Alternative health: what is the Rolf Method? There are 10 sessions in total: the first seven deal with different parts of the body (including, most notoriously, in the seventh, the inside of the mouth); the final three "integrate" you so that you become the best possible version of yourself, structurally speaking. So remarkable were Collins's end results that she vowed to train, and pass on to others the gift of pain-free living and superlative posture. What we need to understand, says the 36-year-old, is that what surrounds the skeleton is of more importance than the skeleton itself. Think of your bones simply as spaces. It is by working on the fascia, the silvery stuff you see in raw steak - which is what surrounds your bones, surrounds everything - that the way you move, the way you feel, can be profoundly changed. The Rolf Method of Structural Integration, to give it its full name, is a physical therapy that realigns your structure. Collins explains, "If you have everything stacked correctly then energy - the main force is gravity - can flow more easily, enabling you to move with grace and with less pain." Most people initially come with back or neckache and/or postural problems, but it can have an impact on conditions ranging from headaches to the digestion; everything, in the Rolfing world, begins and ends with structure. It was developed by Dr Ida Rolf, a physicist, in the 1930s when she applied the principles of physics and maths to the body. The focus is on the fascia, the connective tissue that surrounds the bones, ligaments, joints and tendons. Fascia has very elastic, plastic properties, so it can stretch and distort, but it's the stuff that pulls you together, that makes you you. The experience of being Rolfed is like an incredibly intense, more internal-seeming massage, in which your flesh feels somehow "rolled out" by the practitioner. Who's a believer? Collins sees top athletes and dancers who need to maintain peak physical performance. From £90 an hour; thepolishedonion.com