Tonic Function
A Gravity Response Model For
Rolfing Structural and Movement Integration
by Kevin
Frank
Abstract:
The
author summarizes the foundationaI principles of a theory of tonic function as presented
by French Rolfer Hubert Godard. The model of tonic function focuses on the
gravity response in the human body as a unifying principIe for what has been
calIed intrinsic movement. This principle is a way of distinguishing much of
what is unique about RoIfing StructuraI and Movement Integration. The factors
affecting gravity response can be identified for purposes of clarifying how
RoIfers work to evoke intrinsic movement. Further, the model can be used to
help organize how RSI and RMI is taught.
Rolfers make a life study of relating bodys and their fields to the
earth and its gravity field, and we so organize the body that the gravity field
can reinforce the body's energy field. This is our primary concept.
Dr. Ida P RoIf
(Rolf, I.P. Ida Rolf Talks, (Feitis, R. ed.) Rolf
Institute, Boulder, Co., 1978, p. 86.)
A Spectrum of Gravity issues The founder of
StructuraI Integration Ida Rolf emphasized the importance of gravity in
considering the evolution of human potential. She implied that the importance
of understanding gravity was missing in the osteopathic approach.(Ibid., p. 171)
Throughout their respective histories, the martiaI arts, tai chi, yoga, dance
theory, and other schools of body movement have talked about optimizing the
body's relationship to gravity. The relevance of gravity in Rolfing Structural
Integration is often expressed as either alignment (leading to economical
accommodation to gravity), or in terms of the further structural changes rnade
by gravity as it acts on a more integrated structure. Rolfing Movement
Integration historically has emphasized gravity-related strategies such as
allowing gravity to "do the work", letting gravity lengthen the
fascial net and "letting down to go up". The latter is an unexplained
but effective idea widely shared among movement specialists. Do these important
ideas in fact fully represent the significance of gravity? I think not.
Although Dr. Rolf was not the only one to point it out the Rolf Institute view
of the importance of gravity is still unusual in the body education/therapy
field.
We do not know what Dr. Rolf's exact vision was but it was frequently expressed
in terms of the human relationship with the gravitational field. In trying to
make sense of her insistence on this fundamental point we can examine it
through physics or metaphysics. We can also look at it from a biological point
of view by examining gravity as a fundamental factor influencing the physiology
of creatures who live in a gravitational fieId. Of the attempts to propose a
foundational model for Rolfing the gravity biology approach is well suited for
finding coherence among the disparate ideas and techniques: that Rolfers
rnaster in order to be competent.
Why Have a Model ?
The ideas here presented are in large part derived fro, the work of Hubert
Godard. Many Rolfers are already aware of some of his concepts and
observations. This paper outlines why this material seems important, not just
as a discipline for learning how to see and to elicit changes of function in
clients, but more importantly, as a theory which illuminates the difficulties
of defining Rolfing. Rolfing is a complex domain, and our mission of telling
the world about it is not simple. Our students have experienced the effects of
Rolfing, so they take it on faith. But they face the challenge of expressing it
to the world as practitioners. How might we best teach Rolfing to students and
then describe it to the world? For some of us, Godard's model has provided
clarity to the complexity while at the same time staying faithful to the core
ideology of Rolfing: gravity and the logical principles of the recipe. This
paper addresses the gravity issue.
Hubert Godard's original degree is in chemistry. He became a dancer and
ultimateIy a dance teacher, and then a teacher of dance teachers. The
responsibility of teaching teachers is a chaIlenge that includes articulating
very clearly why certain teaching techniques work. I think this background is
partly why Godard's work is useful. In addition, it is tested in the
competitive world of dance performance and in rehabilitation work at a hospital
in Italy. Godard's willingness to look for physiological grounding of movement
theory allows him to demystify some of it. (Much of it remains mysterious
because there is much we still do not know about neural control of movement.)
When working with clients, movement theory grounded in physiology or physics is
not necessary. Clients stiIl appreciate our work without the theory. However,
designing a curriculum for people who are going to teach students or teachers,
a task that involves theoretical debate, becomes more rational and effective
when the work has some basis in science. If instruction is to be more than
teaching techniques, if we want our students to be able to create new
techniques as the situation arises, instruction must always stress principles
rather than technique. Rolf Institute faculty members have recognized this need
and taken steps in this direction.
