Robyn Midori Ellis
​Certified Rolfer™ and Rolf Movement® Practitioner, Oregon LMT #26449

​I found Rolfing® through an injury in my own life. I was a very active child and through years of rigorous competitive dancing I had unrelenting back pain that eventually led to a more acute injury in my early 20s. The injury did not require immediate surgery, but I was told to rest, given a prescription for pain medication and physical therapy, and informed that I was on the inevitable road to surgery later in life. Unsatisfied with that vision of my future, I began exploring my options.

After several months of working with a holistically-oriented physical therapist, I began to understand that the issue was not just a problem with my back and that I needed to widen my focus of rehabilitation to include my entire body. I realized that beyond working to strengthen my back, I needed to address my alignment and the way I was using my body so as not to further perpetuate my injury.

Rolfing® was an eye-opening discovery for me. The degree of precision and intelligence that was transmitted through the work was palpable and unlike anything I had experienced before, and its level of effectiveness was clear. After my first couple sessions, I began to feel my body in a completely new way. My initial Rolfer™ brought my awareness to tension and patterns of strain that I had not realized I was holding and introduced me to an ease and fluidity of movement with strength and flexibility that was not from muscular exertion. For the first time, I could feel the open support of my whole body in balance, rather than feeling tense and guarded around my injury. I gained a greater understanding of what was happening inside my body, the patterns that had led to my injury, and the potential for feeling and living differently. After my first 10-Series, it felt like I had finally come home to myself in my body, in a way that I had never known was possible.

Rolfing® connected me to more self-awareness and put me at ease about my health and wellness because I gained a deeper sensitivity to what I was experiencing inside my own body and had tools and knew resources to help get myself back to a sense of wellness. I now know myself as so much more than a person with a "stiff" and "weak" back awaiting surgery. Opening up this new language of somatic awareness has forged a new road for my future, where surgery will not be a point of destination and the richness of life has been reawakened. The gift of my injury is this insight that sparked the passion within me to help guide others back to the comfort of their bodies and rediscover the joy of living in a full way with a deeper understanding of their natural alignment.

​If Rolfing® sounds like something you'd like to explore, I'd be glad to speak with you further.
[email protected]
541.580.6976 (call + text)