FOOL’S JOURNEY

Sometimes, in your ragged little life, you get really lucky. Sometimes, when people you admire see you better than you feel like you are inside – deep down, where it counts – sometimes, by the grace of God, you can become that. I know that’s true because it happened to me and it’s what I have tried to do for my Rolfing clients for the past 40 years.

In 1978, I was perfectly happy in a job I loved working with people I adored at the top rock ‘n roll radio station in Dallas, Texas. Only a fool would leave such a great job, right? Well, follow me on my Fool’s Journey, then, because what I know to be true is this: EVERYTHING LEADS TO EVERYTHING ELSE.

At home one weekend, while cleaning out a closet, I was thumbing through some magazines and ran across a teeny article about Rolfing. I was intrigued by it, had never heard of it, but decided to ask the News Director at the station if he had since he was from California and I figured Californians knew of everything weird first. I was right. Chuck, the news guy, raved about Rolfing...

I was born with crooked kneecaps and had been blowing my knees out playing sports for most of my life. ... I got Rolfed and everything in my life changed – the outer parts, for sure, but, even more significantly, the inner parts, too. I always wanted it to matter that I’d lived here, that the fact that I’d been on the planet made a real difference in the world. So, I wrote to the Rolf Institute® and got all the information I needed to begin. I enrolled in a night class for anatomy and physiology; I enrolled in an early morning kinesiology class at SMU and went before work; I signed up for and took a massage class in the evening and on weekends. Somehow, although I’m not entirely sure how this worked out, I managed to pitch an undefeated season for my softball team that year, too. Thanks to Rolfing, my formerly stiff-as-a-board right leg could bend again. I can’t say that it made me fast, but, at least, I wasn’t sitting on the bench complaining about it which, you gotta admit, is a definite plus.

I come from a long line of storytellers. Indeed, one of the reasons I love this work is that I want to know everyone’s story – what makes them tick; what makes them proud, happy or even sad. How can we get from a place they don’t like to a place that they do? How does change in the human structure affect that transition? How can I help with that? Those are all the questions rolling around in my head when I’m working. My friend Judith, a longtime Rolfing client in Dallas, told me she thought I became a Rolfer so I could get people trapped in their underpants, tell them all my stories and they can’t run off. When she said that, I thought, Hmmm…well, that’s not entirely untrue…”

It's been 40 years since I became a Certified Rolfer. It’s been a heck of a ride for this cowgirl. I’ve been blessed to do for so long. I turned 70 this year which, technically, I guess, makes me a geezer, but I’m still looking for ways to leave my mark on the world, to make sure it mattered that I lived here. Since the Cosmos and I are close, personal buds, I’m sure something else will pop up and be flung my way. I’ll snare it, whatever it is, and, do so with a grateful heart. Lucky me. JS

THIS IS AN EXCERPT FROM AN INTERVIEW ON Dr. Ida Rolf Institute. CLICK TO READ the whole kit & caboodle, the whole enchilada, the whole shebang.

Jody Seay is a an Advanced Certified Rolfer – Honest, that’s a good thing!

Since 1980, I have been a Rolfer, a person trained in the bodywork process of Structural Integration developed by Ida P. Rolf, Ph.D., over 60 years ago. I limped into it. Reconstructive knee surgery in 1975 left me with a stiff leg, so I originally went to be Rolfed just to stand up straighter and not walk so weird. I’d never heard of Rolfing before; had no idea of the power of this particular type of bodywork, no inkling that the work itself and the people associated with it would change my life so profoundly. My training was completed in 1980 at the Rolf Institute in Boulder, Colorado. I became an Advanced Certified Rolfer upon the completion of my Advanced Training in 1985.

Dr. Rolf was a brilliant woman and a pioneer in the ideas of transformational bodywork. What she really wanted to do was create a more functionally efficient human being, one that would last longer, look better and feel better while lasting. The web of connective tissue throughout the body (called fascia) was her mode for affecting deep and lasting change in the human structure. Because of its malleability, Dr. Rolf often referred to the human body as a “plastic medium”, one that could be brought into proper alignment at almost any stage of life. Over time, she developed a ten-session series designed to do just that and, later, developed the five-session Advanced Series.

I had Rolfing practices in Portland, Oregon, and Tulsa, Oklahoma. I also did occasional Rolfing in Roseburg, Oregon. I traveled to Tulsa every month and grouped the sessions in a particular way, usually seeing each client twice while I’m in town. I had 34 plus years of experience helping my clients transform their posture and alignment. The cost per session was $150. Now, I'm afraid, I have retired from Rolfing. BUT, I still have many associates I can refer you to. Call on my cell phone, (541) 637-6511. Thank you. Jody Seay