Accepting New Rolfing® Clients
Sondra Warner, is an Advanced Certified Rolfer®, Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT), and Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (E-RYT) based in Orlando, FL. With thousands of hours of education in structural integration, therapeutic massage, myofascial release, Thai massage, deep tissue therapy, and functional movement therapy, she specializes in helping clients find relief from pain, recover from injuries, and restore balance in the body through advanced bodywork and integrative care.
Meegan Descheneaux, a dedicated Rolfer with over 25 years of experience in fascia and movement education. What makes her an exceptional practitioner is her core belief that effective therapy relies on communication and your active participation in the healing process. A graduate of The Dr. Ida Rolf Institute, her extensive background as a certified personal trainer, massage therapist, and educator, along with her additional certifications in Myofascial Release and Manual Lymphatic Drainage, allows her to guide people toward lasting, tangible changes in their bodies.
Lu Mueller-Kaul, our founder, established Balance in 2008 in the College Park neighborhood of Orlando, and we’ve been there ever since. Lu, who is a Certified Advanced Rolfer™, has also mentored our current CEO, Sondra Warner, for many years. Sondra is dedicated to maintaining the high standards and quality that Lu built the practice on.
Phone consult with Lu
What is Rolfing® Structural Integration?
“Rolfing is a system of manipulation and education designed to release chronic strain, restore adaptive capacity, and align the body in the gravity field.” —Jan Sultan, Certified Advanced Rolfer™
Rolfing is a form of manual therapy and movement education that works with the body’s connective tissues, or fascia, to release chronic strain and restore alignment. Unlike therapies that focus on muscles or joints, Rolfing addresses the dense, fibrous web of fascia that surrounds and organizes everything inside your body, from individual muscles to entire groups.
The fascia is rich with sensory receptors and can become distorted from repetitive motions and poor posture. This can cause the tissue to thicken, shorten, and tighten, leading to restricted movement and chronic pain.
How It Works
Rolfing is distinct from other therapies because it primarily targets the body’s connective tissues, known as fascia. Fascia is a dense, fibrous tissue that encases bones, nerves, blood vessels, and muscles, essentially holding everything in place. Repetitive motions and poor posture can cause this fascial network to thicken and tighten, leading to restricted movement and chronic pain.
Through manual manipulation, a certified Rolfer can restore the fascia’s natural malleability. This process helps to:
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Reorganize old movement patterns and create more adaptive ones.
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Reduce chronic pain and tension.
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Improve posture and physical performance.
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Increase ease in everyday activities like yoga, dancing, or cycling.
Biochemist Dr. Ida Rolf discovered that fascia is malleable and can be manually manipulated to restore it to a state that supports good posture and flexibility. By aligning the fascial web, Rolfing can help reorganize old movement patterns, improve physical performance, and eliminate many of the chronic issues related to muscle stress and tension
That’s where Rolfing comes in. Biochemist Dr. Ida Rolf discovered through her research that while the fascia’s malleability (or mold-ability) causes it to adapt to bad posture and restrict movement, it can, through manual manipulation, also be restored to support good posture and flexibility. If the fascial web is properly supporting the body’s ideal alignment, many of the chronic pain and recurring issues related to muscle stress and tension can be eliminated.
Dr. Ida Rolf on Rolfing
“Rolfing does not “cure” symptoms. The goal of Rolfing is a more resilient, higher-energy system. The organism is then better able to defend itself against illness and overcome stress, and the greater energy does its own beneficial work in healing and relaxing. Rolfing does not achieve perfection; it begins the process. Its goal is to establish balance in gravity. The ten-hour cycle is a first step in that direction. Rolfing is an ongoing process that continues long after the work has been completed. Bodies have natural liking for uprightness, comfort, and ease. Insofar as they can experience it, they try to live in a place of balance. In this place, the energy of gravity can flow with (not counter to) the energy of the individual” (from Rolfing and Physical Reality).
