The Craniosacral Podcast: Recent Episodes
Ryan Hallford
This podcast addresses the professional and personal concerns of the craniosacral therapist via interviews with teachers and practitioners of craniosacral therapy and related fields from across the globe.
For the final episode of this podcast, Michael Shea returns to discuss his latest book The Biodynamics of the Immune System: Balancing the Energies of the Body with the Cosmos. Michael is a resident of Florida, and continues to teach in multiple locations across Europe. Focal points for this discussion are metabolic disease, related physiologic function, and the capacity for biodynamic work to shift metabolic health.
www.sheaheart.com
Amazon link to Michael's book.
In this episode Karyn Quraishy talks about craniosacral therapy and the immune system. Karyn has been administering CST in a clinical environment since 2002, and is an approved instructor for the Upledger Institute. She has extensive experience working in the neonatal intensive care environment, and also operates a private practice in Honeoye Falls, NY, dedicated to Craniosacral Therapy.
email contact: karynqur@gmail.com
www.upledger.com
Sally Fryer Dietz is an Upledger Diplomat Craniosacral Therapist and founder of Integrative Pediatric Therapy clinic in Dallas, TX. In this episode she talks with Ryan Hallford about The Dolphin Assisted Therapy program offered by The Upledger Institute.
More information about The Upledger Institute: www.upledger.com
Sally's Dallas clinic: Integrative Pediatric Therapy
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
In this episode Ryan Hallford talks with Meaghan Beames about infant craniosacral therapy. Meaghan works and teaches in Toronto, Canada. She shares with listeners her educational history, process of setting up an infant clinical practice, and current developments at her craniosacral training school. Meaghan is a delightful practitioner and teacher, with a passion for working with infants. Enjoy this fun interview!
School website : www.beamescst.com
Toronto clilnic: www.mybabycst.com
In this episode Scott Zamurut helps us better understand Dr. Rollin Becker's historical context in manual Osteopathy and his foundational intellectual contributions to biodynamic theory and practice. He elaborates on Becker's history with Dr. William Sutherland and highlights his insights into working with Primary Respiration.
www.scottzamurut.com
Steve Haines has played an important role in the worldwide expansion of biodynamic craniosacral therapy. His work as an author and Co-Director of Body Intelligence has helped create a whole new generation of practitioners. In this interview he talks about his new book "Touch is Really Strange," Tension and Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE,) and shares some thoughts on remote work and distance healing.
www.bodycollege.net
Lori Hendrickson is a craniosacral therapist from the Minneapolis area. Since 2001 she has been helping babies with plagiocephaly, torticollis, acid reflux, inability to form a good latch wile breastfeeding, tongue, lip and buccal tie restrictions and a myriad of other pathologies. She offers online and in-person workshops that elaborate on the techniques she has developed.
Facebook page: www.facebook.com/lorihendricksoncst
Instagram: www.instagram.com/lorihendricksoncst
Ian Wright is a practicing Osteopath and has been teaching Paediatrics and Cranial Osteopathy internationally for over 25 years. Ian’s experience in osteopathy and his love for health and wellbeing has led him to develop the Dynamics of Stillness methodology. Ian has taught Dynamics of Stillness courses for over 10 years to people from all walks of life.
www.dynamicsofstillness.com
Practice site: www.clonmelosteopaths.ie
Mindy Totten is a craniosacral therapist with a passion for helping other bodyworkers build sustainable and life-affirming businesses. She studied craniosacral work with the Upledger Institute and currently maintains a private clinical practice. Additionally, she helps bodyworkers build full and thriving practices through a variety of group and individual training programs.
Mindy's Site : www.mindytotten.com
Check out Mindy's podcast Do It with Intention
Ellen Groesser has broad professional experience in both business and therapeutics. She holds a MSc degree in biology, and has worked in business and marketing management. She eventually landed in the field of Naturopathy and craniosacral therapy. She is on the Master Therapist list for the German Craniosacral Association, where she served as a board member. She teaches craniosacral work in Germany and other European countries like Ukraine, Russia, Switzerland, and Austria. Since 2015 she has organized and moderated the annual European Craniosacral Association Network (ECSAN) meetings in Europe. The European network was founded to increase recognition of Craniosacral Therapy, to support therapists in Europe, and to set craniosacral training standards for member nations.
Ellen's home site: www.biostillness.com
Ellen's YouTube page.
A list of Heidemarie Haller's research work, including some studies involving craniosacral therapy can be found here.
Liza Borodkin has studied craniosacral work with Franklyn Sills, Mike Boxhall, and other prominent figures in the field. She has also trained in yoga, Vipassana and Transcendental Meditation, and has extensive experience with the Feldenkrais Method and Alexander Technique. As a world traveler, her practice has naturally evolved to a point where the majority of her therapeutic work is now done remotely. In this interview she talks about her history with craniosacral biodynamics and how she has adapted its principles for therapeutic interactions that do not involve physical touch.
Liza is interviewed by Dawn Sofia, a craniosacral practitioner from New York City.
www.sacredrecreation.com
liza@sacredrecreation.com
For this episode we take a closer look at the prana vayus, the currents of vital force spoken about in the yogic and ayurvedic traditions. Yoga teachers Cator Shachoy and Christian Current explore areas of overlap with primary respiration and craniosacral practice.
Cator Shachoy: www.youthyogadharma.org/catorshachoy
Christian Current: www.christianmichaelcurrent.com
Etienne Peirsman returns to the podcast to share more about his 30 year history in the field of craniosacral therapy and his approach to teaching. Etienne heads the Peirsman Craniosacral Academy, which has outlets in Europe and the United States. In this interview he discusses many topics relevant to cranial work, emphasizing the importance of being in an instinctual and sensual "no mind" space while employing craniosacral-style touch.
www.peirsmancraniosacral.com
Sophie Rieu is a biodynamic practitioner who lives and practices in Ireland. Her blog "My Cranio Sacral Life" details her personal and professional experiences through the lens of biodynamic cranial work. Sophie's writing is intimate, poetic, and informative. In this interview she discusses a wide range of topics including how biodynamic theory and practice have changed her life.
Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/sophierieucreates
SOPHIECRANIOSACRALBIODYNAMICS@GMAIL.COM
Jennifer Song, a founding member of the Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy Association of North America, joins us to talk about the 2020 Virtual Breath of Life Conference. The conference is a creative response to the Covid-19 outbreak, and is a great opportunity to connect with some of the leading teachers in the global craniosacral community.
More info:
https://www.craniosacraltherapy.org/2020-conference
Tai CK is a Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapist who centers LGBTQ and POC communities in her work. She is a young activist and passionate craniosacral therapist who sees individual bodily systems as inseparable from collective systems of trauma, fulcrums, and healing. She lives and practices in New York City.
www.craniowithtai.com
Tai's podcast (google link)
Love and Rage: The Path of Liberation through Anger
White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide
My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies
Frances Reed is the founder of Freed Bodyworks, a body-positive and queer-focused holistic wellness center in Washington DC. Frances has been specializing in transition-related bodywork for gender non-conforming people for almost a decade and has recently launched HealthyBinding.com to promote healthy binding practices to transmasculine individuals and health providers. Frances teaches courses for a variety of holistic providers to become more knowledgeable in cultural competency in order to work with trans clients as affirmatively and knowledgeably as possible.
You can learn more about Frances and their professional offerings here:
www.freedbodyworks.com/frances
www.healthybinding.com
An enjoyable Illustrated overview of Gender:
https://thegenderbook.com/the-pages
Washington Post article about Frances' work.
Susan Raffo practices craniosacral therapy in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She has studied with Hugh Milne, The Upledger Institute, and Body Intelligence. While cranial work is her primary modality for individual healing work, she largely sees the world through the lens of social justice. Of special interest to her is the exploration of where systems of power and oppression are held in the tissues of the body. She also facilitates groups and organizations in matters of conflict support and cultural change, and is passionate about healing justice for all people of color. In this episode I ask Susan to share with us some of her perspective on what is happening on the ground in Minneapolis through her cultural lens. We also discuss the importance of taking a closer look at the roots of Osteopathy with a more sensitive and honest evaluation of the role of indigenous spirit in its birth.
Susan's Resource Page for this Interview
White Fragility: Why It's So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism
Safa Boga is back on the podcast to share what's she's learned about building a rewarding, potent, and authentic healing practice. She talks about the importance of knowing who you are, being transparent with clients, and focusing your energy to be a powerful agent of change. She also shares her perspective on evaluating new clients to determine if they are a good fit for your particular style of practice.
www.kimiyahealing.co.uk
My previous interview with Safa: Episode 117
Liz Hartshorn practices Biodynamics, massage therapy, and Somatic Experiencing in New York City. She is also a recognized teacher of The Realization Process. In this interview she'll tell us about her history in healing work and elaborate on why she finds Judith Blackstone's Realization Process such a powerful tool for self-development and client care.
www.lizhartshorn.com
Hear a sample of The Realization Process in Episode 127.
www.realizationprocess.org
Michael Shea is back on the podcast ... to talk about life during the pandemic and share some thoughts about spirituality, death, humor, and distance healing.
www.sheaheart.com
This episode is a live recording of Ryan Hallford leading a group through a simple Tonglen exercise, a meditative practice for transforming the suffering of oneself and others.
Charles Ridley takes us through a meditation on three potent areas of the midline ... the head, the heart, and the gut.
www.dynamicstillness.com
Brigit Viksnins takes us through an examination of shadow archetypes that may be limiting our success in business.
www.alchemicalalignment.com
A spontaneous talk and meditation about isolation, perception, and non-doing in the time of pandemic ... recorded in the Australian bush.
Read more about Andy here.
These meditations are live recordings of Etienne Peirsman in the classroom in March, 2020. He touches on the topics of safety, midline, and the fluctuating relationship between mind and body.
First meditation 2:00 – 16:00
Second meditation 16:00 – 30:00
www.peirsmancraniosacral.com
Learn more about Etienne in Episode 88.
Ged Sumner, founder of Body Intelligence Trainings and co-author of the book Cranial Intelligence: A Practical Guide to Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy walks us through awareness of the cardiovascular system and bone marrow.
More of Ged's awareness exercises are available here.
Meditation on the CV system: 2:10 - 17:40
Meditation on bone marrow: 18:20 - 30:00
In this meditation Hugh Milne, the author of The Heart of Listening: A Visionary Approach to Craniosacral Work takes us on a journey through the energy centers of the heart.
www.milneinstitute.com
Andy Pike connects us with our senses and then offers his interpretation of Rupert Spira's poem "I AM," pointing us towards non-dual awareness of THIS.
More info about Rupert Spira available here.
For today's meditation, Ryan Hallford leads us through a simple practice of settling into natural awareness and accepting the healing influence of primary respiration on the nervous system. This is a slow and spacious exploration of our sensory experience.
In this collection of talks, Brigit Viksnins walks us through practices for accessing safety and building resiliency. Brigit is the creator of the professional training Alchemical Alignment: Bodywork for Trauma Resolution and Embodiment of Spirit
1st meditation 2:25-17:30
2nd meditation 17:45-38:00
3rd meditation 38:20-57:15
4th segment 57:30-end
www.alchemicalalignment.com
In today's meditation Michael Shea leads us through a practice to soften the hands. Rigidity in the hands prevents us from accurately feeling the subtleties of cranial respiration, so this is a great exercise for both new and experienced practitioners.
www.sheaheart.com
Today's audio is a live recording of Margaret Rosenau taking us through a practice to find natural fulcrums in the tissue field of the midline.
www.schoolofinnerhealth.org
Liz Hartshorn is a Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapist, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, and authorized teacher of Judith Blackstone's Realization Process. The meditation in this episode is designed to attune our awareness to "fundamental consciousness."
This episode is a studio recording of Jane Shaw leading us into a state of fluid perception ... within which we may notice rhythms, stillness, and the relationship between these two omnipresent phenomena.
www.janeshaw.co.uk
The focus for this podcast during the month of March will be meditation. In this episode Ryan gives a brief introduction to this collective effort which will include audio meditations from many different craniosacral teachers.
Intro music: "Mercy" by Ben Kyle
www.benkyle.com
Jane Shaw maintains a biodynamic craniosacral therapy practice in Northern Ireland. She gives lectures, writes, and teaches on mind-body medicine practices internationally, facilitating courses that support both recovery and resilience, and empowered self-expression and leadership for individuals and corporates.
Her teaching approach is one of embodied presence, compassion, and deep listening, using principles of biodynamic craniosacral therapy, Jungian psychology, neurobiology, and dream analysis. She bridges the latest developments in neuroscience and new medicine with lessons from indigenous ancient healing arts, while always learning from the natural world and its ability to heal and be healed.
She holds Masters degrees in Economics and Jungian Psychology, and is a Co-Founder of the Elmfield Institute, a wellness facility offering programs in personal and professional development.
www.janeshaw.co.uk
www.elmfieldinstitute.com
Annie came to the holistic health field via an unlikely route… she started out as a Biologist and then a Lawyer, before starting a family and deciding that she wanted a gentler and more fundamentally fulfilling career. A stubborn rugby injury that didn’t improve with extensive physiotherapy led her to discover the wonders of craniosacral therapy and begin training in the modality in 2009. She now runs a clinical practice and mentors new therapists.
www.melbournecraniosacral.com
Andy Pike is a registered physiotherapist, yoga therapist, and Senior Tutor for Body Intelligence Trainings. In this episode he discusses the subtle ways in which craniosacral practitioners interfere with the full expression of health in a clinical setting. Andy offers post-graduate classes that elaborate on the themes presented in this interview. He is based out of Queensland, Australia.
www.barefootcranio.com
Read an excerpt of Andy's writing here.
This episode is a recording of Margaret Rosenau of The School of Inner Health in Denver, Colorado speaking about fluids, potency, activation, and health at the 2018 Breath of Life Conference.
www.schoolofinnerhealth.org
Hear more from Margaret in her first interview for the podcast, Episode 81.
In this live-teaching episode Ryan Hallford talks about six effects of the Breath of Life and Primary Respiration: clarity, openness, warmth, longing, simplicity, and courage. The inspiration for this talk comes from Chapter 16 of Volume 1 of Michael Shea's Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy Series.
Cherionna Menzam-Sills has released audio recordings of the meditations and perceptual exercises in her book "The Breath of Life: An Introduction to Craniosacral Biodynamics" This episode includes a sample meditation entitled "Finding Sensations in the Body."
Click here to preview and download the audio tracks.
Hear Cherionna talk about the process of writing her book in Episode 79.
Simon Gosling has been in the field of Craniosacral Biodynamics since the 1990's. As the personal assistant to Franklyn Sills in the early days of the Karuna Institute, he witnessed its infancy and now supports the maturation of biodynamic work in numerous countries across the globe. In this interview Simon talks about his history in the field of craniosacral therapy and shares a few things he has learned about teaching and clinical practice.
Safa Boga is a craniosacral therapist working in the U.K. A graduate of the College of Craniosacral Therapy in London, she has also studied yoga, meditation, and several forms of counseling. In this interview she talks about her transition from the business world into the realm of the healing arts and shares with listeners her approach to professional clinical practice.
www.kimiyahealing.co.uk
In this episode Clara Favale and Shannon Dailey from Stillpoint CST join us from New York City to talk about the history and growth of their Biodynamic training school. Stillpoint CST has been supported by Franklyn Sills since its inception, and offers trainings by other notable figures in the craniosacral world.
www.stillpointcst.com
Dr. Diana Driscoll, OD discusses her experience of suffering from Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) and how she found key ways to heal these problems. She is the President of Genetic Disease Investigators and Clinical Director of the POTS Care Clinic in Colleyville, Texas. Dr. Driscoll holds two patents for her supplement ParaSym Plus, which supports acetylcholine production in the vagus nerve.
Dr. Driscoll's clinical site: www.potscare.com
Click here to learn more about ParaSym Plus.
Use coupon code "craniosacral" to save 10%
Robyn Scherr joins Ryan to discuss her recent book "Elements of a Successful Therapeutic Business," which she co-authored with previous podcast guest Kate Mackinnon. Their book assists the reader in developing a business that enhances the quality of one's life ... through personal exploration and the installment of best business practices for private therapists. This is an incredibly helpful resource for individuals working on building or fine-tuning their craniosacral clinical practice.
Robyn's site: www.ivinginthebody.net
www.touchmatters.net
Michael Shea joins us again to discuss the many roles of the vagus nerve in regulating our sense of internal and external safety. In this interview he reviews the information he compiled for his Multivagal Safety System instructional poster, which outlines the anatomical pathway and physiological actions of the vagus nerve.
You can view the poster here and order a printed copy here.
View a written guide to the poster here.
www.sheaheart.com
Dr. Lisa Upledger shares some memories from her early days at the Upledger Institute and discusses her current educational offerings and clinical work at the Upledger Center for Integrative Therapy in Jupiter, Florida.
www.lisaupledger.com
Dr. Shawn Centers, D.O. presents on Cranial Osteopathy at the 2019 AutismOne Conference. In his talk he discusses the modern medicalization of birth and the role of manual manipulation in alleviating the forces of stress introduced into the body during the birth process.
Dr. Center's web site:
www.shawcentersdo.com
AutismOne:
www.autismone.org
This is part II of live audio clips from Ken Dipersio’s Biodynamic Craniosacral Module 4 training recently held in Florida. This class examined the experience of the embryo through the first two weeks post-conception, and included a significant amount of multi-hands work in the ocean.
Audio highlights include meditations, commentary from Ken, and first-hand accounts of student experiences.
Ken’s Website: http://kjdtherapy.com/
Learn more about Ken: Episode 35
More on Ken’s approach to working in the ocean:
Episode 95
Episode 96
This episode includes live audio clips from Ken Dipersio’s Biodynamic Craniosacral Module 4 training recently held in Florida. This class examined the experience of the embryo through the first two weeks post-conception, and included a significant amount of multi-hands work in the ocean.
Audio includes meditations and commentary from Ken, along with first-hand accounts of student experiences.
Ken’s Website: http://kjdtherapy.com/
Learn more about Ken: Episode 35
More on Ken’s approach to working in the ocean:
Episode 95
Episode 96
Tad Wanveer has been practicing and teaching with the Upledger Institute for several decades, having worked closely with Dr. John Upledger himself. In this episode Tad sheds light on the complex role of glial cells in the body. Tad is a recognized authority on the topic of glia, and he has brought this knowledge to the clinical application of CST.
Tad’s book Brain Stars: Glia Illuminating Craniosacral Therapy is a heavily-illustrated exploration into our current understanding of the many functions of glial cells and how craniosacral therapy supports their free expression of health. It is available exclusively through the Upledger Institute bookstore:
Upledger American Bookstore
Upledger UK Bookstore
Join me on a “field trip” to help a horse with a skull fracture. Shea Stewart takes us with her to the stables to experience what it is like to work with horses and their owners.
