The Craniosacral Podcast (Ryan Hallford)
Explore every episode of The Craniosacral Podcast
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| 11 Jan 2016 | CST 10 - Heidi Wilson - Fluid Healing in the American Desert | 01:04:57 | |
An interview with Heidi Wilson from Tucson, Arizona, about her CST curriculum, time with Hugh Milne, and clinical work. Heidi Wilson Fluid Healing Margery Chessare and Turtle Back Craniosacral Education:
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| 11 May 2017 | CST 55 - Dr. Mervyn Waldman - The Tragic Emasculation of British Osteopathy | 01:21:20 | |
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: Check out the Institute of Classical Osteopathy for more learning resources: http://classical-osteopathy.org/
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| 09 Oct 2016 | CST 37 - 2016 North American Breath of Life Conference - Christopher Muller, Myrna Martin, Rebekah Crown and others | 02:09:25 | |
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: Myrna Martin:www.myrnamartin.net Bob Gardner Rebekah Crown in Montreal:http://www.craniosacralbiodynamics.ca/?lang=en Ghost Ranch Retreat Center:
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| 14 Nov 2017 | CST 68 - Charles Ridley - The Death of Biodynamics in the Cranial Field | 01:19:49 | |
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. Charles' article "The Death of Biodynamics in the Cranial Field"
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| 09 Dec 2019 | CST 119 - Cherionna Menzam-Sills - Meditations from "The Breath of Life: An Introduction to Craniosacral Biodynamics" | 00:17:29 | |
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.
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| 05 Feb 2016 | CST 14 - Michael Shea - Live Teachings on Head Trauma | 02:16:34 | |
This episode features live classroom recordings of Michael teaching his approach to working with traumatic brain injury. Major areas of concern:
1. Sit, settle, attune 2. Carotid sinus 3. AOJ – Flexion/Extension, vertebral Artery 4. V spread at occipitomastoid suture 5. CV4 6. Parietal lift 7. Coccyx-radial 8. Feet Side effects
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| 29 Mar 2020 | CST 136 - Andy Pike - The Four Chambers of Non-Doing | 00:23:34 | |
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. | |||
| 05 Dec 2020 | CST 150 - Liza Borodkin and Dawn Sofia - Sacred ReCreation | 00:29:26 | |
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. liza@sacredrecreation.com | |||
| 27 Aug 2020 | CST 146 - Jennifer Song - The 2020 Breath of Life Virtual Conference | 00:31:47 | |
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
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| 09 Mar 2016 | CST 18 - Cator Shachoy - Left/Right/Middle, Pediatrics, TMJ, and More | 01:05:36 | |
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.
Buddhist Heart Replacement in Tricycle Blog
Ryan's school:
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| 30 Mar 2016 | CST 21 - Kate Mackinnon - From My Hands and Heart | 01:00:03 | |
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: Email: Information about CST business training is here. Choose Love Foundation: | |||
| 11 Oct 2017 | CST 65 - Bob Gardner - Healing Pornography Addiction | 01:27:52 | |
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: Resourcing pdf download is here. Bob's wife's site for women: My interview with Bob at the 2016 Breath of Life Conference: | |||
| 21 Jun 2021 | CST 156 - Scott Zamurut - A Closer Look at Dr. Rollin Becker's Contributions to Biodynamic Practice | 01:36:16 | |
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.
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| 16 Mar 2019 | CST 102 - Remembering John Chitty - John Reflects on His Life | 01:02:28 | |
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:
Episode 2 with John talking about working with babies. Episode 3 -Autonomic Nervous System First Aid with John
The Digital Dr. Stone: | |||
| 11 May 2019 | CST 106 - Steve Haines - Keeping it Clean | 01:22:40 | |
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."
