A testimonial from a ten-series client, 2022.

My ten series with Vanessa was physically and emotionally transformational. I’ll admit, I was a bit skeptical and even heard Rolfing was quite painful - but my experience was nothing but positive. By just session 2 with Vanessa, my body felt more aligned than ever before despite years of regular massages and daily stretching, and yoga. The injuries and pains I had for more than a decade were suddenly gone. As I continued my sessions with Vanessa, my body started to feel less tight, less on edge, and less stressed for the first time in my life. It wasn’t just a physical relief either, I had experienced more emotional release than I had in years between my sessions. This work is so powerful, and I’m so grateful for the empathy, compassion, and curiosity Vanessa brought to every session. I am confident everyone needs to try Rolfing and I regularly praise Vanessa’s work!

My experience with Rolfing®: Liberating.

January 27, 2020 By Evalyn

I went to the Embodiment Workshop in December at Yoga by Donation. This class was led by Vanessa Sychak. As a result, I decided to have a first-time session with her regarding rolfing. I had recently sprained a few muscles in my back and thought I might seek some relief or hasten the healing. What I received instead was a huge delightful surprise. I had an accident more than 20 years ago with considerable reconstructive surgery on my left arm. It was limited in motion and felt stiff and almost like concrete. But over the years I had grown used to this feeling and never thought it needed healing nor could be healed any further. I had compensated for it.

When I went to Vanessa for my first rolfing session which was also my first rolfing experience ever, I was amazed when she started working on my left arm, identifying it as a concern. I was wearing long sleeves so she could not see the scar. When I left the session my arm was pliable, relaxed, and even felt boneless. Boneless is a word I like to use when the muscles are so supple that there is no tension at all in that area of the body. This feeling continued to last through two yoga classes and the weekend and continues today. It did bring up some deep stored emotions and patterns that I needed to look at to maintain the relaxed state of the muscles of the arm. This does require mental vigilance. The vigilance is not strained, but an outcome of not crowding too much in the day, and being sure there is no rushing, not yielding into frustration or blame no defenses and these emotions can arise easily for you so that you can continue to heal deeply. This is the integration part that is the result of rolfing.

A note: it is up to the patient to give feedback to Vanessa regarding the pressure of the touch. She regularly checks in verbally with you but one does need to give frequent feedback regarding the fascia depth. For instance, when she begins the touch-in she uses a scale of 1 to 5. The scale is to let her know she can apply less or more pressure in order to go deeper.

“That is 2″ I would say. ”

Okay, now we are at 2 and a half”.

“That area is a 3.”

“We are treading close to 3.5. ”

Vanessa likes to keep the pressure scale in the 2-3 range. This is totally subjective.  So be present with the treatment and contribute to make it a team effort. If you would like to try a Rolfing Session with Vanessa see this link to FEB 15th on our calendar of classes. This will be a great opportunity.

Namaste.

-Evalyn, yoga studio owner.

My Rolfing path to being free of pain.

-as told by a client of Rolfing® Structural Integration who received 10 to 12 sessions of Rolfing in 2007.

To establish my background, I grew up in rural Washington State to a working-class family. If I wanted something I had to work for it. I started doing manual labor with my grandfather at the age of 8 in the summers. From then on I pretty much-preferred farm work to working in town at fast food. Fast forward about 18 years, through hard work and dedication I’m finally finishing college and looking to a promising career as a Scientific researcher. When in my last semester a woman pulled out in front of me on the highway, causing me to T bone her. I was okay but my car was totaled, and I was left in severe to crippling pain over the next year and a half.I did what I was taught to do. Deal with it, not complain keep my head down and keep working. I also was well versed in Chiropractic as relief from previous labor and football injuries. And had gotten great use out of it. So when the pain came on this is what I tried. Only the treatments didn’t instantly work this time. The pain would come back within 3 days. If I’d sit down for any length of time my legs would go to sleep. If I stood up too long I’d be in pain. Massage also helped but still in pain the majority of the time. This is when a friend told me to look into rolfing. I had no idea and was a skeptic. I talked about it with my chiropractor who said yeah you could try it. If you could take the pain. The truth was I was already in so much pain it didn’t matter. After doing my own further research I contacted a Rolfer and found them welcoming, and made an appointment. I also found out that the pain thing was some stipulation from older techniques. My own experience of getting ten series done was amazing. Not only did my chiropractic session seem to help alleviate pain longer. By the time I was done with 3 sessions instead of weekly appointments they turned into monthly. This only encouraged me to keep going. My pain became more manageable, to completely gone. More than that other weird things like my posture got better and my walking form. It helped me in so many ways and started me back into a healthy lifestyle. I recommend rolfing to anyone suffering from similar pains, or looking to gain more range of movement and flexibility in their own lives. Still a skeptic, I have to say it works, I don’t know exactly how but it does. Since that time I have received what is known as tune-ups to keep my body up and going and further increase my range of motion and flexibility. I sincerely hope you give rolfing a try and experience the same great benefits. -athletic male, 39 years old, rock climber, and ultra-marathon runner.

Feedback from a client.

-client received a general bodywork session in 2017.

"I’ve spent the entirety of my adult life extremely physically active and have endured my fair share of injuries, scarring, and general dysfunction over years of use and misuse. Thankfully, Vanessa was able to knowledgeably work many of my chronic muscular, and structural issues out, which offered me pain relief, and enhanced functionality once I got back to my activities."

-Samuel Tawil, 31 years old, martial artist and dancer.