The Rolfing Ten Series
While the Ten Series is the traditional and most comprehensive approach to Rolfing, not everyone needs or wants a full 10 sessions. We have other options available to meet your individual needs.
The purpose of the Ten Series is to systematically work with your entire body in a holistic way to balance its structure and function. Spreading the work over time also helps your nervous system adapt to the changes, allowing for a deeper and more lasting integration.
We offer a consultation and try out for $75 with our Rolfers™ to determine whether this strategy will best reach your treatment goals.
Each session targets a particular region of the body and has specific structural and functional goals.
Ten series are divided into three parts:
1st-3rd sessions: Introductory, opening sessions, also called “sleeve” sessions, in which the main focus is to work with superficial layers of the body.
4th-7th sessions: Also called “core” sessions, in which practitioner and client mostly work with core structures of the body, like abdomen, spine, head and neck.
8th-10th sessions: The more integrative part of the series; we start bringing all the changes to a higher level of organization. If needed, we revisit the areas of the body that might need some additional work.
Session 1:
Begins with diagnostics, followed by work on the shoulders and rib cage, the back of the legs and around the hips. The structural goal is to enable the shoulders to fall back naturally so the subject can stand and sit with an open chest. The functional goal is to ease breathing and allow the subject to already feel their posture and mobility improving.
Session 2:
Work focuses on the feet and lower legs, in which the main focus is to establish balanced foundation and support for the whole structure of the body.
Session 3:
The whole outer sideline of the body gets some attention, with a special focus on the hips, ribcage and shoulder girdle, and how they are positioned in a relationship with each other.
Session 4:
Therapists will work on the inner legs and thighs and focus on the adductors group of muscles, bringing awareness to structures relating to the pelvis.
Session 5:
Work will begin at the hip flexors and the front side of the lumbar spine. Then, we will revisit diaphragm and ribcage if necessary, and work with the psoas muscle if needed.
Session 6:
The focus is on the back, the spine and spinal rotations, and the back of the legs.
Session 7:
The work will stay around the head, the deeper structures of the neck, the shoulders, and the upper part of the torso.
Sessions 8 and 9:
Work in these sessions is determined by the Rolfer, based on the individual’s progress in previous sessions. Any additional work needed in previous areas will be addressed in these sessions. We will also focus more on coordination and on integrating all the changes that have been achieved so far.
Session 9 :
Work in these sessions is determined by the Rolfer, based on the individual’s progress in previous sessions. Any additional work needed in previous areas will be addressed in these sessions. We will also focus more on coordination and on integrating all the changes that have been achieved so far.
Session 10 :
Session 10 will also be determined by the Rolfer, who, based on any additional work needed, brings closure to all the previous sessions. After this session the client is asked to take a little break 🙂 and let the system integrate the work fully.
By the end of the 10th session, the subject should be well-anchored to the best alignment in both their structure and their neuro-motoric systems that they can achieve at this stage. With their newly enhanced body awareness and flexibility, the subjects can now find better alignment themselves. They will know when they slip into old patterns of bad posture and can easily self-correct, thereby continuing to improve their own alignment without further treatment.
Articles about Rolfing :
Rolfing Structural Integration
About Rolfing® Structural Integration (SI
Clients who went through a Ten Series often describe that it changed their whole lives for the better, permanently, with results still improving without further treatments. Watch these women talk about their complicated body problems and how Rolfing® solved their pain.
Finding pain relief without medication can be done at Balance Orlando. Click the button below to schedule your first appointment.
The method and name go back to Dr. Ida Rolf, 1896-1979. Rights are owned by the Rolf Institute in Boulder, CO, which is the only institution that certifies Rolfers. For information about potential future (2020) Rolfing certification courses in Florida, taught by and certified through faculty of the Rolf Institute, email Lu@LuMuellerKaul.com. (put “I want to be a Rolfer” into the subject line, please.)