‘We’re going to need some big boy Rolfing’
I spoke too soon about my Rolfing sessions being unexpectedly tolerable.
Session No. 2? Excruciating at times. And it all was focused from my knees down.
Apparently, that’s where a lot of my troubles are. According to Russ Pfeiffer, there may be bones and things — I know he was saying anatomy words while I literally was laughing to keep from crying — that haven’t moved in a long time, if ever.
Yeah, cuneiforms, he said that word a lot
And so the work on my feet should be the most painful. (I did catch a comment that suggested work on my hips might be worse.) It’s a job for “big boy Rolfing.”
As I noted in my first post on this experience, this pain is interesting because it doesn’t come with the normal, accompanying fear of real injury. It’s just something to get through, to surrender to, to let happen. (And thus, it is a lot like yoga and taking an adjustment or being in a pose that’s unpleasant.) But I will say that having the arch of your foot pressed on and manipulated so it hurts is pretty darn strange.
My “homework” this week is two-fold. One is to use a spikey little “accupuncture” ball to try to maintain the spreading and opening work that he was doing. (This also hurts a ton, but it may be because my feet are a bit sore in the aftermath of last night’s session.) The other is to focus on my feet during asana.
And that brings up this question: Do you think about your feet much during your practice? Bobbie said she does. And I think I may have more awareness of my feet than most for a few reasons:
- In every down dog, I see them not touching the floor and I’m highly aware of this.
- My feet are pretty much the edge of my flexibility right now, so in seated poses where you might be grasping your wrists beyond your foot, I’m struggling to hold on to my toe.
My goal, in asana practice and everyday life, is to be as heavy in my feet as possible and to use more of them. (I’m way back on my heels and on the outside of my feet.) My muscles that rotate things out are much more engaged than those than rotate my legs inward. (This must be why I’m far more capable in Supta Kurmasana than you’d guess.)
This week, I’m going to be thinking about that heaviness and really focusing on the grounding and base of my poses. How that’ll change the practice, well, we’ll see. I did just a few sun salutes this morning, a little test session, if you will; the B sequence, in particular, involves the moving of the feet and ankles that we’re talking about. (Think about all those adjustments you see of people in Warrior where the teacher tries to get the outside of the foot down.)
First impression? It moves the leading part of the body — which I guess normally is my hips and even my shoulders — down into the feet and ankles. And it is both more steady and more unstable, possibly just because of the newness of it.
The goal, I suspect, is to make that low steadiness the norm. Russ talked a lot about how basketball players move, for instance. So, I’m also going to try to be more like Steve Nash or Chris Paul. Good luck there.
If I end up being able to dunk out of this process, though, that’d be awesome.
Posted by Steve
I definitely think about my feet in my practice, not actively or consciously, but they are there along with everything else, I guess, subliminally. If I see a student struggling with a standing posture, I make certain their feet are aligned properly before I go in to adjust them with my hands. I also look to see that they are using the whole foot vs. one side or the other, that they aren’t gripping with their toes, etc. I was taught the feet are the starting point, the base, for all the standing postures, and they are important in the seated sequences, too.
You may notice that there is a subtle connection between mula bandha and a spot near the base of the big toe – Nancy Gilgoff said there’s an energy point there – a marma point – that is vital to connect to with the fingers; it helps your body open during the practice. (Hence all the big-toe grabbing with two fingers?!)
I’ve found that when I press out through the base of the big toe in postures – not just simply flexing the feet but actively “Flointing” (flexing and pointing) the foot, as my teacher Christine Hoar likes to call it – you engage mula bandha better, too. A good place to try this is in uttitha hasta padangustasana – “floint” the extended foot (flex then point, pushing out through the big toe ball, so that it looks like a Barbie foot – I can’t remember how Ken’s feet look, sorry.) Try this and and sense how the inner leg along the calf up through the inner thigh all the way to mula bandha gets more engaged, activated. This can also be done in the seated postures, too with the extended leg(s). I think Maehle mentions it in his book on Primary. (Lots of good anatomy discussion in his books.)
There’s also a subtle connection between your pinkie fingers and uddhiyana bandha, too – really helpful during navasana to elongate and rotate the pinkie side of the hand slightly in towards the body and turn the palms very slightly skyward. Lifts you up and floats your boat!
Hi, A friend sent me your blog story about your second rolfing session. Rolfing is defined by principles used to organize your connective tissue/fascia (organ of shape) in gravity. Rolfing is not defined by technique. Your experience is one that used to be common, but is becoming outdated as new methods are developed. I am a rolfer in AK (graduated from the Rolf Institute in July ’04 and have invested heavily in continuing educaiton since) , and I suggst you finding another rolfer who has been to class recently. Old-fashioned rolfing has its place, and helps people. And there are better current ways of meeting the Rolfing principles, that are totally without pain. You will likely feel sensation during your sessions, but if your rolfer is hurting you – you want to escape, your breathing changes, etc – YOU need to speak up and ask him/her to use another technique (one iwth less pain) to achieve his/her goal. Rolfing is a team sport. Take responsibility, every person is unique, and good practitioners should cultivate an environment where you are encouraged to participate. If that’s not your experience, find another rolfer.
Be Well
Leah
Hi Leah.
Thanks for the comment. I’ve probably been unclear, in perhaps an attempt to be entertaining (I can’t imagine why anyone would want to read about my experience otherwise). What you describe (the team sport) is exactly what Russ is doing. And he told me upfront to speak up if things were hurting. As you write, I’m definitely feeling “sensation” — probably more easily and recognizably described as “pain” in everyday vernacular — but it isn’t anything intolerable. (Although, at the same time, excruciating. But so is my Ashtanga practice.)
I have full faith in what Russ is doing, and couldn’t recommend him more. And I know I’m not alone here in LA in feeling that way.
Thanks for adding the better, fuller description of Rolfing than I could as a non-expert; that’s very helpful.
S
You can’t walk into a class with David G. without thinking about your feet. I feel lucky to have had this as a focus in my practice. Feet…they’re kind of a big deal.
“Pay attention to the alignment of the feet. If the feet are sloppy the whole posture will be sloppy. Sloppiness is unconciousness.” Beryl Bender Birch
I talk about the feet all the time, all the time, all the time. If you don’t know what to do, start at the feet and move up and the body. When you get to the top, back to the feet and start again, and again, and again – till it just happens – from the foundation of proper feet.
and michelle, thank you for confirming things I had discovered in my own practice!