The Resonance of Space, Ground, and Gravity

ABSTRACT In structural integration, practitioners pay attention to the client’s body orientation in space, how they move on the ground, and the qualities they have when organizing vertically in gravity. Taken all together, there is a resonance as to how a person orients to their outer world and their inner world. In this article, Jörg Ahrend-Löns describes this resonance in relationship with developmental and structural responses to gravity. He presents the postural triangle, where the foot is considered a sensory structure intimately involved in organizing a person’s structure in gravity, alongside the vestibular and visual systems. Several examples are presented. Ahrend-Löns explains how to access feeling resonance with breath and how structural integration is, in a way, translating the resonant language of the body so that clients may have more freedom of movement and a deepened sensitivity to staying in the present moment.

Space, substratum (ground), and gravity are closely related to the orientation of our bodies. They describe the connection between the vertically directed force of gravity and the resulting organization and orientation of the vertically oriented spine of the human body. What does it mean to be in resonance with our spaces, the ground below us, and our orientation to gravity? Life becomes enriched, and open to new possibilities.

On the one hand, the word orientation can stand for the reception of information from the environment, the nervous system senses real-time information of our current situation, known as afference. On the other hand, orientation can also reflect our own inner state allowing this awareness to flow into our perception of our bodies as a whole. Here our senses play a prominent role, especially in the cooperation between the vestibular system of our inner ear, our eyes, and the superficial sensibility of our feet (in contact with the ground). These are of great importance for the organization of the vertically oriented human body in gravity, especially in movement.

From this incoming sensory information, we make decisions, which, in turn, are checked for effectiveness by the circuitry of perception and modified if necessary. Behavior and choices lead to more sensations. These cycles are the basis for our experiences, which may then condense into habits. Situations are checked for similarity with previous experiences and, under certain circumstances, reinforced. We can then speak of the body’s orientation to space, ground, and gravity as patterns through which habits are expressed.

As a Rolfer, I am particularly interested in how these mechanisms are expressed on a physical and coordination level for each of my clients, especially from the point of view of habits that can lead to physical overload and, as a consequence, to negative structural changes in various tissues throughout the body. In this article, I will highlight and clarify these relationships from the perspective of motor development, structural responses to gravity, the perceptual abilities of the foot, and the resonance of being in space. And I will also go into structural and practical considerations as to how we apply these ideas in Rolfing sessions.

‍

Motor Development in Infants

From the first moments of our lives, we are confronted with the phenomenon of gravity. An infant first learns to raise its head and turn its body. It then learns to crawl, then stand, and finally to walk. The steps required for this are genetically predetermined in a healthy baby, though we still observe that this progression can show variation in different babies.

Environmental factors will determine which experiences the child will have in exploring its own movement. This is a learning process for the parents as well. They will need to be able to distinguish the different reasons for their child’s expressions of displeasure. Is this because the child is truly in distress and needs help, or is it simply frustrated with failed attempts to move?

If we put ourselves in the situation of the baby, we can understand this frustration but also the boundless amazement and pure joy when the attempt to stand on our own two feet succeeds for the first time. This abbreviated description of motor development clarifies how early movement experiences are anchored and can become habitual motor patterns. The basis for motor development is the ability to feel the world and to go into resonance with it.

The skin as a membrane becomes “a constitutive and tactile (double-sided, in touching and being touched) border between inside and outside - but also an organ of resonance” (Rosa 2020, 51). This sensory ability is not only important for the development of the relationship between mother and child, or more generally for individuals to relate with other people, but also for the development of motor skills to deal with gravity. The distinctive sensory system of the foot and ankle plays a prominent role in the individual’s relationship with the ground and, thus, in the development of an upright gait.

‍

The Structural Response to the Action of Gravity

Essentially, a child’s motor development is about the body’s ability to adapt to gravity. When the spine first moves into a vertical orientation, it is subjected to greater weight that must be absorbed by active structures such as bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, and fascia. As the child grows, the skeleton changes from cartilage to bone while it adapts to the increasing weight of the body.

The foot is a good example for describing these structural changes. The infant has a physiological flat foot that adapts to the action of gravity during motor development by forming arches. One can imagine that the adaptability of a foot depends on the demands to which it is exposed over time but also precisely on how the ability to perceive the ground has developed. If these demands are varied and not one-sided, flexibility and mobility will develop on their own through balanced reactions.  

