Do patients need to believe?

Posted by John Dalton on September 29, 2008

+ Do patients need to believe? - December 05

This used to happen to me a lot at the sort of
functions we all attend at this time of year.  The
get-together, the dinner party, the bar-be-que,
the partner’s office party.

I’d meet new people, we’d get chatting and the
conversation would inevitably swing around to
occupations.  When it was my turn I’d stumble
through my latest explanation of CST and leave
everyone suitably confused.

Just when I’d think I was off the hook and the
conversation was going to move on, that person
would pipe up.

You know that person, the one who’s in every
fifth or sixth group of new people you meet.  The
one who feels obliged to ask the questions they
think other people are to stupid to think of, let
alone ask.  The one who takes every opportunity to
flex their intellectual muscles at anyone within
earshot.
They’re not really interested!
They’ve no intention of coming to see you!
They’ve no intention of telling anyone else
about what you do!

They’d preface their question by doing
something with their head, either a conceited
wiggle or a questioning head tilt. I don’t know
why they all do this but they do.

‘So, does the person coming for treatment have
to believe in what you do?’

They’d follow this with more head stuff,
usually the slow knowing head nod.

I’d trot out my standard answer. ‘No the person
doesn’t have to believe in it, at all.  It helps
but it’s not required.’  I liked to deliver this
answer almost like a challenge.  I could never
match the head wiggling/nodding/tilting thing
though.

This question used to annoy me, oh you noticed,
and I would get a bit defensive, oh you noticed
that too.

In hindsight I understand why I ended up with
so many difficult patients back then, what with
the challenge and all.

Fast forward to a couple of years ago.

Stay with me here.

I’m talking with one of the therapists I’ve
trained.  They’re telling me about a prospective
patient.

‘This person asked me if I can help them with
their chronic fatigue.’

‘Good.’ They don’t look like it’s good. ‘No?’

‘No.’

‘What’s the problem?’

‘Well I’ve never treated someone with chronic
fatigue before.’

‘So?’

‘So they want to know if I can help them, they
say they’re a bit sceptical and they want me to
reassure them and . . well . .  I don’t know.’

‘Don’t worry about it.  I’ve treated loads of
people for chronic fatigue.  You’ll be fine.’

‘It’s not me I’m worried about, it’s them. It’s
alright for you, I’m sure you’d get results, I
just don’t know if I can.’

‘Oh I see.’

I pondered momentarily and then I had a sort of
epiphany.  All the years of answering the, ‘Does
the patient have to believe?’ question coalesced
into a profound insight.

‘Believe, they may not, believe YOU must.’

‘Pardon?’

‘I said it’s more important that you believe
you can help them than if they believe you can.’

They looked at me dumbstruck as the import of
what I had just said sunk in.

‘Did you just put on a Yoda voice?’

‘No, I just had something in my throat.’

‘You don’t get out much do you?’

‘Look it doesn’t matter how I said it.  It’s
what I said that counts.  If you don’t believe
they can get better with you then they won’t.’

‘That’s what I was afraid of.’

‘Look salesmen have known about his stuff for
years.’

‘Do they use the Yoda voice too?’

‘I’m talking about dominant realities here.’

‘Dominant realities?’

‘Yeah, it’s a well known fact among salesmen
and psychologists that if you get a group of
people together, whomever believes in their
reality the most will dominate the others.’

‘Whomever?’

‘That’s how sales are made.  The salesman
believes his vacuum cleaner is a fantastic product
and these people’s lives will be vastly improved
if they buy it.  He believes it so strongly that
the people start to believe it too and buy the
vacuum cleaner.’

‘Oh I see, you’re talking about kidding
yourself.  If I kid myself into thinking that I
can help this person I stand a much better chance
of kidding them.‘

‘No, I’m not saying you kid yourself.  I’m
saying you need to believe it.’

‘If you tell me to, ‘Feel the force.’ I’m
leaving.’

‘Actually, I don’t really think of it as
believing, I just sort of expect it.  When someone
comes to see me I just expect that they will get
better.  I’m not kidding myself, I just think,
‘They’ve got a body. They’re breathing.  Their
body is designed to fix itself.  All I have to do
is feel what its trying to do and then help it
where its getting stuck.  There’s no good reason
why they shouldn’t get better.’’

‘Fine, but how do I believe, if I don’t really
believe?’

