Fairbairn’s Structural Theory.- Size 271KB

Article on Fairbairn’s structural theory. It is a hefty read but very helpful in understanding
how we relate to people as objects and how this affects us and our relationships.

Baby Talk: Can you hear my silent scream? – Size 108KB

Article by Al Pelowski, principal of South African Institute
of Cranial Studies. A call in the middle of the night from an overwrought
parent sets Al off to the hospital to help a new born baby who is having
seizures every couple of minutes.

Intelligence of Hands – Size 40KB

Excerpt from and interview with John Upledger about experiments that
give an insight into how cranio sacral therapists can ‘know without knowing,’
how to place their hands on the right part of the body and then help the
body release.

Healing and the Natural World – Size 228 KB

Wide ranging interview with osteopath Jim Jealous about everything
from the nature of healing to the origins of osteopathy. It is particularly
interesting considering cranio sacral therapy has its origins in osteopathy
which, as he says has been alternative since 1874.

Children and Divorce: How to guide your family through separation/divorce. – Size
240 KB

Article by Trish Banks, M.A. who specialises in psychosynthesis and
reflective practice in childcare. This article is a practical blueprint
for navigating the mine field of divorce and separation. The most common
response I have heard about this article is, ‘This would have been great
to know about when my marriage was falling apart.’ (The above link will
bring you to the download page of Trish’s site. The text says you have
been added to her mailing list but you haven’t and won’t be unless you
want to.)

The Search for Healing – Size 104 KB

Article by Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D. who specialises in chronic and
life-threatening illness. She is also medical director of the Commonwealth
Cancer Help Program. She discuses the interaction between practitioner
and patient.

Life Imitating Heart – Size 176KB

The story of Claire Sylvia, a heart and lung transplant patient. Her noticed
that her personality changed after the operation. She started drinking
beer, eating fast food and ogling girls – just like the dead boy who helped
her live.

Her story is an excellent example of tissue memory. The idea that memory
is not stored in the brain alone but also in the cells of our bodies.

The Effects of Early Relational Trauma on Right Brain Development, Affect Regulation, and Infant Mental Health – Size 1.6MB

Big, (check the size before you download) Long and academically written
paper by Allan N. Schore about the way babies bond with their parents
and how that bonding process can be affected by trauma.

Trauma-the Vortex of Violence – Size 192 KB

Peter Lavine has written excellent books on the effects of trauma. This
article is an excellent introduction to his work.

The Science of Being Well – Size 284 KB

The Science of Being Great – Size 420 KB

The Science of Geting Rich. – Size 496KB

Three powerful books written by Wallace D Wattles. The remarkable thing
about these books is they were written in 1910.

There are many good books on cranio sacral therapy.
No one book is definitive. I recommend you read them all.
If you have a favorite book that you feel really helped you in your training or practice and you don’t see it listed here then send me the title and a short review of it and I will list it.

Top

Below are some DVD’s I have recommended
to students over the years.  They are not always ‘feel good’ movies in
fact some are quite dark but I have found they have represented issues
I have come across in practice and at the very least give windows into
other perspectives.

IMPORTANT Before you buy any of the
dvd’s below, check that the dvd will play in your country or region. If
you are unsure you may want to buy it through your local amazon site.

If you have a favorite book that you feel really helped you in your
training or practice and you don’t see it listed here then send me
the title and a short review of it and I will list it.