Optimal Function
Before considering gravity it is important to ask what the goals of Structural
and Movement Integration are. Our methods and model should refIect our goals
and vision. A discussion of our goals should lead to a description of optimal
functioning. From the point of view of a dancer athlete, or actor, optimal
functioning includes being able to quickly adapt to changing needs for
movement. It may include being able to jump with no apparent exertion. In
perfonnance we evaluate the capacity of the performer to execute a move
accurately, competently, and aesthetically. For daily life, the goals may be
more simple: to be free of pain, to move pIeasurably and without strain, to
recover quickly from exertion. In any of these examples, we as somatic
therapists are claiming that an improvement in function is important and
possible.
We base this improvement of function on certain principles that are not
explicitly agreed upon, but generally include the folIowing: minimum rigidity
of the body, effectiveness of movement and appropriate strength, subtlety of locomotion
(i.e., the kind of movement in which it is difficult to perceive what muscles
are doing the movement), contralateral spinal function in walking, free full
breathing, and so on. Everyone has their favorite ways to describe optimal
function. While there is no right movement per se, in each situation there are
challenges to which each body must react and adapt. The capacity to adapt
broadIy and freely constitutes a general criterion for successful movement.
This capacity can be defined more exactly in each specific movement situation.
The critical focus of this article however is on what underlies adaptive
capacity and successful movement.
Gravity
Generally unsuccessful movement happens with little or no capacity for using
the gravity control system of the body. When the movement control system
respons automatically to gravity or to circumstances that mimic gravity it does
so much more economically effectively and pleasurably than when control is
purely voluntary. Certainly it is often not a simple matter to assist people to
find this automatic response. Usually we succeed at gaining small changes in
functioning by using a combination of structural analysis structural soft
tissue manipulation, visualization, breath work, movement practice, verbal negotiation,
rapport, and so on. When these multifarious interventions are viewed from the
perspective of affecting the gravity control system we gain a greater clarity
about why they are effective tools.
The entry point to a discussion about gravity is recognizing that human beings
evolved as gravity sensitive creatures. At birth we leave a fluid environment
and enter an environment where we are in a upward and downward orientation with
reference to the earth's gravity field. We are prepared to negotiate this new
world because we carry within us a complex control system that reacts to
gravity and allows us to orient and move and assume postures. The immediate
relationship with gravity must be negotiated along with the relationship with
mother. As it result, gravity response becomes inevitably linked with the
relationship with mother: the two are layered together. As Bonnie Bainbridge
Cohen succinctly points out:"Nerves myelinate in order to importance for
survival. ... Of all ... cranial nerves, the first pair to myelinate ... are
the vestibular nerves. ... That the vestibular nerves begin to myelinate first
indicates that they perform the first essential function for survival - before
the need for registering touch to the head, taste, smell, hearing and vision."(Cohen, B. B., "The Action in Perceiving,"Contact Quarterly,
Fall 87, p. 23.). Before we orient for nourishment, we must first
orient for movement in the gravity field.
The foundations of all movement and orientation are controlled by the part of
the brain and nervous system that are dedicated to keeping us upright whether
we think about it or not. Gravity response is first in sensory development and
it is always invisibly present in everything we do. For example, if, when
standing, you are toId to raise your arm in front of you, what are the first
muscles to contract? Muscles that control movement of the arm are not the ones
to contract first, but rather it is the muscles of the ankle and Ieg that
anticipate the need for balancing the changed center of gravity that will
result from the reaching arm. )Reed, E. S., "Applying the Theory of Action
Systems to the Study of Motion Skills," Reprint of author, Dept. of
Humanities and Communications, Drexel Univ., Phila., Pa. p.53.) (This exercise
demonstrates that; movement in relation to the gravity response is set before
we move and cannot be changed by direct voIuntary control. Only by changing
perception, emotion, or the meaning of the situation can we change the setting
of the gravity response. We cannot learn by imitating a model of optimum
movement to move in an optimal way. The form of the right movement depends on
the construct of each person and the way that person feels his or her body and
the surrounding space, and the way he or she categorizes the situation.(
Godard, H., paraphrase of portion of private correspondance.)
