HISTORY OF CRANIOSACRAL WORK … leading to BIODYNAMIC CRANIOSACRAL
THERAPY
The craniosacral approach of working with the body has its roots
in the experiments and experience of Dr. Sutherland, an American
osteopath. He practiced osteopathy in the first half of the 20th
century and specialized in working with the craniosacral system.
He himself studied with the originator of osteopathy, Dr. Andrew
Still. Sutherland developed a model and theory of how the core system
between the cranium and the sacrum and its fluid movements affect
the human being.
DR. SUTHERLAND'S CRANIAL OSTEOPATHY
As a student of osteopathy in the early 1900's
he was looking at the sutures of a disarticulated skull and was
struck by the thought, “bevelled
like the gills of a fish, indicating a respiratory mechanism.” The
idea that the skull is not solid and the bones of the skull were
designed as they were in order to provide the opportunity for movement
of one in relationship to the other, did not leave him. He performed
experiments on himself using helmet-like devices which could impose
varying and controlled degrees of pressures on different parts of
his head. His wife described significant and irritating personality
changes. He also experienced head pains and problems with coordination
in response to the changing pressure applications.
Dr. Sutherland developed a system of examination and treatment
for what he called the Primary Respiratory System, which then became
known as Cranial Osteopathy. He worked with the skull and its individual
bones, the membranes underneath and the fluctuation of the cerebrospinal
fluid. He was successful in treating patients with all kind of disorders
and often hopeless diagnoses by other doctors. Because little was
known at that time of how it really worked, and because the results
with patients seemed at times to be miraculous, Sutherland's system
was looked at as having spiritual overtones. In the last ten years
of his life he started to teach his work with the fluid system. He
thought the students needed time to work their way into the system
by starting with the bones, then having an appreciation for the membrane
system, then working with the fluids and then with forces at the
core of it all: the forces which move the potencies, fluids and tissues.
AS TIME MOVES ON... In his time he never got the recognition he
deserved. It was his students that helped cranial osteopathy to gain
more recognition. Amongst them were Dr. Magoun and Dr. Rollin E.
Becker. Dr. Becker continued the tradition of enquiry into the fluid
system and the Breath of Life concept and contributed much to our
contemporary understanding of the inherent Health within.
C R A N I O S A C R A L B A L A N C
I N G ®
In the 1970’s and 1980’s Dr. Upledger
and Dr. Karni continued the studies of the craniosacral system
with more scientific means, so they could actually prove that the
cranial bones move in rhythm with the tide of the cerebrospinal
fluid. They also did a field study on children. They treated hyperactive
kids, autistic kids, kids with learning difficulties and had very
good results. Out of that experience Dr. Upledger started to train
the teachers, parents and caretakers of these children. And in
time many people studied this personal approach to the work, practiced
it over decades, and in doing so, new insights were gained.
We have studied with many of the teachers mentioned here and we
would like to pass on some of the insights from our research of the
old teachings of Dr. William Garner Sutherland (1873 - 1954) and
Dr. Rollin Becker (1910 - 1996) as well as our own work and explorations
with the craniosacral system over decades.
Dr. Jim Jealous and especially Franklyn Sills
have also contributed to our understanding and languaging of it
through their Biodynamic Craniosacral teachings. In our own experience
with Craniosacral Balancing® we
find it important to emphasize the wholistic approach to working
with a person. The focus of Craniosacral Balancing® is not only
the body and its medical history, it is including the whole being:
body - mind - soul - heart - spirit...
Our approach is systemic and allows the whole system to self-regulate
and heal. Giving space and support, being present and listening,
knowing much and yet putting it behind the curtain to not interfere,
opens a deep cooperation and respect between practitioner and client.
We work as much with the physical body as with the other aspects
that make us human: the emotional, psychological, spiritual planes.
We have a well-founded model to work with trauma and its manifestations,
influenced by Peter Levine and his Trauma Resolution model, so that
movement towards wholeness and aliveness can be safely explored.
In Craniosacral Balancing® we are inspired
in our respectful and accepting attitude towards fellow human beings
by the Indian mystic Osho who emphasizes that therapy can only
happen in an atmosphere of caring, love and compassion. Our flavour
of craniosacral therapy is working with awareness and understanding
so that the client may have the space for exploration, for enquiry,
for meditation, for a raise in consciousness.
Please contact Kalakeli for any Biodynamic
Craniosacral Treatments directly.
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