When I had my clinic in Scottsdale, AZ, strings of women saw me for Rolfing for one reason: cellulite. They’d tried everything to eliminate their cellulite. They did the exercise, diet and creams to no avail. Sometimes a woman would come to me for the normal Rolfing problem, such as back pain. Six months later, her cellulite was completely gone – then her friends were asking what her secret was.
If you read up on cellulite, you’ll learn that fascia, that thin connective tissue that Rolfers release, is what holds the fat that creates the cellulite. If the fascia remains tight and thick, the fat can’t burn away.
How Does Rolfing Dissolve Cellulite?
How is it possible that several Rolfing sessions and a few months of integrating the change can remove cellulite from the hips and thighs when nothing else did? The fascia along the outside of the leg becomes scar tissue from the stress, or I as call it, micro-traumas, over the years. Intended to be much like spandex, fascia becomes dried leather. This leather not only loses its elasticity, it also becomes impermeable to proper fluid exchange.
In the course of the series of Rolfing sessions, the tight fascia of the legs release and so do the stress patterns that created it.
One stress pattern is how the legs are used. After treating thousands of clients, I have yet to see a client who walked properly. Even the Olympic runners I treated were out of balance with their walk. Because of the imbalance, the extra strain on the soft tissue of the outer leg eventually creates the scar tissue, setting up the cellulite. Additionally other sets of muscles and fascial sheets are not used as they were intended to be used due to the misalignment.
Releasing the tissue increases circulation. Realignment and learning the natural walk decreases the strain pattern while toning underused muscles. For example, women will come back after a few sessions amazed they have a butt when they never had one. They ask how that could happen. It happens because the gluteal muscles are now in a position to be used.
By removing the cause, the body will normally remove the effects – the cellulite. Your good diet and exercise then start doing what it should. Cellulite is not inevitable; it is a consequence of stress, structural imbalance and movement imbalance.
Owen Marcus, MA Certified Advance Rolfer, www.align.org, 265.8440.
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