Shea’s website: www.equinebalance.net
Episode 54
Steve Haines has played an important role in the worldwide expansion of biodynamic craniosacral therapy. His work as an author and Co-Director of Body Intelligence has helped create a whole new generation of practitioners. In this interview he talks about his perspective of the cranial world ... through the eyes of a "passionate materialist."
www.bodycollege.net
www.stevehaines.net
Mike Boxhall passed away on April 10, 2019, leaving behind a worldwide cohort of adoring students. His powerful presence and trust in the intelligence of creation inspired many to find new depths of freedom within themselves. He was a fervent champion of the heart and cautious critic of the intellect, encouraging all of us in the therapeutic arts to trust the feminine principle and inherent knowing that is found in the body.
This episode features three selections from Mike's audiobook "The Empty Chair: The Teaching, not the T-Shirt." Included amongst these is a brief biography.
The complete audiobook is available for purchase here:
https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/mikeboxhall
Mike's website:
http://www.stillness.co.uk
Previous interviews with Mike:
Episode 32
Episode 53
Rose Khalsa has been teaching internationally for over 40 years, and is the current Director for the Polarity Center in the northeastern United States. Her healing work and teaching includes polarity therapy, craniosacral work, spiritual counseling and shamanic healing. Native American (Ojibway), Celtic and Tibetan Buddhism are integrated into Rose’s life and work and are shared as part of her medicine.
Rose is also a Doula and supports women using her healing work and 45 years of yogic practice and knowledge. She has studied with Rosalyn Bruyere, Sandra Ingerman, Michael Harner, Tom Cowan, and spent years studying with Tibetan shamans in Nepal. Rose’s present teacher is Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rimpoche, from the Bon tradition.
Rose’s website: www.polaritycenter.org
Brian Tierney, PhD returns to the podcast with a live lecture on the many facets of the limbic system. Brian combines neuroanatomy and physiology with psychology and mythology to shine light on the workings of the inner brain.
Brian holds a PhD in Somatic Psychology and is an international trainer of somatic practitioners in the tradition of Craniosacral Therapy. His doctoral project wove together somatics from a Craniosacral perspective, the anthropology of ritual, mythological studies, and structural approaches to the human psyche including psychobiological theories of human spirituality.
www.somaticdoctor.com
somaticdoctor@gmail.com
www.bodyintelligence.com
Episode 77 with Brian
John Chitty (1949-2019) continues to be one of the most influential people in the world of Biodynamics, Polarity Therapy, and Pre and Perinatal Healing. Along with his wife Anna he influenced a whole generation of practitioners and teachers of the healing arts. In this archival recording from 2014, John recounts some highlights of how his life and work unfolded.
Colorado School of Energy Studies:
www.energyschool.com/about
Episode 2 with John talking about working with babies.
Episode 3 -Autonomic Nervous System First Aid with John
The Digital Dr. Stone:
http://www.digitaldrstone.org/
Alison Hazelbaker has been a therapist for nearly 30 years. She is a certified Craniosacral Therapist, a Lymph Drainage Therapy practitioner, a Rhythmic Movement Training educator, a certified NOMAS assessor and an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. Her original research on tongue-tie, done in 1993, has changed clinical practice both in the USA and abroad. In today’s episode she discusses faux tongue-ties.
Dr. Hazelbaker’s Home Page:
www.alisonhazelbaker.com
Ryan wraps up 100 episodes of the podcast and makes a call for listener participation.
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
ryan@craniosacralpodcast.com
Michael Dunning contributes to the podcast again with some thoughts on birth ignition.
Michael's site:
www.yewmysteries.com
Michael teaching on Heart Ignition in episode 78:
www.craniosacralpodcast.com/episode-78/
Michael teaching on Biodynamic Ignition in episode 60:
www.craniosacralpodcast.com/episode_60/
Our previous interviews:
www.craniosacralpodcast.com/episode-44/
www.craniosacralpodcast.com/episode-50/
yewshaman@gmail.com
Marianne D’Amore has been practicing her dynamic blend of acupuncture, nutritional counseling, chiropractic, meditation, yoga and Tai Qi for more than 30 years in Newport Beach, California. Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy brings the dimensions of wholeness, resonance, stillness and vitality to her practice in one complete package. Her philosophical foundation is based on the principle that the life force will find its optimal state of well being and will move towards a deepening of vitality as its natural rhythmic powers are supported and the constrictions of trauma are softened and reduced.
Marianne's Practice Site:
www.damorehealing.com
Donna Jo's radio show:
www.TheMorningBreeze.org
Hildegard von Bingen Wikipedia page
Dr. Susan Lange, OMD, L.Ac and Mary Louise Muller, M.Ed., RCST, RPP have teamed up to help you "open up your heart by opening up your face." Natural Facial Rejuvenation combines the gentleness of Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy with the laser-like focus of Facial Acupressure as well as the latest research on brain science, social engagement, head trauma, and attachment issues. In this episode Susan and Mary Louise give us an introduction to how they have learned to utilize the face as a gateway into deeper health and happiness.
Interview about Shen with Giovanni Maciocia.
www.rejuvenatemyface.com
Pacific Distributing:
www.booksandbones.com
In this episode we will hear a continuation of live audio of Ken DiPersio teaching in Florida about his evolving model of multi-hands biodynamic work in the ocean. Included are some lectures on biodynamics, embryology, and a meditation on our journey from egg to implantation.
Ken's Website:
http://www.kjdtherapy.com
learn more about Ken in:
Episode 35
Ken DiPersio was an early student and teacher for the Upledger Institute. He eventually went on to study Biodynamics with Michael Shea. In this episode we will hear live audio of Ken teaching in Florida about his evolving model of multi-hands biodynamic work in the ocean. Included are some lectures about biodynamics and a meditation recorded at the beach.
Ken's website:
www.kjdtherapy.com
Learn more about Ken in:
Episode 35
Enjoy this compilation of Ryan Hallford visiting with a few presenters and attendees at the 2018 Breath of Life Conference. Featured guests include Kate White, Brigit Viksnins, Cator Shachoy, Shelby Rugg, and Kimberly Clark.
BCTA/NA website:
www.craniosacraltherapy.org
Kate White:
www.belvederearts.com/about-kate.html
Brigit Viksnins:
http://www.alchemicalalignment.com/
Kimberly Clark:
http://bodyworkmaine.com/
Enjoy this compilation of Ryan Hallford visiting with members of the Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy Association of North America's Board of Directors and Administration. Featured guests include Robyn Michele Jones, Jennifer Corlett, Lucie Mitchell, and Pam Hower.
BCTA/NA website:
https://www.craniosacraltherapy.org/
James Foulkes synthesizes craniosacral therapy, yoga therapy, martial arts and more to help people find new and healthier experiences of embodiment. He has studied CST with the Upledger Institute, Milne Institute, Roger Gilchrist, and others. James is the author of the book Principles and Themes in Yoga Therapy. In this interview from the Breath of Life conference he discusses his many areas of interests and how they relate to craniosacral therapy.
James' website:
http://www.jamesfoulkes.com
Roger Gilchrist teaches energy medicine internationally, specializing in Polarity Therapy and Craniosacral Biodynamics. He has been teaching Polarity Therapy since 1982 and is an approved teacher with the Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy Association. He studied Craniosacral Biodynamics with Franklyn Sills, and is the author of the book Craniosacral Therapy and the Energetic Body, a forthcoming textbook on Polarity Therapy, and has published many articles on energy medicine.
Roger's website:
www.wellnessinstitute.net
Sharon Desjarlais has been helping to elevate the professional field of craniosacral therapy for several decades. She worked closely with Dr. John Upledger for 15 years to grow The Upledger Institute into the powerful force it is today. Additionally, she has utilized her expertise in marketing, communications, and the prosperity mindset to help many individual therapists shape their private practices into healthy businesses.
In this episode Sharon will talk about her time at the Upledger Institute and share some insights into effectively evaluating our professional fees, including when and how to raise them from existing levels. This discussion is full of valuable material for both new and established practitioners.
Sharon's website:
www.craniosacralsuccess.com
Mimi Ikle Khalsa gives us a preview of the upcoming Breath of Life Conference in Baltimore, Maryland. Mimi is the former president of the Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy Association of North America and currently heads the conference committee. In this episode she outlines the presentations and events planned for the conference. This gathering consistently proves to be a rewarding experience for all involved. Come join us!
BCTA/NA website with conference info:
www.craniosacraltherapy.org
Mimi’s retreat center:
http://www.thejourneyspace.com/
Mimi’s class schedule:
http://www.heartwaveshealing.com/
Etienne Peirsman began teaching craniosacral therapy in 1991, and founded craniosacral institutes in Belgium and the Netherlands. He is also the originator of the Craniosacral Professional Organization in Holland. He currently teaches in New Mexico and Washington, USA.
Etienne is the author of the book "Craniosacral Therapy for Babies and Small Children," published by North Atlantic Books in 2006. His work encompasses the evolution from a biomechanical (Upledger) to a biodynamic approach (Sutherland/Sills). His specialty is the expression of the Heart, the long tide and their connection to meditation and enlightenment. He has said “Drop the word therapy. It is not part of who and what we are. Face it, you are perfect and your heart is perfect”.
Etienne's site:
www.craniomasters.com
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Carol Agneesens began studying Rolfing in 1981, eventually going on to become an instructor at the Rolf Institute. Her subsequent exploration of visceral work, neurophysiology, osteopathic modalities, biodynamics, and embryology form the basis for her craniosacral trainings. She practices in Santa Cruz, California.
Carol's website:
www.holographictouch.com
Fomentek website:
www.fomentek.com
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
W.C Hobbs talks about the secretive world of sexual dysfunction and shares some incredible case studies from her book "Golden Hand Sessions" which highlights thirty years of clinical practice as a counselor and nurse.
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Robyn Michele Jones has been a bodyworker since 1984 and has been practicing CST since 1998. She is an approved teacher of Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy with the BCTA/NA and began officially teaching biodynamic trainings in 2012. In this episode she shares her perspective on the evolutionary imperative of personal integration with a live classroom lecture inspired by Joseph Chilton Pierce's statement "The next stage in human evolution is the integration of the triune brain." Her presentation includes several experiential practices.
Robyn's website:
www.intrinsictouchinstitute.com
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Todd Jackson has studied the Biodynamic approach to cranial work with European osteopaths since 1994. Teaching since 1997, he encourages students with patience, lightheartedness and a generous amount of hands-on guidance. Based out of Portland, Oregon, he also teaches Inner Body Yoga. In this episode his colleague Sarah Hall interviews individuals who have been positively influenced by Todd's teaching and presence.
Todd's website:
www.toddjackson.com
Sarah Hall's website:
www.milkywaywisdom.com
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Todd Jackson has studied the Biodynamic approach to cranial work with European osteopaths since 1994. Teaching since 1997, he encourages students with patience, lightheartedness and a generous amount of hands-on guidance. Based out of Portland, Oregon, he also teaches Inner Body Yoga. In this episode he shares his understanding of Biodynamic work in an interview with his student and colleague Sarah Hall.
Todd's website:
www.toddjackson.com
Sarah Hall's website:
www.milkywaywisdom.com
"Blossoms of Friendship" by Vimala Thakar
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Dr. Kate Klemer has been exploring craniosacral therapy for over 30 years as a student, clinician, and teacher. She is an approved teacher by the Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy association of North America, and is in private practice in Northampton, Massachusetts. In this interview she tells us about her journey through the work, talks about the realities of clinical practice, and touches on many other interesting topics related to craniosacral therapy. A particular area of focus for this conversation is understanding the biochemical process of methylation and how it relates to clinical work.
Kate's homepage:
http://www.drkateklemer.com
2018 North American Breath of Life Conference:
www.craniosacraltherapy.org/2018-breath-of-life-biennial-conference
Margaret Rosenau is an approved teacher for the Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy Association of North America, and has completed trainings in several bodywork modalities including Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy, Somatic Experiencing®, Pre and Perinatal Psychology, and Polarity Therapy. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sculpture from Wesleyan University and a Master’s Degree in Gerontology from the University of Southern California. Margaret has been seeing individual clients in her own private practice since 1997 and is the current owner of the School of Inner Health in Denver, Colorado. In this interview she tells us about her journey through the work and approach to teaching, along with other related topics.
Main site:
www.schoolofinnerhealth.org
Direct link to her blog:
www.schoolofinnerhealth.org/blog-streampage
Heather Smith and Anni Jorgenson have been involved in the expansion of craniosacral therapy in Denmark for several decades. In this episode they talk about the current professional climate in the Danish craniosacral scene, along with their approach to training and clinical practice. Pediatric care is an area of interest for them, so we spend some time discussing working with children.
Institute for Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy website:
www.kstinstituttet.dk/en/about
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Cherionna Menzam-Sills, Ph.D. is certified as a teacher of craniosacral biodynamics with the Biodynamic Craniosacral Association of North America and as a supervisor by the Craniosacral Association of the UK. She has also been authorized as a Continuum teacher by Continuum founder Emilie Conrad. Cherionna incorporates 40 years of experience teaching and practicing various therapies, mindfulness practices, somatic movement, bodywork, psychotherapy and prenatal and birth psychology in her writing and classroom teaching.
In this episode Cherionna tells us about her much anticipated new book "The Breath of Life : An Introduction to Craniosacral Biodynamics."
Purchase options:
http://www.craniosacralpodcast.com/bolbook
Cherionna's site:
http://www.birthingyourlife.org
Upcoming educational site with Franklyn Sills
http://www.resourcingyourlife.org
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Michael Dunning from The Yew Mysteries School contributes to the podcast again with this lecture on biodynamic heart ignition. Michael brings an interesting perspective on the topic by including some esoteric spirituality and lesser-known viewpoints of the role of the heart in human life.
Michael teaching on Biodynamic Ignition in episode 60: http://www.craniosacralpodcast.com/episode_60/
Our previous interviews:
www.craniosacralpodcast.com/episode-44/
www.craniosacralpodcast.com/episode-50/
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Brian Tierney has been one of the most active tutors for Body Intelligence biodynamic trainings. He also recently completed his Ph.D. degree in somatic psychology. In this episode Brian talks about his graduate work in psychology and its marriage to biodynamic craniosacral therapy.
Brian's site:
www.somaticdoctor.com
Email:
somaticdoctor@gmail.com
Robyn Scherr is a diplomat-certified Craniosacral Therapist through the Upledger Institute, certified massage therapist in California, and listener favorite here on The Craniosacral Podcast. In today's episode she discusses the importance of dropping our personal agendas when working with clients, emphasizing the fact that the therapeutic interaction is primarily about the client's experience ... and not our theories or personal preferences.
Robyn's website:
www.livinginthebody.net
Robyn and Kate Mackinnon's article in Massage and Bodywork Magazine:
Broaden your Touch Repertoire
Research Articles:
The Communication of Emotion via Touch, DePauw Univ. and UCB
Effect of Continuous Touch on Brain Functional Connectivity Is Modified by the Operator’s Tactile Attention
University of Cieti-Pescara, Italy. Well done research. Alternates between super science-y stuff and well-written descriptions.
Kate’s recent work on Compassionate Touch with the Jesse Lewis Foundation
Suzanne Scurlock-Durana's previous episodes:
Episode 28 - Full Body Presence
Episode 63 - Reclaiming Your Body
Kate Mackinnon's previous episode:
Episode 21 - From My Hands and Heart
Michelle Emanuel has 20 years experience as a neonatal/pediatric Occupational Therapist, with specific focus on posture, movement and connection for the newborn to precrawling baby. She has a background in neonatal intensive care, pediatric intensive care, cardiac intensive care, as well as craniosacral therapy. In this interview she talks about some of the challenges facing pre-crawling babies and how craniosacral therapy and other approaches may help.
Michelle's main site:
www.tummytimemethod.com
GoldLearning.com sucking dysfunction program
(Check out their many other programs!)
Alison Hazelbaker:
www.alisonhazelbaker.com
Academy of Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy:
www.aomtinfo.org
Cloe Couturier has been working at the Upledger Institute Clinic since 1995, having been invited directly by Dr. John Upledger to practice there. Her personal and professional path through the healing arts have included Osteopathic training in France, Craniosacral therapy with the Upledger Institute, Biodynamics with Bernard Darraillians, and Medical Qigong. In this episode she tells the story of how her desire to heal her son's muscular dystrophy led her down a path of discovery of the many possibilities of manual therapy and energetic healing.
Dr. Cloe's website:
http://cloecouturier.com/
Her Upledger Profile:
https://www.iahp.com/CloeCouturier/
This episode features sample chapters from the audiobook version of Mike Boxhall's "The Empty Chair: the Teaching not the T-shirt"
For decades Mike Boxhall has been conducting workshops that combine the practice of stllness with physical contact and a deep trust in the emergence of creative intelligence. At the request of his students he wrote about his experience of the interface between spiritual practice, craniosacral therapy, and everyday life. "The Empty Chair: the Teaching not the T-shirt" is the result of that effort. This book is a classic in the field of craniosacral therapy. It is a distillation of insight gained from over forty years of exploration into the depth of the human condition, offering us hope and guidance for allowing the emergence of health into our awareness.
Purchase audiobook at:
https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/mikeboxhall
The Empty Chair Teaching Foundation
Mike's training schedule:
http://www.stillness.co.uk
Were Christian monastics such as Saint John of the Cross, Saint Teresa of Avila, and Thomas Merton having a biodynamic experience? In this classroom lecture Ryan Hallford looks more carefully at the embodied sensory experience of some important Christian mystics to find the commonalities between this rich religious tradition and foundational phenomena of biodynamic craniosacral therapy like the Long Tide and Dynamic Stillness.
Check out Episode 47 to hear Ryan elaborate on the fundamentals of biodynamic practice.
Scott Zamurut has been an instrumental figure in the unfolding of Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy in North America since its earliest introduction by Franklyn Sills. In this episode Scott lectures about the origins of pre- and perinatal healing as developed by William Emerson, Karlton Terry, and Franklyn Sills. He also discusses the nature of shock as applicable to the human system, describing four distinct categories; and finally gives a brief overview of the four stages of birth recognized by the pre- and perinatal healing community.
To learn more about Scott's background check out Episode 38.
In Episode 43 Scott discusses how we define biodynamics.