All the responses we are looking for as Rolfing Structural and Movement
Integration practitioners are linked to the gravity response. The link between
gravity and optimal function has been hinted at in Jeffrey Maitland's beautiful
use of the palintonos concept: earth and sky d the sense of length or span in
two directions: the body as an event energized by this polarity. (Maitland, J., "The Palintonic Lines of Rolfing", in Rolf
Lines, Vol. IXX, No. 1 . Jan./Feb. 1991, pp 1-2, 43-49. ) But
how do we ground palintonic lines in physiology/ kinesiology? Some of the more
critical responses to the palintonic picture are I believe an appeal for more
specificity and a linking up with the common scientific language.
Relevant Physiology How does the gravity response operate in
the human body and how do the many aspects of Structural Integration and
Movement Integration relate to gravity response? One of the first concepts we
need to understand is the stretch reflex. Tonus in muscles that hold us upright
is maintained without higher brain control. Stretch receptors monitor tonus by
sensing the change in fiber lengthening. The stretch receptors are of many
different kinds. In his article, "The Potential Disruptive Influence of
somatic Input", Keith Buzzell describes a wide array of stretch receptors
that provide a continuum of information to the spinal cord information
regarding not only how much but also how fast muscles are stretched. and with
what acceleration.(Buzzell, K. A. "The Potential
Disruptive Influence of the Somatic Input", in The Phisiological Basis
of Ostheopathic Medicine, The Postgraduate Institute of Osteopathic
Medicine and Surgery, New York, 1970, pp.39-51.) (The Golgi
tendon organs are intentionally left out of this discussion in order to focus
on aspects of the gravity system that link with brain function.) This feedback
system can adjust tonus in muscles without our conscious awareness.
The anticipation of movement is already a movement. The anticipation of
movement is a task sorted out by the cerebellum in response to input from other
parts of the brain. It is then controlled and monitored in the muscles through
feedback receptors. ln the example above the intention to move the arm tells the
soleus to tighten. If we extend the example further how does that tightening of
the soleus affect the whole body and its quality of movement?
Those muscles with a relatively greater number of stretch receptors (spindles)
are tonic in function. (Godard categorizes
muscles as tonic or phasic by four criteria: number of spindles, empirical
function, amount of fascia, and proportion of slow twitch versus fast twitch
fibers. The categories overlap so how we define the category will change the
analysis.) Tonic muscles are able to burn oxygen more
efficiently than the phasic muscles which allows them to work slowly and
steadily for long periods of time. In addition they have a control function
over phasic muscles. They coordinate the work of the phasic muscles. The soleus
will exert a regulatory function over the tibilais anterior; the hamstrings
will exert a regulatory function over the quadriceps. Tonic muscles regulate
because they are more densely endowed with stretch receptors. As a result they
can differentiate subtle levels of contraction in themselves and their
antagonists. Contraction in the phasic antagonist will produce a very precise
reaction in the tonic agonist. When the gravity response control system
organizes movement the tonic muscles' greater number of spindles make them
better equipped to receive the control information.
Also, tonic muscles have the capacity to influence the threshold of excitation
of the stretch reflex in the whole body to varying degrees by influencing the
level of charge in the medulla and the reticular formation.(Azemar, G., "Neurobiologie des Comportements Moteur,"
Publication de I.N.S.E.P., Paris, p.55. Also Lectures by Godard, Phila, Pa.
1991-94.) If the threshold of excitation of stretch reflexes is low. (meaning
there is a high charge in the medulla and the reticular formation) then the
body will be tight, generally speaking. If the threshold is high the body will
be softer The feedback loop works in both directions and has the potential to
be positive: high charge in the reticular and medulla makes the stretch reflex
more sensitive which in turn can be further provoked to elicit higher charge;
lower charge makes the stretch reflex less sensitive and by eIiciting further
lengthening it can continue to lower charge.
"Reduced
reflex response", "increased reflex response",
"softer" and "tighter" are not descriptions of inherently
good or bad states. Rather they are descriptions of the capacity of the body to
adapt quickly to changing circumstances. When these adaptations are economical,
integration is the result. Gaining the capacity to recruit the needed response
is our goal. For exampIe, by coaching a client with very tight hamstrings to
allow the spine to lengthen, the straight leg can be brought close to the face.
