I think more than anything, in order to teach and learn in this
format, we must have some agreement on terms. Without the
visual-tactile meeting place of the classroom, we embark on new
terrain in this experimental mode of cyberlearning.

While anatomy is not strictly the content of the class, I will
use the common language of anatomy and structure in describing
the relationships we are going to explore. I will also be using
some of the language unique to Rolfing in describing the
interaction of those elements in the living body.

In order to define Rolfing's range of effect, (territory), we
have created a set of theoretical taxonomies (in science: the
names of things).

These are the:

1. Structural; being the material elements of the body, i.e.
muscles, bones, joints, guts and membranes.

2. Functional; the study of how the body moves in both macro and
micro domains. This will include posture (as shape or form),
normal motion, and pulsation.

3. Geometric; The study of the form of the body in space and
gravity.

4. Energetic; The felt sense and the lived experience of bodily
being; This includes the metabolic activity as well as the
distribution and fluctuation of charge, or stasis, in the system.

5. Psychobiological orientation (world view); This refers to
the character of the individual, and looks to the way they hold
themselves to be and to see the world; their values, judgments,
and beliefs.

In this course we will primarily focus our attention on the
Structural Taxonomy, which is fundamental in the description of
how the parts of the body interact generally and in the
individual.

The logic of the Structural Taxonomy is based on the embryologic
pattern of unfoldment as the organism develops. There are 5
fundamental elements within this taxonomy.

1. The axial complex: This is made up of the spine, the sacrum,
and the neuro cranium. All arise from the same embryologic
notochordal and pre-vertebral elements. The bones of the spine
emerge from ossification centers in the pre and post vertebral
germinal tissues. They are not functionally discreet from the
tissues they arise from as the study of regional anatomy leads us
to believe. The dura, the meninges, and their fluidic elements,
are part of the axial complex.

2. The visceral space: This space is not empty, but traversed
by membranes, vessels, nerves, fluids, viscera and organs. The
visceral space derives with the primitive gut in the developing
embryo. The superior end of this space is the naso-pharynx and
the mouth. The inferior boundary of the v. space is the pelvic
floor, and the associated musculo facial tissues. The v. space
is divided into thoracic and abdominal elements by the diaphragm.
There is an intermediate diaphragm-like structure at the thoracic
outlet, made up of the intersection of many membranous elements.
Within these various cavities, are variable pressures, above and
below external atmospheric pressure.

These pressures play a major role in appropriate position of
organs and viscera, interacting with the movements of breathing
and locomotion. The shapes of the visceral spaces play a role in
the distribution of pressure, and the generation of form.

3. The sleeve: This concept is unique to Rolfing, The sleeve
in this formulation, is made up of the functional boundary
structures of the visceral space, giving it form and containment.
Conventional anatomies place elements of the sleeve with the
axial, abdominal, and pelvic taxons. It is embryology that
brings us to this different understanding. The visceral cranium
(maxilla, palatines, vomer, ethmoid, parts of the orbits, the
jaw, the ribs, and their associated neuro-musculo-facial tissues
(abdominal obliques, transversus, and the rectus, all
differentiate from a single germinal layer, defining the shape
and boundaries of the gut defined by the sleeve.

4. The pelvic girdle: The ilia and the legs, with their
associated musculo facial arrays, are the fundamental elements of
the p. girdle. The sacrum has a dual role here, being part of
the axial complex. it carries the roots of the dura, and
expresses physiologic movement in that role, while also
interacting with the ilia in all phases of biomechanical
activity. Some of the trans-pelvic musculature, like the psoas,
iliacus, Piriformis, and the Obturator Internus., traverse the
visceral space to find various points of attachment in the legs.
They function as "sleeve elements" in providing shape and
container to the visceral space, and they are girdle elements as
well in relation legs to and across the ilia and sacrum to the
spine. The ilia, in this way are both sleeve and p. girdle;
sleeve as shape and container,. and p. girdle in interaction with
the legs and sacrum.

5. The shoulder girdle: This is the scapulae, clavicle, and
arms, and (again) the neuro-musculo-facial tissues of form and
motion. There are elements of the shoulder girdle that overlap
with the axial complex. Foremost among these are the trapezius,
the levator scapulae, and the Sternocleidomastoid.
Embryologically this layer is all shoulder girdle. Functionally
this overlay has a great impact on the normal function of the
cervico-thoracic aspect of the axial complex.

This set of distinctions in no way denies the "energetic"
elements, both general to the species, and unique in the
individual, that are part of the whole bodily being.

The structural taxonomies guide our perception, and enhance our
ability to describe the strain patterns we hope to address in
restoring continuity of motion, and in organizing the structure
at a higher level. It is at the overlap of taxons, and in the
elements of structure that operate across the taxons that we find
the most common patterns of compensation and adaptation in the
loss of, or changes in motion and shape.

An example of this would be in the complaint of an unresolved
whiplash type of injury, where compensation has involved long
chains of adaptation in the Axial, changes in the Shoulder
Girdle, Sleeve (ribs) plus membranous and visceral elements
within the Visceral Space.

Taxonomic thinking supports the practitioner to see deeper into
the relationships involved in a pattern, and to develop a system
wise approach to interacting with that pattern.