‘Good question.  What you need to do is, you
need to let the spirit of Elvis enter you heart. .
. . No come back . . I’m kidding . . Look, I hear
what you’re saying. . ‘

‘Really?’

‘See, it’s easy for me.’

‘Well finally you admit it.’

‘No, that’s not what I mean.  I have lots of
frames of reference for people getting better.
That’s one of the benefits of experience.  All
those frames of reference support my expectation
that the person will get better.

You, on the other hand don’t have enough frames
of reference yet.  Which leaves you with just one
thing determining the outcome.’

‘What’s that?’

‘The way you think about it.’

‘The way I think about it.’

‘The way you think about it.’

‘Stop saying that and tell me what you mean.’

‘You don’t KNOW what the result is going to be
when you treat this person.  It’s in the future.
The only thing you can do with the future is think
about it, which leaves you two options.
You can think the person is NOT going to get
better or you can think they ARE going to get
better.’

‘and that’s going to make a difference?’

‘Yes and no.’

‘Always the yes and no answers with you.’

‘What would you say if I told you that we are
making up our reality as we go and the main thing
that influences it is the way we think.  Things
are the way they are because we expect them to be
that way.’

‘I’d say you’d lost the plot and were a couple
of steps away from the funny farm.’

‘In that case I won’t tell you that and by the
way calling a psychiatric institution the funny
farm is not very politically correct, you know.. ‘

‘Me not politically correct? You’re one of the
least politically correct people I know.  You take
pleasure in being politically incorrect.  I’ve
seen you at parties, remember?’

‘Fair point.
Look, what have you got to loose by being open
to the possibility that the person is going to get
better?’

‘I’ve just never been into that whole positive
thinking thing.’

‘It’s not really positive thinking, it’s more
like . . selfish thinking.  You’re thinking about
the future in the way you’d like it to be.’

‘Does it really make a difference?’

‘It makes a huge difference if you do it in the
right way.’

‘Which is?’

‘The first thing to do is get a very clear
picture of the future you want.  In your case it
would be you supporting this person to move
through chronic fatigue successfully. The clearer
the image the better.
As you think about this outcome you’ll notice
you get an uncomfortable feeling in your gut.
That uncomfortable feeling is what has kept your
current expectations in place.’

I could see I was making progress.

‘You’ve lost me.’

‘Okay, ever thought about winning the lottery?’

‘No . . Yes.’

‘Okay, did you think about all the things you
could do with the money?’

‘Yes.’

‘That’s usually where most people stop.  A sort
of fantasy, up there with being able to fly or
having X-ray vision.  If they thought they were
REALLY going to win the lottery it would be
disturbing for them in ways that they never
suspected.
It would literally rock their world.

The statistics on lottery winners show that a
high percentage of them end up back where they
were financially within a couple of years of
winning.  Which I see as a desperate struggle to
get back to their old version of reality as fast
as possible.’

‘So it’s more than just positive thinking?’

‘If all we had to do was think positively, we’d
have things appearing in their lives all over the
place at a ferocious rate.
It would be like living in a nightmare where
everything you thought about would appear in front
of you as soon as you thought about it.  Things
you wanted and things you didn’t want but couldn’t
stop thinking about.’

‘or the one where you go to a party and
everyone keeps running away from you screaming and
then you catch your reflection in the mirror and
you’ve got the head of a shark. . ‘

‘Focus.’

‘Right.’

‘There are reason’s why we expect things to be
the way they are.  With the lottery winner they
could have a deep belief that money is bad and if
they have lots of it, they’ll be bad too.  Without
them knowing about that belief they will try and
find unconscious ways to get rid of the prize
money as fast as possible.’

‘So that’s what you meant about struggling to
get back to their old version of reality as fast
as possible.’

‘Precisely.’

We were making great progress.

‘Yeah well that’s the thing about unconscious
stuff, it’s unconscious. How do you know about
stuff . . you don’t know about, huh?’

Okay, we were making progress.

‘It’s true, you’ll do your head in thinking
about it like that.  There IS a way of starting to
become aware of it though.  It begins with getting
a clear picture of what you want and then asking
yourself how you would feel about it if it REALLY
happened.
If you can get into how you would feel in that
situation and as you’re doing that you also scan
your body, you’ll find it will be making you
disturbed some where.
When you look into that disturbance you will
get more of an idea of what has been stopping you
having the result you want.’

‘How so?’

‘Like the lottery winner believing that money
was bad.  As soon as they had lots of money that
belief was challenged.  The money made them very
uncomfortable.