(This hamstring lengthening exercise is an impressive demonstration used by
Godard to illustrate this point.) In this instance tonic muscles of the spine
are released, creating a generalized lowering of stretch reflex sensitivity. As
a result, the hamstrings are allowed to lengthen with much lower resistance.
(The reticular formation has, in fact, been influenced by messages from the
densely spindled muscles of the spine, and aIso from the cortex and Iimbic
system which interpret the sensory cues and sense of direction as a signal to
calm down the body's general tonus.) When one set of tonic muscles releases,
other muscles are abIe to release more easiIy.
Conversely, when testing a healthy subject for a patella reflex, if the two
hands are pressed together in an isometric contraction, the refIex should be
faster and stronger. Tonic muscles that are held tight can facilitate stronger
and quicker contraction in other muscles.
In both cases described above there is an implied hierarchy of kinesiological
control. Also, in both cases, the situation influences the reticular formation
by signaling higher brain functions to sense need for action or need for rest.
More wilI be said about lengthening the spine later.
A second way of using the gravity response exists. There are two categories of
motor neurons that can innervate muscles: alpha motor neurons and gamma motor
neurons. Alpha neurons are controlled in two ways: by direct voluntary control
and by indirect control via the gamma motor neuron, or what is known as the gamma
loop. Ultimately, the alpha neurons do the work - it is important to keep clear
on this point. However, direct voluntary control by the cortex is very
different than indirect control through gamma stimulation of spindles in the
muscle feedback points. (Godard points out that a very small percentage of
total alpha neurons are employed for motor innervation. Vastly more alpha
neurons are involved in interpreting and processing perception. This
observation regarding the roIe of alpha neurons is important for how we teach
movement. To best use the alpha system we direct the client to notice sensation
or feel direction rather than imitate a form that elicits primariIy alpha motor
response.) (Wiesendanger, M., Journal de Physiologie, Paris,
1976.)
Gamma loop initiation of movement happens when a movement is conceived
and executed in the cerebellum and the medulla as a result of the body's
response to spatiaI orientation. (Juhan, D., Job's
Body, Station Hill Press, Inc, Barrytown, NLY., 1987, p.214. ) The
gamma motor neuron uses the same stretch receptor mechanism to accomplish
contraction as wouId occur from the stretching of the spindle in the interfusal
fiber, but it does it directly by neurologically stimulating contraction of the
spindle. When a gamma motor neuron is fired, the spindle contracts, lengthening
the surrounding annulospiral ending and triggering the reflex even though the
muscle has not been stretched. (The annulospiral is lengthened in a normal
stretch reflex when the muscle and its adjacent spindle are stretched.) Thus,
the gravity response of the muscle feedback system can be enlisted in a
situation where staying upright or maintaining resting tone may not be an
issue, and where the muscle has not been stretched.
In the direct control situation (alpha only), there is an experience of effort
and, at some point, fatigue. In the indiret loop (gamma) there is a little
experience of effort and fatigue, in the same way that we don't feel the soleus
contracting to keep us upright. EventualIy the soIeus will tire, but we won't
feeI it very much.
Further, gamma loop muscle enervation more effectively deeactivates antagonist
activity. That is, the muscIe opposing the intended action is quieted when the
gamma system is engaged. Or, to state the reverse, when the cerebral cortex
controls the motion, there is often unnecessary antagonist response. Thus, more
effort is used, which is counterproductive to the intended action.
A weIl-known exampIe is the unbendabIe arm. A subject hoIds her arm out
straight, her hands on the shoulder of the tester. She is told to not let the
arm bend as the tester applies downward force. The arm cannot resist bending.
When the subject is told to reach to the wall behind the tester, the arm is
stronger and can easily resist bending. Godard has used electromyography to
show that, in the first instance where the subject is using effort to keep the
arm straight, the biceps (in this example the antagonist) is engaged and active
as are the (agonist) triceps. The action is inadvertently sabotaged by the
antagonist muscle. In the latter case the reach impulse did not elicit the
antagonist resulting in greater effectiveness. The gamma motor system is
posited as being responsible for this more efficient use of muscles. The gamma
loop is activated because the cortex delegates the task to the spatial
orientation part of the brain which in turn employs the gamma loop to activate
the alpha motor system.