	3DCranio Edward Edward Muntinga’s excellent DVD containing 3D animations of cranio sacral movement in real time. The more we can ‘see’ these structures in our head the better we are able to work with them. One of the most difficult things to grasp, when learning cranio sacral, is the way all these structures move as they reflect the cranio sacral rhythm. This DVD gives a three dimensional insight in these complex movements. The animations are rendered with professional 3D-Animation-Software and are very sharp. Edwards site is well worth a visit as he has free downloadable images. Top
	Reign Over Me - Alan Johnson has everything he needs to get through life: a good job, a beautiful and loving wife, and their wonderful children. Yet he feels isolated because he finds having a hard-working job and managing a family too much to handle and has no one to talk to about it. Charlie Fineman, on the other hand, doesn’t have a job or a family. He used to have both until he lost his family on the fateful day of 9/11, and the grief he felt caused him to quit his job and isolate himself from everyone around him. As it turns out, Alan and Charlie were roommates in college, and a chance encounter one night rekindles the friendship they shared. But when Charlie’s problems become too much to deal with, Alan is determined to help Charlie come out of his emotional abyss. Top
	Magnolia – This third feature from Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights) is a maddening, magnificent piece of filmmaking, and it’s an ensemble film to rank with the best of Robert Altman–every little piece of the film means something, and it’s solidly there for a reason. Deftly juggling a breathtaking ensemble of actors, Anderson crafts a tale of neglectful parents, resentful children, and love-starved souls that’s amazing in scope, both thematically and emotionally. Part of the charge of Magnolia is seeing exactly how may characters Anderson can juggle, and can he keep all those balls in air (indeed he can, even if it means throwing frogs into the mix). And it’s been far too long since we’ve seen a filmmaker whose love of making movies is so purely joyful, and this electric energy is reflected in the actors, from Cruise’s revelatory performance to Reilly’s quietly powerful turn as the moral center of the story. While at three hours it’s definitely not suited to everyone’s taste, Magnolia is a compelling, heartbreaking, ultimately hopeful mediation on the accidents of chance that make up our lives. Featuring eight wonderful songs by Aimee Mann, including "Save Me." –Mark Englehart Top
	Happiness – At times brilliant and insightful, at times repellent and false, Happiness is director Todd Solondz’s multistory tale of sex, perversion, and loneliness. Plumbing depths of Crumb-like angst and rejection, Solondz won the Cannes International Critics Prize in 1998 and the film was a staple of nearly every critic’s Top Ten list. Admirable, shocking, and hilarious for its sarcastic yet strangely empathetic look at consenting adults’ confusion between lust and love, the film stares unflinchingly until the audience blinks. But it doesn’t stop there. Happiness is an intelligent, sad film, revelatory and exact at moments. Top
	Jacob’s Ladder – Vietnam veteran Jacob Singer (Tim Robbins) thinks he is going insane. Or worse. When his nightmares begin spilling into his waking hours, Jacob believes he is experiencing the aftereffects of a powerful drug tested on him during Vietnam. Or perhaps his posttraumatic stress disorder is worse than most. Whatever is happening to him, it is not good. Director Adrian Lyne sparks our interest and maintains high production values. Top
	Angel heart – Set in Harlem and New Orleans in 1955, this supernatural thriller stirred a brief controversy when released in 1987 because some scenes featuring Lisa Bonet (then a popular cast member of The Cosby Show) were considered too sexually explicit to be rated R. The edited material was restored for the unrated video release. A sullen detective (Mickey Rourke) is hired to find a missing person by a shady client with pointy fingernails named Louis Cyphre . Rourke’s investigation leads him into an underworld of voodoo and forbidden desires, and as the mystery unfolds director Alan Parker fills every scene with conspicuous style and atmospheric exces. This movie casts a spell of its own and the performances of Rourke, De Niro, Bonet, and Charlotte Rampling are well suited to the ominous mood. Top
	What the #$*! Do We Know!? Also know as ‘What the Bleep?’(2004) Directed by William Arntz, Betsy Chasse, Mark Vicente Cutting edge quantum physics strung together around a loose storyline. Amanda, a divorced photographer, finds herself in a fantastic Alice-in-Wonderland experience when her daily, uninspired life literally begins to unravel, revealing the cellular, molecular and even quantum worlds which lie beneath. Inter cut with interviews with leading scientists and mystics, she finds that if reality itself is not questionable, her notion of it certainly is. Stunning special effects plunge you into a world where quantum uncertainty is demonstrated – where Amanda’s neurological processes, and perceptual shifts are engaged and lived – where everything is alive, and reality is changed by every thought. There has been a second movie released, which I haven’t seen but from what I can gather it is an expanded version of the original movie. I include a listing of it here. Top
	I Heart Huckabees (2004) Directed by David O. Russell. Featuring: Dustin Hoffman, Lily Tomlin, Jude Law, Naomi Watts, Mark Wahlberg, Jason Schwartzman, Isabelle Huppert. An existential comedy. I particularly like the way each character in this movie reacts to the story. I think it is a reasonable reflection of the different ways, different people respond to change. Determined to solve the coincidence of seeing the same conspicuous stranger three times in a day, Albert hires a pair of existentialist detectives, who insist on spying on his everyday life while sharing their views on life and the nature of the universe Top
	What Dreams May Come (1998) Directed by Vincent Ward. Featuring: Robin Williams, Cuba Gooding Jr, Annabella Sciorra, Max von Sydow. Tagline: After life there is more. This movie looks like a moving oil painting. Chris Neilson dies and finds himself in a heaven more amazing than he could have ever dreamed of. There is one thing missing: his wife. After he dies, his wife, Annie killed herself and went to hell. Chris decides to risk eternity in hades for the small chance that he will be able to bring her back to heaven. Top
	The Matrix (1999) Directed by Andy and Larry Wachowski Featuring: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving. Here’s the story: Computer hacker Thomas Anderson has lived a relatively ordinary life–in what he thinks is the year 1999–until he is contacted by the enigmatic Morpheus who leads him into the real world. In reality, it is 200 years later, and the world has been laid waste and taken over by advanced artificial intelligence machines. The computers have created a false version of 20th-century life–the "Matrix"–to keep the human slaves satisfied, while the AI machines draw power from the humans. The interesting thing about this movie is that it gets across the idea that reality is not as real as it appears. It is a useful movie to watch and let percolate in the back of your mind. Top
	It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) Directed by Frank Capra. Featuring: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell. This is a classic that is usually trotted out on one TV station or another, particularly at Christmas. What I like about this movie is the premise which is, what would the world look like if you had never been born? or depending on your mood, what is impact have you made on the world? The story is about George Bailey who grew up in Bedford Falls, a small town he dreams of someday leaving and making his mark on the world. George was all set to leave when his father died and George had to take care of the business. His family’s business is all that stands between the good citizens and Mr. Potter, a rich miser who takes sick pleasure in taking from everybody, without even caring how it affects them. George would forever be stymied with his plans to leave and when he thinks that he is nothing but a failure, he decides to kill himself and that’s when his guardian angel in training, Clarence, comes in and tries to convince him that he has made something with his life and that he had a "Wonderful Life". Top
	Patch Adams (1998) Directed by Tom Shadyac. Featuring: Robin Williams, Daniel London, Monica Potter, Philip Seymour Hoffman. Fact-based story of Hunter "Patch" Adams (Robin Williams), the founder of the Gesundheit Clinic, a clinic which deals with their patients with humor and pathos. The film starts with Hunter admitting himself as a patient in a mental ward. While there, he found he enjoyed helping the other patients and found the staff to be cold and separative from the patients. Vowing to change things, he releases himself from the hospital and headed to the Virginia Medical College. His unorthodox methods cast him up against many of the doctors and deans of the university, despite him getting some of the highest grades in his class. Recognizing that many poor people were not being treated, as a student he formed the Gesundheit Clinic to aid those who were not getting proper treatment at the hospital. However, this brought him up before the Medical Review Board for practicing without a license.

February 13 -2009

Questions and comments for this issue:

+ Questions about meditation and why we need it.
+ Letter from Finland.

Hello,

I’m happy to report that the folks at the University
of Michigan are continuing their pioneering tradition.
You might remember that they were involved in a lot of
the early work John Upledger did on cranio sacral therapy.

This time a group of researchers, led by chemistry
professor Raoul Kopelman have done some very interesting
work quantifying the inherent energy fields of cells.
This is no news to us but I always like to see science
finding ways of measuring and proving what we do.

I particularly like the bi-line for the article -
“Individual cells have INTERNAL electric fields – as
powerful as LIGHTNING bolts”

Very 1950′s sci-fi movie don’t you think. You can
read the full article here:

Speaking of shockers, let me also direct you to the
cranio sacral poetry of Imur Ton.  Imur is a veteran
cranio sacral and massage therapist. He has written
poems about his experience and put them on his website.