If, prior to winning, they had got a clear
picture of how their lives would be with the extra
money and how they would feel in that life, they
would have discovered that it made them
uncomfortable.

If they had looked into what that uncomfortable
feeling was about they would have discovered the
belief about money being bad.  They could then
have started to work through the belief and when
they finally did win, it would have made the
process of coming into money much more enjoyable.’

‘So you reckon I have some unconscious belief
about treating this person with the chronic
fatigue?’

‘I dunno.  I think you’ll find out if you get
clear about the outcome you want and then listen
carefully to how it makes you feel.’

‘Okay I’ll give it a try.’

‘Try you must not, do you must.’

‘Cute.’

Having this chat made me verbalise what had
been brewing in me for a couple of years.  The
question of whether the patient believes in what
we are doing is secondary to what we, as
therapists, believe is possible.

If there is a difference between the results we
would like to be getting and the results we are
getting then the onus is on us to sift through
ourselves and discover why we are getting the
results we are.

It reminds me of a cartoon I saw recently.
Santa Claus is lying on the psychoanalyst’s couch
looking perturbed.  The analyst is saying to him.

‘It doesn’t matter what other people think – the
important thing is that you believe in yourself.’

.

What does the blueprint feel like?

Posted by John Dalton on September 26, 2008

+ What does the blueprint feel like? - November 07

Hi John
I would like to know a bit more about working with Cerebral Palsy.
What is the best approach? Is there any chance for the person to
recover some of their functions or is it too much to ask to the body?
I suppose it requires to go back to the blueprint.

Your comments about the blueprint in the last newsletter were
very interesting. My only problem is that I am a kinaesthetic
kind of person and images don’t talk to me very much. Could
you tell me how the blue print feels so I know that what I feel
under my hands is the blueprint or something else. This would
be very useful for me.
Thank you.
Odile, Brisbane.
Odile Grisel

>>>MY COMMENTS:

Hello Odile,
Thank you for your email.
I have had some good success with cerebral palsy and I’ve had
some no-change-at-all’s. When I think about what was common
among the successes the main thing was that the people were young.
Under 3yrs old.

When treating cerebral palsy I generally find myself working with
the nervous system. From the hemisphere of the brain involved
out to the periphery. Following the nerves, working to enhance
the integrity where it is diminished.

I have heard some therapists say they find lots of limb unwinding
very useful to unlock the central restrictions. I haven’t found that
myself but pass it on in case you find it useful.

I never think of treatment in terms of, ‘Is this too much to ask of the
body?’ At this stage I have seen so many apparent ‘miracles’ that I
know the body is capable of anything. So it is never a case of CAN
this happen but more a case of IS it going to happen?

It can often be a blueprint problem, which leads me to your second
question about describing what the blueprint feels like without using
images.

I had to put my thinking cap on for that one.
Here’s what I got. To me, the blueprint feels very whispy and mist-like,
but not moist. It feels like touching a smoke ring that pulses with
flexion and extension and releases like solid tissue.

Phew! Okay I’m going to take my thinking cap off now because my
head is hurting.

Working with the blueprint.

Posted by John Dalton on September 26, 2008

+ Working with the blueprint. - September 07

Hi John
Thanks so much for your continuing newsletter and the great tips
and humour.
I have a double question.
It’s often a lonely place at the coalface and I seem to have people
come to me with “last resort” problems that require much from me
- I am doing a lot of anatomy and physiology research these days.

First question. Do you think it’s possible for a young man whose
body doesn’t make testosterone to get that working again?
He is 23 and came to me essentially for massive headaches and
his lack of testosterone problem. It was diagnosed at age 15
when he had major back pain.
Bone testing revealed his bone age was that of an 8 year old.
He has to inject himself 3 x weekly for the testosterone cycle
to happen. This injecting ritual is also affecting his mental health
- facing this for the rest of his life is depressing.

So, he has major lesion patterns in his head, esp membranes,
akin to birth trauma (although his mother reports a “perfect” birth),
and his pelvic girdle/sacrum.
Unwinding those complex restriction patterns is top of the list,
with my intention also on all sites for the production cycle to
work normally (including cerebral cortex, hypothalamus and
pituitary and testes). I can’t see any reason it won’t, but there
seems to be an issue with the ‘kick starting’ of the process.
If he is injecting and producing LSH, then his body may not
have the opportunity to take over.
He has had all the tests and specialists do not have any idea
why this is happening in his body.
They can only offer injections for his lifetime.