Dr. Rolf referred to this phenomenon when she made the statement (that ideally)
when flexors flex extensors extend."Rolf, I. P., Rolfing,
Healing Arts Press, Rochester, Vt., 1989, p. 65. We could describe
this condition as a purer functioning of reciprocal innervation. Reciprocal
innervation functions well when we do not sabotage it with our voluntary and
hence less discriminating alpha commands.
To summarize: using the gravity response system for movement leads to movement
that is more effective, has less effort, is likely to minimize
counterproductive contraction of antagonist muscles, and allows for greater
subtlety of control. The movement cues of Structural and Movement Integration
are designed to evoke these qualities. Clearly, these principles already
implicit in many of our techniques.
The Model The next step in assembling a picture of tonic
function is to spell out the categories of intervention that underlie optimum
gravity response. One way to organize our work or our curriculum is to work
toward articulating a model that can include the complexity of the phenomena we
are trying to teach. I propose that the criteria for evaluating such a model
be: that it embraces the diversity of techniques that practitioners use, both
in classes and in practice; that it successfully predict outcomes that we, in
fact, observe; and that it is linked to the scientific paradigms surrounding
the physiology of movement and structure. This model of tonic function makes
sense of the major categories of Rolfing structural and movement work. It is a
way of restating the unique synthesis of methods that have at their center what
Dr. Rolf saw as, "gravity, an unexplored factor in the human use of
humanbeings".( Rolf, I. P., Rolfing. Strucural
Integration, Rolf Institute Boulder, Co., 1962. (Especially pp. 17-19)
Italics added.) Tonic function is a description of the factors that are
consciously or unconsciously negotiated when attempting to change the quality
or function in a person through Rolfing. All of these elements are potential
entry points for change in the gravity response of the body. 
(All these factors affect tonic function and each
other. Movement also is affected in turn by other factors, primarily the
individual's memory and the environment or situation, but I am choosing to
ignore those for the purpose of this discussion.)
This diagram shows four categories that formalize the four entry points into
tonic function. We work with gravity and structure as a way of restoring
adaptive capacity in the fascia. We move fascia strategically to allow the body
to rearrange itself in relation to gravity. Posture can be a symptom of
movement patterns that have not optimized use of the gravity control system
Until some of that commitment of the tissue is changed it is much more
difficult to access a sense of letting go of overcorticalized movement.
The other factors are also part of how we as Rolfers work. Impression or
perception refers to how the person is taking in sensation. What parts of the
body are afferently alive and what parts are missing? Proprioception is a
trigger to the gravity response and control system. When there is a rich
experience of sensation in the skin especially in the hands and feet and face
it seems to stimulate gamma activity in motor control. The influence of
proprioception on gamma activity explains why many of the changes we observe
come about as the result of merely teaching the client to pay attention to
sensation. The act of paying attention to sensation is already a movement, and
it is a movement that can affect the quality of subsequent movements. Emilie Conrad
D'aoud's Continuum work is among other things, a demonstration of how sensory
perception changes movement.
Perception also refers to what we imagine, and what we perceive outside our
bodies. When I attend to feeling the weight of my sacrum, it can change how I
stand, and how I walk. I can also perceive, through the imagination, the space
above me, the sky, and that perception evokes a change in the muscles of my
body. The quality of tonus in the muscles will also change according to whether
my vision is focused, or peripheral.
So impression is both inside (which is about the relation with autonomy) and
outside (which is about the relation with the world). The inability to have
both categories of perception active at any given time, Iimits the capacity for
the gravity response system (tonic function) to govern movement consequently
limiting adaptive capacity.
Expression refers to our observations that clients can be either controlled or
inhibited in their movements depending upon whether there is a natural flow of
expression. An example is the expression of sound which is a consequence of a
breath pattern. If we invite the client to sing or talk in a way that is fun or
familiar the response may include a less cortically controlled action of the
diaphragm. The release of diaphragmatic control is akin to moving from what
Laban called "bound flow" of free flow."( Free flow and bound flow refers developmentally to the infant first
moving without control, only out of impulse, and then accomplishing control
over movements so that she can grasp or do some other goal oriented motion. The
definition is that originally of Rudolph Laban, but my familiarity with the
idea is from Hubert's lectures.) Expression the free movement of a person
outward into the environment is a contradiction to inhibition which in turn
manifests as a change in the tonus of the diaphragm. We frequently observe that
when there is a release of the diaphragm from the unconscious or conscious
cortical control the movement possibilities in the tissue and in the locomotor
system change. The consideration of expression shows the importance of
understanding the psychological aspect of our work. Inhibition on a
psychological level shows up as inhibition of the diaphragms. One way to
approach this sort of inhibition is to create a possibility for expression that
is not bound.
