|
|
|
 |
In order to integrate the human structure in the gravitational field, several tonal balances must be considered. Left and right sides of the body must have similar tone and span in each segment from toe to scalp. Similarly, the tone and span of the posterior aspect of the body must balance the front of the body at each level. It is also customary to consider upper-body to lower-body balance. As the references to "at each level" above indicate, balance above and below the waistline must be extended to balance between all segments of the body. For example, the tone in the feet must match tone in the leg and tone in the thigh, and so on. As each of these three dimensions of balance is improved in a series of sessions, the result will be a good level of structural integration. In addition to these three dimensions of balance there is a fourth, which if achieved, will bring integration a quantum level higher. This fourth dimension of balance concerns surface tone balanced to core tone. This is called Core-Sleeve balance. Achieving this balance is difficult in part because the exact location and nature of Core continues to be obscure. Defining CoreThe definition of Core has been debated in SI circles for at least the last 50 years. Functionally, Structural Integrators can recognize when a person has Core-Sleeve balance. A person living in such balance quickly learns to recognize it, too. Movement can be initiated in any direction with equal ease. "Effortless" is the usual description, like a sailboat with all the sails trimmed just right and singing together.Naming the structures that are Core and teaching another practitioner to produce this balance comes much harder than recognition of the balanced state. I will summarize and extend our understanding of Core and name its complexity. Sleeve is easier to describe than Core. The superficial fascia is a discreet unit, enveloping the whole body. Next comes the investing fascia which is locally named as Pectorals Fascia, Fascia Lata, Crural Fascia etc. Deeper fasciae, such as inter-muscular septa, connect to the investing fascia. Any consideration of layered myofascial relationships deeper than the investing fascia is open to interpretation. Deeper layers overlap and interpenetrate. The extrinsic muscles lie nearer the surface of the body and tend to move the body quickly and strongly but somewhat imprecisely. Intrinsic muscles lie generally deeper in the body and move more slowly and more precisely. When these two are functionally balanced the body can move with strength, quickness and precision.
The extrinsic musculature is one definition of Sleeve, but exactly where does extrinsic end and intrinsic begin? The Spinal Rotatores muscles are clearly intrinsic. The Soleus lies deep to the Gastrocnemius and is challenging to directly contact. Yet functionally, the Soleus is extrinsic, a prime flexor of the ankle. Although structurally deep, lying next to bones, deep under a large muscle, the Soleus is functionally not as intrinsic as the pedal lumbrical muscles. Penetrating through certain portions of the distal plantar aspect of the foot, the lumbricals are the first muscle layer encountered. So far we have considered Core-Sleeve relationships with respect to muscles and myofascial structures. There are more ways to describe Core, here are three of them. 1. Ida P. Rolf described Core in several ways including "everything you can't live without". An intriguing statement but far from clear in its application to structural integration. 2. The bones We think of Bones as deep structures yet in some places, such as the shin, they are directly under the Investing fascia. In the human body, the bones serve as spacers in a tensional matrix similar to Buckminster Fuller's tensegrity structures. In this model, the Core-Sleeve relationship is translated into balance between the thrust of the bones and the tension in the fascial planes enveloping and connecting them. The internal structure and tensions of the bones can be quickly modified by manual means, producing prompt improvement in the overlying soft tissue tone. CST and VM are among the therapies that work with the internal structure of the bones. 3. Jan Henry Sultan and other Rolfing instructors use "the visceral space" as Core. By this they mean not the viscera themselves, but the container of the viscera and the pressure system inherent in the visceral space and its container. Management of these pressure relationships is essential to Structural Integration, and yet this is not the whole story of Core.
Interdisciplinary Contributions to Structural Integration's Understanding of CoreCertain concepts developed in other disciplines are now giving Structural Integrators new and highly useful ways of defining Core.Although CranioSacral Therapists do not focus on Core-Sleeve relationships in the way the Structural Integrators do, from the viewpoint of Structural Integrators, CST practitioners treat the dural membranes as Core. Certainly the Dura are deep in the body, lying inside the skull and within the spinal vertebrae. Cranial manipulation and its descendant, CranioSacral Therapy, ably demonstrate that altering the tone and span of the dural membranes produces profound and immediate change in tone of body tissues at any distance from the Dura. These changes may be either highly tissue-specific or quite general. If the dura is ignored, Core-Sleeve balance is incomplete.