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| 12 Apr 2021 | CST 154 - Lori Hendrickson - Craniosacral and Related Approaches for Plagiocephaly | 00:45:13 | |
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 | |||
| 06 Feb 2018 | CST 73 - Mike Boxhall - "The Empty Chair" Audiobook Preview | 01:14:15 | |
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: The Empty Chair Teaching Foundation Mike's training schedule:
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| 12 Jul 2019 | CST 110 - Ken DiPersio -Biodynamics and Experiential Embryology in the Ocean, Part II | 01:35:27 | |
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: | |||
| 16 Dec 2016 | CST 43 - Scott Zamurut - What Does it Really Mean to Work Biodynamically? | 02:10:53 | |
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
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| 29 Mar 2021 | CST 153 - Ian Wright - Osteopathy and Our Potential for Health | 01:28:29 | |
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. Practice site: www.clonmelosteopaths.ie | |||
| 24 Jan 2017 | CST 46 - Ged Sumner - The Body Intelligence Jedi | 01:01:08 | |
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.
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| 19 Jan 2018 | CST 72 - Ryan Hallford - Christian Mysticism and Biodynamics | 01:35:16 | |
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.
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| 02 Jun 2016 | CST 26 - Tim Hutton - Ethics and Projection in CST Work | 01:09:42 | |
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. | |||
| 31 Oct 2015 | CST 3 - John Chitty - Body, Low, Slow, Loop Practice | 00:18:44 | |
A 16 minute recording of a simple practice in self-regulation. 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. | |||
| 23 May 2018 | CST 82 - Kate Klemer - Warriors, Worriers, and the Craniosacral Life | 01:26:50 | |
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: 2018 North American Breath of Life Conference: | |||
| 19 Jul 2020 | CST 144 - Frances Reed - Affirming Transgender Individuals in a Bodywork Setting | 00:00:05 | |
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
An enjoyable Illustrated overview of Gender: https://thegenderbook.com/the-pages
Washington Post article about Frances' work. | |||
| 16 Mar 2016 | CST 19 - Robyn Scherr - A Healthy Business Mindset for CST Practitioners | 01:28:14 | |
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: (Her articles from Massage & Bodywork Magazine are in the sidebar of her page.) Upledger Institute: | |||
| 29 Jan 2016 | CST 13 - Andrew Stones - Influences, Esoteric Work, Political Climate | 01:10:06 | |
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: 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 | |||
| 30 Jun 2017 | CST 58 - Hugh Milne - Before the Mind | 01:14:36 | |
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
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| 24 Oct 2018 | CST 93 - Visiting with the BCTA/NA Leadership and Administration at the 2018 Breath of Life Conference | 00:34:50 | |
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: | |||
| 13 Aug 2021 | CST 159 - Karyn Quraishy - Craniosacral Therapy and the Immune System | 01:03:01 | |
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
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| 24 Feb 2020 | CST 124 - Jane Shaw - Jungian Theory and Biodynamics | 01:05:17 | |
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.
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| 16 Apr 2018 | CST 79 - Cherionna Menzam-Sills - "The Breath of Life" Book Release | 00:55:42 | |
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: Cherionna's site: Upcoming educational site with Franklyn Sills
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| 10 Jul 2019 | CST 109 - Ken DiPersio - Biodynamics and Experiential Embryology in the Ocean, Part I | 01:43:44 | |
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: | |||
| 27 Feb 2017 | CST 49 - Matthew Appleton - Hearing the Baby's Story | 02:11:12 | |
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
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| 11 Sep 2020 | CST 147 - Sophie Rieu - My Cranio Sacral Life | 01:34:12 | |
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 | |||
| 12 Oct 2020 | CST 148 - Etienne Peirsman - The "No Mind" Space | 01:04:19 | |
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. | |||
| 28 Mar 2020 | CST 135 - Etienne Peirsman - The Happiness of My Eyes | 00:29:58 | |
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 Learn more about Etienne in Episode 88. | |||
| 19 Jun 2018 | CST 83 - Todd Jackson, Part 1 - Interviewed by Sarah Hall | 01:58:54 | |
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: Sarah Hall's website:
"Blossoms of Friendship" by Vimala Thakar
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| 04 Nov 2016 | CST 40 - Scott Zamurut - The Embodiment Tide | 01:50:39 | |
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.