The gravity control system is prevented from optimally functioning in movement
as long as there is inhibition of expression. When diaphragms are committed to
a predetermined fixation of movement, similar to contracted tonic muscles, the
spine is unable to lengthen and the gravity response mechanism is largely
preempted.
Coordination, or skill, has to do with the learned aspects; in a client's
evolution. The kinds of coordination that are evident is a factor, and the
establishing of new skills becomes the foundation for allowing the gravity
system to function. The operative word here is "allow", for much of
the inhibition of the gravity system stems from preemptive control by the
voluntary (alpha motor) system.
Much of the skiIl we teach our clients is the use of cortex to inhibit parts of
itself. The cortex is not an evil thing. We could not sit still and read this
paper without choosing to inhibit impulses so that we can focus our attention.
Corticalized movement so called is the lack of cortical inhibition of
over-control.
Developmentally we must learn bound flow of movement to have some control over
our environment and our bodies. As Rolfers we teach our clients the next step
in this developmental process, which is developing skills for inhibition of
control that stands in the way of tonic functio. Automatic subroutines are
acquired throughout life - many are learned very early. Some skills, missed
early in childhood, are quite difficult to teach to adults, precisely because
coordination is so deeply embedded in the conditioned reflexes. Undoing
reflexive behavior must be approached through the principles of perception and
symbolic coloration.Juhan, D., p.211.
An example of this teaching process is found in the injunction to allow sitting
bones to "slide back" in the sitting process. In their understanding
of Normal Function, Hans Flury and Willi Harder teach skills that permit fascia
to load, in order that muscles can relax.Flury,
H., "Normal Function", in Notes of Structural Integration,
Sept 1991, pp. 6-21. But the teaching process has to focus on
the feeling of the sitting bones, the sense of weight, and the sense of the
direction back and the corresponding direction forward, in this case the
lengthening of the anterior of the trunk. Facilitating coordination means
teaching perception, because it is often the act of perceiving sensation that
changes efferent activity. Showing someone a movement - showing them a form -
is often the "end of movement", as Godard is fond of saying. When we
teach a movement through feeling sensation, there is less chance of installing
a new cortical control program, though the temptation to imitate in order to
"do well'' may persist for the client.
Coordination is really a factor tha exists outside of conscious voluntary
control. We could not teach it through instructions that evoke control. Yet,
often we try to do so. Coordination can be discovered through attention to
perception changing the symbolic meaning of the movement or the environment in
which it takes place. Coordination is the sum total of the work of tonic
function. It is the outcome of successfully following the principles of tonic
function and it is also an entry point into tonic tunction when it belongs to
us as an acquired automatic skill.br> The purpose of the tonic function
diagram is to represent the matrix of factors that we consciously or
unconsciously negotiate in evoking intrinsic movement or movement that optmizes
the tonic system, the gravity response system. All of these factors are entry
points into intrinsic movement. These factors form criteria for sorting out the
pieces of our repertoire for teaching purposes. In practice our work is usualIy
a constant shifting and blending of all these tools.
Lengthening of the Spine
With this summery of part of the model of tonic function in mind I want to
return to the notion that the tonus of the muscles that flex, extend, rotate,
and sidebend the spine are also a central focus of tonic function. The
principal states that a reduction of tonus in the muscles that control Iumbar
and cervical lordosis have an especially propitious effect on tonic function,
and therefore on intrinsic movement. Stated more simply intrinsic movement is
always initiated by a lengthening of the spine. Where does lengthening
specifically take place? Key places of reduction of tonus seem to be the
suboccipital muscles of the neck which are the most densely spindled muscles of
the bodyAbrams, V. C., "Neck Muscle
Proprioception and Motor Control" in Proprioception, Posture and Emotion,
D. Garlick ed., Kensington, Australia, 1982, and the psoas
and erectors which according to Gracovetsky are primarily regulators of lumbar
lordosis.Gracovetsky, S., The Spinal Engine
Springer Verlag, Wien, New York, 1988, p. 120. Anatomically and
physiologically we could debate the definition of spinal lengthening at some
length (and productively I suspect). But for purposes of the model of doing
integrative work we observe that a relaxation of the two mentioned lordoses as
an initiator of movement leads to enhanced gravity response in the movement or
what we are calling tonic function. (Notice I have specifically avoided
describing joint angle here. Relaxation of tonus in the areas of lordosis is the
criterion for lengthening. Thus I am choosing to avoid the controversies about
any ideal lumbar angle. The joint angles will be a highly individual and
situational event.)