Now before you get all dewy eyed and run off to
indulge in a bit of cranial iambic pentameter let me
warn you Imur’s peoms are not for the fainted hearted.
As he says himself, ‘Please put on your seat belt
and find something solid to hold onto.’ This is
honesty at point blank range with both barrels.

Enjoy the ride.  Here’s my favorite.

Zoë Grivas from Australia has been in touch with me
about her treatment table. She is selling it.  It is
an Athlegen powerlift table.  It is the same type as
the one I use but with a lot more folding table panels.
I like mine so much I shipped it to Ireland when I moved.
I have posted the details about Zoë’s table on the forum
you can have a look at it here.

Before we get into the rest of the newsletter
let me make a quick appeal. If you have been watching the news
about the bush fires in Australian and you would like to help
in some way, I encourage you to go here and donate.

That said let’s get on with the mailbag.

***QUESTIONS ABOUT MEDITATION***

I’ve had a number of letters about meditation and
why it was needed as part of the process of learning
cranial work so I’ll answer them all here.

The purpose of including meditation in your cranio
sacral training is to help you become familiar with
your inner state or landscape.

In that way you can begin to differentiate between
what you are receiving from the patient and what is
just you.

Think of it like this.
You’re sitting in front of a big wide screen TV.
The channel keeps changing but that doesn’t matter
because you find everything interesting.  Behind you
there is a small colour TV but you can’t turn around
to look at it.  You can hear what’s on the small TV
but you can’t make it out because the noise from the
TV in front of you is obscuring it.

Are you with that image so far. You’re facing the
big TV with the little TV behind you.

Every now and then, when the screen on the big
TV goes dark, you can make out something of the little
TV as it reflected in the darkened screen of the big TV.

Now let me explain this brilliant metaphor.
Okay, this metaphor.  The big TV is your body – mind etc,
your system.  The little TV is the patient’s system.

You want to be able to see their system – the show
on the little TV -  as accurately as you can.

So the obvious thing to do is turn off the big TV,
then in the empty screen and without the sound, it is
much easier to see what is happening on the little TV
as it is reflected on the darkened screen of the
big TV.

Learning to meditate is like learning how to turn off
your TV. You need to be able to reduce your internal
static.  What you are left with is a sort of inner
silence into which it is easier to hear any ‘noise’
from the person you are working with.

Cultivating that inner silence is important because it
is the secret weapon of cranio sacral therapy.

Sure, it’s important to be able to talk with patients
about why they might be sick and so on.

But for some people talking can only make things worse.
They can have so many concepts floating around in their
head that talking can be like throwing petrol on the fire.

You can get a sense of this when you are taking
their case history.  They will usually have been sick
for some time and have seen quite a few other therapists
and they will have a number of theories floating around
in their heads as to why they are ill.  You can tell
that with each new ‘helpful’ perspective you offer
they go deeper into confusion.

That’s when silence really works. They get on
the table and you begin to work.  You might chat
with them but you don’t initiate it or keep it
going.  Eventually silence descends and in that
silence, and the depths of your work, changes
percolate to the surface from the depths of them.

Over time, deep changes occur and no one talks
about it. Sometimes they will tell you an insight
they may have had and it will usually have a deep
ring of truth to it.

What do you think about the role of silence
and meditation in cranial work?

***FROM ANU IN FINLAND***

Hello John,

Great to see how much work you have done to make
CST better known.
How did you end up into “CST-world”?

I moved back to Finland from the UK in Februari 2008
(I lived in London and Windsor for almost three years)
and I’m so anxious to let every single person in this
country to know about the power of this gentle, amazing
approach!! I started to learn CST in London 2006 and
have carried on since, been to Florida and North
Carolina to learn more.

My inspiration initially was my cousin who currently
lives in the US and has been practicing CST for…
at least 15years more or less. But the main force
that made me sign myself in to take a workshop was
after a personal injury (proper car accident/whiplash)
in 2005. I was treated by an amazing therapist in
London and one day I told her I think I just have
to start learning CST and she encouraged me. I know
now that I found something I was meant to find, the
important piece for me personally and certainly
professionally had been missing.

I hope you have an amazing year 2009 – it will be
an exciting year!

Lots of greetings from Helsinki, Finland!

-Anu

>>>MY COMMENTS:

I think this is a great letter and highlights the many
different ways we come to become cranio sacral therapists.

What is your story ? How did you come
to cranio sacral work?  Let me know and I will include
the best stories in the next newsletter.

Till the next time.

Your Mate,

John D.

+ Chronic Fatigue – looking for the meaning of symptoms. – Nov 06

***QUESTION***

Hi John,
I have a question for your newsletter: Chronic Fatigue. Do you have any pointers for what to check or work on with patients with this syndrome?

Best regards,

Eva Kuhl Bornefelt
Central Coast
Australia

MY COMMENTS:

That’s a great question as always Eva and thanks for asking it.

Talking about chronic fatigue gives me an opportunity to go into the sort of process I go through when I look at any set of symptoms.

I ask myself what is this condition trying to communicate to the person.  What is it saying?

Why this condition and not another?  Why chronic fatigue and not fibromyalgia or arthritis or irritable bowel?

Of all the conditions this person could have, why do they have this one?

Each set of symptoms add up to a very specific communication.

‘So don’t worry about the physical manifestations?’

Not at all.  It’s very important to deal with them but dealing with them alone won’t necessarily solve the problem.  Looking at the condition in
this way points you towards the deepest reason for the condition.

You may not know what the deepest reason is but at least you will be looking in the right direction.

Then getting a sense of what the deepest cause of the condition is will inform you how to deal with the physical manifestations.

So let’s put it into practice. What is chronic fatigue communicating?

It’s a syndrome so it contains lots of different symptoms and few people exhibit all the symptoms all the time.

The main symptom is in the name – fatigue.  The person has no energy to do anything.  Sometimes they will need to sleep a lot, other people are tried but can’t sleep.

Generally they will have to stop working, stop their hobbies, significantly reduce their social life.

So what does this all add up to?
In short the person’s life grinds to a halt.

What is this aspect of the condition communicating?

Stop.

‘Stop what?’

Stop everything.

Why do we communicate, ‘stop’ to someone?

