-pack and makes you looks like a superhero, but by itself it doesn’t help your back. In fact, over-active rectus abdominus is implicated in de-activating one of the most important abdominals: transversus abdominus. You can actually contribute to the destabilization of your lumbar spine by doing too many situps and/or crunches.

So what to do? Careful instruction from a skilled pilates instructor will teach you how to activate all of the abdominals. I recommend one-on-one sessions at first so that you learn the proper technique, as pilates done properly is not as easy as it looks. It’s too tempting in a class to use poor form in an effort to keep up.

And remember, fluidity and adaptability are important, too. If you’re already a strong, compact fireplug of a gymnast, more pilates will reap diminishing returns. All things are better in moderation.

For a succinct introduction to biotensegrity, start with this excellent blog written by a senior robotics engineer at NASA: BeingHuman

More on Barefoot Running

The Once and Future Way to Run

This is another great article by Christopher McDougall, the author of Born to Run, in the New York Times Magazine about barefoot running. Sorry about the italics, by the way, this blog editor doesn't let me use the proper form for book titles. Or, more likely, I just can't be bothered to figure it out.

French Documentary About Rolfing®

This is a really nice documentary with English subtitles. A bit lengthy--about 25 minutes--but well worth it. It also features Hubert Godard, considered by many to be at the forefront of Rolf Movement development. Enjoy!

The Wonderful Foot

Consider…the Foot.

Take a moment to kick off your shoes, remove the socks, and get a good look at those two things at the bottoms of your legs: your feet. Wiggle your toes. Make circles with your ankles. Grab your big toe with the toes of the other foot. Just check them out. 

Ida Rolf, in designing the 10-series, deliberately focused her second session on the feet and lower legs. She thought this work second in importance only to making sure the body could obtain and utilize oxygen, which is the project of the first session. The feet are literally one’s connection to the ground. The security of the body, and arguably of one’s psyche, is intimately connected to the quality of the foot’s connection with the earth.

So back to yours. Each of your feet has 26 individual bones, all packed into a relatively tiny package. That space is especially tiny when you consider the size of your entire body that looms over it. Gravity travels through every inch and ounce of you and drives you into your pedes belli (beautiful feet.) And your feet somehow, mysteriously, spring back to give you a lift in your stride, balance in your dance, and lightness in your run.
 

 If our legs are the columns of the body, our feet are the foundation. When the foundation is horizontal and true, the columns can support the building above with satisfying uprightness. Skew the foundation, and the columns twist and tilt, and the security of the entire building is imperiled.

This is how the body works except that the metaphor falls apart when you consider that this building moves and adapts. Dilemmas in the feet, instead of causing you to fall over, simply require the rest of the body to twist, torque and twang as necessary to keep the eyes forward and the organism capable of forward locomotion.

This is why, in the Rolfing 10-series, we must organize the feet before we do anything else (except find the breath, of course.) There’s no sense in replacing the drywall and rehanging the doors if the foundation bucks like a rodeo bronc.

So before you shove them back into those stuffy shoes, send a message of love and gratitude to your beautiful feet. They may look humble, but they’re your connection to Mother Earth and the key to your uprightness. Reaching simultaneously for ground and sky—yet another human folly.

 

The tragedy of first position

This is too cute to pass up. Notice the array of strategies she employs to get her feet properly positioned. She cycles through her available engrams in various combinations. When none produce the desired result, she mimics her teacher by trying to move her own feet with her hands.

I recently read that it takes 10,000 repetitions to master a motor engram. A motor engram is a neural map created in the primary motor cortex of the brain that encodes a coordinated set of muscle movements. Mastery of an engram is associated with changes in synaptic efficacy along the neural pathways associated with the learned skill. It is like water taking the path of least resistance through a landscape, carving the terrain as it flows. This girl had yet to establish a motor engram to get her from normal standing to first position.

It is much more difficult to change an engram than it is to learn it the first time. "Old habits die hard." However, there is much research pointing to the plasticity of the brain and its neural mapping.
"It's never too late to teach an old dog new tricks."