We also observe that there are repeatabIe experiments regarding what we are
calling spinal lengthening. First, it is, of necessity, a response that
involves two directions. One direction, one pole, is the sense of weight, the
sense of the sacrum as heavy, or the sense of the pelvic floor or the feet as
weight bearing. It can also be described as the felt sense of the internal
environment. Another way to say this is, "the felt sense of weighty masses
within the body". The other direction, or pole, is a sense of the outside
- a sense of places in space outside of us or above us: the sky, the ceiling,
the felt sense of relationship with people or things. We can observe that
successfully calling attention to these two poles of awareness elicits
intrinsic movement.
Peter Levine focuses attention on the ergotrophic (E) and trophotrophic (T) polarity
in the autonomic nervous system, a concept that is completely congruent with
this model. "Trophotrophic" means "attention to, and sense of
response to, phenomena outside the body".Levine,
P., Accumulated Stress, Reserve Capacity and Disease, Ergos Institute,
Lyons, Co., 1991, p. 11.
Godard asserts, soundly I think, that there is in fact a genetic predisposition
toward one or the other polarity. (One corroboration of this stance comes from
the work of Nicholas Gonzales, a physician in New York City who has developed a
way to use this predisposition for the treatment of cancer. Gonzales has
documented this predisposition through analysis of blood chemistry. There
appears to be consistent differences measurable, persistent physiological data
between patients with sympathetic, versus parasympathetic versus balanced
autonomic predispositions.Gonzales, N., Tape of a
seminar conducted by Dr. Gonzales at Circle Health, Boulder, CO, in March of
1992. The primary topic of the seminar was the treatment of cancer, but much of
the discussion concerns genetic predisposition toward sympathetic,
parasympathetic, and balanced autonomic conditions.
Perceptually,
the lengthening response is about two directions, two poles. Physiologically it
is about the necessity for the body to process relaxation of tone as a spatial
task involving both attachments of a muscle moving away from one another. In
this way, the tendency for stabitizing one of the attachment points via
synergist muscles is prevented. Metaphorically, it is palintonic span.
Application of Principles and Model
The truly thorny part of training practitioners of Structural and Movement
Integraion is teaching them to "see" accurately. To see the
particular factors in a static or moving client is not easy; gaining skill at
evoking change in these factors is a further challenge. We may see someone's
inhibited diaphragm, but what do we do about it? We may see lumbar lordosis
increase with hip flexion, but how do we intervene? How we intervene will
depend on how we describe the phenomenon and how we describe the change we want
- in effect, the language we use both among ourselves, and with the client. In
a separate discussion, I will describe the particular interventions that
address major movements from the point of view of tonic function. Many of these
techniques are similar to what we do already, or reframes of what we do to make
them consistent with the principles of tonic function.
The point of this discussion is to more precisely describe what we do so that
we can teach it more systematically and consistently than has been done in the
past. A systematic set of principles can help us determine if our goals make
sense and if they are being met. It could also be an approach to organizing how
we do the pretraining and life sciences training that accompany the Integration
training process. That is, the components of training a gravity response
specialist, a Rolfer, follow from the model. We start to see how physiology has
specific goals within the domain of our work. We see that psychology is not
about psychotherapy but more about the symbolic factors affecting gravity
response, and so on. Hnas Flury and others have admonished the Rolf Institute
to engage in strict thinking about what we are doing and why, so that we may
better see if Dr. Rolf's unique vision is fully appreciated and developed. I
think Hubert Godard's synthesis is another step in this direction.
This
article was originally published in ‘ROLF LINES’ March 1995.
Copyright
is with the author, Kevin Frank.
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