About Jim Gates
I first heard about Rolfing® in 1979. I immediately had a ten series and was amazed at the results. I remember looking down and thinking “Those aren’t my feet”, after my feet were done in the second session. I remember my chest lifted up and as a result being very present and up front in the room, as opposed to my habitual pattern of shyness. I still have my before and after pictures from then and the changes were remarkable. I have always held up Rolfing as the high point of bodywork. The afternoon of my tenth session I left to move into the ashram of a Hindu guru and I spent the next 5 years studying with him, including one year in India.
I received a BA in Anthropology from Cornell University in 1970. The focus of my life has been spiritual endeavors and trying to understand the mystery of what it is to be human. A big part of that has been relating to the physical body. Beginning from the time I was in college I have been interested in body awareness techniques. Not long after graduation I began a long period of taking Alexander Technique lessons and took my first massage class. I have practiced hatha yoga, tai-chi, martial arts, studied personal health methods, and received and learned different bodywork methods. I noticed I had a talent for using my hands and perceptions for doing bodywork. I also did carpentry for a number of years to develop certain skills in relating to the physical world. Always continuing my spiritual work, I am also teaching Zen Meditation, having begun a long and intensive practice of it in 1967. I graduated from New Life Seminary, an interfaith school, where I learned about spiritual counseling, performing ceremonies, and ministering to the spiritual needs of people from all faiths. In 2003 I was ordained as an interfaith minister.
I fulfilled a longtime dream of mine of completing my Rolfing training in 2003 under exceptional teachers and I am very happy to be able to offer this wondrous method of structural integration to my community.
I have had the opportunity to study with many of the best teachers of Rolfing Structural Integration and have completed my Advanced Certification, the highest certification of the Rolf Institute.
I have also studied Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy for several years and in 2008 began the two and a half year training with Michael Shea. BCST has had a big influence in Rolfing starting with Dr. Rolf. It adds a subtlety and potency of touch, and a profundity to our work. It is making a big contribution to my work.
Rolfing is still way ahead of its time in many ways. Our work can do things that just doesn’t fit into our current cultural paradigm. Dr. Rolf’s work is a creation of great power and effectiveness. It has provided a framework for many talented and inspired people to understand and work with our experience of having a body, being embodied in this wondrous experience of life. The more I learn about and practice her work, her vision, the more impressed and inspired I am.
Jim at a sacred initiation rock in Peru surrounded by energy orbs.