Structural Integration achieves its remarkable results by manipulating the myofascial system (the muscles and connective tissue called fascia which surrounds and penetrates the muscles and all other structures of the body). Our bodies must deal with gravity like other material structures. When we are out of balance, gravity drags us down just as it drags down a building that has lost its architectural integrity. Whether from poor posture, injury, illness or emotional distress, an unbalanced body is at war with gravity. We experience this battle as pain, stress and depleted energy. When the body loses its architectural integrity, fascia shortens and thickens in characteristic patterns of strain and tightness.

To the Certified Rolfer's trained eyes, slouched bodies with heads too far towards, hyper erect bodies which bow backward, knock knees or bowed legs, flat feet or high arches and excessive spinal curvature, all display complicated patterns of strain, tightness, and thickening in the muscles and fascia.

Through refined and intelligent pressure applied by the hands of the Rolfing practitioner, fascia is softened and lengthened allowing the body to right itself effortlessly in gravity.

Once the Standard Ten Sessions of Rolfing are completed and the inappropriate patterns of movement are corrected. The body remains changed for the better. Effortlessly upright, balanced, and at ease with itself in the field of gravity.

Carter Evans first began his studies in massage in 2004 while attending the Maui school of therapeutic massage in Makawao, Maui. His interests spawned from a personal inquiry into the human condition, physically, spiritually, and metaphysically. Carter had been an avid skier and sustained injuries that left him with a sense of lost potential. Two separated shoulders with a torn rotator cuff, and a right anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction left him with significant strain patterns and atrophy at a young age. Post surgery, physical therapists were helpful, yet they seemed in general to lack the hands on approach to simply communicating with the body in ways that were applied through the "alternative methods" of body workers and massage practitioners.

His studies really were about healing himself at first, and as he delved deeper he began to realize his innate gift for therapeutic touch. The Structural Integration phase came after his initial massage studies. Carter gravitated towards and specialized in the "connective tissue" or "Deep Tissue" techniques while practicing massage in a spas and wellness centers in glorious Maui, Hawaii.

Carter was "turned on" to the Rolf method of structural integration by a close friend who had been living on Kauai where Emmit Hutchins was teaching Structural Integration. Emmit happens to be the only direct conduit of Ida P. Rolf, the originator of this method of bodywork. Emmit was a student of Ida Rolf and also a close friend of hers. Ida chose Emmit as one of her first Structural Integration teachers before she died. Carter feels greatly blessed to have been able to receive the training of the "Ten Series" from Emmit due to the direct undiluted link to the Rolf Method that Emmit is an embodiment of. "Emmit taught me so much more than just the basic ten session process, he taught me about letting go of expectations within the process that is Structural Integration. This can be limited or accentuated by the abilities of both the client/recipient, as well as the practitioner".

Carter enrolled and successfully graduated from the Rolf Guild www.rolfguild.org. Carter humbly expresses and resonates a innate ability as a facilitator of the work. "I believe experience always equals wisdom, yet I also believe that my passion for the work and experiential style is what makes me a great Rolfer. The "ten" is a framework while at the same time having the freedom to work with all sorts of individuals with all sorts of reasons for seeking this method. There is a freedom for me personally within the constraint of the practice."

In 1920, Ida Pauline Rolf received her Ph.D. in biochemistry from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. Despite the resistance she faced as a woman in the field of science, she furthered her knowledge of the body through research in organic chemistry at the Rockefeller Institute. Driven to find solutions to her own health problems as well as those of her two sons, she spent many years studying and experimenting with different systems of healing and manipulation.

Throughout most of her life she was intrigued with and explored many forms of alternative healing including homeopathy, osteopathy, chiropractics and yoga. The notion that proper alignment, physiologic function and anatomical structure are related is the basis of many of these healing methods. Dr. Rolf agreed that the body functions best when the bony segments are in proper alignment. She added her observations that lasting improvement in alignment and an overall sense of well-being required a closer look at the effects of gravity on our bodies. She believed that the imbalances in structure placed demands on the body's pervasive network of soft tissues: muscles, fascia, tendons and ligaments, thereby creating compensations throughout the body structure.

Dr. Rolf posed this fundamental question: "What conditions must be fulfilled in order for the human body-structure to be organized and integrated in gravity so that the whole person can function in the most optimal and economical way?"

Her life's work was devoted to this investigation which led to the system of soft tissue manipulation and movement education that we now call Rolfing. In order to pass along her work to others and to make the education process accessible, she developed an expedient series of ten sessions, which came to be known as the Ten Series.

Dr. Rolf continues to be recognized as a pioneer and leader in soft tissue manipulation and movement education.

"This is the gospel of Rolfing: When the body gets working appropriately, the force of gravity can flow through. Then, spontaneously, the body heals itself." -- Dr. Ida P. Rolf

Since her death in 1979 at the age of 83, the Rolf Institute of Structural Integration has continued to share her work by certifying Rolfers and Rolf Movement Practitioners, supporting research, and building upon her inspiration. Today, there are more than 1,550 Rolfers and Rolf Movement Practitioners worldwide.