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Review our frequently asked questions (FAQs).
Short answer: Results. Period.
I'm often asked, why use the floor to do Rossiter ? Why not have it on a table? It just makes more sense to have it on a table because everybody relates to a table and then working there with your hands, knuckles and forearms. These are all great points. If you want lower, and slower results, this is what you use. You use a table, your hands, your forearms and your elbows. So if you aren't' looking for speed, efficiency, and powerful results almost immediately then you go back to being a therapist with tools that are already there, that you may already possess.
Rossiter isn't about having lower expectations, slower results, or putting the therapist at risk. What Rossiter is about is getting people back to work, ASAP. It is also about not injuring the person doing the work. Let's take a piece of this at a time so you better understand how and why Rossiter was developed.
First I'd like to say I thought it all up and then just did it and "Presto!" Done. It wasn't at all like that. When I first started doing the work I did it with my hands. I was a Rolfer® and we do things with our hands, knuckles, forearms and elbows.
We also have a high attrition rate, as do massage therapists, PTs, and other hands on types in the health care field. Now with this being said, I originally taught Rossiter with my hands. Until one day I ran into a person who couldn't do the work with her hands and live to tell about it. She was tiny. Her husband, NOT so.
When this happened two other things came together. First, I realized that everybody I taught this new way, was thrilled that it didn't hurt their hands… obviously. But the other thing took longer to understand. The understanding was about weight vs: muscle or pushing on a client. I knew from hands on experience that the slower you went into the flesh of another person with your hands the easier it was to get them to cooperate with you. What I hadn't seen was that pushing people with knuckles and elbows really made people resist your work. You had to stop at a level where no work could be done. You actually worked above or outside and not in the area you needed to be in.
This is actually very easy to understand. When you push on another human being you create a resistance from them. ie they push back. This is a natural instinct, either you're about to tip them over or they'll lose control over their body and nobody wants that. Its the loss of control. Then a part of the problem is that they feel knuckles or elbow being pushed into them and they want to stop them. Those are sharp tools when used on a body.
Whereas when you apply real weight to a person they usually can handle more pressure. I say pressure but I mean weight. Allowing weight to be put on an area doesn't feel invasive. It feels natural and even though it hurts, it doesn't have the intensity of pushing on a person. It feels more like they are just leaning on you without setting off any alarm bells that this is too much pushing.
By taking the process to the floor three things happened immediately. First, the process became simpler. There are only so many places you can step on the body. If you learn these, you'll have conquered half of what are the Rossiter Techniques.
Second. you have removed the resistance to pushing on people and getting resistance or "push back" from the client. By putting them on the floor, you've just leveraged all your weight. You now have as much weight as you need and immediately at your disposal. By remaining balanced while standing, you simply can add more, if it is desired.
The third thing and to me the most important part is the extra power that is given to Rossiter by being on the floor. By having less resistance to weight, rather than pressure or pushing, the client or PIC can handle a more friendly, smoother, and much more powerful foot. While pain from a knuckle or elbow may stop or slow the PIC to do the required stretches, by having the PIC under a foot it actually makes the process easier.
By being on a Rossiter Station or the floor you make it safe and simple to do all the Rossiter techniques. The Rossiter Station opens up more possibilities to doing Rossiter on People who cannot get down to the floor and it also creates the possibilities of brand new set of techniques that can be done from an elevated area.