From the Directors,
WOW! It’s October 1 year 2023 and the starship AGSI has a lot to report to the Federation. I can’t believe that it has been just 9 months since Erin and I started the program. The last newsletter wrapped up our busy summer workshop season where we hosted trainings in Dallas, Boulder, Austin and Salt Lake City. Erin and I met a bunch of great practitioners and really got an opportunity to expand our awesome AGSI community.
Community is one of our founding pillars, we don’t believe that practicing Structural Integration should be an isolated and individual profession. The biggest take away that I’ve learned is that AGSI people are my people! Going to the workshops has been professionally, educationally and socially rewarding. I am inspired every day to be a better version of me in both my practice and as Co-Director of AGSI.
Coming into the fall season, things are not slowing down a bit. We have taken the two months we have had off from workshops to take care of the business side of the AGSI program. Erin has been working with the legal team in Houston and has finalized establishing us as a 501 C3 Non Profit corporation. It’s taken months of her time and attention to make this happen. AGSI being a non profit will really benefit the SI Community. We will be able to keep our trainings more affordably and it also allows us to accept donations from anyone who believes in our mission and wants to support Dr. Rolf’s work. The other major project we have been working on is getting our AGSI Basic Training program approved by IASI. This is very important to us, without an SI community our work will not survive as a whole, and we are committed to supporting IASI as an organization. Denise Foster-Scott is Chair of the Education Committee at IASI and has been working with and supporting us as we work towards approval. Thank you Denise!!!!!! Denise and all of IASI work as volunteers. In this process we have worked closely with both Denise and Jason Prince (President of IASI) and they have been both available and supportive whenever we have asked. I have no idea how they manage. We are excited to announce that just this week we have turned in our approval package for “round 1” of the process. This process is really important for the maturation of our program. We have had to look closely at our training curriculum, and develop program policies for both Faculty and Students.The approval process has really helped us define our values and establish how we want to represent ourselves in our community.
⭐️ News Flash ⭐️
The biggest news that we have is that we are gearing up for our first AGSI Basic Training class in January!!
Early on we decided to have our Basic Training follow the traditional immersion model. We love the depth of study and relationships that the 8 week full time class allows. The way it will work is students need to have certified bodywork training or they will need complete our Foundations of Structural Integration (FOSI) training as a prerequisite. We are excited to have Buddy Frank in Crestone, CO class teaching our first FOSI class beginning as soon this October 16,2023. Once they have met entry requirements they embark on the Basic Training journey. The first Phase of the training is Auditing where students will learn to “see”. A lot of time in Auditing is spent watching SI sessions given by teachers and Practitioning students. There is also a ton of class time with their auditing instructor learning touch skills, anatomy, about the recipe and everything else that they will need to succeed in the next phase of the training. It is a very engaging and exciting part of the SI adventure. Practitioning is the second phase of the training. It is in this part of the training where students really get their hands busy. They will exchange the series with a partner and work with outside models from the community. When finished they will be able to hit the ground running as confident and competent SI practitioners. I’m pausing for a minute because I can’t believe that I just wrote that. That is why we are doing AGSI, to carry forward the work of Dr. Rolf. It’s our Mission Statement, our Vision Statement and the tagline on our logo.
We have 4 Basic Trainings scheduled next year. Our vision is to allow students to have continuity in their training, so they can plan their process. Committing to training is a major decision and commitment and we REALLY honor that. We are as committed as you are. Thats the deal I make with my clients and that’s the deal we are making with our students and with you the Practitioners that will be referring students to us. Our teachers are some of the most senior in the field. We are really excited to be working with David Davis, Ritchie Mintz and Nilce Silveira as the lead teachers in our first round of Basic Training classes. They have all been practicing for over 40 years and who knows how many trainings they have taught. We are so grateful for the knowledge and expertise that they are bringing to AGSI. Check out our Basic Training schedule on our website.
We have another great workshop that we are offering this fall. David Davis and Will Johnson are teaming up in Costa Rica to teach a 6 Day workshop called “Embodiment and Evolutionary Transformation Through the Line.” David and Will have known each other since their Basic Training in 1976 and have been talking about this workshop idea for 20 years. They both share a passion for sitting meditation and the powerful transformational potential of Structural Integration. For this workshop, the morning session is going to focus on meditation and will be lead by Will. The afternoon session is going to focus on hands on SI work and will be lead by David. Will has been teaching meditation workshops and retreats for decades and has written 13 books on the subject of meditation. David has been teaching SI trainings and workshops since 1990. Talk about mastery, this class is an amazing opportunity for both personal and professional growth. I have had the opportunity to work closely with both Will and David as they develop the curriculum for the workshop. Every time I visit with them I leave both excited and inspired. They are so passionate about what they are doing as practitioners and educators that it is impossible to not be impacted.
Teacher Profile
This month we are going to take a look at one of our Senior Teachers, Ritchie Mintz. Ritchie is going to be teaching our second Basic Training Class beginning April 8, 2024. He has spent over four decades practicing Structural Integration and thousands of hours contemplating Dr. Rolf’s work. The gift of all this experience is a profound insight into how our recipe is designed and how it works. Ritchie brings that gift to his teaching of Structural Integration. Ritchie has gone down the Rabbit Hole of Structural Integration. Check out this video.
https://youtu.be/hnIxoFp-BXk?si=S8CcJfxTlrv5a37L
Ritchie is a natural teacher. He specializes in mentoring beginning practitioners because he remembers the struggles of his own rookie years. His greatest joy is watching “the bulb” light up for the many practitioners who say, “Oh, so THAT’S what that means!” Here is short video of Ritchie on teaching:
https://youtu.be/iFEqmoZZjO0?si=6r_egvh29iNGuyCi
He has put together a great workshop that should be mandatory for all practitioners. It’s called the Magic Moment and he talks about it in this video:
https://youtu.be/KlNju0AvATo?si=4U83sEUJX6t2qcJS
Here is a video of an actual demo of the Magic Moment:
https://youtu.be/U9DGiRP4Jog?si=XN3OtohPBkrEXzmT
And one last video is about Practicing and Teaching Structural Integration at a high level:
https://youtu.be/KlNju0AvATo?si=4U83sEUJX6t2qcJS
Ritchie is also the author of 2 books on Structural Integration:
Foundations of Structural Integration
From Adam and Eve to Ida Rolf
You can find these books at: https://txschoolforsi.com/books/