Conversely, unbalanced loads can lead to unilateral muscular compensations, foot deformities, and such conditions as hallux valgus and osteoarthritis. Here is a clinical example that shows this developmental pattern. A sixty-seven-year-old client who is a sports teacher exhibited bilateral arthrosis of the hips. His legs were externally rotated, more so on the left side, with increased loading of the lateral arch of the left foot, a high instep, and a corresponding high medial arch. This correlated with restricted flexibility and adaptability of the transition between tarsal and metatarsal bones. In walking, there was a restriction in the rolling phase of the foot and the hallux did not get into position for an appropriate push-off (toe hinge). As a result, hip extension was not fully utilized, and the lumbar spine had to compensate with increased myofascial tension and overloading of the lumbar vertebrae. The client exhibited recurring and persistent lumboischialgia syndrome (a strong, sharp pain in the lower back that spreads to the leg through the gluteal region).

The clinical approach to dealing with this situation includes balancing the muscular pull across the ankle joint to improve the rolling phase of the step and push-off of the hallux. An increase in the internal rotation of the hip joint enabled full extension of the hip thereby relieving the strain on the lumbar region of the spine. This is a structural response, working with the client’s response to gravity.

Now that we have looked at gravity and its effect on the motor function of the human body at the beginning of our lives and also into adaptations later in life, it becomes clear that the vertical alignment of the spine is of prime importance, as are the adaptive capacity and support principles of the Second Hour.

The Foot as Sensory Structure

The most obvious and basic answer to the question of how we are placed in the world is with the feet.

Hartmut Rosa (2020, 89).

The previous section focused on the physiological aspects (in the sense of structure) and the development of human movement (in the sense of coordination). The following discussion explores the question of how we obtain the information from our environment necessary for vertical movement. A simple model we use in the Rolfing^® paradigm, especially in Rolf Movement^® Integration, is the postural triangle, which refers to the cooperation of the vestibular system of the inner ear, the eyes, and especially the sensitivity of the feet.

The vestibular system is a paired structure, one within each of the temporal bones in the head. It contains the arcuate organs of the three semicircular canals where the rotational accelerations and decelerations of the head are recorded for all three spatial directions (up-down, left-right, and front-back). Via the hair cells located in the canals, the forces associated with the body’s movement are converted into neural impulses and transmitted to the brain. In this process, the different moments of inertia of the fluids located in the canals of the inner ear, detected by the hair cells, play a decisive role in keeping a person upright on their feet. The translational accelerations of the body are detected by sacculus (vertical) and utriculus (horizontal) receptors. The nerve nuclei located in the brainstem that are involved in coordinating standing and walking receive the information from the vestibule via the eighth cranial nerve (the vestibulocochlear nerve) and also integrates that information with signals from the body via the spinal cord, the subcortical and cortex structures above, and the nearby cerebellum.

The eyes are connected to the vestibular organ via the vestibulo-ocular reflex and thus contribute to the balance of the body (Somisetty and Das 2023). In the interaction of the vestibular system, vision, and proprioception, the Rolfer pays special attention to changes in the area of the feet. The receptors present in the fascia and muscles of the foot and lower leg play an important role in controlling movement via the muscle spindle fibers and Golgi tendon organs. Muscle spindle fibers monitor the change in length and the rate of change in our skeletal muscles to give us a sense of where our body parts are located and how they are moving. Golgi tendon organs detect the amount of tension on the tendons of skeletal muscles and help protect them from overload by selectively causing the muscles to lengthen rapidly to prevent tearing. Ruffini receptors are located in the joints and measure the current joint position and the speed of joint movement. Finally, vibrations are detected by Pacini bodies.

‍

‍

One can, therefore, assume that structural changes a person experiences over time in the area of the feet also affect the extent and quality of afferent sensory information from gravity holding their form to the ground. Conversely, this would mean that with Rolfing Structural Integration, we can not only influence the physical structures but also specifically support our clients in regaining proprioceptive abilities. We are considering perceptive structure here. In the first section, I talked about the formation of habits and/or movement patterns. In the following discussion, I would like to approach these topics from the sensory point of view.