Scott's email: scott.zamurut@me.com
Scott's training offerings at the Santa Fe School of Massage:
Pre and Perinatal Education:
www.santafeschoolofmassage.com/pre-and-perinatal-education
Michael's website:
http://www.sheaheart.com
Ryan's blog with new articles from Michael:
www.blog.cranioschool.com
2018 North Carolina BCVT Training:
www.thethreefoldway.com
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Giorgia Milne joins us today to talk about her journey through the world of Craniosacral Therapy and her fruitful alliance with Charles Ridley.
Giorgia Milne entered the world of CST through the Milne Institute, and eventually felt called to move fully into biodynamics. Her exploration has culminated in Biodynamic Cranial Touch, an approach she now teaches around the world. In this interview, Giorgia talks about her rich history in the field and the "guiding principle" that has kept her tapped into the many gifts that stillness and spontaneity bring.
Giorgia's site: www.touchofpresence.com
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Charles Ridley, the author of "Stillness: Biodynamic Cranial Practice and the Evolution of Consciousness" discusses his influential book and the importance of cultivating a direct sensory experience of the Breath of Life.
www.dynamicstillness.com
Charles' article "The Death of Biodynamics in the Cranial Field"
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Haley Winter, the host of "How's the Pressure?" podcast, interviews Ryan Hallford about craniosacral therapy and his life as a bodywork podcaster. "How's the Pressure?" features interviews with leaders in the field of massage therapy.
www.howsthepressure.com
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Today's episode features live teaching from Dr. Steve Sanet on the topic of Cranial Osteopathy. Dr Sanet is the founder of the Osteopathic Health and Wellness Institute as well as the Osteopathic College of Ontario. He teaches Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine to healthcare professionals from multiple disciplines. He lectures on Osteopathic topics in classrooms all across the world.
Osteopathic Health and Wellness Institute
1000 years of Osteopathy
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Today's episode will be a departure from the norm for this podcast, as our topic will not be directly and solely related to craniosacral work. I have invited biodynamic practitioner Bob Gardner on the show to discuss his struggle with pornography addiction and subsequent work to help liberate other men from its grasp.
Bob's email: bob@liberateaman.com
Bob's site for men seeking help:
www.liberateaman.com
Resourcing pdf download is here.
Bob's wife's site for women:
www.liberateawoman.wordpress.com
My interview with Bob at the 2016 Breath of Life Conference:
Episode 37
Franklyn Sills doesn't need much of an introduction to those familiar with the world of craniosacral therapy. As the founder of the Karuna Institute in England and author of the seminal series "Foundations in Craniosacral Biodynamics," Franklyn's influence permeates the entirety of the world of biodynamics. In today's interview he weaves stories from his childhood, clinical practice, and teaching to help us understand how he put it all together.
The Karuna Institute:
www.karuna-institute.co.uk
Whole Being Films:
www.wholebeingfilms.com
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Suzanne Scurlock-Durana has been educating craniosacral therapists about effective clinical work and the importance of self-care for over 30 years. In this episode she talks about her latest book, the recent passing of John Mathew Upledger, the business side of her work, and many other topics.
Suzanne's website:
www.healingfromthecore.com
1440 Multiversity in Santa Cruz
CST Business episodes with Robyn Scherr:
Episode 19 and Episode 33.
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Kate White is one of the most well-connected people I have yet to meet in the fields of Biodynamics and Prenatal and Perinatal Health. Today she tells us about her journey of personal and professional discovery through these worlds, and sheds light on her work with APPPAH, The Association for Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health.
www.birthpsychology.com
Link to the Prenatal and Perinatal Educator Certificate program.
20% Discount code = PPNE-CANDR
To apply for free student membership to APPPAH, click here.
www.ppncenter.com
http://www.belvederearts.com
Brigit Viksnins interview: Episode 29
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
In this episode Michael Morgan shares his experience and research findings for the application of craniosacral therapy to Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Michael is an instructor for the Upledger Institute and author of the book “The BodyEnergy Longevity Prescription: How Craniosacral Therapy Helps Prevent Alzheimer’s and Dementia While Improving the Quality of Your Life.” In the interview Michael sheds light on the causes of dementia and how craniosacral therapy may ameliorate its effects and possibly stop its progression.
Michael's main page with products, videos and information:
www.preventingalzheimers.com
Find Michael's Upledger Courses here.
Michael's email:
mailto:michaelm@bodyenergy.net
This episode features Michael Dunning teaching about biodynamic ignition in a live classroom setting. In this introduction to the topic he incorporates traditional biodynamic references along with spiritual and poetic accents. Michael has been one of the most popular guests on the podcast to date, undoubtedly due to his passion for the work and eye for nuance.
His site:
www.yewmysteries.com
Our previous interviews:
www.craniosacralpodcast.com/episode-44
www.craniosacralpodcast.com/episode-50
Ryan's site:
www.cranioschool.com
Today's episode is a sample clip of the workshop given by Dr. McCraty at the 2017 Breath of Life Conference. The topic of the talk is Heart Rate Variability. Dr. McCraty discusses HRV, its diagnostic and predictive capabilities, relationship to the autonomic nervous system, clinical measurement, and other topics.
www.heartmath.org
The complete talk is available for purchase in video form at:
Whole Being Films.
Hugh Milne and Ryan Hallford sit down at the 2017 Breath of Life conference to discuss Visionary Craniosacral Work and the roots of Osteopathy.
Hugh is a third-generation Osteopath and author of "The Heart of Listening", a seminal book in the field of Craniosacral therapy. He is widely considered one of the most influential teachers in the field of craniosacral therapy today.
https://milneinstitute.com/" target="_blank">www.milneinstitute.com
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Breath of Life Conference, London, 2017
Intro Music:
TobyMac
"Like a Match"
from the album "This is Not a Test."
Please use this link for Whole Being Films
Coupon Code "Ryan20" will get you 20% off most items.
Handspring Publishing:
www.handspringpublishing.com
Bhadrena Tschumi:
www.icsb.ch/en/ueber-uns/team
Maderu Pincione:
maderu@craniosacrale.it
Dany Yariv's website
Michael Kern:
www.cranio.co.uk
Jane Shaw:
www.janeeshaw.com
www.cranioschool.com
Katherine Ukleja has been teaching craniosacral therapy in locations all around the world for over 20 years. She is particularly experienced in the biodynamic model, having enjoyed a close and ongoing relationship with Franklyn Sills. I had the good fortune to sit down with Katherine for a nice chat after the 2017 Breath of Life Conference. In this interview she discusses her history with the work, current interests, personal challenges, clinical skills, and much more.
This is an inspiring interview with a very lovely and important lady in our community. Enjoy!
Katherine's homepage:
www.katherineukleja.co.uk
You can buy a copy of Katherine and Cherionna Menzam-Sill's presentation from the Breath of Life conference at Whole Being Films.
Use coupon code "Ryan20" for 20% off many items in the store.
Dr. Mervyn Waldman is an Osteopath currently residing and practicing in Israel. A 1974 graduate of the British College of Osteopathic Medicine, he taught Principles & Practice of Classical Osteopathy at the European School of Osteopathy from 1976-1990. He is currently the president of the Institute of Classical Osteopathy.
In this episode Dr. Waldman talks about the application of Osteopathic technique in the treatment of serious diseases, and calls for a revival of interest and study in this aspect of Osteopathic care.
Original video:
https://youtu.be/GZrjxb7ie8M
Check out the Institute of Classical Osteopathy for more learning resources:
http://classical-osteopathy.org/
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Shea Stewart is a sought-after equine craniosacral therapist and saddle-fitter based out of Colleyville, Texas. In this interview Ryan and Shea discuss many aspects of both human and equine craniosacral therapy.
Shea's website:
www.equinebalance.net
Mike Boxhall training:
www.stillness.co.uk
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Mike Boxhall returns to The Craniosacral Podcast for a lengthy and spacious interview covering many aspects of therapy and consciousness. With 45 years of experience in the field of therapy, Mike brings warmth, insight, and a welcome simplicity to the topic of craniosacral therapy.
A few of the subjects addressed: the nature of emptiness, therapeutic safety, the tricky business of enlightenment, the divine feminine, death, fear, managing empathic experience, learning from babies, the value of silence, and the nature of spirit.
More about Mike and his class offerings can be found here:
www.stillness.co.uk
Christian Current returns to the podcast to share his perspective on the Inherent Healing Process and other biodynamic concepts. This is a live recording of Christian presenting in a Craniosacral Resource Center training. www.cranioschool.com
Christian's Website:
http://christianmichaelcurrent.com
Scott Zamurut discusses the biodynamic treatment process and corresponding practitioner mindset. This is a condensation of ideas from a previous interview he did for this podcast.
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Michael Dunning returns to the podcast to share more of his perspective on biodynamic practice and the spiritual life. In this interview he talks about his experience of geographic influences on Tidal expression and growing understanding of Zone C as the realm of eternity. We also discuss keeping the fluid body healthy, breaking perceptual habits, and much more.
www.yewmysteries.com
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Matthew Appleton discusses factors that influence babies' experience of birth and how to effectively recognize and meet the challenges that arise out of those factors.
Matthew is the co-founder and director of Conscious Embodiment Trainings. He was also co-founder of the Institute of Craniosacral Studies and a co-director and senior teacher with the Institute for 12 years. Matthew is a registered Craniosacral Therapist and psychotherapist living and working in Bristol. He trained in Body Psychotherapy at the Wilhelm Reich Institute of Integrated Therapy in Germany and in Core Process Psychotherapist at the Karuna Institute in Devon.
He further trained in Pre and Perinatal Education with Karlton Terry in Switzerland and has assisted Karlton in the UK. He is a senior co-teacher with the Institute of Pre and Perinatal Education and a member of the International Society of Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Medicine. For ten years he worked as a houseparent at A. S. Neill’s famous democratic school Summerhill and his book ‘A Free Range Childhood’ based on his experiences at Summerhill has been published in several languages. He has more than 20 years experience of lecturing and facilitating workshops in the UK, Europe, South Africa and America. As well as his more formal trainings, Matthew’s work is also informed by his work with a number of Buddhist and Shamanic teachers. He has spent many years visiting sacred sites, encountering wilderness and working in the Celtic shamanic tradition.
http://www.conscious-embodiment.co.uk/home
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Michael Shea shares some insights into his personal life and talks about his upcoming book on metabolic syndrome and growing understanding of the application of biodynamic therapy to cardiovascular health issues.
www.sheaheart.com
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Today's episode features live footage of Ryan teaching a basic course in biodynamic craniosacral therapy, including meditation, lecture, and a classroom demo.
www.cranioschool.com
Music for this episode by Kevin Blagg:
Solo work as Cellophane Garden on Drawing Room Records.
iTunes page for his collaborative project Express Rising is here.
In 2009 Ged Sumner and Steve Haines published "Cranial Intelligence," a concise text on Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy that promised to de-mystify the work. Both their book and approach to teaching have subsequently garnered a large following world-wide. In this interview we get to know Ged as he discusses how Body Intelligence trainings are structured and conducted, and how he sees the work evolving.
www.bodyintelligence.com
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
"Every Body Tells a Story" describes a unique journey through ten bodywork sessions from the standpoints of a fictional client 'Anna', and her therapist, 'Sarah.' The authors take you behind the scenes to witness the client's voyage of discovery, and how the encounter appears to her therapist during the course of treatment. The book shows how the perspectives of both participants develop and widen through their shared experiences and examines the ups and downs of the therapeutic relationship. Boundary, transference and trust issues are explored as Liz and Daška share their own experiences of more than 40 years in practice and examples from myth and legend help to place the work in a wider context.
Liz and Daska's website:
www.jointpractice.co.uk
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
During the late 1980’s Michael became extremely ill as a result of an encounter in the far north of Scotland with a powerful elemental being. Several years later and close to death, he was led to an ancient female yew tree in the south of Scotland. Michael spent over nine years under this yew where he was healed and where he was given the template for a spiritual teaching and shamanic healing practice (Yewshamanism) that he refers to collectively as the Yew Mysteries. Michael emigrated to the USA in 2003.
While living in Scotland Michael studied Craniosacral Therapy with Donald Howitt D.O. and now offers a two-year foundation training in a unique form of Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy in Western Massachusetts.
Michael currently teaches the Yew Mysteries in USA, Canada and in UK. He has written about his experiences with the yew in the book Soul Companions and in many other publications including Sacred Hoop and the Journal of Contemporary Shamanism.
www.yewmysteries.com
Scott Zamurut has been an instrumental figure in the unfolding of Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy in North America since its earliest introduction from Franklyn Sills. In this episode Scott talks about the fundamental principles of the biodynamic approach and how to know if we are aligned with those principles. This is a powerhouse interview that cuts to the core of the work.
To learn more about Scott's background check out Episode 38.
Scott's email: scott.zamurut@me.com
Scott's clinical homepage: www.scottzamurut.com/scottzamurut/Welcome.html
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Myrna Martin is an accredited teacher of Integrative Body Psychotherapy, BCST and a Registered Clinical Counselor in British Columbia. She has been in private practice and teaching pre and perinatal psychology trainings since 2001 and is Director of Kutenai Institute of Integral Therapies. Myrna has been working with people therapeutically as a nurse, family therapist and psychotherapist for 45 years. She practices early trauma resolution work with babies, young children and their families, as well as adults.
In this presentation at the 2016 North American Breath of Life Conference, Myrna talks about the factors surrounding the human birth experience that establish fundamental patterns in our autonomic function and interpersonal relational tendencies.
Myrna's website:
www.myrnamartin.net
The booklet Myrna mentions in her talk is available at www.booksandbones.com
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
In this episode Lauren Doko from Soul Connection Media helps us better understand how to leverage digital marketing opportunities in social media, email, and web pages. Not only does Lauren understand marketing, but she also understands the field of craniosacral therapy. With this combination she brings a lot to the table for us to consider as we assemble or refine our unique digital marketing plan.
Check out Lauren's site:www.soulconnectionmedia.com
Here is a direct link to the "Facebook Made Easy ... for Craniosacral Therapists" online class: www.soulconnectionmedia.com/facebook-craniosacral
Use the coupon code RYAN to save $20.
Lauren is also available for one-on-one consultations if you have specific business issues you are working on.
lauren@soulconnectionmedia.com
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Today's audio is a live recording of Scott Zamurut's presentation at the 2016 North American Breath of Life conference. In this talk Scott explains his emerging awareness of a sensory phenomenon that he has labeled the "Embodiment Tide." The Embodiment Tide is a slow tidal movement, slower than the Long Tide, that has the capacity to reorganize inertial fulcrums related to our earliest experiences of conception and embodiment.
Scott Zamurut, RCST®, is a bodywork practitioner and teacher who integrates a wide range of influences in his practice and his teachings. Scott’s primary orientation is in energetic healing forms that include a strong emphasis on the embodiment of life energy - Polarity Therapy, Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy and Source Point Therapy. Integral to these forms of healing are the skills of trauma resolution, which are additive to energy healing and augmented by an energy-based worldview.
The field of pre- and perinatal healing has been intimately related to Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy through the work of Franklyn Sills, it was in his association with Franklyn as a student and teaching assistant that Scott began his own exploration of this profound healing art. Scott then connected with Karlton Terry, co-founder of the Institute For Pre and Perinatal Education (IPPE), and dove deeply into his own healing work, continued learning and eventual teacher training in pre- and perinatal healing.
Along the way Scott has also been involved with professional associations, serving as a Vice President with the American Polarity Therapy Association, and was a founding board member of the Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy Association of North America. In recent years he also trained in ontological coaching, bringing a new skill set and orientation to his offerings.
scott.zamurut@me.com
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
www.blog.cranioschool.com
In today's episode Rebekah Crown outlines an approach to shadow work that involves turning your demons into allies. Rebekah brings more than 30 years experience to her craniosacral practice, incorporating bodywork, art, and dance into her understanding of the work. This talk was recorded at the 2016 North American Breath of Life conference.
Injuries took her into body healing and relaxation, leading her to study Massage Therapy with amazing Carol Truman and Margaret Elke, founders of the California Institute of Massage, in 1976. Touched to the core by their work, it sparked a passionate learning and practice she continues to this day.
A pioneer in Quebec, Rebekah Crown taught Massage Therapy trainings and anatomy courses at : Le Centre Éducatif d’Intégration, NHC, l’École de Réflexologie Intégrale and Santé Hito in Montreal. She also facilitated workshops in Breathwork, Body Awareness and Psychotherapy.
She has continued her bodywork training in Polarity and Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy. After completing the full foundation training in BCST in 2006, she continued to deepen her knowledge with advanced trainings from Franklyn Sills and worked as an assistant in other BCST trainings.
She is an approved teacher of BCST by the Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy Association of North America.
www.craniosacralbiodynamics.ca
This episode continues our coverage of the 2016 North American Breath of Life Conference, featuring an interview with conference presenter Scott Zamurut. Today Scott talks about his teaching background and recent ideas around pre and perinatal training for biodynamic therapists.
Scott Zamurut, RCST®, is a bodywork practitioner and teacher who integrates a wide range of influences in his practice and his teachings. Scott’s primary orientation is in energetic healing forms that include a strong emphasis on the embodiment of life energy - Polarity Therapy, Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy and Source Point Therapy. Integral to these forms of healing are the skills of trauma resolution, which are additive to energy healing and augmented by an energy-based worldview.
The field of pre- and perinatal healing has been intimately related to Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy through the work of Franklyn Sills, it was in his association with Franklyn as a student and teaching assistant that Scott began his own exploration of this profound healing art. Scott then connected with Karlton Terry, co-founder of the Institute For Pre and Perinatal Education (IPPE), and dove deeply into his own healing work, continued learning and eventual teacher training in pre- and perinatal healing.
Along the way Scott has also been involved with professional associations, serving as a Vice President with the American Polarity Therapy Association, and was a founding board member of the Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy Association of North America. In recent years he also trained in ontological coaching, bringing a new skill set and orientation to his offerings.
Scott's Pre and Perinatal Training in Santa Fe:
http://www.santafeschoolofmassage.com/pre-and-perinatal-education-foundation-training/" target="_blank">www.santafeschoolofmassage.com/pre-and-perinatal-education-foundation-training
Come with me to meet some of the people who make biodynamic world go 'round. This special episode is filled with interviews from the 2016 Biodynamic Conference in North America. Guests include Myrna Martin, Bob Gardner, Christopher Muller, Rebekah Crown, Edwin Nothnagel, and others ...
For BCTA/NA history click here.
Christopher and Mary Louise Muller:
www.booksandbones.com
www.lifeshapes.org
Myrna Martin:www.myrnamartin.net
Bob Gardner
www.thebraidedwarrior.com
Rebekah Crown in Montreal:http://www.craniosacralbiodynamics.ca/?lang=en
Ghost Ranch Retreat Center:
www.ghostranch.org
Cherionna Menzam-Sills draws on almost 40 years as a therapist and group leader. She is a senior tutor at the Karuna Institute in Devon, UK, and and teaches craniosacral biodynamics across Europe and North America with her husband, Biodynamics pioneer, Franklyn Sills.
