Guild Certified Rolf Practitioner & ABMP Certified Somatic Therapist

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May 13th 2009
The experience of my structural integration with Ben Hanawalt was transformative. Before our Sessions, I experienced numbness from my toes to above my knees, along with tension and extreme back pain. My balance was thrown way off. After two sessions I was able to push mow the lawn in half the time it usually took me. After four sessions I was able to do a 100 jumping jack consecutively [something he hadn't been able to do in many years]. After five sessions, my movement has increased tremendously. I can stand up straight and my walking is easier. I believe Ben is extremely gifted in this art. I would highly recommend Ben to anyone who wishes to experience more grace and ease in their life. Sincerely, Dennis Ray

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My life has gone through many transformations, every experience adding depth, texture and skill. I began life in the Mountains of Montana. I learned to ride almost before I could walk. Long days in the saddle honed my sense balance, which carried me easily into gymnastics, later Judo, then Tai Chi Chuan. I grew up in the country, making mud pies and playing in the trees and grass. I learned much from my father; working cows, training horses, the use of a forge and anvil. With an easy relationship with math and physics, as well as several Science Fairs under my belt, I entered the Montana State University engineering program. I soon discovered that to continue, I must resign myself to corporate projects, and would never have the opportunity to build. As a man of my hands that was not to my taste, so I switched to the Trades. I worked as a Carpenter, then as a Traditional Blacksmith. I reached the point in my life where I could build most anything I could envision, given the materials and tools for the project.

However, I couldn't find peace in my body. A severe sledding accident when I was ten had left me with chronic hip and back pain. The heavy physical labor only made it worse. Over the course of fifteen years, when none of the practitioners I had visited could help, I had resigned myself to the pain. Even my Yoga and Taiji Chuan practice provided only slight and temporary relief. Then I met a woman who practiced Structural Integration. She took one look at me and said, "You know, I think we could do something about that... " I was rather surprised to hear this, since I hadn't even told her about the pain I was experiencing, but I agreed to let her try. Much to my surpise, she did! Over the course of Ten Sessions, I experienced my body and life changing radically. The pain I had lived with for years faded. My errant right leg derotated and lengthened. My ability to handle stressful situations increased. I felt like I had been born anew. I became fascinated by how the tissues of the body could be molded like the hot iron that I had become so familiar with. Physical problems need not be permanent! Finally, I had found a path I could truly believe in. With a letter of recommendation from my Practitioner, I began my training at the Guild for Structural Integration.

Today, I find that everything I have learned along the way has formed a strong foundation for my Practice of Structural Integration. From Physics and Engineering I have aquired the knowledge to understand structural systems, force vectors, leverage potentials and design. I can look at a load bearing structure and see its strength and weakness. In my minds eye, I watch force and tension transmit through the body. From Blacksmithing I developed the ability further. I found that I was able to build entire projects in my imagination, molding order and harmony out of hot steel where every intervention effects an entire system. Looking at the body, I see all the potential for strength, agility and grace and the places where it has become stuck. From working (and playing) with horses, I have found the sensitivity needed to work with the highly tuned nervous system, where communication occurs with imperceptable gestures, shifts of balance and intention. With this level of perception I am able to very my quality of touch to work with the soft form of a child, or the hardened adult who says that noone has ever been able to get in there quite deep enough. From the Taoist art of Tai Chi Chuan I have learned the advanced and subtle body mechanics that allow strength to be expressed without effort; where, as it is said in the Tai Chi Classics, 'four ounces of pressure can deflect a thousand pounds of force'.

All of these skills and more, I bring into the service of the Rolf Method of Structural Integration.

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So ask yourself these questions: Where am I struggling? Where am I stuck? When do I experience pain? For these are all important clues. But most importantly, ask yourself this; "Am I ready for something new?!" For with that choice, the door opens and the journey begins. Let us find grace and ease in your life.

Breathe . Perceive . Adapt . Create . Proceed !

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