What is "rolfing"

vb. (present participle of rolf English)

Rolfing is a form of alternative medicine originally developed by Ida P. Rolf (1896–1979) under the label of Structural Integration. It is typically delivered as a series of ten hands-on physical manipulation sessions sometimes called "the recipe", originally based on Rolf's ideas about how the human body's "energy field" can benefit when aligned with the Earth's gravitation field. Practitioners combine superficial to deep manual therapy, with movement prompts. The process is sometimes painful.

There is no good evidence that Rolfing is effective for the treatment of any health condition. It is recognized as a pseudoscience, and has been characterized as quackery. It is not known whether Rolfing is either safe or cost-effective.