Many routine movements escape our conscious awareness; in other words, once they are stored in the cerebellum, they run largely autonomously with the ability to modify these automated movement patterns as the situation dictates. Patterns are formed that we can recognize as ‘typical’ in other people. Often, we recognize who is approaching us just from the familiar sound of their footsteps. This means that the combination of individual characteristics shapes our relationship to gravity and to the world, resulting from factors such as genetics, gender, imprints, and conditioning of a familial, social, or even cultural nature. These constructs are reflected in the orientation of the body in space and to the ground. Here I limit myself to the physiological relationships of input and output or afference and efference, respectively. The model of the ‘postural triangle’ (visual control, vestibule, and the proprioceptive properties of the soles of the feet) helps to clarify this relationship.

‍

‍

The interplay of the sensory functions responsible for balance has a direct influence on the tensional relationships of muscles. For instance, when phasic muscles (muscles that are available to us on demand) are used inappropriately to stabilize the body instead of the tonic musculature (the postural muscles responsible for core stability), the range of motion is restricted and, as a result, there is increased stress when passively moving structures. Thus, these increased resting forces may lead to degenerative structural changes and may accelerate deterioration in the fasciae, joints, and intervertebral discs.

The following clinical example will help show this. The client was a seventy-two-year-old male with onset of polyneuropathy.¹ Possible causes for this individual included diabetes mellitus and alcohol abuse. Structurally, the client presented with mild insensitivity and numbness around the toes and forefoot. Superficial sensitivity/afference was disturbed due to degenerative changes in the nerve endings. Both feet presented with hallux valgus and claw toes.

In looking at the client’s coordination while walking there was impairment in the push-off phase of the feet. There was an unsteady gait with increased dependence on vision for balance. In other words, they had to look at their feet and the ground to move. There was decreased internal rotation and extension of the hip joint and the lumbar spine was under increased compensatory stress. Painful, heightened muscular tonus occurred in this area. When walking, there was restricted contralateral movement of the trunk and the cervical spine, with free movement of the head being limited. There was also a decreased ability to orient in space. Even though the neurological symptoms cannot be reversed, the deviations of toes and hallux can be addressed (with the neurological symptoms in mind) and improved upon by fascially and perceptually reconnecting the feet and legs to the upper pole.

Structural Considerations

It should be noted that the proprioceptive capabilities of the feet are not only affected by damage to the afferent nerves, but also by structural changes in the feet, particularly hallux valgus, hallux rigidus, claw and hammer toes, and reduced transverse and longitudinal arches. We can assume a reduction of proprioceptive abilities can strongly impair the relationship and orientation capability of the feet to the ground.

If structural improvement of the feet is successful, then a prerequisite for an improved load-bearing capacity of the body weight is possible, but it also fulfills another need, above all, for improved proprioceptive properties of the feet. The term ‘support’ takes on an expanded meaning, one that includes proprioception, and can play an important role in the assessment and resulting strategies for Rolfers. Specifically, this means that in planning and executing a session, we must include the perceptual level as well as the structure of the client in our considerations. The body needs unadulterated information about ground conditions and the external spatial environment. This is the only way to ensure an appropriate adaptive response to external conditions. Later, I will discuss how these external conditions resonate with internal conditions.

Practical Considerations

At the beginning of a session, it is crucial to perceptually clarify the nature of the body’s reference to gravity in different positions. For example, if one asks a client how their body weight is distributed between the two feet when standing, it often becomes clear that many clients have never asked themselves this question and that often, to their surprise, there are big differences in how the weight is distributed between the two feet. These differences regularly correspond to complaints in other areas of the body, such as the lumbar spine. However, these snapshots of weight distribution in the feet ultimately serve as indicators of change and as a reference for possibilities. From this inquiry, we can also open direct access to the ‘psychobiological structure’, which ideally combines perception with meaning. The client learns and exercises self-awareness.

Ultimately, clients have control over their own quality of movement as well as their relationship with themselves and the world. Habits that express themselves in movement patterns are supplemented by other possibilities. As Rolfers, we want our clients to have uninhibited access to these possibilities, allowing for flexible decisions to be made that are adapted to the current situation. This often manifests itself in more freedom of movement. I would also like to emphasize that this is not only true for our clients, but for us as practitioners as well.