Dural restrictions affect other tissues in three or more ways. 1. A severe Dural restriction may put direct pressure on the central nervous system (CNS). Even slightly impaired CNS will result in skewed monitoring and control of body processes. 2. The spinal Dura must be mobile to accommodate spinal movement. The spinal cord must slide several centimeters to accommodate full extension and flexion of the spine. If the Dural tube is unable to slide, the spinal musculature will reflexively stiffen to protect the spinal cord. 3. Autonomic reflexes will create localized areas of tissue tension at any distance from the spinal cord in seemingly quirky patterns. How CranioSacral Therapy and Visceral Manipulation inform the Structural Integration Core Search In the classical 10 session SI recipe, work proceeds, session by session, from surface to center. The CST recipe taught to beginners starts at intermediate depth with the horizontal diaphragms of the body and proceeds deep to the dural core. Advanced CST practitioners may begin on some clients with the dura itself. It is important to remember that the name CranioSacral Therapy represents the historical origins of this discipline. Today CranioSacral Therapists apply techniques developed in working with the Dura to tissues at any depth in any part of the body. From the point of view of Structural Integrators, Jean Pierre Barral, creator of Visceral Manipulation, treats the pleura, pericardium, peritoneum and other membranes and ligaments that support the viscera as Core. In Visceral manipulation, the work usually proceeds from the core out. When the Viscera are released, related musculature will automatically release in response. The most effective way to free spinal restrictions is often to work on the connective tissue suspending the viscera. If a visceral structure is tense, associated myofascial structures will tighten to protect it. Specific stretches or other types of release for the visceral support system will result in prompt and lasting release of the myofascia. Here are two examples: Example 1. Roots of the MesenteryStructure: The 30 feet of small intestine are anchored by a set of membranes called the mesenteries. All the planes of the mesenteries collect into a line running from the Illiocecal Valve in the lower right quadrant of the abdomen to the Duodeno-Jejunal junction in the upper left quadrant of the abdomen. This line, called the roots of the mesenteries, is anchored to the back wall of the abdomen, crossing the lumbar spine on a diagonal line from upper left to lower right.Dysfunction: Because of the diagonal attachment of their root, any tension in the mesenteries will rotate the lumbar spine. By this mechanism either a stomach flu or an emotional experience that "ties our guts up in knots" can result in lumbar dysfunction and pain.
Example 2. Long Chains of Visceral Connective TissueStructure: Consider this strong and continuous line of connective tissue:
a. Body of the Spenoid bone ResearchThe two examples cited describe mechanical means by which restriction at one area can cause dysfunction in a distant area. Conversely, Structural Integrators and other bodyworkers have long observed how manual therapy in one area can produce change far away in areas without obvious mechanical linkage. A second mechanism for change at a distance is autonomic mediation.J. Staubesand of the University of Freiburg has provided us with groundbreaking research on the structure of connective tissue that describes a physiologic mechanism whereby the autonomic nervous system may refer structural change at any distance in the body. Staubesand made scanning electron micrographs of sections of human crural fascia. He found this fascia contains smooth muscle cells scattered through it. As usual, the smooth muscle cells have autonomic nervous system inervation. This is stunning news! Up until now we knew the fascia had some contractility but did not know how. We eagerly await follow up studies looking for similar findings in other fasciae. If smooth muscle cells are found in fascia throughout the body, it provides a key to exactly how freeing an organ or the dura consequently frees a muscle. Such release could be quickly mediated through the autonomic nervous system. Recall that smooth muscle cells do not fatigue in the same way as striated skeletal muscle. Given adequate nutrition, smooth muscle can contract indefinitely. This enables a muscle to stay tense for decades, and then release in seconds with appropriate manipulation of dural or visceral tissue. To view Staubesand's photomicrographs of Crural Fascia and read an English language interview with him, see Robert Schleip's website: www.somatics.de We do know that when an area of the dura or a membrane supporting an organ has reduced elasticity then associated muscles tighten, limiting range of motion to protect that membrane from further injury. In CST and VM we routinely observe that releasing deep restriction will immediately release the associated musculature. Through Staubesand's discovery, we now have a physiological mechanism to mediate this referred change.
Interdisciplinary Integration of the Core ConceptTo our Core-Sleeve model we must add another element. There are actually two Cores, the anterior (or visceral) compartment, and the posterior (or dural) compartment. Tensional forces must be balanced within and between these two Cores, along with all the other balances mentioned above. Contrary to the classical SI recipe which proceeds from surface to center, the experience of Structural Integrators who are also trained in CST and VM is that approaching these Core compartments first is often the most effective and efficient approach to integrating the human structure with respect to the gravitational field.This does not end the discussion of Core and Sleeve. There are, after all, more candidates for Core. What this writing provides is practical steps toward more effective and efficient Structural Integration.