Can you give me any clues here?

Second question. I have a lot of people with conditions related to
experiencing terror in-utero. So, the main problem seems to lie in
the central nervous system, and glitches in its development.

These all have the quality of having to return to the blueprint as
the major goal. This requires a lot, from both practitioner and client.
(This is also the situation for the young man already mentioned)

Can you give some insight into the process of returning to the blueprint?

Luckily, I have had success already in this area, but the symptoms
and conditions I’m treating lately, (as well as the overall goal of
returning to the blueprint), are extreme and debilitating for the clients.
Patience seems to be the major virtue. Have you any other insights?
Thanks so much for your continued support.
Cheers,
J
Perth, Australia

>>>MY COMMENTS:

Thanks for the feedback I’m glad you are finding the newsletters useful.

‘Do you think it’s possible for a young man whose body doesn’t
make testosterone to get that working again?’

Yes. When it comes to people and their bodies I think anything is
possible.

Both of your questions revolve around the blueprint and how to
work with it so I will answer them together.

It sounds like your palpatory skills are at the point where you are
beginning to feel the blueprint, which is great. The downside is
that it sounds like you are finding it a bit daunting.

But daunt not because it doesn’t need to be.

The ironic thing is that you have been working with the blueprint
from the very beginning of your cranio sacral training. The
difference is that now you have reached a level of refinement
where you can differentiate the blueprint from the rest of what
you are a feeling.

As you know the blueprint is the energetic framework that
underpins our bodies. The cells of our bodies being a bit like
iron filings on a piece of paper. When a magnet is brought to
the underside of the paper the filings are drawn to form the
shape of the magnet.

The magnet is like the blueprint. The difference is that the
blueprint is not a static rigid thing but moves and grows.
The growing part being particularly relevant for your
testosterone light patient.

Like many aspects of cranio sacral work, we feel something
and learn to work with it but have very little scientific evidence
or terminology to describe it. 10 years ago science was enraptured
with the mysteries of genetics, with few voices who was saying
anything different, one of which was Rupert Sheldrake and he was
labeled a kook.

Then the genome was finally mapped and when the party was
over there was a dawning that it didn’t have all the answers.
That everything wasn’t determined by our genes. This is reflected
in the work of the likes of Bruce Lipton in what is being called
the New Biology.

The idea of an energetic field or blueprint underpinning our body
has been around for yonks and shows up in different cultures in
different ways, meridians, charkas, assemblage point and so on.

As I said, the blueprint unfolds during embryonic development.
The timing of this unfoldment directs the pace and progress of
our embryonic development and once started moves forward
with its own pace and rhythm.

It’s like a piece of music that begins at the moment of conception
and continues for the rest of our lives. Within the overall piece of
music there are movements, passages that have the general themes
of the overall music but have their individual beginnings, middles
and ends.

If something happens to interrupt the music or a particular beat is
missed, it is very hard for the body to fill in the blanks.
No magnet - so the iron filings don’t know where to go.

For example the maxillae meet each other and form the hard
palate at about the seventh week of embryonic development.
If this doesn’t happen then person will end up with a cleft palate.

It sounds like all went well with your patient during the embryonic
phase of his development. He decided he was going to be male
and the initial flood of testosterone ensured this.
The beat that was missed was in his puberty.
The second wave of testosterone never happened. So he never
matured into a man. It is this point that I would look at in his
blueprint.

So how to work with it?
I have found that knowing about the blueprint is the beginning
of being able to work with it.
It’s the same as when knowing what flexion and extension were
before tried to feel for them was a help in being able to feel them.

A useful initial access to feeling the blueprint is to use the cranio
sacral rhythm. Think of it in terms of William Sutherland’s description
of it as being the ‘breath of life’. Think of flexion as the in-breath
and extension as the out-breath of this breath of life. He also
described the movement of this breath of life as adding potency
to the cells of the body.

I find this kind of imagery helpful in getting in touch with the
blueprint. It always reminds me of a beach, in particular that part
of the beach where the sand meets the water. Where, if you write
your name in the sand the water will come in and wipe it away and
smooth the sand out.

With my hands in contact with the person’s system and my eyes
closed, tuning into the cranio sacral rhythm and feeling it in terms
of an in-breath that vitalises and recreates an energetic blueprint,
each in-breath washes across the cells of the body and they become
luminous. Any anomalies in the blueprint itself begin to reveal
themselves.