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| 13 Apr 2018 | CST 78 - Michael Dunning - Heart Ignition | 00:56:58 | |
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/
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| 25 Nov 2015 | CST 6 - Samantha Lotti - Talking Biodynamics | 01:35:16 | |
Samantha Lotti of Chicago, IL talks about some basic skills of biodynamic work. 0:00 - 5:10 5:15 – 9:15 9:20 – 15:00 16:30 – 30:00 30:00 - 45:00 45:00 – 57:00 58:00 – 1:16:00 1:17:00 - 1:24:00 1:24:00 - 1:28:00 5 Minute meditations available here on CD Baby. itunes (link to come) Sam's practice site: Blog: Craniosacral research site: Facebook: Ryan's video of the class where he met Samantha is here.
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| 16 Jan 2020 | CST 121 - Margaret Rosenau - Fluids, Potency, and Activation | 00:49:17 | |
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. Hear more from Margaret in her first interview for the podcast, Episode 81. | |||
| 25 Mar 2020 | CST 133 - Hugh Milne - The Four Chambered Heart | 00:34:41 | |
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.
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| 11 Aug 2020 | CST 145 - Tai Chou-Kudu - A Youthful Perspective on Intergenerational Trauma and Racial Dynamics | 01:11:05 | |
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. 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
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| 16 Jul 2018 | CST 86 - WC Hobbs - Golden Hand Syndrome, Sexual Dysfunction, and the Value of Connection | 01:56:47 | |
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.
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| 27 Nov 2019 | CST 117 - Safa Boga - In Every Moment there is Perfection | 01:25:00 | |
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.
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| 08 Jul 2016 | CST 29 - Brigit Viksnins - Alchemical Alignment and the Spectrum of the Autonomic Nervous System | 01:01:25 | |
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:
Click here to check out Brigit's "Alignment Sequence" DVD at CDBaby.
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| 31 Dec 2015 | CST 9 - Andrew Stones - Osteopathy, CST, Spirituality, and more | 01:19:26 | |
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, 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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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| 19 Aug 2019 | CST 112 - Dr. Lisa Upledger - Always Blending, Always Listening | 01:18:14 | |
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.
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| 11 Feb 2016 | CST 15 - Caitlin Lyon - Starting Young, Influential Teachers, Practice Building | 01:08:43 | |
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: Carol Agneessens: Ged Sumner and Steve Haines at Cranial Intelligence: Gary Peterson at the STAR Institute: | |||
| 14 Oct 2016 | CST 38 - Scott Zamurut - Breath of Life Conference Interview | 00:47:52 | |
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: | |||
| 13 Feb 2018 | CST 74 - Dr. Cloe Couturier - Fighting for her Son, Working Closely with John Upledger, Medical QiGong | 01:32:27 | |
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: Her Upledger Profile: https://www.iahp.com/CloeCouturier/
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| 26 Sep 2018 | CST 92 - James Foulkes - 2018 Breath of Life Conference Interview | 00:44:56 | |
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:
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| 19 Aug 2017 | CST 61 - Michael Morgan - Craniosacral Therapy for Alzheimer's and Dementia | 00:52:35 | |
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: Find Michael's Upledger Courses here. Michael's email: | |||
| 28 Jul 2018 | CST 88 - Etienne Peirsman - You are Perfect, and your Heart is Perfect | 01:23:33 | |
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:
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| 15 Apr 2017 | CST 53 - Mike Boxhall - Connecting with the Universal Heart | 01:58:46 | |
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:
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| 01 Nov 2016 | CST 39 - Rebekah Crown - Dancing With Your Demons | 00:28:26 | |
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.