Breathing

-- Relaxation of Upper Pole

--- Space/’Feeling’ of Space

The way we breathe and how we perceive ourselves and the inhaled world in the process, reveals highly telling differences in the quality of our respective relationship to the world.

Hartmut Rosa (2020, 53).

In the last section, I spoke of the postural triangle and how these perceptual structures are involved in our ‘spaces of movement’. The emergence of change after a Rolfing session is very often expressed by clients as a new perception and has a visible difference for practitioners. As Rolfers, we recognize when our clients have a greater connection between the lower and upper poles of their bodies. A prerequisite for the free and easy movement of the shoulder girdle and spine is good support from the lower extremities. Breath plays a role in this connectivity.

We want every client to allow for the entire breathing space of their lungs (thoracic excursion) to be free and easy, that it not only permits contralateral movement when walking and running but is also associated with the structures of the inner core being tonically stabilized. That is to say, the core postural muscles hold an efficient level of tension that frees the phasic muscles to perform their volitional movements. Especially during periods of high physical activity, sufficient thoracic excursion is required for the body’s increased demand for oxygen. Core stability helps restrict the downward movement of the central tendon of the diaphragm, as seen in abdominal breathing. It allows for full thoracic excursion of the rib cage, as seen in thoracic breathing.

Of course, we have to consider individual biomechanical conditions of optimal breathing, including the free and mobile connection of the ribs to the spine and sternum, a sufficient elasticity of the intercostal myofascial structures, freedom of the thoracic spine, and a diaphragm that is fully functional.

Let’s take as an example a client whose shoulder girdle is rolled forward and down with the thoracic spine exhibiting an increased kyphosis. The client reports muscular tension in the cervical spine along with tension headaches. The thoracic excursion is restricted, and respiratory movements are limited to the abdominal region. Besides the muscular structures of the thorax itself (the intercostals), the connections between the thorax and shoulder girdle play an important role in the client’s ability to breathe fully.

An increase in tension of the serratus anterior muscles can significantly restrict the lifting and forward movement of the upper ribs (the ‘pump handles’) and thus impede thoracic breathing. In addition, this type of phasic activity can lead to overloading of the shoulder joint complex and restriction of motion in the thoracic spine. The objective is for the shoulder girdle to rest comfortably on the thorax so as not to prevent the free and easy movement of the ribs. This also applies to the tension of all the abdominal muscles so as not to prevent the lower ribs from lifting in the coronal plane (the ‘bucket handles’).

In the previous section, I pointed out the importance of proprioception for the regulation of tension, especially in the phasic musculature. This is especially true for the regulation of respiratory function. It should be noted, everything we’ve talked about so far are determinants for the free movement of the head, which should be differentiated from the thorax for organized balance atop the body. We can easily see that this interaction is the basis for proper orientation to the ’outer space’.

So far, I have mainly dealt with the physical-structural aspects of breathing and the corresponding physiological functions. Breathing is the physical expression of the connection of the inner physical space with the outer world. The quality of this exchange depends on external factors such as air pressure, air quality, and oxygen concentration. I would now like to discuss the relationship of breathing to the perception of the ‘inner space’. Inner emotional states such as fear, joy, or relief can affect this relationship, as well as heightened mental effort or concentration, and strong beliefs or ideas. Together with the physical-structural conditions of an individual, these factors have a considerable influence on the person’s perception of inner and outer space.

Inner Perception and the Sense of Space

• How do we describe or define the inner space?
• What’s in there?
• How is it different from the person’s outer space?
• Is there any difference?
• Do the qualities of inner space differ in different parts of the body – head, rib cage, and pelvis?
• How are those spaces connected?
• Are they connected at all?

It seems that there are significant differences in how we perceive these inner and outer spaces. In my observation, the access to the inner space is more difficult for most of my clients. We can assume that both inner and outer factors have a decisive influence on this access and thus on the sensation or awareness of these spaces. Conversely, we can use breath as a possibility to sharpen awareness in the moment (presence, mindfulness), which may free us from being immediately overwhelmed with emotions and mental processes.

In the previous sections, I clarified the physiological connections between the breath, feet, eyes, and vestibular system that enable us to orient ourselves to the space around our bodies (outer space) and how our constant proprioception is under the influence of gravity. In this sense, the definition of the term ‘space’ is determined by the physical conditions of the body and its surroundings. The body is adapted in form and function to these conditions.