Methods, an IntroductionSome practitioners of CST and VM will wonder why bring in the SI perspective at all since CST and VM on their own greatly increase order in the body. To answer this question, we must return to gravity. Gravity is a large force that we are all subject to all the time. One way to appreciate the strength of gravity's force is to weigh yourself, then pick up the scales and hold it against the wall at chest level. Then with your hands on the scale try to push your own body weight. Most people can only push about half their weight. Yet in standing we balance our weight against gravity with little effort. In CST and VM classrooms, gravity is rarely if ever mentioned. Balances are established between tissues in the body, but the body is treated as if it were an open kinetic chain. The closed kinetic chain balance within the gravitational field is a powerful fact largely or entirely overlooked. SI brings in this vitally important perspective on gravitational relationship.In CST, assessment is made by several methods and is usually done with the client supine. In VM a first general assessment of the whole body is done with the client standing. Then the posterior compartment is assessed in detail also with the client standing, followed by supine assessment of the anterior compartment. From a SI perspective it is important to do all of these assessments with the client standing. It may also be useful to do them with the client supine or even side-lying, but the standing closed kinetic chain relationship must be included as primary, otherwise body parts will be related to each other but not to the earth's gravitational field. In addition to assessing the standing body, it is frequently advisable to work on the body standing or sitting. In his recent book, Cranial Sutures, Analysis, Morphology and Manipulative Strategies, cranial manipulator Mark Pick DC describes compelling reasons for working on the cranium with the client upright. Part of the VM assessment protocol includes selective inhibition whereby tissues are induced to temporarily forget their compensations. This allows a pair-wise comparison of bodily restrictions to determine which dysfunction should be manipulated first to produce the greatest positive change for the whole body. Using the VM comparative inhibition method, the Cores and the Sleeve can be brought into better balance within themselves and between each other. A VM strategy called stacking-a-line-of-tension (SALT) can be employed to bring the level of order even higher. In this paradoxical method, two related areas are manipulated concurrently, one with each hand. Once the two areas of dysfunction are located, each one is mobility tested in three planes. One hand is placed on each structure. Then each structure is moved into its directions of ease in three planes, until a first barrier is just reached. The therapist then waits until that barrier is felt to ease. Each structure is then again mobility tested to assess how much its previously poor directions of movement have been improved. The procedure is repeated as necessary. SALT can potentially be used to improve the tonal relationship of any two structures. Applying SALT to the relationship between the two Cores, as well as between the Cores and the Sleeve, leads to great improvement in integration of the structure, particularly if the pre-test and post-test assessment are done with the client standing in the gravitational field.
PerspectiveBringing CST and VM perspectives to SI might appear to lengthen the session because there are more things to do. SI practitioners who incorporate one or both of these other perspectives find, on the contrary, that with a broader selection of skills, sessions are shorter and less effortful while producing better results for the client. CST, SI and VM are all descended from early Osteopathic manipulation. The reunion of these separate lines of development is a fortuitous marriage of cousins.SummaryThe most important balance achieved in Structural Integration is that between Core and Sleeve. Sleeve is easy to define. The nature and location of Core has been debated for 50 years without conclusive result. One reason for this difficulty is the existence of more than one Core. Tone must be balanced between Cores as well as between Cores and Sleeve. The practical methods outlined for assessing and balancing Core and Sleeve structures yield much better integration of human structure. The ability to use these high level integration methods requires in-depth training and experience in the 3 disciplines of Structural Integration, Visceral Manipulation and CranioSacral Therapy.These considerations do not end the discussion of Core. The bones to name one structure, deserve in depth consideration as Core in their own right. TrainingThe Rolf¨ Institute of Structural Integration205 Canyon Blvd Boulder CO 80302 (800) 530-8875 (303) 449-5903 www.rolf.org admissions@rolf.org