Generally it is because there is something about what the person is doing that we don’t like and we want them to stop doing it.

‘No kidding Sherlock.  Is this what chronic fatigue is communicating?’

Generally speaking I’ve found that it is a large part of the communication.

For example, if a person has a condition that is annoying but doesn’t give them too much discomfort, the communication is generally about getting their own attention.

‘This is bothering us and we need our attention about it.’

But it has a, ‘When you can get to it.’ sort of vibe.

Whereas Chronic fatigue has a, ‘Stop everything and deal with this NOW!’ sort of vibe.

So look for what is so important to the person that they will put their whole lives on hold, if  it is in disharmony, until that disharmony is resolved.

Another thing to consider when treating someone with chronic fatigue is their capacity to stay sick.

Let me explain.  The amount of energy required to create chronic fatigue is huge.  The people I have treated for chronic fatigue have usually worn out about 5 or 6 therapists by the time they get to me.

If you are very attached to quick results then maybe you shouldn’t take them on because these people have huge endurance.  I know it’s a little
paradoxical.  Someone with chronic fatigue having huge endurance.  But don’t be distracted by the lack of energy issues.  There is plenty of energy in their systems it’s just directed into keeping their lives on hold and there is very little left for the person for having any kind of a life.

I have found it most helpful to see my role as facilitating them to discover what the disharmony that is causing them to press the ‘Pause’ button on their life is.  And no I don’t necessarily mean having long, probing, regressive, conversations with them about it.

The other useful thing when actually working with their systems is to sit very comfortably in the timeless aspect of our work. By that I mean, the depth at which we work.  All going well when you work with someone you will be in a very meditative state and in that state, time pauses.  We descend into the moment and in that, it’s eternal.

This is a very handy space to be in with a condition that has therapists for breakfast.  As you sit with the person and your system entrains
with theirs, your system conveys a quality of timelessness.  The subtle communication from your system is,  ‘I could stay here forever.’

You can’t fake this.  It has to be real for you.  If it’s not you need to meditate more until it is.

I have found that when someone with chronic fatigue comes to see me and our systems entrain and their system gets this, ‘I can wait forever.’ Quality from mine it gives up on the endurance test and starts to avail of the support to deal with the underlying disharmony.

April 4 – 2009

Questions and comments for this issue:

+ Special report from Mary Hegarty in Cape Town on autism.
+ Any results with tinnitus?
+ Treating children on Ritalin.
+ Working with the sphenoid.

Hello,
Apparently there are as many creatures on your
body as there are people on Earth. Feel free to
use that one at your next dinner party. Here is
the video to back it up. I wanted to call it,
‘Your Micro-organisms and You.’ but the makers
weren’t that keen.

If you are interested in developing ‘Virtuoso Touch’
have a read of Jesse Arana’s article on palpation.
He is a big fan of John Upledger. If that doesn’t
put you off too much he has some interesting
perspectives and observations.

In fact it was Jesse who let me know about Casa BESU
in Portabelo, Panama. This is an initiative by 4 cranio
sacral therapists to bring cranio sacral treatment and
training to the local community in Portabelo. It is a
great project and fits right in with my vision for
Open Source Cranio.

And while we’re on the subject of inspiring people,
get your tissues ready and have a look at this video of
Nick Vujicic who faces obstacles I can’t even imagine
every day of his life. His message is great,
‘It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.’

Stanford University has launched a video series from
7 of its faculty members in the fields of neuroscience,
bioengineering, brain imaging and psychology.
I haven’t had a chance to look at them all yet but
the ones I have seen are interesting.

My Masterclass DVD series is coming along nicely.
I have put a 10 minute video compilation of extracts
from it on this page.
You can also sign up for a Review Edition or an advance
copy there too.

Before we get into the mailbag here is a special report
from Mary Hegarty on work she was doing with a boy
diagnosed with autism in Cape Town.

***SPECIAL REPORT FROM MARY HEGARTY IN CAPE TOWN***

Alpha School Case Report: The Boy with the Pencil
August 2007

The week ends with a bang on Friday as we enter the
Alpha School for Learners with Autism! Noise abounds,
footsteps echo off high ceilings and stairwells; pots
and pans clang and clatter in the kitchen; raised voices
reverberate greetings and admonitions, songs and laughter,
tears and tantrums.

Among the 65 days students, who are predominantly boys
between the ages of 5 and 18, most (85%) come from
disadvantaged homes. What all have in common is autism.
The spectrum is pretty wide. Some can language, read,
and count; others do not speak. Some have a
‘high functioning’ label, while others need help
with basics, even the toilet.

Our CST outreach program focuses on children under 12.
Teachers and their aides are a tremendous resource,
generously sharing information about what happens in
the classroom and on the playground when we are not there.

This is R’s story, ‘a lethargic boy with a dislike of
gross motor activity,’ as described in a 2005 psych
report. Back then he was often anxious and tearful
on the school bus, becoming sullen upon arriving at
school. He might scream for up to 20 minutes at a
stretch twice a day. He would hit himself during
tantrums on the floor.

At home, bedtime was problematic. R would often lay
awake for three hours before falling asleep at 11pm.
He could dress and undress and use the toilet. He
was not fond of sharing. He was able to use scissors
and a pencil. He would examine objects obsessively.
I met R in November 2005, when he was 9 years old,
and began working with him in the classroom. While
his teacher read a story, I supported R’s right kidney.

He would not allow contact with two hands. After the
story R wanted to go home, though when I asked
permission he said I could come back to see him.
Soon after the 2006 school year began, R’s teacher
said that his tantrums had stopped and he was
showing a marked improvement.

I met with his parents in February and explained CST
to them. They were keen for R to continue in the
program. By this time, R was allowing more contact
for longer periods during CST sessions. I could hold
his liver and kidney areas with no fuss, though he
continued to be less enthusiastic about cranial
contact when I tried to hold his frontal bone,
sphenoid and parietals.

Early in March 2006, R came to school very charged.
That day he refused treatment, saying ‘GO AWAY!
Not today!’ Not to be deterred, I sat beside him
briefly, offering verbal support without physical
contact. I promised to return in a week’s time.