The daunting thing about working with the blueprint is that is
energetic. You don’t feel it in the same way as you feel flexion
and extension, for example, which is a physical movement.
It is felt in the same way you can feel something between your
palms when you hold them close together. It’s the same sort
of something.

The good news is that once it is felt the blueprint behaves and
responds in the same way the body does. So if you get a sense
that there was a disturbance in the unfoldment of the puberty
movement of his blueprint ‘music’ then it is the same as it would
feel if there was a trauma that had occurred to him during his puberty.

But instead of looking to get a sense of a trauma you are looking
to get a sense of what interrupted the unfoldment of his blueprint,
which, ironically could have been a trauma.

Once you get a sense of where the gap is then you can use your
intention to fill it. But not in a directed forceful, ‘I know what needs
to be done here.’ sort of way. More with a sense of providing a
bridge with your intention across the gap.

It is a little like direct technique in as much as you are encouraging
his system to fill in the gap but you don’t make it happen.

As kooky as the blueprint may sound it is still a mechanical kind
of thing to work with. Just because it is energy doesn’t automatically
imbue it with mystical dimensions.

If he doesn’t improve through working with the blue print you
would have to look deeper. What is deeper than the underpinning
energetic blue print that holds the cells of our bodies in place?

Well as I said the blueprint is in essence a mechanical structure.
It is used by the part of us that knows the bigger picture of ourselves.
What our life is about. Why we are a man or a woman, why we chose
the parents we did, the country we were born in and so on.

That is a different part of the questions you would be asking yourself
about the bigger picture of what his symptoms might mean in the
context of the deeper issues he may be working out in his life.

Is he resisting letting go of being a boy and becoming a man?
Or is he resisting growing up? The movie, ‘The Tin Drum’ comes
to mind. Were the headaches just a way to get him to come and
see you or are they part of the mechanical aspect of how this
disharmony is expressing itself.

Cranio sacral therapy and bowed legs?

Posted by John Dalton on September 26, 2008

+ CST and bowed legs? - December 05

Hi John,
As always, superb and enjoyable! I feel like an empty sponge,
ready to absorb and learn - the only problem seems that one
tends to forget most of what one has absorbed, at this stage
of ones life!

Have you had any success with bowed legs? Am going to have
to work on a baby about 16 months old. He has nearly all his
teeth (molars too) already which is a bit abnormal? If I hold his
upper legs together, that part looks totally normal, but the lower
legs then cross over with the feet facing nearly sideways.
The problem seems to be in the ankles, so that the legs have to
adapt? I will only be able to see him once a month.
Enjoy your day.
Your Buddy
JB
Cape town

>>>MY COMMENTS:

It’s worth checking to see if he was lying in an awkward position
in the womb but I don’t think that is the case here because when
I add the bowed legs to what you’ve said about him having all his
teeth, I think it’s more likely to be a case of a disturbance when
he was developing in the womb.

Think of embryonic development like an orchestra playing a piece
of music. Once the performance starts it plays through to the end.
If one of the musicians makes a mistake or drops their instrument,
the orchestra won’t stop and restart, they just keep going.

Remember that the first 8 weeks of our embryonic life is the time
when all organs, systems and tissues are outlined. If that process
is disturbed or interrupted, we can get all sorts of problems. Cleft
palate is a good example. If the two Maxillae haven’t met by around
the 7th week, then they never meet.

Disturbances to the process after the 8th week will cause problems
in refinement or development of the systems and structures outlined
in the first 8 weeks.

It sounds like your boy has had a bit of both.

That’s great John, what do I do about it?

Getting that developmental piece of music to play again is a bit
like trying to remember on old childhood song. You can remember
bits of it but remembering ALL the words is tricky. It’s the same
with helping a persons system reactivate developmental energetics.
It’s possible but not easy.

The most remarkable demonstration of it I ever had in clinic was an
87 year old man who was in constant pain and loosing power in his
legs from stenosis of his vertebral canal.

During treatment, he managed to access the notocord part of his
embryonic development music and the cells around his vertebral
canal started to migrate away from the area where his physical
notocord used to be, just like they did when he was an embryo.
His vertebral canal consequently got larger and his symptoms
went away. It was bloody remarkable!

That’s great John but how did you facilitate that?