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
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| 10 Sep 2019 | CST 113 - Dr. Michael Shea - The Multivagal Safety System | 01:22:59 | |
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.
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| 07 Nov 2016 | CST 41 - Lauren Doko - Digital Marketing for Craniosacral Therapists | 01:12:37 | |
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.
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
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| 15 Jan 2018 | CST 71 - Scott Zamurut - Live Teaching on Pre and Perinatal Healing | 03:27:07 | |
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 training offerings at the Santa Fe School of Massage: | |||
| 15 Apr 2016 | CST 23 - Tim Hutton - Between Tissue and the Energy Field: CST and the Immune Response at The Upledger Institute | 01:10:33 | |
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. Direct link to the Immune Response Curriculum page. Wikipedia link for the immune system. Ryan's school link, as mentioned in the introductory comments:
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| 03 Feb 2020 | CST 122 - Andy Pike - Subtleties of Intention and the Power of Non-Doing | 01:20:37 | |
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. Read an excerpt of Andy's writing here. | |||
| 30 Oct 2015 | CST 2 - John Chitty - Working with Babies | 01:07:08 | |
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
APPPAH – Association for Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health
Dave Paxson
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:
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
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| 14 Jan 2020 | CST 120 - Ryan Hallford - Six Gifts of Primary Respiration | 00:30:29 | |
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. | |||
| 11 Jul 2017 | CST 59 - Rollin McCraty - Heart Rate Variability | 01:16:06 | |
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. The complete talk is available for purchase in video form at: | |||
| 21 Apr 2018 | CST 80 - Heather Smith and Anni Jorgensen - Craniosacral Therapy in Denmark | 00:53:48 | |
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.
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| 02 Sep 2018 | CST 90 - Sharon Desjarlais - It's not About the Time, It's About the Transformation - Evaluating Your Fees | 01:19:17 | |
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: | |||
| 03 May 2021 | CST 155 - Steve Haines - Touch is Really Strange, Tension and Trauma Releasing Exercises TRE® | 01:14:56 | |
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. | |||
| 24 Mar 2016 | CST 20 - Brian Tierney - His Journey, Influences, and Teaching | 00:42:06 | |
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:
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| 24 Apr 2019 | CST 105 - Remembering Mike Boxhall | 00:49:33 | |
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:
Previous interviews with Mike: | |||
| 05 Mar 2020 | CST 126 - Jane Shaw - Meditation to Perceive the Fluid Rhythms of the Body | 00:23:21 | |
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.
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| 13 Jun 2019 | CST 108 - Tad Wanveer - Brain Stars | 01:12:46 | |
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: | |||
| 18 Mar 2020 | CST 131 - Ryan Hallford - Natural Awareness and Your Buoyant Brain | 00:36:08 | |
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. | |||
| 02 Jun 2017 | CST 56 - Katherine Ukleja - Breath of Life Conference Interview | 00:58:14 | |
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: 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.
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| 25 Mar 2019 | CST 103 - Dr. Brian Tierney - Rock 'n Roll ... and Regulate: Limbic Anatomy and the Nuclear Self | 01:36:15 | |
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. somaticdoctor@gmail.com Episode 77 with Brian | |||
| 01 May 2016 | CST 24 - Staci Copses - CST in the Home, Hospital, and Private Practice | 00:53:41 | |
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: Brain Injury Association of America Elements of a Successful Craniosacral Business Ryan's school page: | |||
| 02 Dec 2015 | CST 7 - "Embodiment 5" Meditation from Samantha Lotti | 00:09:19 | |
A sample meditation from Samantha Lotti's collection, "Embodiment 5" Embodiment 5 : 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
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| 05 Mar 2020 | CST 127 - LIz Hartshorn - Attuning to Fundamental Consciousness | 00:23:04 | |
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." | |||
| 10 Jul 2021 | CST 157 - Meaghan Beames - Infant Craniosacral Therapy ... Practice and Education | 01:19:24 | |
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 | |||
| 06 Mar 2017 | CST 50 - Michael Dunning - Geographic Influences on Tidal Expression, Reconsidering the Zones, Spiritual Health | 01:36:50 | |
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.