The next few days would bring a devastating loss to
R and his family. On the evening of R’s 10th birthday
his dad was struck by a taxi and killed instantly
while riding his bike home from work.

The following Friday, R did not want me or CST, but
his teacher insisted. A classmate supportively held
R’s hand and accompanied us to the OT room. There R
leaned against me and stared blankly at the colourful
posters hanging on the wall. Moving onto a big red
physio ball, I gathered him into my lap, rocking
gently. My hands made a sandwich of his mid-thoracic
spine and his heart/solar plexus.

After 20 minutes, we joined his classmates on the
playground. He sank onto the picnic bench, leaned
against me and cried. Another 20 minutes passed
and R gazed skyward, lifted his arms and became very
agitated. We walked back to the classroom, where he
began to settle.

We enjoyed a couple of good sessions before the
winter holidays, but by the time Term 3 began,
R’s tantrums had begun again. Concerned, his
classroom teacher, the school psychologist and
I paid a home visit to the humble cinderblock
cottage bordering the airport, where we listened
for two hours to his mom’s non-stop story. It was
clear that the entire family was in crisis.
I was just a volunteer practitioner working with
one family member. That would have to be enough.
Since that home visit, I created a routine when
working with R. I announce my arrival at school
to R and ask his permission to return in a while.

For the next year and a half, on good days I would
sit beside R and watch him draw (he’s becoming
quite the artist!). If I’m lucky he allows contact
somewhere on his back for a brief period, and in
rare circumstances on the cranial vault. I ask
about his family. On a not-so-good day, R tells me
to go away! On those days I sit beside him without
touching… but I DO NOT GO AWAY!!!

When R’s class was invited to join in an art
program at a nearby school, R refused to participate,
even though he loves to draw. In his collapsed world,
venturing into unknown waters is too threatening.

On a rainy Friday in August 2007, I arrived on time
to see R’s classmates filing into the media room to
watch a video. R had stayed behind in the classroom
to draw on his own. His teacher said R did not sleep
the night before. I pulled up a chair and remarked
that he must be exhausted. It was just the two of us,
the room was quiet. R wore a track suit made with
slippery fabric, and I decided to try massaging his
back, neck, shoulders and arms. No protest. For the
next 35 minutes, bent over his desk, R surrendered to
cranio sacral therapy… cranium, spine, sacrum.
At one point he relaxed the grip on his best friend,
the pencil, melting into the moment. The silence
was exquisite. When I left I whispered a promise to
return next week. I’ll be there!

The following is a poem I wrote this year inspired by R…

*Kwansaba: Curious Boy with the Pencil
Curious Boy grips the pencil too tight
his silent friend during dark feral nights
these days nights last all day long
taxi smashed bicycle… dada’s dead and gone
guns shoot outside, mummy’s on her knees
pencil draws blue sky, happy birds &bees
bad lines rubbed out before anybody sees

Mary Hegarty
24 January 2009

*KwanSaba is a cross-cultural poetic form dedicated
to Kwanzaa. Each poem addresses one of the seven
principles of Kwanzaa: Umoja (unity); Kujichagulia
(self-determination); Ujima (collective responsibility);
Ujamaa (cooperative economics); Nia (purpose);
Kuumba (creativity); and Imani (faith), and consists
of seven lines of seven words each. Every word used
contains no more than seven letters.

MY COMMENTS:

Great report Mary. As always I am so impressed
with the work you and your fellow therapists are
doing in South Africa. Well done.

***FORUM QUESTION***

Has anyone had any long term success treating
Tinnitus? I treated a long term sufferer and it
was gone within 20 minutes but came back that
afternoon, two further sessions have shown no relief.
Karen
Australia

MY COMMENTS:

Hello Karen,
I have had good success treating tinnitus and its
big brother menieres disease. Here is a case history
of a woman I treated with menieres in Brisbane in 1997.

Not all cases of tinnitus will respond to cranio
sacral work but I have found that it is easy enough
to identify these cases in the initial assessment.

A common thing I have found in people with tinnitus
is their membrane systems are very tight. They often
feel to me like their membrane system is a half size
too small for their body.

This can be throughout the whole membrane system or
just in specific parts of it.

Why this causes the tinnitus has to do with the
sensitivity of the ear drums to vibration. Let me
explain. If you were standing in the corner of a
room whispering and I was standing in the opposite
corner trying to listen, the 3 little bones in my
ear – ossicles – that connect to my eardrum would be
moving a couple of microns.

Remember a sheet of writing paper is 100 microns
thick so a movement of a couple of microns is tiny.

When a membrane system is very tight it can feel
like an over-tightened guitar string that is
reverberating.
This minute vibration is what causes the occicles
to vibrate minutely and this tiny movement is what
causes the noise – tinnitus.

I have found that as the membrane system begins
to ease the tinnitus diminishes.

Because you got a positive result the first time
you treated the person it means the tinnitus is
being caused by restrictions in the person’s
system. I suggest you go through your case
history notes to see what you worked on in that
first session.

Something you did will have caused the symptoms
to diminish. It is possibly something small you
didn’t register as being part of the primary
lesion. It may not fit your idea of what is wrong.

For example, you may have done an ear pull
in the first session and felt a good release. In the
subsequent 2 treatments you may have done ear pulls
also.
What you may have forgotten is that you did
some work on the sacrum in that initial session
but because there was an improvement in symptoms
and you got such a significant release with the
ear pull, you may have neglected the sacrum work.

Of course I’m not saying that is what happened.
I am offering it as a possibility.

***QUESTION***

Hi John,
I recently treated a teenager with ADHD who has been
on Ritalin since about age 6. While I’ve treated kids
with variations on the condition before, this is the
first time I’ve come across a system influenced by
Ritalin. It felt to me like a massive dose of caffeine,
but it seemed to reverberate outside as well as inside
the system, which is a new experience for me. It felt
like treating two systems at once. Any comments or
experiences with Ritalin to report?
Keep up the great work.
Joseph McGuire
Ireland

MY COMMENTS:

Hello Joseph,
I’ve had quite a bit of experience with kids on
Ritalin and the many other drugs that are prescribed
for ‘difficult’ kids. Here is a case history of
one such child I treated in Brisbane in 2004.

