Tina, my personal experience with Rolfing was it was so excrutiatingly painful that it did utterly nothing beneficial for me at all. Childbirth was a breeze compared to that rubbish. It belongs strictly in the category of the "No pain, no gain" mentality of which I subsequently base no faith in whatsoever. That being said, perhaps the practitioner was not all he was cracked up to be either, despite coming highly recommended.
However, I have derived excellent results in enhacing my well being (and allignment etc) (and therefore my singing) from many other methods, the most beneficial include The Alexander Technique, Feldenkreis and Yoga. If something is wrong you can't go past good physiotherapy or a really well recommended chiropracter. (I don't have much faith in chiropracty personally anymore, but I know many others who swear by it.)(Accupuncture/Accupressure also was of immense benefit for very specific things, like spasmed muscles, for me, too.)
I have found that Yoga is excellent for breathing, body work and meditation. (But then I find many eastern philosophical/martial arts disciplines are. My students have benifited from things as abstruse as Karate.) The combination of learning "mastery" (ie, familiarity and/or control) over these areas is essential to "freeing the natural voice" which co-incidentally is the title of a brilliant book by an American lady called Kristin Linklater which was practically a bible in acting classes back in the early eighties. I am a big fan of the "Natural Voice" as it were.
As children of "western ways" of thinking, the exposure to the "eastern concept" of ALLOWING things, like your voice, to happen, rather than our MAKING the voice happen is always a revelation to most of my students and has always yielded positive reults.
Just about anything that helps you to "KNOW yourself" better, be it physically, spiritually or mentally, in any way shape or form is not only good as a general way of living better, but ultimately, I feel, is necessary to be a good or great singer.
Rolfing does mean pain, it may be your cup of tea, but find out as much as you can about it and the practitioner and your alternatives before you spend any money on it would be my (hopefully humble) advice.
~Michelle
P.S To Mike, I don't know how you managed it, I would rather have died than go back after the tenth treatment, it was SO agonizing. It didn't teach me much except how to control myself from taking out my anger from pain on the person inflicting it. But then my accupuncturist gave up putting needles in me as he couldn't stand the pain that crossed my face and did accupressure instead. He felt it was retrograde to inflict that much pain and suggested I may be peculiarly sensitive. Childbirth was tolerable by comparison though. Just. LOL
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