Think of a spy movie. Remember the scene where the rookie spy
was about to walk into the unguarded vault but was stopped by
the older more experienced spy who then sprays an aerosol of
some stuff in the air and reveals a web of infrared sensor beams
and we nod our heads and think, ‘Man, this movie is full of clichés.’

The point of the analogy is you firstly need to know there is
something there, the energetic blueprint in which the developmental
music is contained and secondly you need some of that magic aerosol,
which in our case is our intention.

How do you get someone to look at their issues if they don’t want to?

Posted by John Dalton on August 13, 2008

+ How do you get someone to look at their issues if they don’t want to? - November - 05

Dear John,

I am enjoying your profoundly irreverent letters very much.
I think you are a naughty man.

I have a patient for lower back pain.  She also has many
emotional conflicts and issues within her.  She shows no
interest in addressing these issues.  The opposite in fact.

Here is my question.
Is it possible to invoke someone to address their issues if they
don’t want to?

Kind regards.

N. V.
Singapore.

P.S. Be nice.

>>>MY COMMENTS:

Cute . .

When someone first comes to me for treatment, after the
initial, ‘Hello’, and ‘Take a seat.’ etc.  The first question I ask is,
‘What can I do for you?’
and then I shut up,
and wait.
Whatever their answer is, is what they are asking me to help
them with.

‘No kidding Sherlock.’

That may sound obvious but it’s surprising how many
therapist don’t get it.  From the sounds of it, you might be one
of  them.  [That's me being nice, in case you missed that too.]

Whatever they answer to question, ‘What can I do for you?’

‘I want to sleep better.’
‘I want the headaches to stop.’
‘I want to stop attracting the wrong man/woman.’
‘I want to stop feeling so anxious.’
‘I want to get rid of my fibromyalgia’

It goes to form what I think of as a contract between us.  It
forms the boundaries within which I work and a declaration on
their part of what they want assistance with.

Let’s say someone asks me to help them with a very physical
problem and while treating them, I palpate lots of emotional
disharmonies.  If the emotional disharmonies are NOT causing
the particular physical symptoms I have been asked to help
with, then it would be very bad juju for me to try and start
working on the emotional issues.

First and foremost it’s disrespectful.
It’s like passing someone on the street struggling to carry
a new TV into their house.  They ask me to help them carry
the TV into the house with them.  I do this but once inside the
house I get a dose of ‘Queer eye for the straight guy,’ and take it
upon myself to redecorate the hall, stairs and landing
because, ‘Let’s face it, this person has shocking taste!’

Secondly, it’s more efficient to stick to the contract because it
can always be renegotiated in the future.

How come you are able to palpate the emotional issues in the
first place?

You can only ever see what you are shown.

If you stay within the bounds of the contract, it leaves space
for the person to say to you down the track, ‘I think I would
like you to help me deal with my emotional issues.’

It may sound unlikely but it happens.  It’s another form of
trusting that the person will allow you deeper when they feel
safe.  You’re job is not to invoke them to address their issues
but to provide the safest space you can, allowing them to feel
empowered enough to address their issues, if they’re ready to.

Why does the body return to the position of injury in order to release?

Posted by John Dalton on August 13, 2008

+ Why does the body return to the position of injury in order to release? - November 05

Hi John
I have a question. In SER the body often returns
to the position of injury either emotional or
physical in order to release the disease (energy
cyst) held there.  This fits perfectly with the
founding law of Homoeopathy “like cures like’ or
similia similibus curentur.  But I can find no
written explanation for why this law is a law!
What is your experience of why the body holds to
this?. Or does it always?
Thank you.

Lorraine Archer
County Roscommon.
Ireland.

>>>MY COMMENTS:

The principal of ‘like curing like’ is the same
in cranio sacral therapy and homoeopathy but the
mechanics of how the ‘curing’ happens are
different for each.

During cranio sacral therapy the body goes to
the position it was in when the trauma occurred so
that it can reconnect with its underlying
energetic blueprint.

But hang on, I’m getting ahead of myself.
Let’s talk about the blueprint for a minute.

Why do plants, trees, animals etc. grow into
the shape they do?   How do the cells in a bone
know to become bone cells?
Currently we are told that the answers to these
questions lie in the mysteries of DNA.

DNA is very cool stuff and remarkable in its
own right. But in time, the limitations of DNA
will reveal themselves.  The genome will be mapped
better than Manhattan and these questions will
remain unanswered.