Cherionna is author of the forthcoming book, "The Breath of Life: An Introduction to Craniosacral Biodynamics." Cherionna is also an authorised Continuum Movement teacher, frequently using Continuum in addressing early trauma. She is a Prenatal and Birth Therapist, integrating years of intensive study with pioneers in the field, William Emerson and Ray Castellino, as well as her own doctoral studies in Pre- and Perinatal Psychology. Her background includes experience as an Occupational Therapist Dance/Movement Psychotherapist, BodyMind Psychotherapist, various forms of bodywork and intensive mindfulness meditation practice. Cherionna lives in Devon, UK, where she has a private practice, with emphasis on Skype supervision and mentoring.
www.continuummovement.com
www.birthpsychology.com
www.cherionna.com
Cherionna's blog: http://cherionnablog.blogspot.com
Video blog: http://birthingyourlife.blogspot.co.uk
Pre and Perinatal Training at Karuna: www.karuna-institute.co.uk/prenatal-person.html
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Ken DiPersio began his CST career with the Upledger Institute in 1991, and eventually went on to study the biodynamic approach with Michael Shea. He has created his own CST training curriculum based on his experience of both styles. In this interview he talks about his early experiences working directly with John Upledger, his unfolding into biodynamics, and shares his perspective on some biodynamic treatment principles.
Ken Dipersio has taught over 500 CST classes with thousands of students for The Upledger Institute, Kaiser College Occupational Therapy Assistant Curriculum, Cross Country Education, the Sarasota School of Massage Therapy, Independent Living Pediatrics, the Florida State Massage Therapy Association, the Sarasota School of Natural Healing Arts, Sarasota Memorial Hospital and KJD Therapy, Inc. Mr. DiPersio currently practices CST at MindSpa Integrative Wellness Center, Sarasota, Florida and has a private practice in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Ken's teaching website: www.kjdtherapy.com
MindSpa Integrative Wellness Center in Sarasota www.mindspasarasota.com
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Jonathan Evans is an Osteopath who loves treating babies. A graduate of the British College of Osteopathic Medicine and faculty member for the Sutherland Cranial Teaching Foundation, he currently lives and practices in Australia. He is the founder of the Kindred Academy, an online training outlet for health practitioners and therapists that focuses on the hands-on techniques and therapeutic skills that are needed to be effective in a clinical setting. In this interview we discuss many topics related to the unique situations we face when treating babies via manual therapy.
This is the site to get the podcast discount: www.craniosacralpodcast.com/evans
Kindred Academy regular site: www.kindredbe.com
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Two previous podcast guests, Robyn Scherr and Kate Mackinnon, return to discuss their online course "Elements of a Successful Craniosacral Business." Their collaborative effort to help other practitioners build healthy craniosacral clinical practices is a smart and effective tool to get you up and running with a new practice or refine your existing business.
In the interview we talk about some of the material covered in their training and a few things Kate and Robyn have learned from coaching others in practice building and management. After following their last group of students closely as they worked through the 8-module class, I am really impressed with how concise and effective this program is.
More information about the class: www.livinginthebody.net/Classes
Robyn's site: www.livinginthebody.net
Kate's site: www.kmackinnon.com
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Mike Boxhall has been immersed in the world of therapy for the last 45 years, studying counseling, psychotherapy, acupuncture and craniosacral therapy. He approaches cranial work as a practice of embodied experience that is not based on intellectual appraisal but rather rooted in the ground of the intellect itself. Mike seeks to bring practitioners into the wisdom of the heart, where the feminine principle can emerge with its deep therapeutic gifts. Mike's wisdom, simplicity, and humor make this one of my favorite interviews to date.
Mike's school page:
www.stillness.co.uk
The Empty Chair Teaching Foundation:
www.theemptychairteachingfoundation.com
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Eric Moya has been an instructor for The Upledger Institute for two decades, teaching several different classes for UI. In this interview he lays some groundwork for understanding his class "CST and Working with Chronic Depletion," discussing the differences between a restriction-based approach to CST and a pattern-based one.
Eric's business page: www.ericmoya.com
The Upledger page for "CST and Working with Chronic Depletion"
The Idea Crucible:
www.theideacrucible.com
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Mimi Ikle-Khalsa has been a key leadership figure in the Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy Association of North America for many years, serving as both the Board President and BOL Conference Chairman. In today’s interview she talks about the efforts BCTA/NA to advance the field of Biodynamic CST and gives us a preview of what to expect at the 2016 conference in New Mexico.
Home page of the Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy Association of North America:
www.craniosacraltherapy.org
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
www.cranioschool.com
Brigit Viksnins practices and teaches a therapeutic approach she calls Alchemical Alignment, which includes Somatic Experiencing, Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy, trauma resolution, and physical and metaphysical touch. In our interview she lays out a map to help us better understand the Autonomic Nervous System and talks about her teaching and movement DVD.
Brigit's home page:
www.alchemicalalignment.com
Click here to check out Brigit's "Alignment Sequence" DVD at CDBaby.
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Suzanne Scurlock-Durana has been educating craniosacral therapists about the importance of self-care and healthy professional boundaries for over 30 years. In this episode she shares some of her understanding of full-body awareness in a clinical setting.
Special half-price offer on Suzanne's audio training program, just for podcast listeners:
www.healingfromthecore.com/craniosacralpodcast
Suzanne's website:
www.healingfromthecore.com
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Michael Kern, founder of the Craniosacral Therapy Educational Trust, discusses Health - the foundational concept in biodynamic cranial work.
Michael Kern D.O., B.C.S.T., N.D. - Craniosacral Therapist, Osteopath and Naturopath with a practice in London. He has been teaching Craniosacral Therapy since 1987 and is a leading international exponent of the biodynamic approach, currently running courses in the UK, Switzerland, Russia, Germany, Ukraine and Czech Republic. He is the founder of the Craniosacral Therapy Educational Trust, and was a senior tutor for the College of Osteopaths, the International Cranial Association, the Centre for Professional Development in Osteopathy and the University of Westminster. He is also author of the highly acclaimed book 'Wisdom In The Body - The Craniosacral Approach To Essential Health', now available in ten languages. He is also the co-organiser of the landmark Breath of Life Conferences that take place in London.
Michael's school site: www.cranio.co.uk
Information about the Breath of Life Conference in London is here.
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Today Tim Hutton from the Upledger Institute discusses a few ethical matters that help us better understand the archetypal stories that play out with our clients in the treatment space. Understanding these matters helps us to provide better service to our clients and prevent professional boundary issues.
Tim's Upledger Profile is here.
www.upledger.com
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
In response to listener requests, today's episode is more classroom teaching from Michael Shea. Sit back and enjoy 4 hours of Michael teaching about biodynamic fundamentals and cardioception.
www.michaelsheateaching.com
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Staci Copses is an Upledger Diplomate therapists and mentor. In this interview she shares with us some details about her journey through CST and resulting opportunities to apply it in homes, hospitals, and private practice.
Staci's home page:
www.copsestherapyservices.com
Brain Injury Association of America
Elements of a Successful Craniosacral Business
Ryan's school page:
www.cranioschool.com
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Tim Hutton is the Ombudsman for the Upledger CST Immune Response Curriculum. In this interview he describes the historical development of the UI model for working with the Immune System and takes us through some experiential exercises to get a taste for the approach. He also talks about some broader aspects of treatment and clarifies a few aspects about the UI approach to CST.
www.upledger.com
Direct link to the Immune Response Curriculum page.
Wikipedia link for the immune system.
Ryan's school link, as mentioned in the introductory comments:
www.cranioschool.com.
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Thomas Walker, a faculty member for The Rolf Institute, talks about his journey to incorporate a biodynamic understanding of embodiment and treatment into the Rolfing model.
Thomas' teaching site:
www.explorationsinwholeness.com
Thomas' clinical website:
www.rolfingcenter.com
A GREAT piece of writing about the "fluid body" from Thomas:
Bones to Fluids: A Path to Understanding Wholeness
The Rolf Institute of Structural Integration:
www.rolf.org
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Kate Mackinnon is an Upledger-trained therapist and author of the book "From My Hands and Heart - Achieving Health and Balance with Craniosacral Therapy" In this interview Kate talks about her journey through CST work, relationship with Dr. Wayne Dyer, events that led to her writing a book, and some thoughts about building a practice.
Kate's website:
www.kmackinnon.com
Email:
kate@kmackinnon.com
Information about CST business training is here.
Choose Love Foundation:
www.jesselewischooselove.org
Brian Tierney is an instructor for Body Intelligence, the international biodynamic cst training group. In today's interview we get to hear about Brian's background in the healing arts, including doctorate study in psychology, and learn more about his involvement with Body Intelligence trainings.
Brian's website: www.nrintegratedtherapies.com
Brian's guest post on the Street Smart Craniosacral Blog is here.
Email Brian directly if you would like him to send you a 60-page sample of his recent writing on Trauma:
brianwilliamtierney@gmail.com
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Robyn Scherr, an Upledger-trained therapist, shares with us the elements of a healthy business mindset that have helped her build a busy CST practice. She also discusses with Ryan a few elements of the current political environment in our field.
Robyn's home page:
www.livinginthebody.net
(Her articles from Massage & Bodywork Magazine are in the sidebar of her page.)
Upledger Institute:
www.upledger.com
Cator Shachoy and Ryan Hallford cover a wide range of topics in this fun interview. The conversation starts at right/left brain dynamics and then branches into pediatrics, verbal skills, the midline, mind/body dynamics, practice building, spiritual iconography, TMJ issues, and more.
www.catorshachoy.com
Buddhist Heart Replacement in Tricycle Blog
Ryan's school:
www.cranioschool.com
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Ryan discusses three potential sticking points along the career path of the craniosacral therapist: zealotry, disillusionment, and stagnation.
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Audio Transcription:
“Hi Ryan. Thank you so much for the podcast. I’ve really been enjoying it and learning a lot from the different guests you bring on. I am hoping you will take some time to discuss the potential pitfalls we face while getting established in the field of craniosacral therapy. Some of my teachers have mentioned that at times they went off on tangents or entered periods of difficulty with their practice. They have shared with me some insights about it, but I’m wondering what you think. What do you think I should look out for or be aware of when I am building a long-term career in CST?”
"Thank you, and please keep up the good work, Matthew New York"
Wow, Matthew. That’s a great question. I wish I would have considered that question when I was getting started in the work. But I had to learn a lot of lessons the hard way because I’ve been pretty stubborn in a lot of ways in my career. So I think I’m pretty qualified to talk on the topic because not recognizing pitfalls has really cost me over the years. And even worse, it has cost my clients when I failed to show up for them in a meaningful way due to my blind spots.
There are so many things to consider when you look at the span of a career in this work. The permutations are endless as to what topics you could talk about, but I’ve been considering this since I got your email and I’ve honed in on three major pitfalls that I believe we should be aware of in this work when viewed over the course of a career, from the 30k-foot view, as they say. These will be some of the more prevalent issues that I have seen and or experienced myself.
I’ll start with one of the first pitfalls we risk falling into when we set upon this path, and that’s zealotry. Zealotry. So, what’s zealotry and what’s a zealot? well, I looked it up on the interwebs just to make sure I am using the word correctly and I found two definitions that together kinda paint a picture that I think will be helpful for us: The first definition for zealot that popped up on google was “a person who is fanatical and uncompromising in pursuit of their religious, political, or other ideals.” The other definition I want to blend in here is from the Cambridge Dictionary and it says a zealot is: “ a person who has very strong opinions about something, and tries to make other people have them too.”
For many of us, when we first discovered cranial work, or maybe a particular style of cranial work that really spoke to us, we were deeply affected. Our whole lives may have been changed as a result of the new perspective on manual work. We may have experienced the healing of a serious physical or emotional disease, we may have had a sort of conversion experience as a result of a very strong sensational episode that significantly changed the way we view our lives, the world, or our place in the world. We may feel like we have finally found a home in the wilderness, a place we can call our own, that has the potential to fulfill our every need. It is not that unusual to hear people who get serious about this work relating similar stories of tremendous transformation when they began interfacing with cranial work. For some new students, there arises a great sense of relief and purpose in their life because they finally feel like the world is taking on a manageable meaning, or perhaps it is opening into an inspiring void. It can go either way, really. But the point is that we may feel like we have found something very special. And I believe we do find something special when we find this work. The joy, the love, the enthusiasm, the conviction, and the hope, that arise for some of us when we find cranial work is truly spectacular and it can be really beautiful to watch this energy move into a person’s life. It is serious fuel, and it can carry us a long way, both personally and professionaly.
But there is a shadow side to this spiritual and sensory ignition and blossoming of faith in the work. And that shadow is zealotry … a kind of fanaticism, which can run all along a spectrum from mild to severe for some practitioners . The craniosacral zealot can simply be a convert to the field of cst in general, or perhaps has a fierce loyalty to a particular style or teacher, unable to see potential shortcomings of said approach or teacher. Now, please don’t get me wrong here. Don’t misunderstand me. I think the enthusiasm that enters the new students life can be really magical and very positive. And I also have experienced that the relationships that form between students and teachers in this field are really special. They can be really beautiful, and result in a healthy growth into higher orders of functioning in our work and our life. But the zealot demonstrates an imbalance in that they are uncompromising and to varying degrees not willing or even able to recognize the potential limitations of the path they are on. They feel like they have found the “one thing” that will deliver them to mastery of the healing arts, or they have found the “true path” in the work. Or they have found the best teacher on the planet- the only one who gets it all right.
These beliefs have the seed of health in them, but almost always erode into a less idealistic reality as time passes. For example, I occasionally see this in the modern biodynamic community. Let’s say a relatively new student, maybe half-way through his foundation training, is absolutely convinced that biodynamics is the one true way to practice cranial work or any healing art. His teacher may have convinced him of such through steady logic, and his relatively few experiences at the table have consistently confirmed the potent validity of bd work. He may begin to view other approaches, say like Upledger Institute, the Milne Institute, or even forms of Osteopathy, as inferior because they have an underlying theoretical architecture that he rejects or perhaps they don’t fit his criterion for what he envisions as the perfect training. This guy is the one who poo poos other schools, feeling quite proud that he has found the real path. He constantly extols the virtues of his particular teachers approach, unable to really objectively consider the merits of another approach because he rejects the premise of the other schools outright and refuses to get his hands dirty to actually try elements of their application. Meanwhile, he may have less than 40 actual treatments under his belt. And many of these were administered in the in the increased potency of the group field of a classroom, which gives him a decided advantage as far as favorable outcomes go. I hope you’re getting the picture I’m painting here. In this case, the zealot doesn’t yet know that he doesn’t know. He is dogmatic, worshipping at a temple of abstract ideology or a charismatic teacher, perhaps at the expense of accurate perception of what is happening with his clients.
The conviction that he is on the right path is good, but it is incomplete at this point. The absolute conviction of the new zealot and the steady confidence of the accomplished master may appear similar, but they have a very different quality to them. One is born of blind idealism, while the other has been tempered and humbled over thousands of hours of exploration into the nature of the mechanism we work with. The master may appear uncompromising in some regards, but ultimately he knows his limitations and will concede when he sees clues that he needs to exhibit flexibility in order to better serve the client.
The zealot builds walls with his words, and creates negative karma that circulates in our community. Healthy inquiry and dialogue suffers or becomes impossible because there is not a respectful exchange of ideas between us. The zealot not only causes problems for our field as a whole, but for himself also. He plants thorns with his staunch enthusiasm … thorns that eventually mature and pierce him as he walks the professional path.
So, belief and confidence in our teachers and our approach is a good thing. But we need to stay grounded as they say, and respectful, and always stay on the lookout for possible gaps in our approach, areas that need improvement. Having a mentor or two, maybe with slightly different perspectives can be helpful to keep us oriented and avoid absolutism in our beliefs about how the work should be practiced. By all means, we should stick to our guns as to what feels right for us, but the beginner should realize that there is much to learn over the coming years, and you might be surprised how your viewpoint changes over time.
Chronologically, I think one of the more prevalent pitfalls that some practitioners face next in their journey with the work is disillusionment. Disillusionment. The quick Google definition I found for disillusionment is “a feeling of disappointment resulting from the discovery that something is not as good as one believed it to be.” People who go into this work often fall in love with its application, the sensory experience, the lifestyle, the people, and so on. This enthusiasm fuels them well for a while, but if they take the leap into serious clinical practice and stick with it, they might go through a challenging period or periods when they find they find their clinical efficacy is not what they expected it would be. They might not be getting fireworks in the treatment room. They might not be getting much of anything in the treatment room for stretches. Their practice may go through periods of feeling lifeless or frustrating, and they may become disappointed in the whole venture. This goes for any approach to the work.
Now I’m not saying this is a required experience for everyone! I’m not trying to be a downer here. Many people sail quite smoothly and robustly through their entire career, and I hope that you, Matthew, are one of them. But it does not come easily for everyone. One of the new developments for me since I started doing the podcast is that I have been called upon as a consultant by a handful of listeners. They have requested to pay me for my time to talk with them on the phone about some of their challenges with the work. Many of these calls have been with practitioners who have a few years under their belts and are dealing with increasing amounts of confusion or a general lack of confidence. Clinical work may have humbled them as they learn that things don’t always follow the map laid out in their training. Or they might be wrestling with competing theories espoused by various teachers, not sure what to do. Some of them have lost their faith in their ability to effectively do the work in a clinical setting when the stakes are high.
There is a sense of a lack of forward momentum with some of these struggling therapists. Their frustration and subsequent second-guessing has become pathological to an extent, and they may begin to take that frustration out on others. One of the most common targets of the disillusioned practitioner is their teacher. They may feel somewhat betrayed, or that they were sold a bill of goods that they could make a career out of this work. They may state that they feel inadequately trained to deal with some ot the situations they face on the table. They often finally start to own some of the negative opinions about their teacher they would not allow themselves to recognize while in the honeymoon phase of their training. So, yes, the honeymoon is over for these folks. They are kinda standing in a mess trying to figure out what to do with it, how to get their own legs, how to move into a more adult-like phase of autonomy with their work.
This is the threshold that often makes or breaks a cs therapist. Some bail on the dream at this point and revert back to grosser forms of bodywork where results are more easily guaranteed, wondering if they could have really made it as a cs therapist, or they just leave the field all together. But some claw their way through it, stay focused, keep working and stufying, get creative, and figure out a way to dig out their deeper gifts. They search until find their own voice and learn how to sing with it in the cranial realm.