The Upledger Institute Inc. BibliographyAnson, B., Rolfing, stories of personal empowerment, 1991 Heartland, ISBN 0-9629385-0-5Barral, J.P., The Thorax, 1991 Eastland, ISBN 0-939616-12-2 Barral, J. P. , Visceral manipulation II, 1989 Eastland Press, ISBN 0-939616-09-2 Barral, J.P. & Croibier, A., Trauma, an osteopathic approach, 1999 Eastland, ISBN 0-939616-32-7 Barral, J. P. & Mercier, P. Visceral manipulation , 1988 Eastland Press, ISBN 0-939616-06-8 Clemente, Carmine D., A regional atlas of the human body, 4th edition, 1997 , Williams & Wilkins, ISBN 0-683-30305-8 Feitis, R., ed., Ida Rolf talks about Rolfing and physical reality, 1978 Rolf Institute, ISBN 0-930385-00-4 Feitis, R., & Schultz, L., Remembering Ida Rolf, 1996, North Atlantic Books, ISBN 1-55643-238-0 Gehin, A., Atlas of manipulative techniques for the cranium & face, 1985 Eastland, ISBN 0-939616-02-5 Giammatteo, T., & Weiselfish-Giammatteo, S., Integrative manual therapy for the autonomic nervous system and related disorders, 1997 North Atlantic Books, Berkeley ISBN 1556432720 Johnson, D., The protean body, 1977 Harper Colophon, ISBN 0-06-090552-2 Kolb, B., & Whishaw, I. Q., Fundamentals of human neuropsychology, third edition, 1990 W. H. Freeman and company, ISBN 0-7167-1973-8 Magoun, H. I., Osteopathy in the cranial field, 1976, Sutherland Cranial Teaching Foundation, No ISBN Pick, M. G. , Cranial Sutures, analysis, morphology & manipulative strategies Rolf, Ida P., Rolfing, reestablishing the natural alignment and structural integration of the human body for vitality and well-being, 1989 Healing Arts Press, ISBN 0-89281-335-0 Staubesand, J., Lin, Y., Zum Feinbau der fascia cruris mit besonderer bercksichtigung epi- und intrafaszialer nerven, Manuelle Medizin, 34, 1966, p. 196-200 Still, A. T., Osteopathy, research & practice, 1992 Eastland, ISBN 0-939616-14-9 Sutherland, A. S., With thinking fingers, the story of William Garner Sutherland, D.O., 1962 The Cranial Academy, No ISBN Sutherland, A.S., & Wales, A. L., Collected writings of William Garner Sutherland, D.O., D.Sc. (Hon.) pertaining to the art and science of osteopathy including the cranial concept in osteopathy. covering the years 1914-1954, 1967 The Sutherland Cranial Teaching Foundation, No ISBN Sutherland, W. G., The cranial bowl, a tretise relating to cranial articular mobility, cranial articular lesions and cranial technic, 1949 Free press, No ISBN Trowbridge, C., Andrew Taylor Still 1828-1917, 1991 The Thomas Jefferson University Press, ISBN 0-943549-06-X Upledger, J. E. & Vredevoogd, J. D., CranioSacral therapy, 1983 Eastland, ISBN 0-939616-01-7 Upledger, J. E., CranioSacral therapy II, beyond the dura, 1987 Eastland, ISBN 0-939616-05-X Upledger, J. E., SomatoEmotional release and beyond, 1990 UI publishing, ISBN 0-9627157-0-0
Jeffrey P. Burch MS, Biographical sketchBorn in Eugene Oregon in 1949.After Studying at Prescott College, Prescott Arizona, and The University of Pavia, Pavia Italy, received a BA in Biology from the University of Oregon in 1975. Trained in Massage at Lane Community College in Eugene Oregon in 1975-76. Trained at the Rolf Institute of Structural Integration in Boulder Colorado 1976-77, receiving basic certification as a Rolfer in August 1977. First Practiced as a Rolfer in London and later in Honolulu before returning to Eugene in 1989. Additional Study at the Rolf Institute of Structural Integration culminated in Advanced Rolfing Certification in April 1989. Taught Kinesiology or related courses at Cascade Institue of Massage and Body Therapies in Eugene Oregon Since 1990. Began studying again at the University of Oregon in January 1990, receiving a second BA in June 1992 this time in Psychology. Continued at the University of Oregon receiving an MS in Counseling in December 1995. Masters thesis titled 'Alexithymia and Dissociation' reported original research correlating two previously separate constructs relating to psychosomatic disorders. Became a Diplomate of the American Psychotherapy Association in 1996. In January 1998 began intensively studying CranioSacral Therapy through both the Upledger Institute, and French osteopath Alain Gehin, and Visceral Manipulation through the International Alliance for Health Care Educators. Teaches introductory courses in CranioSacral Therapy and is a teaching assistant for other Craniosacral and Visceral Manipulation courses. Has served the Rolf Institute of Structural Integration as a member of both the ethics committee and the research committee, and is now a member of the board of directors. The words Rolfer and Rolfing® are service marks of the Rolf Institute® of Structural Integration
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
|||||||||||
