Client Experiences

I was a little hesitant and apprehensive before my first visit with Allison. I had heard about Rolfing and how painful it could be. But, at that point in my life, I was tired of being in pain all the time and feeling like, as I got older, it would only get worse. I have scoliosis in my back and neck and I was finding that my pain resulting from how my body had adjusted itself to the curvatures was creating more and more pain. When I met Allison, I found her very knowledgeable about Rolfing and body mechanics in general. She has a great energy about her that immediately put me at ease. She worked on me that day and I already started feeling a difference in my body. Rolfing can hurt but Allison is very aware of this and she is very attuned to how my body responds to what she is doing. She never wants anything to be painful as it will not produce good results if the body has to react to the pain it is feeling. I have been seeing Allison now for about a year. I really wish we had taken "before" and "after" pictures. I really did not think it would ever be possible, but she has been able to transform my body from being in pain to actually being virtually pain free. I would highly recommend Allison as I could have never gotten to this place without her.

I began seeing Allison Benner in 2009. As a mother, a hairdresser, and a yoga teacher, I thought that I had a pretty strong grasp on how to live in my body, especially since I'd had it for a few decades. Allison's practice had moved in next door, so out of curiosity, I decided to give it a try. If you had asked me about my health, I would have said it was good. I had no real problems, maybe tight-ish shoulders from wielding a blow drier for a number of years, but nothing out of the ordinary.

I didn't really know what Rolfing was and I thought maybe an aggressive form of massage, so I was surprised when Allison asked me to walk around the room as she observed my gait. It's been a few years, so the details are foggy, but in the hour and a half we spent together, my experience of my body changed forever.

This might sound funny, but I didn't know that I had been suffering from low grade chronic pain for as long as I could remember. I just assumed how I felt was normal. Mistakenly, after years of teaching yoga, I thought that tucking my pelvis and lifting my ribcage was the ideal posture to hold on and off the mat. This had created a tightness between my shoulder blades that was impacting every other part of my body.

In that first session, Allison taught me how to walk with greater ease and gave me tips and stretching techniques to work with between visits. She re-acquainted me with my natural posture and after my second session, I had no more pain in my body. By spending the time to introduce me to my natural state of balance, she gave me an example of what's possible, and all the tools I needed to continue the work at home.

I have been gratefully seeing Allison for five years now. She is my consistent go to when my body needs support. Every time I leave I feel that I have a wider range of motion in all of my muscles and joints, and simply put, more room in my body. I see her every couple of months or so, and am consistently impressed with her dedication to ongoing education & her devotion to learning new techniques.

Allison is a master in her field, and I love that she has something new to share with me every time I see her.

A year ago I survived a serious neck injury. I broke three vertebrae in my neck, C1, C6, and C7 from a diving accident. Throughout my recovery, I have been interested in learning and experimenting with different modalities to relieve my neck and low-back pain, and my deteriorating posture.

I am always excited yet a bit skeptical when trying a new practice of any kind. After my first session with Allison, I felt an immediate response from my body. Not only did my body seem more relaxed and at peace, but it felt balanced and realigned.

Since my first session was such a positive experience and because I felt instant relief from Allison's work, I returned to become a regular client of Rolfing. After a few more sessions with Allison my neck and low-back pain had significantly decreased and I could sleep comfortably through the night. Range of motion in my neck increased dramatically and my entire body was more at ease. I feel very comfortable with Allison and really enjoy her style of practice. She has an amazing energy while working with you and is very tuned into your body. She is very specific and clear in the way she explains her techniques as well as the results from her work. I am a complete advocate of Rolfing and love what it has done for me physically as well as mentally!