Thomas Walker
Certified Advanced Rolfer®
Certified Rolf Movement® Practitioner
Faculty, Rolf Institute of Structural Integration®
RCST - Registered Craniosacral Therapist
As an athlete and coach, Thomas Walker embraces a life of movement, and yet, it is in stillness that his healing practice is realized. Thomas's therapeutic approach actually relies on the body’s innate ability to heal itself. His methods are quiet and gentle – allowing him to feel how the body is expressing disorder. In this way he has helped countless people recover from acute injuries, aches & pains, nervous system dysregulation, concussion and traumatic brain injury, and more. Resolving severe trauma and helping people who thought they’d never be comfortable in their bodies again is particularly rewarding for Tom, whose motto is:
"Trauma is a fact of life, but it doesn’t have to be a life sentence."
Peter Levine
Thomas’s personal journey with manual therapy began in the early 1980s after back surgery helped him walk again but failed to address the crippling pain he was experiencing. Rolfing® relieved this persistent pain, which Tom learned was actually the result of old football injuries and subsequent compensations. This new perspective revived his interest in the human body and movement, eventually leading him to become an advanced Rolfing clinician and then an instructor at the Rolf Institute® for 18 years. In 1992 Thomas turned toward Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy – an approach that allows him to achieve the results of Rolfing, but with a softer touch.
Thomas has spent the last 32 years blending these two practices into one comprehensive healing modality. Rolfing training informs his functional awareness, so he can easily recognize how & why a body is presenting its disorder. But it is his deepened understanding of Biodynamics and Craniosacral therapy that allows Thomas to realize whole-body healing – not just physical relief from trauma, but also the autonomic nervous system’s response to it.
Through Listening Hands Seminars, Thomas has been instructing advanced manual therapy students since 2008. Teaching them how to more easily help the body rediscover its inherent grace, order and freedom of movement is his most rewarding work. Many students have said that experiencing his healing methods with his hands on their hands is truly life-changing.
A Native Coloradan, Thomas has spent most of his life in the mountains. He now lives in the Steamboat Springs area where he regularly pursues his passions of biking, skiing, rafting and hiking. Thomas has worked with Olympic medalists in track and field, skiing, and hockey, as well as other world class athletes.
Listen to Episode 22: Thomas Walker – Rolfing, Biodynamics, and the Quest For Greater Fluidity. Here Thomas talks about his journey to incorporate a biodynamic understanding of embodiment and treatment into the Rolfing model.