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| 05 May 2020 | CST 140 - Michael Shea - Pandemic Life and Distance Healing | 01:11:19 | |
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.
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| 19 Jun 2018 | CST 84 - Todd Jackson, Part 2 - Interviews with Students | 01:47:33 | |
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: Sarah Hall's website:
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| 09 Nov 2018 | CST 95 - Ken DiPersio - The Sea is Our Treatment Room - Biodynamics in the Ocean, Part 1 | 01:45:23 | |
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:
Learn more about Ken in:
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| 26 Jul 2021 | CST 158 - Sally Fryer Dietz -Dolphin Assisted Craniosacral Therapy | 00:46:05 | |
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
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| 04 Oct 2019 | CST 115 - Dr. Diana Driscoll - Healing POTS and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome; Neurochemical Support for the Vagus Nerve | 01:15:43 | |
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% | |||
| 23 Jun 2018 | CST 85 - Robyn Michele Jones - Integration of the Triune Self | 01:10:59 | |
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:
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| 06 Nov 2019 | CST 116 - Clara Favale and Shannon Dailey - Stillpoint CST in New York City | 01:16:30 | |
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.
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| 12 Dec 2017 | CST 69 - Giorgia Milne - Trusting the Guiding Principle | 01:35:29 | |
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.
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| 21 Jul 2016 | CST 30 - Mimi Ikle-Khalsa - The 2016 North American Breath of Life Conference | 00:47:41 | |
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:
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| 12 Jun 2017 | CST 57 - 2017 Breath of Life Conference - Bhadrena Tschumi, Michael Kern, Jane Shaw, Maderu Pincione, Dany Yariv, and others | 01:52:40 | |
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: Bhadrena Tschumi: Maderu Pincione: Dany Yariv's website Michael Kern: Jane Shaw:
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| 19 Mar 2020 | CST 132 - Andy Pike - Meditation on "THIS" | 00:32:47 | |
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. | |||
| 15 Sep 2017 | CST 63 - Suzanne Scurlock-Durana - Reclaiming Your Body | 01:04:24 | |
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:
1440 Multiversity in Santa Cruz CST Business episodes with Robyn Scherr:
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| 01 Dec 2016 | CST 42 - Myrna Martin - The Biodynamic Field and the Childbearing Years | 01:08:43 | |
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:
The booklet Myrna mentions in her talk is available at www.booksandbones.com
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| 19 Feb 2021 | CST 152 - Mindy Totten - Optimizing Your Craniosacral Business ... with Intention! | 01:17:15 | |
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
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| 03 Aug 2019 | CST 111 - Shawn Centers, D.O. - Cranial Osteopathy and Autism | 00:58:38 | |
| 10 Jun 2016 | CST 27 - Michael Kern - Finding Health | 01:31:36 | |
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.
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| 03 Mar 2016 | CST 17 - Ryan Hallford - Pitfalls on the Professional Path | 00:28:20 | |
Ryan discusses three potential sticking points along the career path of the craniosacral therapist: zealotry, disillusionment, and stagnation. 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?
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| 06 Feb 2017 | CST 47 - Ryan Hallford - Live Teaching on Biodynamic Basics | 03:53:59 | |
Today's episode features live footage of Ryan teaching a basic course in biodynamic craniosacral therapy, including meditation, lecture, and a classroom demo. Music for this episode by Kevin Blagg:
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| 12 Mar 2019 | CST 101 - Dr. Alison Hazelbaker - Faux Tongue-Tie: an Epidemic of Misdiagnosis? | 01:11:27 | |
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: | |||