What has yet to be proven is that when a seed
is planted it starts to unfold an energetic
outline or blueprint of the shape it will grow
into and the cells migrate in accordance to the
blueprint.  DNA is the executive of this process
and responds to the blueprint.

Think iron fillings, magnet, paper.  The magnet
(Blueprint) influences the iron filling (Cells) to
form into a particular shape, the shape of the
magnet.  You may not be able to see the magnet
because it is hidden behind the paper but you know
what shape it is by the shape the iron filing are
forming.

Most of the older traditions have identified
different expressions of the blueprint and
represent it in different ways.

In traditional Chinese medicine there are the
meridians. In Ayurvedic medicine there are the
charkas.  In Toltec or Mexican shamanism there
are what are called the feathers of the eagle.

The botanist, Rupert Sheldrake has been talking
about this kind of stuff for years, he describes
it in terms of morphic fields.

When a person’s system gets traumatised, the
cells may be displaced but they return to their
original position under the influence of the
underlying blueprint.

As they do this, they have a particular
movement which thankfully for us, is palpable.
The whole process goes to make up the auto repair
mechanism we call a release.

When the trauma won’t release it’s because the
blueprint itself has been bent out of shape.

We learned early on, that given the right
support a body will start to move of it’s own
volition.  If we can follow this movement and
know when to hold it, we may be able to facilitate
a release.

That initial movement is the cells of the body
looking for the blue print.  When the persons body
returns to the position where the trauma occurred,
the cells and the blueprint reconnect.  It’s at
this point that all the different manifestations
of release can occur, pulsations, trembling,
shaking, sweating, crying, laughing and that’s not
to mention what goes on for the patient.

Couldn’t resist.

Once the cells and blueprint reconnect then the
whole system, cells and blueprint, come back into
alignment and harmony.

So as I said it’s a process of re-collection.

Not all bodies need to go into the traumatic
position to release.  Sometimes restriction
patterns are very ripe for release and need very
little support to complete the process.

I’ve also found over the years that as I’ve
gotten better at working with the blueprint,
deeper subtleties have revealed themselves.
I find more releases are happening at deeper
levels and require less gross movements on the
surface.

Back to the homoeopathic question.  As you know,
I’m not a homoeopath but I do know some great ones.
So I went and checked with one of them to see if my
suspicions about how the mechanics of ‘like curing
like’ are different between cranio sacral and homoeopathy,
and she confirmed what I thought.

With homoeopathy, the remedy caries an
energetic signature that causes the whole
energetic structure in the system to change.

So going back to the magnet and iron filings
analogy, I’ll explain the difference in mechanics
that I spoke about in the beginning.

If a square shaped magnet gets bent out of
shape on one side.  What cranio sacral does is
collect all the iron filings on that side and help
them to ‘find’ the bent shape and collect it,
allowing it to return to its original state of
squareness.

With homeopathy a magnet that is normally red
has become blue.  The homeopath identifies the
remedy the magnet needs.  Blue.  They know this
because in the proving of the remedy many healthy
red magnets were given this remedy and they all
started demonstrating blue symptoms.  So the blue
magnet is given the blue remedy and the whole
composition of the magnet starts to change.
Eventually the magnet returns to its natural state
of red.

Who said two wrongs don’t make a right.

Why doesn’t C2 supply the superior cervical ganglion?

Posted by John Dalton on August 13, 2008

+ Why doesn’t C2 supply the superior cervical ganglion? - November 05

Hello John,
I am having a lot of trouble getting a visual, 3-D
sense, of the sympathetic chain.  Particularly
nerve supply.  For example, why isn’t the superior
cervical ganglion supplied by C1 or 2?

Any help would be appreciated.

M.L.
Sydney.

>>>MY COMMENTS:

The most helpful thing you can do if you are
having trouble getting, as you say, a 3-D, sense
of some part of anatomy is to make a 3-D model of
it.  Make your model out of anything you like.
You don’t have to be good at crafts and it doesn’t
have to look pretty.  You will learn a lot from
putting the pieces together.

So while you go off to collect egg boxes and
pipe cleaners, here’s something I prepared
earlier.

Think of the sympathetic division of the
autonomic nervous system like two highways, one on
either side of a long suburb called ‘Spinal cord
T1 - L2′.

Nerves impulses leave the suburb and go onto
the highway via ‘On’ ramps and exit the highway
via ‘Off’ ramps.

‘On’ ramps are called White communicantes.
‘Off’ ramps are called Gray communicantes.  The
white ones are white because they have a myelin
sheath.