Ritalin has a particularly strong effect on the
system because it is, well, a really strong drug.
If it was administered intravenously it would have
the same ‘hit’ as cocaine.

That’s not just folksy hearsay, Ritalin actually
has the same pharmacological profile as cocaine.

So when you make contact with a system that has been
distorted with Ritalin for a long time you can feel
all sorts of strange resonances, counter currents,
compensations, rhythm echos and the sort of feeling
you were describing.

The way to work with it is the same as working
with any drug. You treat as much as you can see
through the haze the drug causes in the person’s
system.
When the symptoms improve and under the guidance
of the prescribing Doctor, the medication is reduced.

With less medication, more of the restriciton
pattern will reveal itself. You continue treatment-
symptoms improve – medication is further reduced
and so on.
Eventually there is no medication and no symptoms.

Happy days.

If you want to read more about the effects of
Ritalin there is a good little article reproduced
from ‘The Observer’ on the South African Institute
of Cranial Studies website here.

***QUESTION***

Dear John!
I hope you don’t mind me asking you a question,
concerning cranio-sacral. I just had a young female
patient here, for cranio, she had a spine-operation
6 months ago. And as I tried the lateral strain, the
whole structures became somewhat swirly and blurry…
and I had no idea what to do – haven’t felt this before
(ok, some swirls are ok, but this was totally blurry…
it felt as if the whole head swam in my hands)… so I
just tried to hold on, until it got a bit calmer.
Have you ever experienced something like this?
What is your opinion, what to do in a case like this?

Lots of greetings,
Iva
Croatia

MY COMMENTS:

Hello Iva,
I am happy to answer your questions and I’m glad to
see cranio sacral is flourishing in Croatia.

Based on what you have written about trying the
lateral strain, I am going to assume you were working
with the woman’s sphenoid when this ‘blurry-ness’
happened.

This could be for a number of reasons. Firstly
you were working with the sphenoid. William Sutherland,
the grand daddy of our work, was fascinated with
the sphenoid and considered it to be the ‘master cog’
in one of his his mechanical models of cranial bone
motion.

I can understand why he was so into it as I have
found the sphenoid to have a very strong energetic
signature and can have a significant effect on the
whole cranium and the rest of the body.

The first time I experienced this I was working
someone in a standard kind of treatment situation.
Quiet room, eyes closed. We were about half way
through the session. I had been at the person’s
head for about 10 minutes and focusing on the
sphenoid for about 5.

Suddenly it felt like the sphenoid just lit up.
The superior surface reminded me of a console on a
space ship or something like that, with colored
flashing lights turning on and off in sequence.

I had to open my eyes to check the person’s head
wasn’t glowing. It wasn’t. They were lying with
their eyes closed, deeply relaxed – they may have
even been asleep.

Inside their head everything was gang busters.
It felt like there was a brass band going off
in there.
As I observed the ‘lights’ on the sphenoid I
began to get the feeling that there was an order
and a pattern to the way they were flashing
and moving.
Them it began to dawn on me that there was a
progression to what was happening almost like some
kind of program running.

It went on like this for about 5 minutes and
then as abruptly as it started, it just stopped.
All the lights went out and the sphenoid settled
back into a very smooth and solid rhythm.

When the person returned the following week they
reported a significant improvement in their
symptoms.

I have had similar kinds of experiences with
lots of different peoples sphenoids since.

Being a science fiction fan it’s no surprise
that my brain translated what I was feeling in that
person’s sphenoid in terms of space ship consoles
and flashing lights.
In your case, it sounds like, your brain
translated what you were feeling as ‘blurry-ness’
and that swimming feeling in your hands.

The significant thing is that something important
was happening in the woman’s system. Over time
you may find that you experience the same kind of
thing with more people.

In my experience bodies are capable of the most
amazing and from our perspective, shocking, things.
I have been treating people for 15 years and I am
still coming across new responses.

The responses may be new but the feeling of being
taken by surprise is the same. Over time I have
learned to become familiar with that feeling of
being shocked and surprised by a new response.
From what you have written it sounds like you
are on the way to doing that too.

You said you held on until it ‘got a bit calmer’
I suggest you held on until YOU got a bit calmer.
Because that is what I have found works best in
dealing with new responses, not getting pulled
into them.
If you can get a bit of distance from what is
happening you can see that the persons body is
taking advantage of your support and is getting
on with it. It just happens to be in a way that
you haven’t seen before.

Lastly I would wonder how the spinal surgery fits
into all this? Was it involved in the sphenoid
resettling you described? Was trauma from the
surgery working itself out and you were feeling this
from the sphenoid or was the sphenoid involved more
directly?
I have come accross a few cases of trauma arising
from the positions people were put in or rough
handling during surgery that had nothing to do
with the actual surgery itself.

So that’s it for this issue.

Till the next time.

Your Mate,

John D.

January 4 -2009

Questions and comments for this issue:

+ Bring someone international to your practice
- from Nica in Berlin.
+ Follow on comment on Shunts from Malcolm Hiort,
Director, Australian Craniofascial Therapy School
+ Follow on comment on Shunts from Al Pelowski in Durban.
+ Question about self doubt.
+ Question about unwinding from Nellian Bekker.
+ Question on Death and ReBirth from Ingrid Hoffman in Ireland.

Hello,

It may only be 5 days old but so far 2009 is shaping
up to be a great year. I start back into my practice
tomorrow after 10 glorious days of rest and excess.
My batteries are charged and I’m ready to go.

Here are the latest additions to Open Source Cranio. . . .

I finally finished updating the list of cranio
sacral therapy schools around the world.  I know
it’s not exhaustive so if I haven’t listed your favorite
school let me know and I will include it.
Cranio sacral therapy schools

Speaking of listings I am in the process of updating
the therapists listings. I want to set them up so that
you can access and update your own listing and I want
to link the listings to some sort of google map so that
it will be easier for people to find therapists near them.

So if any of you are computer whizzes and would like
to help please get in touch.

You will notice that I have changed the design of
the site.  Hopefully it is now easier to read and
works better as a learning resource.
Let me know what you think.

