What is Hellerwork?
Developed by Joseph Heller, an early student of Ida Rolf, Hellerwork is a gentle form of deep-tissue muscle therapy that emphasizes the importance of the body-mind connection. Hellerwork is based on the inseparability of body, mind and spirit through a system of somatic education and structural bodywork and helps people reach new physical and emotional awareness.
Hellerwork is a powerful, integrated system of structural bodywork, movement education and dialogue. Hellerwork makes the connection between movement, body alignment and personal awareness. By freeing natural movement, balancing the body’s structure and opening up expression, Hellerwork allows you to optimize how you use your body. Hellerwork engages the human being through structure, function, emotion and energy. The body is realigned using proven connective tissue reorganization techniques. Current movement habits are brought to awareness then released and natural ease emerges. Although Hellerwork may be effective for temporary pain or tension relief, we recognize that pain and tension are usually the result of an overall pattern of imbalance occurring in the person. Rather than treating the pain or tension “symptom” of this imbalance, Hellerwork focuses on rebalancing the entire body, returning it to a more aligned, relaxed and youthful state. Balance is not a static condition; it i
The Role of Hellerwork in a Holistic Health Perspective There is a growing momentum toward a holistic health perspective. Values of the holistic framework emphasise prevention, client participation, life-style choices involving nutrition, exercise, and relaxation, and a multi-discipline approach to health maintenance. The old model of “treat the symptom, ignore the person” is fading with the emergence of the viewpoint that recognises the wholeness of the individual. Within this holistic model is a field known as Somatic Education, which includes Hellerwork. Somatic Education addresses the whole person in relationship to movement, physical and psychological awareness, learning, and their environment. The focus is on the body “as experienced from within the body.” Hellerwork is a Somatic Education discipline that is making an enormous contribution to this emerging model of health and well-being. In Hellerwork the entire musculo-skeletal structure of the body is considered and related to
Hellerwork is a form of somatic therapy that encompasses movement education, deep-tissue bodywork, and self-awareness. As a bodywork discipline, Hellerwork is concerned with restoring balance and ease of movement by primarily focusing on the fascia, or the connective tissue of the body. This is the extensive system of soft tissue fibers that envelops muscles and tendons and forms an attachment to bone. Joseph Heller, a Polish native, developed this therapeutic modality in the late 1970s. His background as an aerospace engineer during the previous decade seemed like an unlikely inspiration toward studying bodywork. However, it actually provided the foundation for his vision. Hellerwork is a culmination of an expert understanding of structural stress and years of subsequent study in psychology, bioenergy, and gestalt. Hellerwork does not attempt to cure disease, although it may provide short-term relief of certain symptoms. For that matter, therapy does not consist of “one shot” treatmen