I think there are several factors that contribute to the entry into disillusionment. One is isolation. After a student finishes a foundation training or first sequence of classes in their chosen school, they may start to wither from a lack of contact with peers. Many of them are in the process of figuring how to run a practice. They might have the burden of rent for their office while they try to get a steady flow of clients. This may take years for some. When money is tight for these emerging practitioners, they may not feel they can afford quality trainings, so they forego them and lose out on the burst of energy, insight, and enthusiasm that these trainings often provide. Some practitioners may go a couple of years without getting in the classroom as a student. As a result they wither a bit inside and may become stuck in routines with their work rather than staying spontaneous with a constant flow of new ideas and sensory experiences. A problem related to this is not getting cranial treatments for themselves. It is so helpful for us to get regular work from different practitioners. Not only do we keep our systems free by doing so, we stay tapped into the experience of being a client and also may pick up some new handholds or verbal skills by getting on the table ourselves.
It is important to stay positive if you find yourself dealing with symptoms of disillusionment. Get in touch with established practitioners who are doing well, and share your heart with them. Ask for their advice about treatment tactics, running a practice, and staying balanced. Also, It is helpful to accept that you have not set upon a particularly easy path. It is definitely a rewarding path, but it takes continual focus and at times a lot of work to build the practice of your dreams. Be patient and take a long-term view of the whole experience, and you will be rewarded.
The third pitfall that I think it is worth considering I’m simply calling stagnation. Stagnation. This can be seen in practitioners that have a significant amount of experience, may have built a successful practice, and are considered accomplished by their peers. This phenomenon might be seen as a professional plateau, where their clinical results might be consistently effective, but they are losing their enthusiasm and love for the work. Stagnation in this sense is different than disillusionment in that these practitioners have confidence in the work and have found their own voice. They are just kinda getting bored. They may be kind of apathetic or even cynical about their practice at times. They’ve figured out how to make it work for their professional life, but the thrill is gone, as they say. They may not be interested in taking any classes because they’ve already studied most of what interests them, and may have a feeling like they’ve “seen it all.”
I think this is normal for any field of endeavor. When you do ANYTHING for 20 or 30 years, you are most likely going to pass through periods of boredom. I’ve seen colleagues approach this challenge in different ways. For some it may mean studying a totally different form of therapy for a while to crack open their habits and force them to experience the body in a different way, to open up new parts of their sensorium. Others approach it by improving other areas of their life outside of work by taking up painting or weightlifting or dance lessons, or whatever. By stimulating our life as a whole, we might begin to find a new spontaneity in everything that we do. We might gain new perspectives into embodiment by stretching ourselves in new directions and engaging our nervous systems in new ways. And like I said earlier, getting different forms of bodywork or therapy for ourselves might help with stagnation as well.
The best practitioners that I have met never seem to “arrive” at success in the work. While they may have attained a recognizable level of mastery, they are constantly stretching themselves and staying fresh … asking new questions … Searching the horizon for the next new unfoldment of our understanding of the work. In a sense, we need to constantly stay young in our exploration and experience of cranial work. I’m working on that myself with this podcast venture, Matthew. When we feel a period of stagnation coming on or find ourselves in the middle of one, the best approach is often to do something bold to stir things up, to challenge ourselves in a way that opens up a new avenue for growth. Then step into it and see what happens. See what you learn.
I think we can hold stagnation at bay by staying connected with our professional field in general and especially colleagues that we find stimulating. Adopting a life-long policy of continual learning and continually challenging ourselves can keep us on a healthy path as well.
So zealotry, disillusionment, and stagnation. I’d say these are a few pitfalls to look out for on your journey with the work. I sincerely hope you can avoid these, Matthew, by keeping an eye out for the signs that you may be brushing against their borders.
Thank you for your question. It’s a really good one. And I’ve really tightened up my own ship just considering how to answer it.
So, my dear listeners, where are you right now? Are there elements of any of these pitfalls in your practice? If so, how can you take action now to correct your course, find better balance, and settle more firmly in the joy of the process of growth that our work provides?
Nina Davis is one of the most visible pediatric craniosacral practitioners in the Austin area. Today you will find out why, as she shares some insights into clinical work and the importance of professional relationships in establishing a successful practice.
John Chitty Biodynamics:
www.energyschool.com
Upledger Institute:
www.upledger.com
Find a lactation consultant here.
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Today I'm happy to introduce you to Caitlin Lyon, a CST practitioner in Solvang, California. Caitlin shares with us her journey through the work, a little about her experience in acupuncture school, and her current approach to practice building.
Caitlin has a beautiful website. Check it out:
www.lyonwellness.com
Carol Agneessens:
www.holographictouch.com
Ged Sumner and Steve Haines at Cranial Intelligence:
www.bodyintelligence.com
Gary Peterson at the STAR Institute:
www.starinstitute.us
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
This episode features live classroom recordings of Michael teaching his approach to working with traumatic brain injury.
www.michaelsheateaching.com
Cortiva Scottsdale, AZ
Major areas of concern:
1- Nature of TBI/Concussion
2-ANS – Defensive physiology; traumatic stress circuits
3- Soft tissue/ Osseous reflexes, orienting, head righting
4- Compromised cerebral blood flow, lymphatic movement
5- Manual therapy (CST), bridging/blending palpation skills
6- Attunement cycle – self-other-space
Overview Of First Protocol
- Sit, settle, attune
a. body scan, movement of respiratory diaphragm, heart, movement of the tide within the field of the heart (heart to heart connection)
- Carotid sinus
a. assess for superficial/deep, fast/slow, strong/weak
- AOJ – Flexion/Extension, vertebral Artery
a. Most important piece is flex/ex movement, because that is the developmental movement that happens in the womb. This is the rehabilitative motion that we need in head traumas.
b. Wait through a couple of releases. Gradually, you being to put a little bit of flexion and then wait. Then go through extension and wait.
c. When it begins to happen spontaneously, this is when healing has begun. Create the intention for movement and then see how that travels to your hands, the hands invite the movements and waits to see how the head responds.
d. Once this happens, it is easier for the vertebral artery to move fluidly—however, this may happen first due to other soft tissue space having been created.
- V spread at occipitomastoid suture
a. avoid extraneous contact with the skin
b. sense the space between your hands.
- CV4
a. second go-to alternative. Stacked hands or pinky contact from the sides.
b. evaluate the lateral/medial movement of the occiput.
c. some say this is where you have the greatest ROM of the occiput.
d. intrinsic motion, settling stopping, starting with new type of motion.
e. anticipation is that the starting after the stopping would have more vitality and surge than the previous cycle. There is a build up of strength/potency
- Parietal lift
a. ILA – feel the motion, stopping, and new motion. Again, the restart should feel stronger. “Ignition”
- Coccyx-radial
a. bridging between the two systems, waiting for the two hands to synchronize.
- Feet
a. can hold the heels or scoop on top.
b. from French osteopathic view, holding the feet reintroduces the organism to birthing. Because in the womb, the kicking of the feet initiates a lot of this action. By holding the feet, there is something to provide resistance that now it can work against.
Side effects
If you finish a session and they don’t feel better. Start with the sacrum or feet. Get the system grounded.
Hold feet 3-5 minutes or coccyx-radial; start with just coccyx first for side effects. Get comfy there prior to including the radial pulse.
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Back by popular demand, Andrew rejoins us to discuss his teachers, esoteric aspects of manual therapy, craniosacral politics, and a heckuva lot more ...
Andrew's email:
bhagavad23@hotmail.com
Andrew's writing, "Adventures in Osteopathy" is available on Ryan's blog.
Interview with Stuart Korth, from the site "1000 Years of Osteopathy"
Andrew's Facebook page for learners: www.facebook.com/Craniosacralstudent
The College of Craniosacral Therapy, London
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
This episode features an interview excerpt from the Whole Being Films DVD "The Heart: Stillness and Embodied Compassion"
In this informative DVD, Michael Shea outlines his latest understanding of the heart via:
-
an interview with Elmer Postle
-
a lecture presentation of cardiovascular embryology
-
video explanations of cardioceptive skills and hand positions
-
four meditations relating to compassion, embodied embryology, and transparency.
Check out the Whole Being Films website for this and other great titles pertaining to CST: www.wholebeingfilms.com
Michael Shea's Website: www.michaelsheateaching.com
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Christian Current relates his experience of a Franklyn Sills post-grad training, discusses the realities of clinical work, and cracks Ryan up.
Christian’s Website:
www.christianmichaelcurrent.com
Karuna Institute:
http://www.karuna-institute.co.uk/
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
An interview with Heidi Wilson from Tucson, Arizona, about her CST curriculum, time with Hugh Milne, and clinical work.
Heidi Wilson Fluid Healing
www.heidiwilsonfluidhealing.com
Margery Chessare and Turtle Back Craniosacral Education:
www.craniosacraleducation.com
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
British practitioner Andrew Stones shares his perspective on Osteopathy and Craniosacral Therapy from over 30 years of study and practice.
Andrew Stones - bhagavad23@hotmail.com
Interview with Stuart Korth, from the site "1000 Years of Osteopathy"
www.facebook.com/Craniosacralstudent
www.facebook.com/homeocurative
The College of Craniosacral Therapy, London
The following is an excerpt from a piece of writing by Andrew entitled "Osteopathic Adventures." Contact him if you want to read the rest!
SUTHERLAND’S TRADITION TRACKS ME DOWN, KNOCKS ME FOR SIX, AND A LION GETS TICKLED BEHIND ITS EARS…
In the 4th year class I was teaching at the BCNO there was an enthusiastic Canadian student by the name of Carolyne Abrams. Not only was she already well versed in naturopathy to a level beyond that which was being taught at the college, but she was also, in addition to her BCNO studies, simultaneously attending Thomas Attlee’s College of Craniosacral therapy on weekends. She enjoyed my Classical osteopathy lectures, and asked me if I’d ever explored cranial. I said no, but that I would be interested learn it at some point. She offered to show me some. And so it was that I first submitted my system to the tender mercies the Sutherland tradition. Carolyne gave me a treatment. The treatment felt pleasant enough. I found myself drifting off into a pleasant dreamy place. It felt a bit like a very deep sleep, though I was still conscious. At the end of the session, Carolyne said “Ok, you can get up now”. I said “Ok”, and went to get up. But nothing happened. My body felt like lead. Heavier than lead. It actually felt as if it had melted, and melded itself with the earth below. There was no way I was getting up. “Er, is it ok if I just lie here for a bit?”, “Sure”. As I was lying there, Carolyne went on to tell me what she’d felt in my system – that my chest had felt filled with a blackness, which to her had felt like a combination of grief, shock and exhaustion, and that this had started to shift and release through the session. I was stunned. To say that this first session had a large impact on me would be an understatement. It had a massive impact on me, – on my whole world – on my whole way of thinking. The thing was, the things she was saying about my system somehow felt true, even though if you’d asked me about them previously, I’d not have been aware of them. And then there was the fact that my body was literally glued to the couch, refusing to get up. It was as if my body was saying “Andrew, just lie here. You really need to listen to this. This is true. And this is the way ahead…” So I lay there and listened. After a while I asked Carolyne: “You know that part of the treatment when you were on my Solar Plexus; that felt very powerful. What were doing there?”, “I tickled the lion behind its ears.” “I’m sorry?”, “Well, when I was on your Solar Plexus, the image that came was of a lion, and it seemed that he was wanting to be tickled behind his ears, so that’s what I did.” Ok, now I realized it was time to surrender. Time to surrender all that I had thought I knew. This was a new road, upon which I would undoubtedly need some help and guidance, and probably further treatment. Even if my mind had wanted to object (which it didn’t), the body does not lie. I was lying there feeling as if I’d been knocked down by a ten ton truck, or been administered a large dose of morphine. This was undeniable; something very profound was going on.
A NOTE ON SHAMANISM & STILL’S CHICKENS
If one reads through the various cranial texts, such as Magoun’s “Osteopathy in the Cranial Field” or even any of the Craniosacral therapy texts (which can be a bit more whacky) the “tickling the lion behind the ears” technique is no where to be found. There is no such technique. And yet Carolyne was undoubtedly doing cranial on me. So what was going on here? What was and is going on here, is surely that Sutherland’s tradition, be that the tradition of the cranial osteopaths or the craniosacral therapists, can and does act as a gateway for practitioners. A gateway to what? To the unseen worlds of the shaman. Cranial work is based on listening. Listening not only with one’s hands, but also with one’s whole being. Listening from a quiet still place. Given that the unseen worlds of the shaman are undoubtedly real, and can be accessed in quietness and stillness, from a reverent and sacred space, is it any wonder then that they sometimes pop up in the middle of a craniosacral treatment? And when they do pop up, how do we as practitioners, respond? This is an area of great disagreement among cranial practitioners. Some (though not all) cranial osteopaths would say that when curious visions come up, we should ignore them and return our attention to the anatomy, because we are osteopaths. Some (though not all) craniosacral therapists would say that when curious visions come up, we should ignore them and return our attention to the fluid tide, because we are craniosacral therapists. More adventurous and free thinking practitioners of either denomination however, when met with a curious vision such as a being from another dimension, take the view that, if it seems desirous of being interacted with, why not try interacting with it? “Because one might be led astray and get lost!” Some may say. But the question occurs to me: is that not the very nature of life itself?….perhaps the nature of courage….the willingness to explore into the unknown…..and to risk getting lost……to risk venturing into uncharted territory and to try doing things that have not been done before…. Even on occasion, perhaps to try tickling a lion behind its ears?
And in terms of the tradition, I think it is also of note to remember that Andrew Taylor Still himself was very much a shaman. Reading his autobiography it is difficult to come to any other conclusion. He talks unequivocally of instances of clairvoyance that he himself experienced, and he also talks of his skill in the art of reading “signs and omens”. He tells the story of the day he told his wife to set a third place for dinner, even though they were not expecting any guests. On being questioned as to his reasoning, Still replied to her that earlier that morning, he had been watching one of their chickens. The bird had stood in the doorway of the kitchen and it had then suddenly spun around three times in a circle. From this he had known there would be a third person at the table for dinner that night. He was not wrong.
CAROLYNE TAKES MY SYSTEM BY THE HAND,
AND MY BUDDHIST FUNDAMENTALISM BEGINS TO TREMBLE…
Over the next few months, Carolyne took my system by the hand, and helped it on journey of deep therapeutic transformation. She taught me some basic craniosacral methodologies that she had learnt from the CCST course, which were of course interesting, but to be honest, of less significance than the actual treatments she gave. I’ve always experienced good treatments as being deeply educational, as well as deeply therapeutic. As Carolyne helped my system to move into a new state of being, from that new state, new perceptions naturally started arriving, and new abilities began to unfold. I found myself beginning to re-think not only osteopathy, but my whole life.
In terms of osteopathy, Carolyne was the first practitioner who had ever worked on me who seemed to be able to literally see inside my body. Later I was to learn that many cranial practitioners can of course do this, but Carolyne was my first experience of it, and it was a major wow. With her hands on my chest she could “see” exactly what my diaphragm was doing, and describe it, and many other detailed anatomical structures as well. This was impressive. She could see them as they were stuck. And she could see them as they changed. She could of course feel them as well, by more conventional means; but it was as if “seeing” and “feeling” were not exactly separate, as we normally view them; it was more like they were on a continuum, along with a kind of 6th sense “knowing” as well. Now it was no longer just “I feel tightness in your diaphragm”; now it was “I see-feel-know tightness in your diaphragm, and now I see-feel-know it releasing.”
Beyond this there were the visions. Each week Carolyne would see a lion in my Solar Plexus, and each week it would be in a different mood, or a different state of health. Sometimes it would seem sick and needed healing, other times it just wanting a playful tickle behind the ears. Sometimes it was angry. One week she sadly reported that the lion seemed to be dying, and that nothing she had done had seemed to help – all she could do was trust the process. Her trust paid off however, and by the next week the old dying feline had been replaced by young bouncing cub. I did not know what to make of any of this, but it seemed fascinating and delightful – and certainly a fascinating way to work.
I realize that to move from the gentle, physiological, whole-person-osteopathy of the Body Adjustment, straight into visionary shamanic craniosacral weirdness, may seem a bit of a jolt to the reader. I mean, one might have thought I could have at least had the decency to spend some time appreciating the mobility of my Temporal bones perhaps or the cranial meninges, in my introduction to Sutherland’s tradition, before being launched into the outer limits of cranial shamanism. I make no apologies however. This is the way the universe presented the work to me, so this is the story I tell. There would be many years of later study, of such things as the details of cranial anatomy and physiology that only brain surgeons and cranial practitioners really need to know about. For now I just surrendered to this process and went with it as it flowed.
Then there was the challenge to my life philosophy. I could not deny that Carolyne’s treatments seemed to be having a deeply therapeutic effect on me; that at some deep level my heart was being eased. This felt very real. It affected me deeply and made me re-think my whole life. It didn’t seem to quite fit with my buddhist philosophy. The Buddhism that I had studied, and that I had taken as my life path, was very action-oriented. The spiritual path, the path to the overcoming of all suffering according to the Buddha, was spoken of in terms of the “Noble Eight-fold Path”, and described in terms of things one has to do: right livelihood, right meditation, right understanding gleaned through studying the scriptures etc. Meditation itself involved vigorous concentration and effort. There was no talk of just relaxing and receiving. I hadn’t found any scripture in which the Buddha had said that a wonderful way to overcome suffering is just to lie back and receive a lovely treatment. I had therefore previously thought of all bodywork and therapy as being at best palliative, and at worst highly indulgent. It surely could never root out suffering at its core because it didn’t involve vigorous action, and therefore did not transform karma (the patterns of habitual actions and their results) – it was too passive on the part of the recipient, or so I had assumed.
But now I had a problem. This stuff that Carolyne was doing to me didn’t feel palliative; it felt very profound. The effect of it seemed more profound even, than any effect I’d previously experienced through meditation. This made me think. Similarly, Carolyne’s insights into what was going on for me on a personal level seemed more profound and to-the-point than anything any Buddhist teacher had ever said to me. And this was equally confusing for me because she wasn’t even a Buddhist! Though she had told me that she felt a kinship with the native American traditions, she wasn’t really an “ist” of any sort. She was just herself.
Meanwhile my own Buddhist teacher, my “guru”, a man who had been practicing Buddhism for over twenty-five years, did not seem to be doing too well in overcoming suffering himself. Sadly, as each year passed, he seemed to be becoming more and more alienated, isolated, and miserable. From all sides, it seemed to me that the universe was whispering to me “Andrew, time to loosen up your Buddhist fundamentalism a little…” So I did.
