SI Workshops 2021
From the Arches of the Feet to the Roof of the Mouth and Beyond - an Exploration of the 'Domes of Lift'
Instructor:
Assistant: Adam Polański
Warszawa
Polski Związek Niewidomych
ul. Konwiktorska 9
April 9 - 15, 2021
€700
Go to Payment Page'The Grand (Old and Young) Lady of Structural Integration. She really owns the work and her joyful way of teaching enriches with new insight and clarity about the 10 sessions.'
Uli Förg, EGSI assistant and Certified Advanced Rolfer®
Introduction to Sharon Wheeler's ScarWork
Workshop open to all Manual Therapists and all SI Students
Instructor:
Zürich
May 21-23, 2021
Saal Gemeindestr. 19
EGSI Members any time: €550
Early Bird by April 30: €550
Non-Members after April 30: €650
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Identity Free Space in SI
An integral/mindfulness perspective in SI work
Instructor:
Zürich
July 16 -18, 2021
Saal Gemeindestr. 19
EGSI Members any time: €550
Early Bird by April 30: €550
Non-Members after April 30: €650
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The Mystery of the Psoas/Rhomboid Balance
Instructor:
Zürich
September 10 - 12, 2021
Saal Gemeindestr. 19
EGSI Members any time: €550
Early Bird by April 30: €550
Non-Members after April 30: €650
Ask to be put on the waitlist'I would like to thank Aleš for the amazing workshop he has prepared for us - the way he taught us was fascinating. Once again I realised the power of the recipe of ten sessions and step by step I see the relationships fall into place. Throughout the workshop there was an amazing atmosphere, full of good humour and positive energy ...'
Ondřej Pavelka, SI Practitioner since 2018
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SCARWORK
Image: Sharon Wheeler and Dario Di Lorenzo
ScarWork is Sharon's original discovery, and one that she is continually developing and expanding on. There are 20+ separate techniques used to integrate different qualities of scar tissue into the fascial web. Most will be demonstrated in class. They are simple to learn and easy to do.
Working with scars is like speaking a different language in the world of connective tissue. Scar tissue is very dense fascia with unique properties. ScarWork uses a casual, light touch - a little reminiscent of working with bread dough.
The work is rarely painful - even for very new scars, and the amount of change in one intervention is extensive. The cosmetic effect is delightful and the functional changes can be profound. Natural and surgical scars of any age respond immediately followed by a short period of rapid healing and continued improvement. The improvements are permanent.
Scar tissue quality changes quickly and easily. Lumps, gaps, ridges, holes, bumps, knots, and strings in the tissue rapidly smooth out into a three dimensional fascial web. The work starts with the surface layers and goes into the far reaches of the scar including work with any involved viscera. Scar work often results in large whole body integration shifts along with trauma resolution, and nerve-impaired numbness usually resolves within a session.
Practitioners will learn these techniques well enough to take them home and use them the next day in their private practices. Scar work can fit seamlessly into an SI series or be used as a stand-alone intervention session.
Teaching Approach:
On the first day the basic techniques will be presented and work on a model will be shown. Afterwards, students will work on each other. On the next days there will additional techniques and external models with scars of various types on which the method can be practiced. Practitioners will learn these techniques well enough to take them home and use them the next day in their private practices. Scar work can fit seamlessly into an SI series or be used as a stand-alone intervention session.
John Lodge was the artist who illustrated Ida Rolf's book 'Rolfing - the Integration of Human Structures.' He was an instructor in the 1980's at the Rolf Institute, he was a philosopher, a mystic - a 'shaman'.
One of the concepts John loved to use in his teaching were "The 7 Domes of Lift", the dome-shaped horizontal structures in the body, which constitute a 'hydraulic system', with all elements in an intimate interdependence with each other. He used to introduce them on the very first day of class.
There are various descriptions of these 7 domes possible e.g. 1. the arches of the feet 2. the menisci 3. the pelvic floor 4. the respiratory diaphragm 5. the thoracic outlet 6. the roof of the mouth 7. the crown (the top of the head).
