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Unlike most systems of body manipulation, which are concerned with the muscular system or the skeletal systems or both, structural integration focuses on the fascias, which are sheets of connective tissue. Ida Rolf, whose work was the foundation of the various systems of structural integration, noted that while bones support the body and muscles connect the bones. It is the enwrapping fascias that support and hold the muscle-bone combinations in place. Rolf's second precept was that the fascias would maintain not only the normal relationship of bone and muscle but also whatever postural misalignment the body might adopt. This misalignment could incorporate effects of trauma as well as poor posture.
Later theorists have used renowned architect and designer Buckminster Fuller's "tensegrity mast" as an explanatory model for the relationship of the bones and fascias. In this structure, none of the solid elements are connected directly together but are held by tensioned wires. The structure becomes a model for the body if the solid segments are called the bones and the flexible wires are called the fascias (Robie, 1977).~When the body attempts to distribute the stress of an injury, the result is likely to be shortened and thickened fascias, which may in turn lead to symptoms somewhere other than the site of the original trauma. Structural integration is a system to "unwind" and stretch the distorted fascias back to their normal condition, thereby allowing the bones and muscles to come back to normal alignment and the body to return to normal functioning. Structural integration, or "Rolfing," involves stretching the fascia sheaths by applying sliding pressure to the affected area with fingers, thumbs, and occasionally elbows. In its early days, the process was known to be quite painful, but later refinements in technique have made Rolfing considerably more comfortable.
Rolf postulated that the plasticity of the fascias in the body could offset the aging process (Rolf, 1973). Research in Rolfing has suggested beneficial results with cerebral palsy in children (Perry et al., 1981), state-trait anxiety (i.e., a person's current anxiety state or level is measured against his or her anxiety traits) (Weinberg and Hunt, 1979), the stress and symptoms of lower back pain and whiplash (Rolf, 1977), and changes in parasympathetic tone (degree of vigor and tension of muscles innervated by parasympathetic nerves) ~(Cottingham et al., 1988a, 1988b). Changes in psychological and physiological function have also been measured (Silverman et al., 1973).
The Rolf Institute, the first school to teach the principles of structural integration, offers a post-bachelor's degree training program requiring 28 weeks of classroom work. Today there are also three other schools based on Rolf's work and 1,500 practitioners who treat an estimated 150,000 individuals per year. Licensing requirements differ in various States.
Aston patterning, developed by Judith Aston, and Hellerwork, developed by Joseph Heller, are major offshoots of structural integration. Both incorporate movement reeducation training to bring the body into fuller activity and expression.