Forum.
Here are some of the topics being discussed on
the Open Source Cranio Forum. . . .

There is a nice post from Xavia in South Africa
about a 4 year old girl who has Angleman’s syndrome.

Another good post from Thespeni Calogero-Allen
in South Affrica about a 2 year old releasing a burn trauma.

There was a question about insurance from Sara.

And a discussion about depression.

Masterclass DVD Series.
I have been busy preparing my DVD masterclass series.
This will be about 8 hours of video taken from a post
graduate seminar I did in Cape Town.  It’s looking
like it will be an 8 or 9 DVD set. I will let you
know more about it when it is closer to completion.

Another cranio newsletter. . .
James Nemec, a cranio sacral therapist from America
has started a cranio sacral therapy newsletter.
I think it is worth checking out as it’s always
good to get different perspectives.

http://www.craniocean.com/

I came across this article about a girl with
vacterl syndrome, it’s alright I didn’t know what
it was either,  it’s a series of birth defects that
affected a number of internal organs including her
heart, esophagus and stomach, as well as caused
irregularities with her spine and anus.

She also had a severe scoliosis.  She is getting
great results with cranio sacral therapy but her
insurance company won’t cover it.  Local town did
fund raising to help her continue with her treatment.
Personally I find the cost of her treatment high
but that could be just me.
What do you think?

And finally the other thing I have been up to is
making goofy videos about learning to use my all
-terrain roller skates, ominously called Doomwheels,
in conjunction with my Kitewing, which is a cross
between a hang-glider and a windsurfing sale.

You can see my shenanigans, if that’s the sort
of thing that interests you, here . .

Anyhu, let’s get on with the mailbag.

***INVITATION FROM NICA IN BERLIN***

Dear john,
How are you doing?

I am wondering if there would be any possibility,
that I could spend a few weeks, working in another
practice as an idea of exchanging experiences?

Maybe there are people who would love to have -
for a limited period, – another craniosacral-therapist
from abroad in his/her place to be able to grow
together,etc.?

What are your thoughts?

Lovely greetings out of berlin! Aswell to your wife!
Nica

Nica Berndt – Caccivio
Berlin

>>>MY COMMENTS:

I met up with Nica and her husband in Berlin,
when I was there last year.

She would bring a lot to any practice
or exchange program.

***FOLLOW ON COMMENT FROM MALCOLM HIORT***

Hi John,
Re Odile’s email/your reply:
My experience of clients with shunts is that their
cranial rhythms are compromised.
Specifically, I notice that maximal expansion/flexion
is never reached.
The end-point of movement has a ‘rebound’ quality
to it, without the ‘tapering’ effect normally palpated.
I have felt this characteristic diminished amplitude
throughout the body.

Another consequence of a shunt is that inducing a
still point cannot be achieved, at least in my
experience.
It seems that when CSF back-pressure begins to
build within the ventricles, it is vented by the
shunt.
Again, this is a bodywide occurrence, no matter
where the technique is applied.

I would be interested to get any feedback on my
remarks at info@craniofascial.com
www.craniosacralart.com was interesting.

cheers John, keep up the good work.

Malcolm Hiort, Director,
Australian Craniofascial Therapy School

>>>MY COMMENTS:

Thanks for that Malcolm.
Shunts certainly compromise the fluid dynamics of the system.

***FOLLOW ON COMMENT FROM AL PELOWSKI***

There’s a good description and pics of shunts in
the Netter Collection of Medical Illustrations,
V.1, the Nervous System, Part II -Neurologic and
Neuromuscular Disorders.

In there you’ll see that shunts can be set to
drain into the peritoneal space rather than the jugular v.

Peritoneal drainage is often preferred in babes
and kids because the longer tube allows for growth.

But, either way, shunting tubes have to penetrate
several layers of membrane, muscle and fascia.
This can, and often does lead to chronic infections
and irritation.

Another problem is the silting up of the valve and
the thin cannula–CSF is loaded with salts (electolytes)
that can crystallise out of solution in the margins
of turbulent flows and eddies in the apparatus.

Shunting therefore can require frequent reinsertions
+ drugs (e.g. antibiotics and steroids)

Some of the risk factors are covered in
Toru Fukuhara et al, “Risk factors for Failure of
Endoscopic Third Ventriculostomy for Obstructive
Hydrocephalus,” in the journal Neurosurgery, V.46,
No. 5, May 2000, where you will also find
some 40 references.

It might also be useful to see*
*CRANIOSYNOSTOSIS SYNDROMES by **J. Cary Moorhead,
MD, in Grand Round Archives June 24, 1993.

I’ve worked cranially with maybe a dozen babies
and kids with shunts.
It’s vital to know the history of it and to be
aware that tubal irritation and immune suppression
will distort and disempower the child’s responses.
There are loads of cautions in this work, but no
firm contraindications I can think of.
Other practitioners seeing cases of craniosynostosis?
Please get in touch.

I believe it’s a mushrooming problem worldwide.

>>>MY COMMENTS:

Thanks for that Al.

For those of you that don’t know, Craniosynostosis,
is a condition where some or all of the sutures in the
skull of an infant or child become fused.

I have treated a few children with it in Australia.
The cranium felt like it was made of marble.
Hardly any movement.  In all cases it felt like
a blueprint problem to me.  It felt like the
developmental process of the system was accelerated.
It felt like the sutures had met each other with such
force that they fused in a solid way that no adult would.

In all the children I saw, the condition had got to
the point where they needed surgery to separate the
sutures. My sense was that if I had seen them earlier
we could have avoided the surgery.

What have your experiences with Craniosynostosis
been like?

***QUESTION***

Thank you for creating such a helpful website!

I am writing to you in relation to Trigeminal Neuralgia.

I read your response to a fellow CS therapist
and applied these principles to my treatment
of a patient with this diagnosis.

I have seen her for 6 sessions and she tells me
that she experiences 1 or 2days relief from symptoms.
Her response was to make a longer gap between sessions
(3 weeks).

I wish I had contacted you earlier for feedback
as I am seeing her again tomorrow, but well……
my query is about if no big results after 6 sessions
are you being ineffective?

I doubt my ability as a CS therapist…..frequently…
…but have had some patients with great results
from treatment.

