In 1920, Ida Pauline Rolf received her Ph.D. in biochemistry from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. Despite the resistance she faced as a woman in the field of science, she furthered her knowledge of the body through research in organic chemistry at the Rockefeller Institute. Driven to find solutions to her own health problems as well as those of her two sons, she spent many years studying yoga and experimenting with different systems of healing and manipulation. Dr. Rolfs trademarked work became known as “Rolfing” and gained initial recognition at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur California and later in Boulder Colorado where she founded the Rolf Institute. Ida Rolf had a vision of human potential that went beyond effective symptomatic pain relief and “good posture”. Better alignment was not an end in itself but a means of coming into a more personal and profound relationship with earth, spirit, self and other.