Our spatial orientation is determined by sensory directions. Due to the vertical orientation of the spine and the direction of gravity, ‘up’ and ‘down’ play important roles for human structure and function. We direct our sight and hearing senses out into space, so no wonder they are located in the upper pole of the body. And the sensory abilities of the foot orient us downwards towards the ground.

Is the human body separate from the world? Our body is a three-dimensional form, and its anatomy has a predictable ‘regularity’, separating the outer world from our inner world, as I already talked about, regulated by the semi-permeable membrane of the skin. It is a resonance organ that detects the interaction between the body and the world. Resonance is the idea that vibration continues to sound through space, through materials, and beyond. Isn’t the skin taking in the resonance of the world, and integrating this into the body? Is not the person in possession of their own resonance and exuding that quality into their world? This phenomenon of resonance leads us to think that defining the world and the body as two juxtaposed and separate entities does not correspond to our experiences and perceptions.

This is also true for the breath as pointed out by Thomas Fuchs: “Breathing, as a relationship to the surrounding space, is at the same time a bodily-mental event in which an opening or closing of oneself to the world and the other can find expression” (Fuchs et al. 2018, 119). This also means that inner and outer space are constantly changing as far as our perception is concerned; a new moment is always arriving. So, what I want you to think about is not primarily about creating a certain perception for yourself or your clients, or focusing on the idea of this interaction, but rather having an awareness of the connectedness and the constant change of outer and inner conditions.

Taking our awareness through this constant swinging back and forth between the world and the body requires a high degree of support, flexibility, and adaptability, which determines the quality of our ‘movement play spaces’ and how we use them. I use the term ‘play spaces’ to emphasize the different layers of structure and avoid a limitation to only the physical one. Although it is difficult to put these phenomena into words, the way we describe these qualities in the context of Rolfing Structural Integration includes speaking of

‍flow, ‍

freeing the breath, ‍

creating more space,

and providing freedom of movement.

For the development of these qualities of ease, freedom, and organization in our bodies, we need a spatial orientation provided by gravity and support from the ground. To obtain this kind of effortlessness, we balance of all the forces involved, including myofascial forces.

‍

The Resonance of Rolfing Structural Integration

There are five defining principles for our work – wholism, palintonicity, adaptability, support, and closure (Sultan and Hack 2021). When describing the resonance of space, ground, and gravity for Rolfers, we are talking about the physical expression of the human body in space. As Rolfers, when we are looking at our clients’ standing and walking in our offices, we can distinguish four structural levels of their use of their anatomy and space:

• Physical structure,
• Coordinative structure,
• Perceptive structure,
• Psychobiological structure, or meaning.

With our training, we can see a closing or a restriction and how that can express itself as muscle tension and it can lead to hardening and loss of elasticity of fascia structures. These phenomena affect the whole organism and become visible in its form and movement. The three-dimensional possibility of expansion becomes limited – the person’s inner space tends to be narrower – and there is an interaction or an effect on their resonance between the world and themselves.

We can see how our client is orienting in space. By how they move in relation to the Earth, we can be curious about their ‘ground orientation’. People will orient themselves to the conditions of their immediate environment, the space surrounding their bodies, and their ‘space orientation’. Ground and space orientations interact and when the resulting movement includes a high degree of adaptability to space, as well as temporal conditions, a person’s system will have more ease and efficiency of effort. If we keep these goals in mind, it then becomes clear which sensory abilities (neural input, afference) of our client are dominant and will influence their bodies’ adaptability and resulting action (neural output, efference).

However, this leads to the question of how we as individuals use these spatial capabilities and what additional factors determine how efficiently we move through the world. In addition, just because we have these capabilities, there are other factors that determine what proportion we use them.

Other factors include:

• Experiences and life history,
• Conditioning,
• Age/Aging,
• Gender or gender identification,
• Social ‘location’ or social living conditions,
• Diseases, trauma (physical as well as psychological), accidents.

For me, however, it is not so much the factors themselves that are of interest but rather their reflections on the different structural levels. In an analogy to the digital world, the body constantly stores both inner and outer impressions and information, much like a hard disk. However, this often happens in a coded form, so the language of the body is misunderstood, leading to additional uncertainty and irritation for the person concerned.