I will say to her tomorrow that it is best to
make the sessions weekly for a few weeks and
work from there, if she is willing to try this.

It is difficult when working with self-doubt
and a general lack of patients (slow pace of clients).

I have been in practice for 2 years and studied
at Craniosacral Therapy Educational Trust in
London with Ged Sumner and Michael Kern.

Any feedback on my dilemma would be gratefully received.

Thanks

R.A.
Gloucester, U.K.

>>>MY COMMENTS:

To answer your query, ‘if there are no big
results after 6 sessions are you being ineffective?’
I would need to know how far apart the sessions were.
If your patient was getting 1-2 days relief with
sessions 3 weeks apart, then she would probably
get better results if you saw her every week.

The thing is, it would have saved you both some
grief if you persuaded her to do that from the
beginning.  Now you have both lost confidence
in the process.

I always encourage people to come every week
at the beginning of the treatment program.
I explain it in this way: -
(Feel free to borrow it.)

‘Your system is in the habit of being restricted.
When you come for treatment your system begins to
release those restrictions and it starts to ‘remember’
the way it was before it became restricted.
Over the course of the week the habitual pattern
of restriction starts to reassert itself.
Because of this it is very important to come
for treatment every week, particularly at the
beginning of the your treatment program, to help
your system get some momentum.’

With regard to your self-doubt let me refer
you to these previous letters.

Do patients need to believe?

Am I making it up?

***QUESTION***

Hi John,

I am not sure wether this would be a case for your
fantastic Newsletter…….

I have been working on this young man (17) since
October 2006- originally came for sinusitis,
which healed.

He has never been in an accident, but had a fall
at school which his parents were not told about??
He scored the highest in 7 out of his 8 subjects
in Grade 12 this year (German), and the matric
exams is a joke for him. He wants to become a doctor.
He was always sickly as a child.
His mother was  in labour for 12 hours before he
was born by emergency caesarian because his heart
had stopped beating.

He had bad scoliosis which is a lot better.
The lesion in his lower thoracic Level T8, his scapula
positions, kifosis and lordosis are some of the
things that I am working on, as well as his
‘pinched’ face.  It does not matter where I touch him,
he starts unwinding, pulling into all sorts of positions,
and the body sometimes pulls straight up from the bed
with only his head and feet touching, then he would flip,
feet over his head, and then be relaxed and exhausted,
leaving me half dead as well.

His dad is also a client of mine.  I got the impression
that they do not have a great relationship.
He has a younger sister.

Any insights from your side that can help both of us PLEASE?

I know that you are the best!

Enjoy your day!

Nellian Bekker
Cape Town

>>>MY COMMENTS:

Hello Nellian,
I think you need to reassert your authority
in the situation.  From what you are describing
it sounds like his system is like a bucking bronco
and you are trying to hang on.   It is an easy
enough mistake to make in unwinding as we can
become so focused on following the persons
system we can cross the line into being pulled
along by it.

The trick is to stop it before it becomes a
problem.  You do this at the beginning of the
unwinding.  Right at the point where you have
done the articulation and you have taken up a
contact in readiness to begin the unwinding.
When you are at that point, do the following…

WAIT.

Don’t don anything.  Don’t allow the persons
system to move you. Simply hold it and . . .

Wait.

If you don’t wait you will just get pulled
along and it’s very hard to effect any substantial
releases that way.

Waiting conveys your authority in the situation
because the communication from your system to
theirs, while you are holding and waiting is,
‘I choose to follow.’

In that choice lies your authority and once
you establish it the persons system will feel
much more secure with you and reveal very
delicate restrictions because it knows you
can support it through them.

Specifically regarding your patient,
if he continually goes into vigorous unwinding
and you get the feeling that it isn’t productive
then I suggest you direct the energy of his
unwinding back into his system.  Basically
this requires you to hold his system and not
let it move around too much while at the
same time using your intention to direct
what releases that are occurring back into
his system.  This has an implosive rather
than an explosive quality.

Because his system is used to moving
around a lot it may be difficult in the
beginning but if you persevere you will
find that you will get to deeper levels
of release.

***QUESTION***

Death and Rebirth:

Dear John

Winter will soon bring our energies inwards
and with the Winter Solstice approaching,
here in the North, I find that many of my
clients are suffering with melancholy and
soul loss.

How can CST help?

Ingrid Hoffman.
Rathfeigh Tara Ireland

>>>MY COMMENTS:

Hello Ingrid,

Don’t get me started on the winters in
Ireland.  They are SOOO depressing.
Getting up in the morning in darkness,
going to work in darkness, coming home
in darkness and in between, grayness
- if you’re lucky!
If you’re not lucky it will be raining
gray sheets of liquid concrete.

No wonder the pagans used to throw a
big party at the winter solstice.
Can you blame them?
Even though they knew they were in for
another couple of months of depressing
weather, just the knowledge that the
days were getting a little longer,
even if it was only by a couple of
minutes each day, was cause enough
for celebration.

Having said all that I have found
that while the weather can get a person
down, it won’t cause depression.

Now before you start quoting me all
the statistics on SAD’s,  [Seasonally
Affected Depression] I’m not saying
it doesn’t exist or that it isn’t
linked to the weather.  What I am
saying is that I haven’t found the
weather to be the root cause.

When I used to live in Australia
I treated just as many people for
depression and they were up to their
armpits in sunshine.

The sense of being a ‘lost soul’
is something that goes deeper and
will surface regardless of the
environment.

It is where a person feels like
their life has lost its meaning.
Where the joy has gone and they
are ‘off track’. Day to day feels
like just going through the motions
and nothing has any real meaning.

They feel their life doesn’t represent
them at all. It is often described to
me as waking up one morning and realizing
that they are not living the life they
thought they would or know they should.
If you’re feeling like that and the
weather is awful it will amplify the
feeling for sure but as I said it’s
not the cause.

Cranio sacral work is particularly good
at helping with this kind of lost soul
feeling because it works with the deeper
disharmonies that lead to this kind of
condition.

So that’s it for this issue.

Let me wish you all the very best for 2009.

Till the next time.

Your Mate,

John D.