Why Osteopathy / Structural Integration?

     I am commonly asked why manual osteopathy/SI.  Let’s first start with answering the question “What is Osteopathy?”.  One way to conceive of Osteopathy is to say that it is based on the “perfection of nature’s work” (Chila 2011,11). When a given body, by disease and dysfunction, has fallen out of alignment, Osteopathic manual therapy facilitates the body’s return to its natural, healthy state. Although Osteopathy does not exclude pharmaceuticals and traditional medicine, it incorporates muscle energy techniques, myofascial release, craniosacral therapy, counter strain, visceral manipulation, and other manual approaches to adjust the body from the abnormal to the normal, enabling the body to return to its natural, healthy state. 
      During my time studying structural integration in Kauai, I had the privilege of training with like-minded individuals from all over the world.  There are three colleagues in particular that I greatly admired, all of which were Osteopaths.  From that time forward, my interest had been sparked.  There is no doubt that Dr.Rolf’s study of Osteopathy heavily influenced what would become known as “Rolfing” or structural integration.  Where we see many similarities and goals between the two modalities, the main difference would be the  approach.  Structural Integration, often known for it’s intense strokes is based on a "recipe" to align the body with gravity over a period of ten sessions, it based on covering all area in a systematic approach. There are many roads to Rome. If the destination we seek is helping a client evolve to their best self, why not master as many routes as possible?  My answer to why I got into this field?  Because I want to help people, and manual osteopathy/SI does just that.