A part of structural integration is translating the language of the body, trying to make the language of the body in its individuality and originality partially or even fully known to the client. We educate our clients about body phenomena so that they can better understand themselves and classify their experiences on a physical level. This may not significantly change their physical condition but may contribute to better handling of challenging life situations in the future. Simply put, age or illness may limit a person’s spatial awareness, but engaging these structural elements will assist them to inhabit their spaces more consciously and completely.

This adaptability acquired by Rolfing sessions leads to more ‘free spaces’, which is determined less by performance goals of higher, further, and faster, and more by the quality of the space itself, i.e., to have movement possibilities in all directions. The resonance we experience in our space, ground, and gravity involves our perception. These basic considerations I’ve outlined lead to the question of how we perceive our conditions and what meaning we assign to our experiences. With this work, we develop an inner attitude that allows for freedom from external conditions with an improved insight into reality. Instead of exercising our compensations, we stabilize and integrate our reality from moment to moment.

Deriving Meaning

Of course, these processes apply not only to our clients but also to ourselves. As Rolfers, we are well acquainted with feeling and working with the resonance of our inner and outer spaces. One could say that a therapeutic relationship is created the moment a client enters our kinesphere, our personal space, and a process of resonance begins between client and practitioner. Even the first encounter between Rolfer and the client conveys clues for possible concerns of the client, without even a word being spoken. Gestures, facial expressions, movement behavior, and ultimately, of course, verbal expressions trigger reactions in the practitioner and subsequently resonate within the space. Associations are being generated for both people and they determine the quality of the therapeutic setting from the first moment of their encounter. Here, the tone is set for how practitioner and client meet and how they resonate with each other.  

‘Pre-settings’ play an enormously important role in this. To put it bluntly, a practitioner who sees themselves as an expert and problem solver, with a tendency to objectify the client, triggers different resonances than a practitioner who is guided by curiosity, interest, and empathy. We all know this phenomenon – that there are distinct differences in how we resonate in our encounters with clients. Often, we literally feel them physically. Unrealistic expectations of clients or the practitioner may trigger insecurities, fears, or physical tensions, particularly at the beginning of a Rolfer’s career. Only over the years do we learn to see challenging, exciting, and sometimes unpleasant tensions in our bodies as an indicator of something going on, which may appear more clearly when we are not identified with our own insecurities and perhaps even our fears. Then the body’s experiences can be used as an indicator for the state of beingin the present moment. The body can be the doorway to presence and awareness – we feel their resonance. We influence our clients with our own resonance.

This article is an invitation to you to deepen your sensitivity to the information from the resonance of the space, ground, and gravity around you, both when you are in your personal life and especially when you are with your clients. There is information in spaces that doesn’t belong to any of the individuals in the room but rather comes from the space in which all this resonance is happening. And that information is there for us to notice, all the time. This description reflects my own personal experiences and years of working as Rolfer. This may not be a universal experience for everyone, but it is my attempt to describe what is often beyond words, to describe these meaningful qualities of change during Rolfing sessions, and my sense of the big picture.

There are a few prerequisites for the ability to sense and use space:

• Perception and awareness.
• Identification and observation – the ability to perceive the resonance of spaces and at the same time, be aware that it’s helpful to not immediately identify with this information and then use it to do something randomly.
• Trust – being aware that we may not immediately know the meaning of our perception and being comfortable in that insecurity.
• Patience – time and experience expand our resonant space.

Interestingly, the indicators of resonance on the physical level are precisely related to the phenomena described earlier, such as muscular tension and/or constriction of the breathing space. I have often wondered why it seems much easier to acquire such tensions rather than to relax or ‘open the space’ in order to cope with challenging situations. It seems that a certain situation may be perceived as challenging either because of experiences or memories, or because of rigid concepts, beliefs, and ideas that seem to be adapting to the situation. Thus, on an imagined time axis, we exist predominantly in either the past or the future while the present moment seems less accessible. This phenomenon apparently is associated with a ‘reflexive movement’ and inner acceleration that seeks solutions externally.

