Sky Schulz, Cetified Rolfer® (LMBT#17028)
I've been practicing Rolfing in Asheville, NC since January of 2018, after completing my training and certification from the Dr. Ida Rolf Institute® of Structural Integration in Boulder, CO in 2017.
I've been practicing Rolfing in Asheville, NC since January of 2018, after completing my training and certification from the Dr. Ida Rolf Institute® of Structural Integration in Boulder, CO in 2017.
What fascinates me about this work is the profound multi-layered effects it has on us. On you and me, both. I am delighted to witness your transformation by holding space, asking your body questions, and evoking change. I have experienced over and over again in my own body and those of my clients, how the beliefs we have about ourselves are held in the tissues, organs, and nervous system. Oftentimes, we don’t even know we have these beliefs, let alone the limitations they place on our physical well-being. Like clothes that are too tight, our fascial system can bind us into a smaller, less comfortable version of our truest self.
My own embodiment journey began when I was 21 and working towards a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts degree with an emphasis on painting and jewelry-making at Portland State University. I had just gone through a soul-crushing first-love kind of break-up and decided to double up my credit load so I could get the heck out of there.
That’s when my body started hurting. I noticed that breathing into my back felt restricted and sometimes sharply painful. Though, at the time, I blamed it on the many studio hours hunched over tiny metal creations, I did have the sense to find a holistic modality to help me out. I found a local Rolfer® and did ten sessions. It was the most transformative experience of my life (and I had already backpacked through Europe, meditated with Thich Nhat Hanh, and experimented with psilocybin so I wasn’t a total novice to transformative experiences). Breathing became easeful, and I felt a new sense of embodiment I never knew I had lacked. It was as if a cage had been lifted from my body and mind for the first time. I became aware how emotions and memories were stored in my tissues and how working through these on a physical level created more mental and emotional space. I was able to understand how the break-up had manifested as pain in my body, have compassion for myself and set firm boundaries for the first time. I became more joyful, optimistic, and free.
I remember asking my Rolfer, “How does it work?” and after a bit of a scientific rant, she shrugged and said, “We don’t really know.” That certainly piqued my interest. And though as a free-spirited artist, the thought of learning the ins and outs of anatomy and physiology intimated me, the mystery and higher wisdom of the body called to me like nothing before.
So, after that, I graduated from PSU, went on one more big adventure – thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail – and then moved to Asheville, NC to work in wilderness therapy and start saving up to attend the the Rolf Institute of Structural Integration®, now named the Dr. Ida Rolf Institute® in Boulder, CO.
I completed the training in 2017 and have been working with clients in my private practice for six years now. It’s been an amazing honor to witness people transform as they deepen their relationship to themselves and their body. My clients often share with me how their lives change as we work through the ten series. Dreams are pursued, toxic relationships or jobs ended, and new layers of personal growth become available as clarity and insight settle in. Those are just some of the happy side-effects of inviting more freedom into the body.
My quest to understand the Body-Mind-Soul-Earth connection has continued over the years. Some other areas of study include Transforming Touch®/Transforming the Experienced-Based Brain®, Traditional Herbalism, Shamanic Herbalism, Holistic Womb Care & Abdominal Massage, Vision Fast & Soulcraft with Bill Plotkin and Geneen Marie Haugen of the Animas Valley Institute, Entheogenic Plant Ceremonies, Personal and Community Ritual, Non-Violent Communication, Dreamwork, Permaculture, Sustainable Building, the Medicine Wheel, Primitive Skills, Ancestral Healing, Shamanic Journeying, Vipassana Meditation, the Wim Hof Method, and Ethical Wildcrafting of Plants and Mushrooms.
My own embodiment journey began when I was 21 and working towards a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts degree with an emphasis on painting and jewelry-making at Portland State University. I had just gone through a soul-crushing first-love kind of break-up and decided to double up my credit load so I could get the heck out of there.
That’s when my body started hurting. I noticed that breathing into my back felt restricted and sometimes sharply painful. Though, at the time, I blamed it on the many studio hours hunched over tiny metal creations, I did have the sense to find a holistic modality to help me out. I found a local Rolfer® and did ten sessions. It was the most transformative experience of my life (and I had already backpacked through Europe, meditated with Thich Nhat Hanh, and experimented with psilocybin so I wasn’t a total novice to transformative experiences). Breathing became easeful, and I felt a new sense of embodiment I never knew I had lacked. It was as if a cage had been lifted from my body and mind for the first time. I became aware how emotions and memories were stored in my tissues and how working through these on a physical level created more mental and emotional space. I was able to understand how the break-up had manifested as pain in my body, have compassion for myself and set firm boundaries for the first time. I became more joyful, optimistic, and free.
I remember asking my Rolfer, “How does it work?” and after a bit of a scientific rant, she shrugged and said, “We don’t really know.” That certainly piqued my interest. And though as a free-spirited artist, the thought of learning the ins and outs of anatomy and physiology intimated me, the mystery and higher wisdom of the body called to me like nothing before.
So, after that, I graduated from PSU, went on one more big adventure – thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail – and then moved to Asheville, NC to work in wilderness therapy and start saving up to attend the the Rolf Institute of Structural Integration®, now named the Dr. Ida Rolf Institute® in Boulder, CO.
I completed the training in 2017 and have been working with clients in my private practice for six years now. It’s been an amazing honor to witness people transform as they deepen their relationship to themselves and their body. My clients often share with me how their lives change as we work through the ten series. Dreams are pursued, toxic relationships or jobs ended, and new layers of personal growth become available as clarity and insight settle in. Those are just some of the happy side-effects of inviting more freedom into the body.
My quest to understand the Body-Mind-Soul-Earth connection has continued over the years. Some other areas of study include Transforming Touch®/Transforming the Experienced-Based Brain®, Traditional Herbalism, Shamanic Herbalism, Holistic Womb Care & Abdominal Massage, Vision Fast & Soulcraft with Bill Plotkin and Geneen Marie Haugen of the Animas Valley Institute, Entheogenic Plant Ceremonies, Personal and Community Ritual, Non-Violent Communication, Dreamwork, Permaculture, Sustainable Building, the Medicine Wheel, Primitive Skills, Ancestral Healing, Shamanic Journeying, Vipassana Meditation, the Wim Hof Method, and Ethical Wildcrafting of Plants and Mushrooms.