Rolfing has long benefited athletes, actors, artists and dancers.

Dr. Rolf herself worked with Greta Garbo, Georgia O'Keefe, among others. Contemporary sports figures include Charles Barkley, Edwin Moses, Mario Lemieux, Michell, Michelle Kwan and Elvis Stojko, 1998 Olympic Silver Medalists in ice skating, Tom Seaver, and Ivan Lendl.

Leion Fleisher, Concert Pianist "Rolfing has been stretching out muscle fibers that haven't been stretched for 30 years. When I started, my muscle fibers felt like petrified rock. Now they are getting progressively softer, more supple and gain elasticity."

Brian Orser, Olympic Silver Medalist in Ice Skating "A wonderful benefit I had right after the first Rolfing session was a sense of lightness, particularly on the ice. I felt very compact and totally in control, I had increased energy, better balance, and extra agility."

Health Professionals

Larry Dossey, M.D., best-selling author: "There is one major reason to take Rolfing seriously: it works. Not only can it dramatically change people's bodies, it can transform their lives as well. Rolfing is powerful stuff."

Jim Mongomery, MD, an orthopedic surgeon in Dallas, Texas, often refers his clients to Rolfing. "I send a variety of my clients to a Certified Advanced Rolfer, Nicholas French. People with shoulder and elbow problems, with scar tissue resulting from injury or surgery, chronic hamstring problems, low back and cervical spine problems. People that have had chronic problems that have not been helped by anything else. All those people can be helped with Rolfing."

Karlis Ullis, MD, (team physician for 1992 summer Olympics), Sports Medicine and Anti-Aging Medical Group in Santa Monica, CA: "Athletes always need help with chronic injuries, muscular strains and overuse. The Olympic athletes wouldn't have as many injuries if they had appropriate soft tissue therapy. Rolfing is valuable for athletes in high level competition to address the build up of scar tissue and disarrangement of myofascial tissue that occurs from training, competition and injury." Dr. Ullis has provided medical expertise to athletes at five Olympic games, including Lillehammer, Albertville, and Barcelona, in the fields of figure skating, cross country skiing, bobsleigh, biathlon, track and field and other sports.

The Phoenix Suns are the first major NBA Basketball team to have a certified Advanced Rolfer on hand, Jeffrey Maitland, the Rolf Institute's Director of Academic Affairs. "Phoenix Suns guard, Danny Ainge, who has been Rolfed for years, recommended the therapy to (Charles) Barkley. Other Suns, Mark West and A.C. Green, also have been Rolfed...with satisfactory results," reported the Arizona Republic, May 1994.

Celebrities

Leon Fleisher, virtuoso concert pianist: "When a crippling hand injury ended his performing career, Peabody pianist, Leon Fleisher went down a different musical road. Thirty years later, he's turned up an unexpected corner (when he met Certified Advanced Rolfer, Tessy Brunghardt)...The (Rolfing) results were remarkable." John Hopkins magazine, 1995.

Levar Burton: "The Rolfer works on fascia which is the thin sheath of white tissue that covers the musculature. By manipulating the fascia you manipulate the musculature, and in turn the skeletal structure, so you bring alignment to the body... It can be very healing, cleansing and balancing for the body." Oprah - July 7, 1996

Movie star Sean Young, who has starred in the movies "Bladerunner", "No Way Out", "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective", "Wall Street", "Fatal Instinct", "Once Upon a Crime", and a few dozen others receives Rolfing"®" from Certified Rolfer Bob Brill.

Willie Nelson, songwriter: "My wife recommended (Rolfing) highly", says Willie Nelson, "...The first of ten sessions fixed (my back pain)," reported the New York Times, on Feb. 23, 1995.

Sam Keen, best-selling writer, is a former Psychology Today editor and co-producer of award winning PBS documentary "Faces Of The Enemy". "Bodywork has allowed me at age 65 to live as vigorously as I want to, in an embodied way. Nine months ago I started studying flying trapeze work, and I couldn't have done it without Rolfing." Whole Life Times, Aug.'94. When Sam Keen spoke of Dr. Ida Rolf as a true pioneer in his early Psychology Today 1970's article, Rolfing bodywork gained international attention. Now thirty years later, Keen benefits by making Rolfing a part of his own health care regimen, to stay aligned, fit and flexible for his flying trapeze work. Sam Keen's books include: Inward Bound; Fire In the Belly: On Being A Man; and the Passionate Life.

Other celebrities: Actress/singer, Courtney Love, actor Denis Leary (film: Thomas Crown Affair); actress Diane Ladd; the King of Spain; artist Georgia O'Keefe; modern artist, Miro; actor Levar Burton; psychotherapist, Fritz Perl; author, Sam Keen; Broadway/movie actress, Mary Elizabeth Mastontonio; Flamenco Dancer, Maria Benitez; jazz trombonist, Steve Turre, and many more.

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