by Paul Brown
Craniosacral therapy is a healing modality that grew out of osteopathy, the ancient art of bone setting. The subtle art of precise and gentle touch is applied to correct imbalances in the fluid and membranes surrounding and protecting the brain and spinal cord. The practitioner uses specific techniques, along with presence, where sacred space is held by means of mindful awareness for healing. This allows the client to achieve releases from restrictions and tension throughout the entire body, bringing about relief from physical pain, the restoration of clarity and insight and optimization of emotional wholeness.
Craniosacral therapy is valuable for many medical problems and is routinely used as a preventive health measure, as it increases resistance to many ailments. People of all ages, from children to seniors, can benefit from this form of therapy.
Read “The Healing Art of Craniosacral Therapy: A Practitioner’s Role Part 1.”
Craniosacral therapy in the community
Craniosacral therapy has come forth in the world community as a modality that encompasses compassion and a real sense of love while promoting healing. The work of a craniosacral therapist is to reach out in service to satisfy the continuing hunger for renewed spiritual growth as we, in communities, seek wholeness of body, mind and hearts through maintaining good physical and mental well-being.
Another extraordinary quality of visionary craniosacral therapy is it has the ability to touch the depths of one’s being and find access to a greater sense of clarity, serenity, release of archaic wounds, dealing effectively with old habits and patterns, and a renewed sense of emotional wholeness. Craniosacral therapy is redefining communities in the sense of healing by regaining the spiritual roots that connect each one with common respect, loving kindness and a deeper consciousness for living a healthy life. This includes the communities of chiropractors, massage therapists, kinesiology practitioners, reflexology practitioners, dentists, etc.
Craniosacral therapy as a spiritual practice
This work becomes a spiritual practice. In order to do the work that needs to be done, the practitioner allows time to slow down, creating sacred space and holding the client’s dream body (the totality and wholeness of the client) with reverence and awe. Through the many techniques available that deal directly with craniosacral therapy, a process is used of extreme gentle sensitive touch, a form of Taoism, the “doing non-doing” to optimize a movement within the body known as the cranial wave. (The cranial wave seems to have its source in involuntary movement of muscle contraction and is triggered into an oceanic tidal motion that in a healthy body has a range of 8 to 14 cycles per minute.)
Problems such as the ones mentioned above can create an imbalance in the flow of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), limiting health and clarity. As the work continues and if the practitioner is open to the process, the body will direct him/her to open up sutures, air sinuses, rigidity and blockages in the body to free up CSF—and the healing processes will naturally follow. In essence, sacred space is being held for these other forces. This is more that can be physically seen, touched or healed, and is something beyond our knowing and is timeless.
This now brings the opportunity to use these gifts, apply intention and intuitive perception, along with a visionary approach to the craniosacral techniques as a way of allowing the body to heal itself. Healing happens on both physical and emotional levels, but the deepest healing takes place when the practitioner stays in the moment and is truly present, serving as a channel for this love that reaches down to the innermost part of the client’s being, where the real healing takes place.
The responsibility of the practitioner is to reinterpret everything according to a deeper reality, and this happens when he lets go of what he thinks and knows and touches into the dynamic activity of stillness. It is this stillness that everything settles into a subterranean level, where all things have the potential to come into optimum health.
Using the inner eye, inner ear and his heart, the practitioner is the watcher of the temple and helps clients come to know that their bodies are also temples that connect them with self (the higher state of consciousness). During the practice, both practitioner and client meditate together and this approach is profoundly healing.
Craniosacral therapy has the ability to teach on a cellular level. The body will remember this; that is, every cell in the body will remember the connection with the forces of healing and the more the dream body remembers those forces, the more it can allow itself to heal. This will remain as indelible lessons in the hearts and minds of those whose lives the practitioner touches, both now and for years to come.
The satisfaction that comes from the sense of service fills, feeds and has the potential to complete the practitioner in his life. Craniosacral therapy is the catalyst for this. The more the intention is exercised, the more effective and powerful it becomes. The practitioner is then ready to hold the container for healing, to grow into greater autonomy, authenticity, and wholeness, and through this he can help clients find their own sense of healing. When the practitioner is freed from any preconceived expectations, healing is more likely to take place.
This work brings forth the simple life of integrity and passion: to live and work from “still point” and from “silence.” The more one enters into this blessed work, the more that is asked to work with consciousness and find this place of stillness. Stillness invites an awareness of compassion, humility and trust. It does this not only for the practitioner, but also to those he works with.
As the poet T.S. Elliot wrote:
Except for this point, this still point
There would be no dance,
And there is only the dance.
It is important, as a practitioner of this work, to come from a place of unconditional love and inner stillness. By holding this, there is a sense of synchronicity with the client.
The practitioner serves as a channel for clients, providing direction to their own healing ability. From there, the practitioner’s healing hands and nature itself do the rest.
In 2002, Paul Brown graduated from the Milne Institute, a respected international craniosacral program, and became a certified practitioner in craniosacral Work. He has been instructing Milne classes Cranial I and II nationwide since 2003 and helps students develop a sense of simplicity, compassion and patience in their craniosacral work. For more information, visit www.paulbrowncranial.com.