"The body stores the trauma of our lives in muscular rigidity, thereby keeping us stuck in the past. When we release the tension in the body and align ourselves with gravity, we take a new stand in life. This allows us to be at ease with ourselves and in harmony in our relationship to others and to our planet."
- Joseph Heller founder of Hellerwork

 

More and more people around the world are seeking out effective and empowering solutions for their ongoing health and well-being, and Hellerwork and Structural Integration are undergoing a surge of growth and popularity. There are three main certifying schools of Structural Integration - Hellerwork International, the Rolf Institute, and the Guild for Structural Integration. These and a group of smaller schools now form the International Association of Structural Integrators.

Structural Integration originally began with Dr Ida P. Rolf (1896-1979) a New Yorker armed with a Ph.D in biological chemistry. At a young age she became an Associate at the Rockefeller Institute, studied mathematics and atomic physics in Zurich, and homeopathic medicine in Geneva.

In 1930’s USA Dr Rolf was seeking answers to family health problems. Treatments available seemed inadequate to her. As a result she explored osteopathy, chiropractic, yoga, the Alexander technique and Korzybski’s work on consciousness. With her now substantial knowledge Dr Rolf created a new system of soft tissue bodywork, known originally as Rolfing, more widely known now as Structural Integration. With this potent work she was able to make significant changes to deep structures of the body, with many breakthroughs for people previously unable to find help. In the 60's she was invited to teach at the Esalen Institute. The more she taught, the more students sought admission to her training.

Joseph Heller was one of those students. Born in Poland in 1940 he received his early education in Europe, and immigrated to the USA at the age of 16. He graduated from CalTech and began working as an aerospace engineer in the NASA space programme, developing extensive knowledge of structural stress. In 1972, in the midst of an intense involvement with humanistic psychology Joseph experienced Rolfing. He was so impressed that he gave up aerospace engineering, training as a Rolfing practitioner with the founder Dr Rolf.

Joseph Heller went on to become a Structural Patterner with Judith Aston, and while maintaining a very successful practice he received advanced training from Dr Rolf, and from Dr Brugh Joy, a noted physician, author, and innovator in the fields of preventative medicine and energy healing. He became the first president of the Rolf Institute in 1976. With his unique combination of expertise and training in Structural Integration, movement, body energy awareness, and the conceptualization of the human body as an integrated system, Joseph Heller moved to the San Francisco Bay area in 1978 and founded Hellerwork.

Joseph Heller has trained practitioners from around the world, and a selected group of trainers, allowing more people to experience the benefits of Hellerwork in their daily lives and specialised activities. He lives and practices in Mt Shasta, California, and continues to teach and communicate about Hellerwork.