Meet Shiloh, Owner of Michigan Rolfing
I love working with active and health conscious people. I was always an athlete and often struggled with injuries and pain while I was training. Rolfing really helped turn that around for me and I love teaching other active people new ways to move, decrease pain and feel more comfortable in their daily lives. I have worked in Michigan for 10 years and have been fortunate enough to help hundreds of people live an active lifestyle without pain.
I was raised in a small town in Alaska that isn’t short on friendly, hardworking people – but also people that love nature and are drawn to natural forms of health. I grew up on a steady diet of fresh fish and garden foods and spent plenty of time outdoors. I learned to love hiking, basketball, running, berry picking and fishing. While attending the University of Alaska/Anchorage (a place that I considered the big city at the time) I received my first Rolfing session and fell in love with it.
The Rolfer cleared up my back pain and left me incredibly curious about such a strange-sounding therapy. I quickly found out how much I loved anatomy and the idea of working to help people appealed to me. I couldn’t wait to get started.
Within a year, I was enrolled in the Rolf Institute and immersed in a wonderful adventure that led me to a very fulfilling career. This gave me the ability to help other people get out of pain and back to their favorite activities.
I keep up with my education and find that learning new ways to change and heal the body is fascinating. Ten years later I am still in love with the human body and always eager to help and teach people. I am thankful for such a fulfilling career.
Client Experiences
Early in my practice, I had a client who was an avid runner and decided (despite constant knee pain) to run the Detroit Marathon. After nearly tripling his weekly mileage he developed such sharp knee pain that he could not continue to train. When he saw me he was hoping to just get back to his normal running routine. By the time we finished four sessions, he was hopeful that he could train for the marathon again. We continued to work together for 10 full sessions, after which he was able to finish his first marathon. He has since gone on to run the marathon several times as well as a few adventure races. Along the way, we discovered that he had a rather larger muscle that had weakened on one side, and his calves and hamstring were too tight to allow for good running form. He turned his feet so far out to the side that he was causing much of his own knee pain. We were able to correct most of these issues and taught him stretches and exercises to keep him in shape and – more importantly – pain-free. He continues to run with tune-ups every couple of years.
I recently had a client who was very active in yoga, and suddenly developed a sharp pain in her hip while walking up stairs. She had an active practice but her psoas wasn’t working properly so her hip flexors were working overtime. Eventually, they wore out and she lost support in her hip. This can be very painful when trying to lift your leg for something as simple as one stair. In a few sessions, we got the hip flexors lengthened and worked to strengthen the psoas. She was quickly able to walk up and down the stairs without gripping the railing for fear of falling, and also got back to her full yoga practice.