PSYCHIC DEVELOPMENT, THE ALREADY-ENLIGHTENED MIND & BECKER’S BIOENERGY FIELD OF HEALTH
Beyond cranial work, Carolyne introduced me to the Psychic Development work of Manuel Schoch, whom she had discovered through Thomas Attlee’s S.S.H.H. (Society of Students of Holistic Health). Manuel was a gifted psychic and healer, who was very practical and pragmatic in his approach. We attended an 18 month “Psychic Development” course with him. Manuel could see auras very clearly, and devised meditations according to the changes he would see occurring in the energy field of those practicing them. He also gave me a new slant on the “Already-Enlightened Mind” doctrine of Mahayana Buddhism. In some Buddhist schools, such as Zen, it is taught that on some level, we are all already fully enlightened; we just haven’t realized it yet. Our “enlightenment” already exists; all we need to do is become aware of it. My own Buddhist teacher told me that this really isn’t true in a literal sense, it’s just a way of saying that all beings have the potential for enlightenment. Manuel, meanwhile, could see something very interesting in people’s auras. When he looked at someone’s aura, anyone’s aura, if he focused his attention on the outer edge of the auric field he noticed a curious thing: it was always very beautiful. And he emphasized that this was as equally true of murderers, deviants, and totally messed up people as it was of saints and masters. He saw this shimmering and amazingly beautiful outer layer to their auric field. The inner auric layers were a different story; messed up people more often than not would have messed up and ugly looking patterns in the inner layers of their aura. But that outer layer, it always seemed pristine, as if untouched by the vicissitudes of life. He called this beautiful outer layer the “Quality Aura” because in it he could see and sense the person’s highest qualities; their particular gifts, if you will. And given that he could see that the person’s highest qualities, their gifts already existed, perfect and shimmering, he figured that the quickest and most efficient way for a therapist to help that person actualize was for the therapist to always maintain part of their focus on this outer layer. Indeed, when he watched as an interaction between two people taking place in which one of them was consciously paying attention to the other’s Quality Aura (as he instructed them to), he could see the other’s Quality Aura shimmering more brightly and start to become more accessible to its owner. This was in contradistinction to problem-focused therapy (the more common variety of psychotherapy in which the therapist pays primary attention to what’s wrong with the client, i.e. their problems) – watching this Manuel often saw the Qualtiy Aura remain inaccessible to the client, and their problems even become more entrenched. Manuel’s work always aimed to help the client get more strongly in touch, more strongly connected to their already-existing wonderful qualities, rather than spend months and years obsessing about their problems and issues (he was actually very much against traditional psychotherapy in this regard). But this wasn’t just a “let’s emphasise the positive to the client” approach to therapy, it was more of a “let’s alter our state of consciousness, alter our own focus, so we can actually perceive the already-existing positive, in a client who may be seeing themselves as totally negative” And it is the ability to perceive this as a visible or at least palpable positivity through changing our internal state and focus of attention, that was Manuel’s quest. Whether one actually spoke to the client about it was of less significance. This was changing-reality-through-changing-perception. To this end he devised special meditations. I liked this whole idea, and I wondered if my Buddhist teacher might be mistaken in his insistence on a non-literal understanding of the Already-Enlightened-Mind doctrine. I practiced Manuel’s meditations assiduously and found them extremely beneficial. I still use his visualizations today, in an adapted form, put into a simple yet powerful practitioner-fulcrum exercise that I teach to all my craniosacral students
With 18 months psychic development, did I become more psychic? Possibly, though it was hard to say. I think I certainly became more grounded, grounded in a new understanding: that everybody already has a spiritual connection, a Quality Aura, a connection to God/Goddess/All that is. My job as a therapist or healer is not to try and create something that isn’t there already. My job is fundamentally to honor that which is already there (their spiritual connection). And with the honoring, that somehow seems to help their personal connection with that part become stronger, and as it does so, that part itself delivers all the healing that is required. This, for me, was a new way of approaching healing work.
I wondered if this way of thinking was unique to Manuel and Mahayana Buddhists, but some years later I read the words of Rollin Becker, that great master of the Sutherland tradition from which so many UK osteopaths drew and continue to draw, great inspiration. I wondered if Dr. Becker was perhaps talking about something similar when he said: “Patients come to us for the reason that their health pattern has gotten clouded over a little bit and it’s raining on them, but that doesn’t change the fact that above the cloud, there’s a sun still shining and health is still available…..our position as a physician is secondary. It is our responsibility as the secondary physician to work with the primary physician [the health pattern, the sunshine]….to bring this health pattern to the surface.” and “The bioenergy field of health is a palpable sensation; it is possible to literally feel the bioenergy of health at work within our patients. It is a quiet rhythmic interchange between the patient’s body and the rest of his biosphere…There is a bioenergy field of wellness for each individual…When the physician can sense that the patient and his biosphere are interchanging harmoniously, he can discharge that patient with the assurance that he is healthy again.”
The Osteopathic tradition is indeed an amazing thing. A.T. Still described the human body as “God’s medicine chest”, but surely his tradition reveals to us also that it is in fact even more than that; it is a treasure chest of spiritual teachings as well.
O.C.C.: EMBARKATION
I believe it was a Tuesday morning in the autumn of 1993 that I found myself walking across the green grass of Cavendish Square, London W1, just around the corner from Oxford Circus. I was heading for the Osteopathic Centre for Children, which at that time was located in the Square, and I was a little nervous.
Carolyne’s tender ministrations had unlocked a doorway within me, and I had stepped through it with gusto. I gave up teaching at the BCNO and immersed myself as much as I could in the study of Sutherland tradition. I first attended a 5 day postgraduate course in cranial work at my old college, the British School of Osteopathy. That was OK, but a bit bewildering. By day 5 we were already doing intra-oral work for the maxillae, and I still hadn’t felt this “cranial rhythm” that they were all talking about. It all seemed too much to take in, in 5 days, so I investigated the College of Craniosacral Therapy. This course seemed to be presenting similar material, but in bite-sized chunks over a whole 2 year period, rather than trying to cram it all into a week, so I enrolled, and was not disappointed. The only problem with the course was that at that time it didn’t offer any clinical work as part of the training (although some years later it was to become the first UK craniosacral college so to do). As I entered the second year of the training, however, another osteopath who was also doing the CCST course told me about a great training establishment she’d just discovered called the “Osteopathic Centre for Children” (O.C.C.). “It’s great!” she said, “You have to work quite hard, for no money, but you get on-the-job training from excellent practitioners. It’s like a sort of apprenticeship.” I felt some trepidation; I still couldn’t feel the cranial rhythm, and hadn’t really any experience of treating children. But as I had pondered the possibility, for the life of me I really couldn’t think of any excuse not to go along to the OCC and see’f they’d have me. Free training by top level cranial osteopaths? How could I ignore that. “Oh, and one other thing…” my colleague had continued, “probably best not to mention you’re doing the CCST course; some of them can be a bit funny about craniosacral therapy.”
And so it was that I nervously climbed the stairs of the rather grand building that was the OCC Cavendish Square, that Tuesday morning. I was ushered in by friendly faces and soon called in to the office of Mr. Stuart Korth, the centre’s co-founder and osteopathic director. The boss. And a most amicable boss he appeared too. After a few short questions, checking that I was a fully qualified osteopath and that I’d completed the BSO’s cranial course, he said he’d be happy to have me come along and attend the OCC one day a week, first provisionally for a few weeks, and then see how we felt it was going. That sounded good to me, and I was ushered in to the general common room. My first day was to begin that very morning!
LIFTING THE VISCERA
The OCC was a bustling and busy place, full of laughter and tears in equal measure, interspersed with the deep healing peace regularly touched upon by practitioners of the Sutherland tradition. A pile of case histories for that day sat at the entrance to the open-plan clinic room, from which the volunteer practitioners would take the top one, read through it, and then get on with it, aided in no small measure by a senior practitioners like Stuart, always on hand to help. Neophytes such as myself and another osteopath who was also new to the OCC that day, were given a wide birth, in that it was understood that neither of us were experts at cranial work, nor working with children, so we would need a lot of help. We were however, as qualified practitioners, naturally expected to be capable at case-history-taking and basic osteopathic examination and diagnosis. And that is what the two of us were assigned to us that first morning – to work together to take a new case history and do the initial examination. We did the best we could to navigate the unfamiliar case history sheet and get all the appropriate details from the anxious mother whose two-year old had a severe case of constipation. We did the examination, identified some spinal lesions, and then called Stuart over for a second opinion (as we’d been instructed to do). Stuart concurred with the lesion patterns we’d found but also added that a key thing we’d missed was the protruding abdomen with visceroptosis – sagging of the abdominal organs. “The key thing we need to attend to today is these viscera – these viscera are sagging. They need to be lifted.” He said as he examined the child. Then our faces fell as continued: “I want you to lift the viscera. Do the best you can, and I’ll be back in a few minutes to see how you’ve done.” And off he went. Lift the viscera? My colleague and I looked at each other in horror. What on earth did he mean? I think my colleague was a recent graduate from the BSO, an institution which at that time had not lifted any viscera for several generations. I myself had familiarity with a technique of that name, but only from my experiences with Mr. Wernham in Maidstone. The old Littlejohn technique of “lifting the viscera” involved a rhythmic deep scooping of the abdominal viscera out of the pelvis – I’d only seen it done on adults and it seemed an inappropriately robust technique to apply to a two-year-old. Besides which, as I looked around the large open-plan treatment room in which all the treatments were taking place, I did not see any deep scooping going on. On the contrary, all the practitioners we could see working, were doing so in a seemingly “cranial” type way, that is, quietly and gently, with little external movement visible. We gulped, and decided “When in Rome…” and placed our hands gently on the little mite’s tummy. And then we prayed. Well, I say “we”; I don’t actually know what my colleague was doing; he might have not been doing anything for all I know; but I was praying: “Please viscera! Please lift! Oh Lord, healing angels, God/Goddess/All That Is, please come and lift this child’s viscera!” Five minutes later, Stuart was back and checking our work. He felt the child’s tummy. He concentrated. He frowned. We gulped. Then he frowned again. Then, after what seemed an age, he solemnly pronounced, “These viscera….” He paused again. “These viscera have been lifted!” There were sighs all round. We congratulated each other. The mother seemed very happy, and the child seemed none-the-worse for the experience. And that was my first client at the OCC.
CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER
The rest of that day was spent primarily shadowing more experienced practitioners, but “shadowing” included putting hands on and feeling as much as one could of the treatment process. I’ve always found that Sutherland’s osteopathy is by far the most sociable and congenial form of osteopathy; two pairs of hands are invariably more efficient than one, and even a relatively uneducated pair of hands such as mine were at that time, can still be put to good use in the treatment process. So much can be learnt by a more experienced practitioner saying to a junior, “can you feel that shift?” – eventually one can feel it! It did take me at least a year to begin to be able to feel anything, but better late than never. And even on that first day, though I certainly couldn’t feel “it”, in terms of the specifics, I could certainly feel instinctively that something deeply therapeutic was going on during the treatments at the OCC.
And then there was the curious Mr. Korth. Whilst all the other practitioners seemed to be peaceful, calm, even serene during the treatment process, Stuart’s work seemed a different kettle of fish altogether. He would be called over to give a second opinion, or to give a hand when a process seemed particularly tricky. To make his diagnosis he would often seem to barely touch the child; it was more like he would hover in the energy field just above the body. Then, with his hands still hovering there he would treat. And that was a very odd thing to watch. From calmly hovering he would suddenly seem to have what in all honesty looked like a small epileptic fit, or electric shock; his hands and is whole body would suddenly tense up for moment quite violently, and then release. Then, after a pause, he would invariably take his hands away beaming with delight, and say to the other practitioner “Now, feel that!”, where upon the other practitioner would concur that the blockage or lesion had been shifted. This reminded me of the story of an american chiropractor my Tai Chi teacher had spoken of, who apparently did all his chiropractic manipulations a few inches off the physical body. When the chiropractor had been asked how he did it, he had just replied “it’s all in the hip action”. I had no idea whether what was happening here was all to do with Stuart’s hip action, but it was all very interesting.
Then there was the rather curious and wonderful “group still point”, a process for the practitioners alone, which was performed as a kind of ritual in the common room to begin and end the day. This would have looked to an outsider, more like a Victorian séance than an osteopathic technique, but it was massively helpful to all our energies. It simply involved all the practitioners sitting holding hands in a circle for a minute or two until a “still point” was felt. At the beginning of the day, it felt like it was joining us, harmonizing us into a single unified practitioner fulcrum for the day’s work. At the end of the day it had a most miraculous effect – we all felt the suffering of all the children we’d seen that day literally “lift” from our shoulders during the still point, so we could go home in peace, not “carrying” our clients’ energies with us.
So this was my first day at the OCC. Eccentric? Possibly. Exciting? Yes. Challenging? Yes. Did I want to go back for more? Absolutely. My fellow newbie and I shoock hands in the street outside the OCC as we prepared to go our separate ways that evening. “See you next week?” I asked him. “No way! They’re all mad!” he replied, and he stomped off down the road, muttering to himself. I never saw him again. For me however, I sensed this could be the beginning of a rather excellent adventure.
DOJO
There is a Japanese word, “dojo”, which literally means “Way-Place”, or “Place where the Way is practiced”. Though we most commonly come across this term in reference to martial arts training halls, “Place of the Way” is by no means exclusive to the field of martial arts. “The Way” in this context actually means not only “method”, but “path”, as in, “spiritual-path”. In Japan, almost all arts, crafts and skills can regarded as potential spiritual paths. The idea of noble apprentices, devoted to their teacher and to the perfection of their art or craft through years of hard work and service, and through that, eventually achieving a deep sense of meaning, peace, and spiritual fulfillment in their lives, though somewhat lost to us in the west, continues unabated in the East, and is regarded in Japan as one of the bedrocks of society itself. So it is then, that amongst the hundreds of possible examples one could pick, we have such things as “Aiki-do” the Way of energy-harmonizing, “Cha-do”, the Way of tea ceremony, and “Shiatsu-do” the Way of shiatsu. Each of these is regarded a spiritual “way” and is practiced in a “do-jo”, a “Way-place”. More than just a physical place however, the dojo is also an energy field, which is held together and created by the intensity of the teacher, their “ki” (energy), and their devotion to the art, and to the tradition. The spirit of devotion, service and humility is paramount in any place of the Way. Not only do the apprentices serve the teacher, the teacher also serves the apprentices in the form of his or her teaching, and all of them together serve a greater spiritual purpose for society at large. This is said to be presided over by the spirits of ancestors, the forefathers and foremothers of their tradition. When one walks into a true dojo, one feels it in one’s midline; an alignment starts to take place, which may be subtle, almost imperceptible, but none the less profound. Indeed, just being in a dojo, awake, listening, can be transformational in itself. The OCC, in my experience, was an excellent dojo. I can think of no greater complement than that. Built upon love, sustained and maintained by love; a living breathing testament to the great compassion of a man called Still, and those who followed him, the OCC in my opinion, is a true star in the osteopathic firmament. I immediately felt at home there. Stuart, the master, weaves his magic, the spirits dance, and budding osteopaths as if responding to a distant heart-felt call, find there way there, as knights to Camelot.
Many years earlier, in my difficult teenage years, one of my dearest karate instructors had been a gentle old Croatian fisherman called Matko. Once, some students had asked him, “Sensei, why do you practice karate?” He had shrugged, and smiled and then simply said, “When I am in the dojo…. I know I am doing something good. When I’m outside the dojo…(big grin)…I’m not so sure”. We had all laughed, but we knew what he meant. When one is in the dojo, it’s as if one is held in the vibratory field of Dharma (the spiritual tradition); this makes the practicing of the Dharma so much easier. In my early thirties my life was quite emotionally chaotic; a woman I’d fallen deeply in love with had dumped me, I was no longer a Buddhist and had no real idea where my life was heading, nor even what I wanted out of life. All I really knew at that time was….when I was at the OCC I knew I was doing something good….I experienced it as being like a kind of river of light… into which I plunged every week, with gusto.
STUART, SUSIE, GABY, TAJ, et al…
A few words about some of the wonderful senior osteopaths at the OCC with whom I was previlaged to be apprenticed to (for working at the OCC is like being an apprentice) for three years. Firstly, the maestro himself, Mr. Korth:
There’s a wonderful website, www.osteopathy1000.com, in which Steve Sannett DO, interviews a whole host of amazing osteopaths from both sides of the Atlantic. It is a veritable osteopathic “Meetings with remarkable men – and women” (Steve, and his colleague Marcia Hugell who organized the interviews, should definitely get “services to osteopathy” awards for this endeavor). Stuart Korth is one of those interviewed by Steve, and his responses to Steve’s questions are considered, enlightening and profound, as one might expect. What’s particularly interesting to me however, is the effect that Stuart seems to have on the interviewer. Watching through the majority of these wonderful interviews, as I have done, I notice that Steve seems to be a classic number 9 personality type on the Enneagramme. That is to say, he is the archetypal diplomat: measured, empathetic, readily able to sense other people’s points of view and get onto their wave length (ideally suited, in fact, for gathering the views and opinions of different practitioners). He also seems to display another classic number nine quality – he sometimes comes across as a little sleepy, a little slow in his speech rhythms (despite being always intelligent and respectful none-the-less). Not so with Stuart. In his conversation with Mr. Korth, Mr Sannet seems to talk considerably faster than he talks in his other interviews. Not that he talks too fast – he certainly isn’t rude, he just comes across as considerably more “wide awake” and energized, than usual. In my experience, this is a typical effect that Stuart can have on the practitioners around him: a sort of galvanizing, astringent, energizing effect, which I noticed time and time again over the years I studied with him at the OCC. Indeed, he galvanized me, and in many ways woke me up. Stuart is just so passionate, and so thoroughly gleeful and determined, in his enthusiasm for both osteopathy, and the osteopathic quest for the reformation of medicine itself. He is exquisitely sensitive; and at the same time humble, realistic, and very responsible and caring in his approach to both students and patients. In terms of osteopathic technique, if I were forced to choose one thing he taught me above all else, I’d say that Stuart taught me the enormous value of panache in the work. Now at first glance that might sound a little trite, perhaps even flippant. And certainly “panache” is not usually a descriptive term one associates with working with the Involuntary Mechanism (which was Stuart’s primary modus operandi). But none the less, Stuart does all his work with great panache. What is panache? For me, panache is putting so much of your heart into a technique, that your heart energy literally “spills over the edges” and the work becomes firstly, eccentric, that is to say “outside the circle” (the circle of slavish adherence to prescribed classical form), and secondly transcendent for as we carry our heart with us into the heart of the work, at those points of interface, where our passion and compassion meet the heart of the lesion pattern, we are all lifted as one, into another sphere: a sphere of transcendence in which transformation occurs and revelation is at hand. Stuart’s work was eccentric, in that it just looked bloody weird – I’ve never seen anyone else before or since, work like that. But the weirdness was totally authentic: he wasn’t just being weird for the sake of it. He was tuning in and then with all his concentration, all his passion and compassion, all his knowledge and awareness, simply allowing his own system to do what it needed to do, without worrying “this might look a little weird”. This is being willing to put compassion in front of worrying what others might think. It is also allowing the flow of passion – the panache – to be free and integral to the process. His work was transcendent in that he was always open to the mystery. Open to the mystery of what? To the mystery of life, to the mystery of the treatment process, to the mystery of everything. With all his years of study, with all his knowledge gleaned through years studying with the direct students of Sutherland, at any given moment he was always open to the very real possibility that “There are more things in heaven and earth Horatio…”. My spiritual teacher Lazaris once said that it is unwise to seek to be one who knows (who is certain). Unstead we should seek perpetually to be one who is on the brink of knowing, standing teetering on the edge, with all our yearning, opening to mystery and the unknown, for however much we think we know, there is always more. My experience of Stuart was that he stood perpetually in this place, and encouraged others to do so. “If you would be willing to join hands with me as we leap together into the unknown…” I remember him once saying to the group of us, as we held hands prior to a group still point. Another time I remember watching him working with a junior colleague on a patient. Stuart was reeling and writhing as he does, following the twists and turns of the Tide, and things looked like they were coming to a dramatic head. “What do I do now?” cried the concerned junior, as the drama suddenly took an intense turn. “Forget everything you’ve ever learned!” was the only reply, “Hold to the Tide!”. Stuart is a keen yaughtsman, and it certainly shows.
