About Ida...

September 27, 2017

From the 1920’s through the 1970’s Ida Pauline Rolf explored everything from atomic physics to tantric yoga in pursuit of the path to a balanced body. Tenacious as a woman of science, she held court at some of the top research institutions of the day (Columbia, Rockefeller, Pasteur among others) where early in her career she applied herself toward biochemistry, biophysics and oncology.

Ida left academia in the 1930’s to raise a family, and it was then that she found an opportunity to sink herself deeper into research that would become the basis and beginnings of Structural Integration (or Rolfing). From Long Island to Switzerland to Esalen, CA, Ida sought out mentors who could help tether and guide her in the development of her work, as well as conscious, curious peers with whom to hash out the relevance of their ideas within contemporary culture.

In 1971 The Rolf Institute for Structural Integration was founded in Boulder CO, and today Ida’s work is taught in at least 18 separate institutions certifying in their own forms of SI. Some focus more on structure, others on energy or movement or emotion. And so although Ida left this world in 1978, her body of work continues to be a truly endless font of awareness and discovery. ❤

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