Nilce Silveira will be offering a workshop investigating what new insights can be gained by looking at the recipe through the prism of these "7 Domes of Lift".
The image shows a sketch from John Lodge's notes.
Identity Free Space in SI
An Integral/Mindfulness Perspective in SI work
In Ida Rolf’s view, the Rolf Method of Structural Integration is an integral approach to living.
“Core” and “Line” are not just phenomena in a physical environment. They could be considered as indicators of transformation of bio/psycho/social/spiritual levels.
We will touch on what the qualities of the therapeutic relationship are and how the therapeutic presence is crucial in reaching your goals. This presence is a space of nourishment and information, and will help preventing you from compassion fatigue and burnout, and essentially will transform your S.I. practice.
From an integral/mindfulness view we will explore:
• Listening, questioning and seeing
• Presencing
• Emotion Regulation
• Breathing, Body and Gravity
Reflecting on
• Interoception / Proprioception
• Neuroplasticity and Space/Time
• the Limbic System
.
Fritz Perls, the originator of Gestalt Therapy, once said, “Lose your mind and come to your senses.”
Working from one’s experience and intuition provides practitioners with an opportunity to be creative within the parameters of releasing a body from its compensatory restrictions and organizing it around the vertical line.
These workshops are opportunities for practitioners to develop and trust their own style while adhering to the basic principles of Dr Rolf’s work.
Just above the lumbo-dorsal hinge, at the back of the body, the rhomboids control shoulder and arm movements.
She postulated a 'KOAN' for one goal of sessions 8 & 9 - to find the best possible balance between:
Psoas and Rhomboids, Lordosis and Kyphosis, Being and Doing.
The workshop will focus on how we can prepare for the investigation of this riddle in sessions 1 -7 and how to incorporate these findings into sessions 8 & 9.
The following quotes from Ida Rolf's Book: 'Rolfing - The Integration of Human Structures' will guide us through the weekend.
Day 1 : Psoas
'If psoas and recti are really sharing the load, any and all body movements involving flexion allow the abdominal wall to fall back. Although this seems illogical, it is nevertheless true. In normal, balanced flexion, the psoas does not shorten, does not bulge forward; it lengthens and falls back within the abdomen.'
Day 2 : Rhomboids
'Normally, the job of the rhomboids (together with the serrati anterior) is to hold the scapulae in an appropriate relationship to the spine and to balance the teres.
When the rhomboids lose their tone and are no longer able to balance the teres or to hold the scapulae in place, their function of supporting the shoulder girdle passes to spinal muscles.'
Day 3 : Psoas/Rhomboid Balance
'The psoas (prevertebrally) and the rhomboids (postver-tebrally) connect the two girdles to the spinal vertical. The connection must be stable, yet sufficiently flexible to allow movement by the girdles while retaining a substantially undisturbed vertical. Rhomboids are central to the activity of the shoulder girdle, psoas to adequate functioning of the pelvic girdle. The focus of rhomboid-psoas balance is at the lumbodorsal junction, which is what gives this area its unique importance in body mechanics.'
Peter Melchior and Emmett Hutchins, Ida Rolf's very first instructors, were his teachers and inspirations.
He has a spiritual background in Zen-Buddhism and was ordained a Zen-Boddhisatva in the French Temple of 'La Gendronnière'
He has been practicing and teaching HathaYoga for 30 years and, based on Dr. Rolf's principles, he developed his unique teaching style he calls "RolfYoga"..
Aleš's work has stayed true to Dr. Rolf's original teachings and he believes that these concepts need to be explored more deeply rather than altered.
He is the co-founder of the European Guild for Structural Integration and teaches EGSI‘s Basic Trainings in the Czech Republic, the UK and Austria.
She became interested in SI when she saw its remarkable effects on the human psyche. Nilce taught Psychology and Body Awareness for the Rolf Institute (R.I.) following her graduation there in 1983.