I believe this level of passionate work is available to all of us but we may need to dig deep within ourselves to find that passion. Sometimes when we meet someone who is already working at that level it just may be the wake up call, the inspiration that we need. Panache for me, is also working with elegance and beauty, and in osteopathic terms, with an appreciation for the healing and life-giving significance of elegance and beauty. This was evident at the OCC, not only in the osteopathic techniques, but also in the décor, the Feng Shui, the newsletters, and even the particular children’s books chosen as suitable to have in the waiting room. Through beauty, to health; through attention to detail, to healing. Stuart brings all these qualities to the table.
In addition to Stuart, there were many other shining stars at the OCC, who helped me immeasurably in my development as a practitioner. The first to mention is undoubtedly Sussanah Booth DO, who in many ways was Stuart’s right-hand-woman when I was at the OCC. Susie was so in tune with Stuart and created such a comforting and harmonious energetic space for us all to work in – she was like an angel. She was also a tremendous osteopath in her own right. In her osteopathy Suzie combined the qualities of infinite gentleness with infinite tenacity. She was actually like a small terrier in her tenacity, but it was kind of hidden. All one saw on the outside was exquisite gentleness. In the inner world of the Involuntary Mechanism however, I have never come across someone so tenacious. It was as if she would enter the inner worlds of these children’s physiologies, which were often quite dark and scary – many children came in with histories of severe trauma or abuse, with sometimes the addition of heavy medication on top of that – and in amidst all this darkness, like a little terrier, undeterred, she would search for the light, that glimmer of potency within the child’s system, that would let us know that somewhere, deep down, this child’s positive spirit was still alive. And then she would hold to it with a tenacity that took my breath away, gently but insistently fanning those embers until a flame would once more emerge.
Then there was Gabriella Collangello – Gaby, a delightful Italian osteopath whose enthusiasm and skill were like a dancing flame, and whose Italian accent was sometimes so strong it could lead to humorous consequences (Gaby: “Stuart, please take a look at this child. Ee ‘asa little feet.”, Stuart: “…His feet look normal-sized to me…” Gaby: “No Stuart, ‘ee ‘asa little feet, a little epileptic feet”). And then there was Tajinda Deora, an osteopath whose straightforwardness and positivity always refreshed us – and one of the few practitioners who continued to enjoy crunches and clicks as much as the subtleties of the IVM. She is also the author of the excellent “Healing through Cranial Osteopathy”. Aside from these four, there were so many others that I also learnt from and became friends with. It was a wonderful time.
Ryan answers two questions from listeners.
ryan@craniosacralpodcast.com
Transcription of answers to the two questions in today's episode:
Okay, so I guess now we can shift over to some questions from listeners today. Let’s start with a question from Niamh in Ireland:
Audio: “Hi Ryan. Thank you so much for this podcast. It’s just perfect for me right now. Niamh Dempsy is my name and I’m based in Ireland. I just completed the Upledger training … did my exam just a few weeks ago. I guess my question is … I am in that phase where I’m like “Upledger, what now?” Things are falling away rapidly - doing and tractioning and inducing. So I’m reading Franklyn Sills at the moment and I’ve just been drawn to any kind of biodynamic teaching that I can find. So I guess I’m asking about that space that’s opening up that’s kind of terrifying. It’s a space of not doing and not knowing. I suppose I’m asking the classic question “How do you do not doing?” I’m just looking to explore how that movement happens in the therapeutic setting. Thank you again. I’ll be listening in.”
Hi Niamh, thanks for speakpiping in with some feedback. I’m really glad you are enjoying the podcast. Just to clarify for everybody, I emailed Niamh and asked her how far she has gone through the Upledger curriculum, and she replied that she has finished the first two classes and qualified as a CST-T, which is the techniques designation. Well, Niamh hit on a really big topic right off the bat here – this concept of doing vs not doing and “doing not-doing.” She left me a lot of room with her question to hit on several topics, so I’ll just kind of set into this question with a loose boundary and we’ll just see what comes out.
Let me start by saying congratulations on your success so far with Upledger Institute training. I tend to call Upledger Institute “UI.” Just to let you guys know, UI for short. So when I say UI, you’ll all know what I mean, that’s Upledger Institute. UI has been around for a long time for a good reason. They have created a path for many practitioners to do this work for a living. There are many great people at UI who have worked very hard to establish CST as a legitimate healthcare modality. I regularly have people come to my office who are seeking out craniosacral care because of past success they have had with Upledger-trained therapists. So I am in debt to them for laying a groundwork that I benefit from and for creating so much good will in the past – all over the world, actually.
So far with UI, Niamh, you’ve had a great introduction to what is often called the biomechanical approach to craniosacral therapy. I’m careful about broadly categorizing UI work as mechanical, because I think that’s a little unfair of a classification, and there’s a little more room in the approach for fluid interaction than that term implies, but overall like you said, there is a lot of doing in that style of craniosacral. If you’ve gone through CST 1 and 2, then you’ve been in the world of sacral traction, medial compression of the ASIS, hard induction of stillpoints at the occiput, propping up c1 to disengage it from the occiput (OCB release), you’ve been doing various lifts (frontal, parietal, ), you’ve been pulling on the temporal bones via the ears, and even when you move into oral work, you are still actively balancing the hard palate, etc. and even the v-spread technique, which is pretty subtle is an active direction of energy. So, there really is a lot of doing in this style of work. And I think that’s an okay place to start. Sutherland himself did a lot of doing via direct and indirect action with tissues for decades while he explored the nature of the matter he was dealing with in the craniosacral system, and I’m sure he helped a lot of people along the way with that approach.
I am really grateful that I started with UI work and spent time utilizing it in the treatment room. I learned a lot form that work, and it still serves me today. I still “do” some of those techniques at times, but much more sparingly than I used to. I believe that anyone who is serious about craniosacral therapy should have an understanding and a proficiency with the more active, mechanical approaches to the work that are often associated with the faster rhythmic expressions of primary respiration. I believe that technique-based work, when explored consciensciously, can actually fortify the therapist’s grounding from working with tissues and sensitize the hands to anatomical subtleties in the tissues. I’ve found many of the direct and indirect techniques taught in a curriculum like Upledger’s to be very practical at times. Actually, over the years I have become increasingly concerned for graduates of biodynamic foundation trainings who are out there in the real world trying to address the wide variety of health issues that are presented to them armed only with the deep passivity of biodynamic work. Mature biodynamic contact is eventually very powerful, but it might take a while moving along the path to reach that maturity, and, the therapists life would at times be much easier if they had an understanding of effective “doing” regarding tissue techniques while they grow into biodynamic work.
Let’s not forget that biodynamics is advanced work. It took a lifetime for Sutherland to walk fully into it. We can indeed benefit from the groundwork done by the forefathers of this work, but to think we can skip completely the basics of “harder-boundaried” touch might not be helpful to some therapists’ development. The pioneers of this work earned their way to the subtle powerful refinement of biodynamic work over decades of practice. So I think a clinical practitioner is best served by having a working knowledge of both classical and bd approaches.
Personally I think it is usually easier to step into biodynamics from a mechanical background than the other way around. We get really spoiled in biodynamics for deep comfort, and this is (of course) not a bad thing at all. But to get worked on with technique based work after experiencing all the innate freedom and spaciousness in biodynamics can be hard. Conversely, the technique oriented students who are in the process of moving into biodynamics, if they possess just a little bit of patience, often find a great sense of growth and freedom from exploring the new space offered them by biodynamics perception and interaction. I think this direction of transition, from mechanical to biodynamics is naturally a little bit easier for most learners.
So Niamh, it seems to me you are at a great place right now. Armed with some understanding and effective tools, but interested in exploring the work at greater depth. I think it is great you are reading biodynamic texts like Franklyn Sills. Reading fuels my understanding as well, but I think it is important to say that nothing can replace experience in the classroom within the group field and guidance of a teacher. The group field of like-minded students is a very powerful resource for the biodynamic learner. So, it seems to me that your next move would be to explore your options for attending a biodynamic training (which I’m guessing you already are) – I encourage you to connect with several different teachers and perhaps even get a feel for their teaching style in an intro class before committing to a full foundation training.
But more directly to the concern you raised about “not doing, not knowing.” I think you said “how do you do not doing?” wow. That’s a biggie, but I’ll go ahead and share a few ideas about that.
Firstly, let me give you a down-to-earth, practical, no BS answer : “Doing not doing” is basically just allowing. I don’t know where you are in Franklyn’s text, but I bet that’s probably what he means. We have to learn how to allow the system to express itself at deeper and deeper levels. We put our efforts into allowing rather than changing things. That’s a basic form of doing not doing.
Now, “Doing not doing” can be also fleshed out in a little more complicated way, a way that points to some of the higher aspects of consciousness. So I’m going to get a little more sophisticated here for a minute to try to honor some of the higher realities of the work. The higher levels of biodynamic work do introduce to us some pretty incredible experiences of awareness similar to those invoked by spiritual practices like, say, Buddhist koans or Christian contemplation. They are experiences that are hard to explain because their nature is illogical to our minds. So we have to resort to logical talk to try to get closer to understanding what to do with this illogical experience we sometimes have in biodynamics.
In order to clarify this, let’s have some logical talk about doing: when you are learning biodynamic perceptual skills, you are indeed doing something. At times, you can be doing many things.
For instance, even though you are not initiating and interjecting willful movement into the body of the client like you would be with a cranial technique, you are still actively exploring varying levels of sensory information that unfold within and around you. There is actually work involved for most newcomers to learn the practice of deep neutrality. For example, you may need to spend time identifying your reflexive urges to respond to stimuli arising in yourself, the client, and the environment, and learn to uncouple from these urges. So there is some activity around identifying and uncoupling. For some learners, this feels like doing. At times it can feel like work.
You may also be active in the sense of directing your awareness to see the client and treatment space from different physical angles and spatial frameworks in order to expand your understanding of the forces of movement in nature. In biodynamics, we don’t just sit there doing nothing. It’s not an absent-minded nothingness. We are looking for an avenue to enter proper relationship with both the client and the natural world - simultaneously. But over time, as we become more familiar with the natural spatial language of PR we exert increasingly smaller amounts of effort to enter into this sweet spot of relationship – and we are able stay there for longer periods of time without exertion. In this sweet spot we can begin to explore the deeper aspects of doing non-doing, of witnessing instantaneous physiological and metaphysical correction arising within the moment, free from our effort. You have plenty of time to work your way into those lands. It takes most practitioners years to really move into doing non-doing. It is about making friends with Primary Respiration.
On that note I think it is important to understand that learning biodynamics requires some discipline – not the kind of discipline that builds pressure in oneself, but the kind that builds stability. Biodynamics also requires patience. It requires new forms of trust for many of us. As we move into a biodynamic space, the work we do is largely upon our own psyche as we cleanse the old ways of our will and cultivate a new willingness to be re-formed in present time, to allow our sense of self to be made anew. The quicker and more thoroughly we can adopt that posture of trust and patience toward the remolding of ourselves, the farther we progress in our understanding of how to effectively partner with the Breath of Life for the sake of therapeutics.
So the initial doing in the process of learning biodynamics is directed toward better understanding our internal world and clarifying our relationship with sensory phenomenon so that we can better understand how to best relate to natural principles. While we aren’t doing to the client, we are doing to ourselves in a sense … gently … gently preparing ourselves for a higher order of experience. This is the work, the doing, as we enter into the biodynamic path.
I know that uninitiated onlookers sometimes think that we just sit there with a head in our hands and hope for the best. And I can see why they would think that based on some of our more visible quotes about the work like “be still and know” or “trust the tide and get out of the way.“ Yes, those sayings make things sound really easy, but it omits a whole strata of disciplined activity and practice that is essential for the learner to pass through before he or she can actually know if they are still, or where they might be still, or if they really are out of the way – at least this is the case for most of us. Occasionally I do meet a person blessed by grace who can step easily into states of clear awareness and transparency within biodynamic sensory phenomenon. But these are rare people indeed. Most of us require some priming before we understand how to effectively become effortless. We are all growing.
But after you’ve laid the groundwork and come to understand yourself better and begin to learn how to let yourself be expanded into what I think you called the “terrifying space that’s opening up” the reality of doing no-doing becomes increasingly clear. It becomes clear because we come to see more and more that the intelligence doing the most accurate work in sessions is not our own. We see this, experience this understanding when we learn to step into the sensory world of Primary Respiration in an increasingly immersive manner, and better understand its true value for human health. From the biodynamic perspective, primary respiration and the Breath of Life are the spatially active elements that initiate and complete therapeutic corrections in tissue, chemistry, fluid dynamics, emotional residue, and at times the structure and contents of the mind. The Breath of Life constantly emits accessible versions of perfection in a vast field of vibrant stillness. This intention for wholeness is delivered to us via primary respiration, the deep breathing of life into form, which largely speaks in a language of movement and shape. One of my favorite quotes of all times is “Man cognizes, God geometizes.” from Dr. Randolph Stone, the Osteopath and founder of Polarity Therapy. Over time we come to see that the ever-arising forces of geometization that shape life give us an opportunity to experience creation at a greater depth than most of us could have imagined. And working from this deeper realm enables us to help many people.
In biodynamics it is primary respiration and the elemental forces of the BOL that do the work and make the decisions so we don’t have to. Once we get proficient at quieting the desires of our will and opening the faculties of awareness to contain a broad field of slow natural action, we really start to experience in a guttural, primordial way what it means to be witness to the arising of life. And, at times, the biodynamic path takes us to a place where we reach an experience of understanding that no movement of our will or mind can add anything to the perfection that permeates each unique moment of creation in a treatment, be it manifest in stillness or motion. Now that is a true experience of “doing not doing.”
So for the beginner, doing not doing is largely just allowing and accepting the movements and shapes that arise in and around the treatment space. But for the advanced practitioner, doing not doing is a favorable peak event that can’t really be earned. We can prepare for it, but can’t grasp it. It must be given to us. And when it is, it is usually accompanied by significant therapeutic progress in the treatment.
Well I'm getting pretty philosophical here, and I'm concerned about getting too far "out there" for some listeners. So I digress … and for the benefit of newcomers who might not have a reference point for understanding some of the ideological points I’ve made so far, let me just list some of the practical things that we, as biodynamic practitioners might be doing at any one time during a session, just to give you some ideas if you are new to this approach:
We stay aware of what we are orienting to – for example we might be asking ourselves:
Am I primarily oriented to motion or stillness in this moment?
How wide or narrow is my perceptual field right now? Might the client be more greatly benefited if I were to change my perceptual field?
Am I orienting to ideas that might be inhibiting a more full physical expression of the potency of the breath of life or primary respiration?
Some of us choose to actively engage in a continual recognition of the presence of love in treatment space or in the universe. This may involve some activity, some doing.
We may be monitoring the autonomic nervous system of the client. A very fundamental skill that involves a little bit of doing ... looking for signs of overwhelm or just simply tracking autonomic shifts to get an idea of how the nervous system is responding to our relationship.
We may be verbally interacting with the client, which is very active in my experience.
We may need to monitor movement in our own will to ensure that we maintain spontaneity to the moment by not anticipating too much.
So that’s just a few things we might be doing. You experienced practitioners out there could add many things to that list.
On the other hand, what are we not doing?
In deep biodynamic experience, we are not attempting to correct anything, for we do not know what really needs correction. No matter how much training you have, you can’t really know the details of what needs to happen for that depth of correction to arise. That information, if important, is given to us when or after the correction occurs. So were not attempting to correct anything.
We are not anticipating anything specific to occur, for anticipating something denies to the moment its inherent freedom. We have no right to do that. We have the ability, but not the right if we want to be of utmost service to the client.
We are not spacing out or fading out of consciousness.
We are not holding judgements about the client’s situation based on our own personal or broader social beliefs or norms. Those will act against the deep service of the client.
These are just a few considerations, but I hope you see that sometimes it requires quite a bit of doing to eventually get to a place where we can truly rest and get out of the way.
So Niamh, I wish you the best on your ongoing journey with the work. I hope that the deeply receptive experience of BD opens up a world of discovery for you about your own depths of health and better enables you to facilitate correction and ease in the lives of your clients. I hope that you come to discover some of the beauty that I and others have found in the primordial flow of life that at times envelopes every aspect of our senses, delivering to us a greater experience of wholeness.
I’d like to respond to one other question that arrived via email from Nadine in New Zealand. Nadine listened to the interview that I did with Judah Lyons (Episode 4 I believe) in which we both shared that we try to limit verbal interaction with clients during a session. She says that she used to take a similar approach, but over the last year she has found it useful to ask questions as shifts occur in the client, especially with clients that appear to be disembodied. She credits Steve Haine’s postgrad training for shifting her perspective on this. She is asking if I have considered this. This is a great point, and honestly I was expecting a question like this because I really didn’t explain myself much during that interview or even some of the interviews that will be following this episode, so let me clarify a little bit about this. Overall, yes, I tend to be conservative with verbal discussion during a treatment, but this does not mean that I don’t check in with the client at times to better understand what their experience is like. There are so many things to discuss here, but let me just make a few points to better explain how I see this.
