Rolfing and Massage as Supplementation

In terms of what we eat, the mantra of most contemporary care practitioners is that the ideal diet involves vegetables, fruit, healthy proteins, balanced carbs, little sugar. Yet despite knowing what we should do, we may find ourselves omitting essentials, or indulging our sweet tooths more than we should. To compensate for the lack of healthy, nutrient-rich foods in our diet, we take supplements: pill supplements, liquid supplements, powder supplements, and so on. It's not as good as the real thing, but as long as the quality is there, your body will feel the benefits.

On the other hand, we don't always compensate for our lack of movement. Ideally we would exercise, stretch, and calm our minds (meditate or engage in some spiritual practice) daily, in order to support wellness, yet many of us make little or no time for those activities. The way I see it, bodywork is not so much a luxury as it is a supplement, and it's time we treated it as such! My last post about the 2010 Spring Health and Fitness Expo listed a number of benefits attributed to regular massage therapy.

Each one of those bullet-point benefits has one if not dozens of pills that you could take to alleviate symptoms--OR you could just get a massage! Poor flexibility? Muscle tension? Supplement your stretching routine with Rolfing! Stress? High blood pressure? Supplement meditation with massage! Poor circulation and lymphatic flow? Supplement exercise with massage! Poor posture? Supplement your yogic practice with Rolfing!

The key is that the word is "supplement" and not "sole source." The abbreviated form of anything will never get you the results that you desire, and with our bodies we should be especially vigilant. So get out there and take your vitamins and get your massages, and know that you're helping your body work toward wellness!