6 Questions to Gil Hedley

1. When and how did you decide to become a bodyworker?

I decided to become a bodyworker (Rolfer) when I was in graduate school in Chicago, after learning a bit of acupressure massage in my Tai Chi classes, and seeing the impact of Rolfing on my mother.

2. What do you find most exciting about bodywork therapy?

I found most exciting the potential of bodywork to provide me an outlet both as a teacher and a healer.

3. What is your most favourite bodywork book?

Job's Body by Deanne Juhan; and, The Color Atlas, by Rohen and Yokochi

4. What is the most challenging part of your work?

Constantly dealing with new situations, keeping in the moment.

5. What advise you can give to fresh massage therapists who wish to make a career out of it?

Never mistake your clients for a bag of groceries.

6. How do you see the future of massage therapy?

It will grow, and the curriculum will improve to include more massage-specific components, as opposed to material borrowed from conventional medical texts.

Gil Hedley Ph.D. is the founder of Integral Anatomy Productions, LLC, and Somanautics Workshops, Inc.  He went to Duke as an undergrad, and then to the Divinity School of the University of Chicago for an MA in the study of religion and a Ph.D. in Theological and Philosophical Ethics.

He is the producer and instructor of The Integral Anatomy Series.

With the path of body exploration opened, he went to the Rolf Institute and trained in massage, and was certified as a RolferŪ in 1993. Then he and his wife spent 4 years studying whole person healing and psychodynamics at the IM School of Healing Arts. During that time, he began teaching anatomy at the healing school, and teaching anatomy in the dissection lab as well. He eventually left off my RolfingŪ practice to devote fully to teaching.

6 Questions to Bodyworkers