I often observe a tendency for people, and I include myself here, to look for reasons and answers to the question, “Why do certain things happen, and in particular, happen to me?” If we can let ourselves dwell in the present moment, with our uncertainties and fears, then the direction of seeking an answer reverses itself and goes from the external perspective to our inner perspective, from which a possible solution has room to emerge.

In my opinion, there are four factors that contribute to the emergence of beneficial resonance between Rolfer and client:

• The basic attitude of the practitioner – interest, curiosity, and empathy are prerequisites for a resonance space that is open in all directions.
• The avoidance of hasty assumptions and judgments.
• The ability to not know and to trust in the emergence of possibilities from the resonating space and the associated freedom to choose from those possibilities.
• The ability to listen to the space, to develop the patience to let all important information emerge. I would therefore prefer to speak of ‘body-listening’ rather than ‘body-reading’.

The act of listening emphasizes not only the perceptual component of grasping, that is to say, bringing the environmental information into our inner space for consideration. Listening brings our awareness to an inside orientation. One could almost speak of a ‘perceptive pre-movement’. This approach allows for a rich and developed inner sense of space in which all conditions, information, actions, and evaluations have their origin inside the body and can unfold through the resonating space. How this resonance is received and used by the client is left up to them, but it can provide important clues for further action. An adaptive flow can then develop, which may help to answer the question of how to have closure of a movement, a session, or a whole series.

Conclusions

Our senses are essential for orientation in the field of gravity. They enable a human being to perceive spatial relations of external (world) and internal (body) space. Orientation within this relationship requires trust and security. Integrating all structures involved is part of how a human being can establish this trust independently and with a sense of freedom of choice. As a Rolfer, it‘s a pleasure to teach people to find their own way to organizing themselves under gravitational conditions and possibilities.

Endnote

1. Polyneuropathy is complex nerve damage that can be caused by many different conditions and may affect sensory, motor, or autonomic nerve fibers (Mirian et al. 2023). The symptoms can range from pins and needles in the feet and legs to a complete loss of sensation and gait impairment.

Jörg Ahrend-Löns has been a Rolfer since 1991. The center of his life is Göttingen, Germany where he has worked as a Rolfer for more than thirty years. He has been happily married for almost forty years and has two wonderful sons and five wonderful grandkids. His work as a Rolfer is a passion and continues to be filled with fascination and curiosity.

As a final example of how Ahrend-Löns perceives the presence of resonance in space and time, he would like to thank his network of people who deserve to be mentioned as an important part of bringing this project to life: His wife Bettina Löns, who is always a good listener and has a gift of a critical mind looking for simplicity in the trap of complexity; his colleagues and friends Harvey Burns and Martin Scheibner; the generations of Rolfers who have been resonating with him and his passion for the work; John Schewe for his willingness to edit the German-English on the early drafts, and last but not least, Lina Amy Hack, who is doing an incredible job in editing not only this article but the SFI Journal in which we as Rolfers can share their inspiring insights.

If you would like to learn more about resonance in a continuing education workshop, it has already been offered twice in Boulder, Colorado, and Munich, Germany, in 2023. Please pay attention to DIRI and European Rolfing Association course listings, you can find this offering in 2025. This workshop will be with my friend and colleague, Harvey Burns, and physiotherapist and craniosacral therapist (Sills) Bettina Löns.

References

Fuchs, T. 2018. Leib, Raum, Person. Stuttgart, Germany: ‎Klett-Cotta Verlag.

Mirian, Ario. Ziyad Aljohani, Daniel Grushka, and Anita Florendo-Cumbermack. 2023. Diagnosis and management of patients with polyneuropathy. Canadian Medical Association Journal 195(6):E277-E233.

Rosa, H. 2020. Resonance - A Sociology of our Relationship to the World. (J. Wagner, translator). Cambridge, England: Wiley.

Somisetty, Swathi, and Joe M. Das. 2023. Neuroanatomy, vestibulo-occular reflex. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Available from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK545297/.

Sultan, Jan H. and Lina Amy Hack. 2021. The Rolfing SI Principles of Intervention: An integrated concept. Structure, Function, Integration 49(3):16-24.

Keywords

body orientation; resonance; gravity; verticality; sensation; perception; vestibular system; vision; feet; ground orientation; space orientation; proprioception; postural triangle; infancy; neuropathy; habits; breathing; principles of intervention; meaning; listening. ■