As a founding member of the Brazilian Association of Rolfers (Associação Brasileira de Rolfistas (ABR)), Nilce was also instrumental in bringing the Rolf Institute classes to Brazil.
Thereafter, along with some of the R.I.'s senior faculty members, she helped form the Guild for Structural Integration (GSI) in order to preserve the original teachings of Dr. Rolf.
Nilce has worked both individually and alongside Dr. Rolf's chosen teachers in training students to practitioner and advanced practitioner levels in the U.S. and Brazil. Through her workshops, she has traveled the world to enrich the quality of work and depth of understanding of SI practitioners.
Having worked for many years alongside the world's most experienced teachers of SI, Nilce is now recognized as an expert in her own right. She is committed to establishing Dr. Rolf's work internationally, and in strengthening its position in today's marketplace.
Neal received his basic training and advanced training with Dr. Rolf starting in 1971 at Esalen.
He became a member of the faculty of the Rolf Institute in 1980, was subsequently the RISI's president for six years and became an Honorary Life Member.
In 1991 Neal left the Rolf Institute along with Peter Melchior, Emmett Hutchins, Stacey Mills and others to found the Guild for Structural Integration.
Until recently he was the Guild's president, and continues to teach both for he Guild in the United States as well as the European Guild for SI.
Neal has a great ability to clearly deliver the principles and theories of the SI work, and with his amazing sense of humor, strong spiritual and family base, he has become a guiding light for many practitioners. He has devoted his life to spreading the theory and practice of Dr. Rolf's work to his many students around the world. He has taught in China, Taiwan, Japan, Israel, Brazil, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland and across the United States and Canada.
Since 1973 Neal has maintained a private practice in San Francisco.
Neal's modesty with respect to our work may have kept him out of the limelight of the SI community - thus few people know that he helped set a world record in 2005. This event raised 50'000 Dollars for the victims of Hurricane Katharina.
About the workshop:
This workshop is designed to give practitioners a working model of the origins of Scoliosis, the kinds, qualities, models and strategies to move your client to greater ease and grace in their body.
David Davis, a founding member of the Guild for Structural Integration, began researching scoliosis more than 25 years ago.
His wife Lorraine developed scoliosis at the age of 11, after being involved in a critical car accident. Her injuries resulted in a disparity in the length of her legs, an uneven base of support in her pelvis and chronic pain. Her discomfort motivated Davis to explore how structural integration (SI) could affect and change a debilitating condition such as scoliosis.
Fr - Sun: 9AM - 5PM
About the workshop:
Anima is a current of air, wind, breath, the vital principle, life or soul.
Fascia is the medium of giving the Vital essence form, Dr. Rolf called it the organ of form in the human body. It is also plastic. It can hold chronically or be fluid, resilient and responsive. I think of fascia as the organ of three dimensionality and the materialization of consciousness.
In this workshop we will work with the anima taking form in the body, as the body. Releasing unconscious chronic holding patterns we uncover the underlying pattern of consciousness animating form.
By expanding the view of core (being) and sleeve (doing) we flesh intention into working the whole being.
Fr - Sun: 9AM - 5PM
About the instructor:
David was a founding member of the Guild for Structural Integration in 1989, and taught Anatomy and Basic and Advanced Trainings with Emmett Hutchins, Peter Melchior, Stacey Mills, Neal Powers, and Nilce Silveira. David was a partner and protégé of Peter for 12 years, learning how to practice and teach the intricacies of SI.
For over 24 years, David has taught 3-day and 6-day SI workshops internationally. He specialises in teaching embryology, fascial anatomy and working with scoliosis, infusing his classes with wisdom, compassion and humour.
David has been an innovator in SI education, teaching a Basic Training class to medical doctors and physical therapists at Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in New Jersey in 1993, the only SI training to be taught at a major hospital.
He has taught with SI research scientists Dr. James Oschman and Dr. Robert Schleip, integrating the practice of SI with the latest scientific research and information.
David has been in private practice since 1977, completing over 40,000 sessions. Structural Integration is his discipline, practice and service to humanity, as he continues learning with every session.