Some of my training has included learning verbal techniques employing therapeutic imagery in which the therapist takes a pretty active role in soliciting information about the contents of the client’s mind and then examining images and/or beliefs held by the client. While I used to employ lines of inquiry like this, I often found that things got pretty darn complicated and digging through the contents of the mind felt a lot like we were chasing our own tails, frequently ending up in dead ends. While some therapists have a gift for this kind of inquiry, it never really suited me well. Also, I’ve had new clients come to me who had severed their relationship with another cst practitioner because they got tired of being asked what their inner physician or spirit guide wanted to do or being asked to explain the details of their experience ad nauseum. So I tend to avoid those types of verbal interactions.
Where I am at now is that I try to keep things focused on the sensory experience of the client., which I think speaks to what you are talking about, Nadine. The senses are more concrete than the world of ideas, and sensory exploration tends to keep the client in present time.
As far as when I do choose to verbally engage the client, I see it divided into two main situations. Firstly, I will check in with them when I establish the first contact of the session, or when I move to a new contact. This is just good practice and helps to establish good relationship and facilitate comfort. But I will also check in with them if I sense aspects of distress or pressure in the ANS. Some clients are caught up in a very small, intense, challenging sensory world because of past or current events in their lives - they are hyper-somatized. And the other side of this coin is dissociation, which can run along a broad spectrum. If I come to beleive that the client is leaning toward extremes of hyper-somatization or dissociation, then I will engage in inquiry, then listening, and perhaps a little coaching, or resourcing, to help them experience their embodiment in a different way, to maybe bring them back to the middle so to speak. I might do this by leading them through a body-scan or give them an alternative viewpoint for how to be with their felt-sense that hopefully will facilitate some ease in their experience by connecting them with some sensations of comfort.
With that being said, though, I think periods of dissociation in the course of treatment can actually be helpful. Let’s take sleep for example, which is a form of disembodiment. Many people that come to see me are pretty tired in their core. There are a lot of demands placed upon the modern person - most modern people. They are exhausted, and they might quickly fall into a state of sleep as treatment unfolds. I actually find this to be helpful, as it can allow the system to blow out some noise and relieve some internal pressure. At times the consciousness needs to just get out of the way in order for the biology to make much-needed shifts. Coaching the client to stay conscious like some teachers do when they are tired or seeking to be out of the body can be counter-productive at times. So I try to just be aware of this and give them some space to correct at the tempo they present to me. I don’t get overly concerned if people space out at times. Big shifts can occur during those windows. Perhaps later we can then explore their felt-sense with greater clarity after they rested or renegotiated their embodiment a bit.
Thanks for bringing this up, Nadine, and giving me a chance to clarify myself a little. I have put out feelers to get some guests on the show who have developed classes on verbal interaction in a BD setting, so this is a topic that will get more attention and detail in the future. I know I could definitely learn more about this, and I’m sure we could all benefit from learning more about this important part of the practice.
Well that’s about it for today’s episode. I hope you picked up something useful. I will be getting up bright and early tomorrow to teach a 4-day Level 1 training in classical cranial work. I’m super-stoked to introduce this work to some new people. Thank you everybody for listening in today, and thanks for the questions. Next week we will get back to interviews. I’ve got a great one lined up that I think you will really enjoy. Until then, I wish you all rich, rewarding experiences in life and at the treatment table.
www.craniosaccralpodcast.com
A sample meditation from Samantha Lotti's collection, "Embodiment 5"
Embodiment 5 :
on iTunes
on Amazon
at CD Baby
From the liner notes:
Personal health management is not an easy task, especially when there are so many conflicting opinions about what that's supposed to look like. Most mainstream solutions are one-size-fits-all and don't fit the long term needs of most people.
Health management becomes personal and very effective when individuals are taught how to take care of themselves with simple, duplicable tools they can use everyday.
Health management begins with interoceptive awareness through embodiment. Interoceptive awareness is an individual's ability to sense and monitor changing internal states of everything from the viscera and bowels to the heartbeat and the breath. Embodiment is the skill needed to develop interoceptive awareness, and is the personal felt sense of wholeness.
Interoceptive awareness learned through simple embodiment techniques is the future of personal health and growth. Samantha has understood the power of teaching embodiment in her alternative health clinic and has developed these unique, guided embodiment techniques in order to teach her patients how to manage their health daily. She is now sharing these techniques globally with the launch of Embodiment 5.
The album Embodiment 5 is built to teach you the stages of embodiment. The first stage, track one through three, is learning to sense your skin. The second stage, track four through six, is learning to sense what is happening on the inside of your body. The third stage, track seven through nine, is learning how to sense and relate to your external environment. If done in this order and repeated regularly, significant body and life transformations will occur.
Samantha Lotti is a certified Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapist (BCST, RCST®), a liscensed acupuncturist (L.Ac.), and Board certified herbalist in Chicago, Illinois. For more information: www.biodynamichealth.com
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Samantha Lotti of Chicago, IL talks about some basic skills of biodynamic work.
0:00 - 5:10
Ryan’s intro – giving thanks, podcast launch report, going global
5:15 – 9:15
Introduces Samantha
9:20 – 15:00
Sam tells her story (in red pajamas.) Cesar Puello's site is here.
16:30 – 30:00
Being comfortable, favorite contacts, fluid body
30:00 - 45:00
Mental management, self-regulation, empowering the client
45:00 – 57:00
When to change contacts, instinct and intellect
58:00 – 1:16:00
Stillness vs. motion, sensory qualities of Primary Respiration, embodiment
1:17:00 - 1:24:00
Communication with client, establishing safety
1:24:00 - 1:28:00
Value of short meditations for clients
5 Minute meditations available here on CD Baby.
itunes (link to come)
Sam's practice site:
www.biodynamichealth.com
Blog:
www.biodynamicthought.com
Craniosacral research site:
www.craniosacralresearch.com
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/biodynamichealthsystems
Ryan's video of the class where he met Samantha is here.
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
This episode consists of two excerpts from Judah Lyon's DVD series on Craniosacral Biodynamics, Vol I.
www.lyonsinstitute.com
The first segment is a commentary on the Crystalline Body: 2:35 - 11:05
The second segment is an elaboration on the mindset and experience of the biodynamic practitioner: 11:40 - 27:00
Ryan's synopsis:
The Crystalline Body
When Dr. Sutherland was practicing, as the Breath of Life came into the treatment situation to deliver an event of healing, he described it as liquid light. We now know that connective tissue forms a fluid medium. The collagen fibers that make up the matrix are hollow and filled with fluid that is similar to csf. This is a structured network which forms a fluid-liquid–crystalline matrix that is ordered throughout the body. It responds to frequency and vectors of energy. The vectors may be physical, environmental, emotional, etc. History from any of these vectors is still being organized today. So at times, the client will remember a historical event when a held vector in the crystalline field resolves.
So the collagen fiber field is an assemblage of sheets that form a liquid crystal, very much like a geodesic dome. When force enters the dome, it gets deposited and held somewhere else in the framework. Communication in this network can happen at the speed of light. Communication is immediate and pervasive. Mae Wan Ho, in her book The Rainbow and the Worm: The Physics of Organisms explains the liquid crystalline nature of the body.
So Dr. Sutherland’s experience is being justified in scientific circles today. External vectors are held in density and potential and the whole field is rebalanced as the ordering principle coalesces it in the field forming a protective mechanism. Potency gathers and condenses to center the biokinetic force. The fluids and tissues have to now organize around this force. The resulting response of density in the fluid creates increased density in tissues, and until the original biokinetic forces of crystal memory that created the lesions are released back into the biosphere, suffering remains.
Our job is to assist the body in dealing with inertial forces and help resolve them so the tissues can become more resilient and orient back to the midline and original intention. The energy charged with holding inertia can then be released and used for everyday activities or evolutionary processes.
The Practitioner's Mindset:
There is a mindset that accompanies biodynamic work that separates it from the biomechanical approach. We observe three tides in this model, the most powerful being the Long Tide, which is the Divine Ordering Principle. It can be observed as a 50 second movement into flexion and then 50 seconds in extension. It is observable in many forms of life, as illustrated in the slime mold video from Dr. Seifritz.
It is deep, transformational, and meditative. We often experience love and healing as a byproduct of this awareness. The long tide helps us to understand the wisdom inherent in creation through a new felt sense and instinctual understanding. When you become aware of the pauses in the Long Tide, you enter very deep meditative states. In these moments we can synchronize deeply with the client and we move from perceiving long tide movement to being moved by it, with it. It is like learning an ancient language that enables us to communicate with the divine ordering principle. It is very special to experience life this way.
We must “get out of the way” in this model of work. We do not grab onto any strata of experience when we move through different tidal states. We need to be careful of any goals we hold while working with the client. Pointed grasping locks us up and is counterproductive in this work. In the beginning we are busy putting labels on things, but we eventually lose that. We become increasingly interest in space, gaps, and stillness. Encountering these sensory realities changes us. It brings us home, but leaves us in mystery. It is powerful.
We search for the health in the system. We aren’t looking for the problem, we are looking for health. Spend some time exploring what life would be like if you just stopped having to have an answer. We work in a different world, it is related to shamanism, not the cultural quicksand of having to have all the answers and comparing ourselves to others. This path leads us to an understanding that love is really the most powerful therapeutic force. The system communicates this to us.
The pauses in the cycles get longer and longer as we practice. It is a lifetime journey. When the Long tide moves our mind, then we become centered in a different rate. It is where our attention is being moved to. Trust the tide and the tide frees the mind. It can then be a humble servant of creation. It changes us down to a cellular vibration. Spending time in the field each day heals us as practitioners. It takes us through our issues and teaches us about ourselves. We become less interested in our flaws, and more interested in holding the space of deep awareness. We need to let go of egotistical grasping, and allow ourselves to be moved by the phenomenon without being caught up in it.
Enjoy this process. Don’t be hard on yourself. Take your time. This isn’t something that you gain in minutes. This is about practice that lasts a lifetime.
This should give you a sense of Judah's teaching style, which I personally find very comfortable.
www.lyonsinstitute.com
Judah and Ryan talk about biodynamic work and the creation of his DVD series.
Judah Lyons - Charlottesville, Virginia
www.lyonsinstitute.com
Introductory comments :00 to 6:00
6:20 – 11:45 Judah talks about his history in bodywork and craniosacral therapy
11:45 - 17:40 Some discussion about mechanical vs. biodynamic work
19:00 – 25:30 Judah talks about his educational DVDs
25:30 - 33:00 Working with emotional content
34:00 – 44:30 The experience of Primary Respiration
45:00 – 49:00 Fundamental skills of neutrality
49:30 - 52:00 Verbal interaction with the client
52:30 – 56:00 Introducing cst to your practice
A 16 minute recording of a simple practice in self-regulation.
www.energyschool.com
This is a practice to develop self-regulation skills.
Bring awareness into the body via sensation. Sensation is often simpler than mental activity or emotions.
Check in with things like position of body, breathing, sensation of gravity. Scan from the head down to the feet. Check in again with breathing. Explore Surfaces you are in contact with. Feel textures and temperatures. We are observing the body, with the mind in the background.
Where in your body catches your attention? Maybe one area of your body emits a stronger signal. Focus on that area. Trace the boundary of wherever your attention is drawn to. Within that boundary, is it more on the left or the right? Is it moving or still? Is it shallow or deep? Where is the upper part, the lower part? We are just experiencing cleanly, without judgement or interpretation.
This first location will be the “target” of our attention.
Now, allow your attention to move to the feet or the hands. For example, choose the left foot and feel the details – contact with surface, temperature, texture, density. Wiggle toes in slow motion, count the toes. Press the ball of the foot into the floor, same with the heel. Pretend you have a magic marker and you are tracing around your foot.
Now go back to the “target” and hold some curiosity about any changes in the area. There may be small or large changes, but we hold no judgement about it. Check in with left/right and upper/lower boundaries. Is it moving or still? What color might it be? What sound might it make? Not looking for meaning, just qualities.
Now go to the finger tips and choose a hand to focus on. Make micro movements and feel into every detail that arises. Count the finger tips. Trace the outline of the fingers and hand as if with a marker, paying attention to the contours of the hand.
Now go back to the target area and notice any changes.
John recommends doing this practice at least once a day to remold the ANS, introducing motion where fixation may have appeared.
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
John Chitty lays out a 5-step sequence for working with babies.
John's website: www.energyschool.com
Episode highlights:
There is a strong tradition and justification for therapy sessions with newborn babies.
A main inspiration is Robert Fulford, D.O.
Books:
Dr. Fulford’s Touch of Life: The Healing Power of the Natural Life Force – Robert Fulford, D.O. - Gallery Books
Are We on the Path? The Collected Works of Robert Fulford, D.O. – Robert Fulford – Cranial Press
Mentioned by Andrew Weil in Spontaneous Healing – Random House
Fulford had good results with many common problems faced by babies. Baby’s problems affect the whole family. Fulford championed cranial base work and ANS health as useful areas for helping babies resolve echoes of the birthing experience. Babies have significant ability to resolve issues when given some support. Fulford helped us see what effective support looks like.
John has been teaching a class about working with babies annually for the last 8 years. The ideas he will lay out today are a summary of what he has incorporated into this class.
He likes Franklyn Sills’ Foundations in Craniosacral Biodynamics, Vol. II. It has several chapters devoted to babies. It is not exactly what John Does, but he likes it overall.
Other Books:
Craniosacral Therapy for Babies and Small Children - Ettiene Piersman North Atlantic Books
Pediatric Manual Medicine: An Osteopathic Approach - Jane Carreiro Churchill Livingstone
Craniosacral Therapy for Children - Daniel Agustoni North Atlantic Books
Ray Castellino – Santa Barbara - clinic pioneered recognition and conversation skills. www.castellinotraining.com
Carrie Conti PhD
www.carriecontey.com
APPPAH – Association for Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health
www.birthpsychology.com
Dave Paxson
www.facebook.com/davepaxson
John is working on a book right now about working with babies. Release date TBA.
Many people feel daunted by working with babies, but a little goes a long way and it is better to go ahead and start. There are babies right now who could use your help! Changes made now have a lot of leverage in the life of the child and happiness of the family system.
Armed with only a few steps and some basic knowledge, you can be of significant help. Try it out.
John’s 5 step sequence for working with babies:
Can be useful for many different issues and employed at varying depths.
1) Recognition – we suffer as a culture from over-scientification of ourselves. This misses the reality of the baby’s identity as a newly arriving soul into our realm. This can be approached in a secular manner, with only an acknowledgement that there is an invisible world out there that is not understood by science. Religion or mysticism is not required to work with John’s ideas, just an acknowledgement that the therapist be comfortable with the idea that we cannot measure all of reality, as much of it is invisible.
We need to recognize the Baby. A formula for recognition:
- I know who you are
- I know where you came from.
- I know why you are here.
Look baby in the eye with appropriate proximity he/she would have with mom’s eyes (12 inches or so) . and recognize:
I know who you are - a unit of consciousness from another sphere
I know where you came from - the invisible world
I know why you are here - to encounter the resistance of matter for the fulfillment of consciousness.
Recognition alone may bring about positive changes.
2) Tidal Movement
From Craniosacral Biodynamics - simply palpating the Tide seems to stabilize the system, and recognize baby on another level of embodiment. It can be done anywhere on the body. May have one hand on baby, one hand on mom. Babies may have inhibition of the downward phase (exhalation). Our culture contributes to this. We need to be more conscious of caring for the autonomic nervous systems of babies. They are mostly oriented to the social nervous system, and have limited defaulting to sympathetic arousal modes. If that fails, they go into parasympathetic shock and enter a shut down, numbed out, spaced out. We call these babies “good babies” (!) Helping mom is a high order priority for working with babies. Helping her relationship with her husband can be beneficial to the family system, and baby can slide into a healthier ANS state embodied by the parents.
3) Cranial Base disengagement.
Address the strain in the system introduced by natural processes or unnatural interventions. All of the different factors seem to settle in the cranial base (occiput/sphenoid/temporal). Vagus nerve passes through the Jugular foramen in the cranial base. This is a good place to start. A basic way to work with this is light contact on the occiput behind the ears. It does not need to be precise. Hold an intention of space for the system as an inherent emerging principle. Try to establish better range of motion in the cranial base. This often helps with nursing.
4) Birth Story
This does not need to be told “over” the baby. Work with the baby to review the way birth was supposed to be in order to help the body resolve urges for fulfillment. John will give more examples in the book. Too often in therapy the emphasis is on fixing what was bad. We should emphasize resources first. Revisiting stages of birth is done with intention and physical contact. Some resistance followed by release, at feet, shoulders, head, finding way to optimum. It is always good to conclude with baby moving to mom.
5) Polarity Two-Chair Method
Developed by Robert Hall M.D., student of Fritz Perls, Randolph Stone, and Ida Rolf. John holds the baby and lets mom have a conversation with the baby. John does Body Low Slow Loop with mom (a practice from Chapter 9 of John’s book Dancing with Yin and Yang and presented in the next Craniosacral Podcast Episode) to settle mom and then imagine the baby is in the empty chair. Mom is asked to speak to the baby, and even ask questions. Revelation often emerges. Mom is asked to be the baby and even more insight arises. Mom accesses her intuitive information. Issues of the estranged father, if important, can also be addressed. Dad is often left hanging when baby arrives. It is good for the baby if mom and dad can work some of that out (chapter 11 of Dancing with Yin and Yang.)
This is a low-pressure form of therapy, much of the above approach can be done non-verbally.
Follow baby’s gestures. They have meaning!
Our whole healthcare system would benefit greatly from spending more time understanding the state of consciousness of babies and really bringing that understanding into clinical work. The medicalization and scientification of birth overlooks some very important factors. At least we could administer some of our interventions with a higher degree of sensitivity to the baby’s needs. Our insensitivity can contribute to many problems later in life for individuals.
John likes William Emerson’s work, but is not a fan of cathartic methods when working with babies. The baby is not excessively activated during the interaction in his sequence. Looping and pendulation (Peter Levine) is a more skillful way of working. We are always looking for signs of the social nervous system coming back on line.
Stephen Porges - triune nervous system
www.stephenporges.com
www.craniosacralpodcast.com
Ryan Hallford of the Craniosacral Resource Center tells the story of how he came to discover and practice craniosacral therapy. He briefly relates his experience of studying with the Upledger Institute, Michael Shea, Hugh Milne, and others in the fields of classical and biodynamic craniosacral therapy.
Please give feedback and ask questions at www.craniosacralpodcast.com