So just like any highway, you enter at one
point, travel along for a while and then exit at
another point.  Nerve impulses in the sympathetic
chain are no different.  They enter the
sympathetic chain at one vertebral level and exit
at another.

Now along these twin highways are service
stations.  Places where you can get out and
stretch your legs, change cars if you like or
split yourself in four and drive off in four
different cars going in different directions.

No hang on, that was a dream I had last night.

It may be stretching the analogy but it is what
nerve impulses do.  The service stations are the
paravertebral ganglia that make up the beads in
the chain.   At these service stations (ganglia)
nerve impulses may change cars (synapse) and
continue on their way in a new car (nerve).

or they might drive off in four different cars
in four different directions along axon
collaterals (branches).

Now here’s the bit I think you’re getting stuck
on.  Remember the suburb all the nerve impulses
live in?

Humour me.

It’s called ‘Spinal cord T1 - L2′

The sympathetic division may supply all parts
of the body but it only emerges from the spinal
cord and so only penetrates the dura between T1-
L2.

So it makes sense that there are more ‘Off’
ramps (gray communicantes) than ‘On’ ramps (white
communicantes).

14 ‘On’ ramps and 31 ‘Off’ ramps to be exact.

Each highway usually has 22 service stations
(paravertebral ganglion) but instead of them being
called, ‘the servo that has a McDonalds’ or ‘the
one that has KFC’, they’re called cervical,
thoracic, lumbar and sacral ganglia.

and not a big Mac in sight.

You want a coke with those fries or are you
still with me?

Good.
Now that you have a new found understanding of
the structure of the sympathetic chain . . .
just nod . . . it’s time for some audience participation.

The superior cervical ganglion is located
posterior to carotid artery and anterior to
transverse process of C2, right?  Keep nodding.

At what level of the spinal cord do the
sympathetic nerves emerge that supply the superior
cervical ganglion?

That’s correct! T1 or below.

and the middle cervical ganglion?

Correct again! T1 or below.

Now, you’ve got it.  Well look, we could chat
about this all day but you’ve got a model to make.

The significance of all this tomfoolery is that
if the sympathetic chain is compressed anywhere it
can have the effect of switching on the whole
sympathetic chain. Not good.

This can put you in constant ‘fight or flight’
mode.  Making you fearful and agitated with poor
digestion and lousy sleep.   You’ll be sensitive
to bright lights because your pupils are locked
open and you’ll have excess adrenalin in your body
which has a long term corrosive effect on your
nervous system.

Whadaya mean reading my response has had the
same effect?

Meditation and cranio sacral therapy.

Posted by John Dalton on August 12, 2008

+ Meditation and cranio sacral therapy. - October 05

Hi John
You might not remember me. I did the first
level of the cranio training with you back in
1999. I was wondering if you could help me out.
I belong to a cranio study group down here in
melbourne and we were discussing ways of
centering yourself before a session.

I told them about this amazing meditation
technique that you took us through before we
started every morning. I was wondering if you
could run me through it again so I can share it
with them. It involved putting everything in a
bag.

Cheers V.S. Melbourne.

>>>MY COMMENTS:

Putting everything in the bag is a great
exercise for becoming aware of your presence.
It works best if you use it sparingly otherwise
it looses its impact. So, yeah, I’m very happy
to run through it again for you.

It goes like this.

Have the group sit comfortably with their
eyes closed. Someone will need to lead the
group through the exercise.

They say the following, pausing after each
instruction.

Take a few deep breaths.
Let any mental images you have fade away.
Let any internal dialogues or monitoring
that is going on, fade away.

Now, bring to mind a strong bag.
One with a draw-string.
This is no ordinary bag.
You can fit anything into it.

Now bring to mind your favourite spot in
your home.

Look around at the objects that make up
this spot.

Now, one by one, taking the smallest
objects first, put them in the bag.

If there are any other objects or pieces
of furniture in this area of your home,
put them in the bag too.

Now, bring to mind the room adjacent to
the area you just cleared. Put all the
objects from this room in the bag too.

Bring to mind all the clothing you own.
Put them in the bag.

Bring to mind all the furniture in the
rest of your home. Put it in the bag.

Bring to mind your car. Put it in the
bag.

Bring to mind any other large items you
own like boats or motor bikes etc. Put
them in the bag.

Bring to mind any pets you own. Put them
in the bag.

Bring to mind your extended family,
aunts, uncles, cousins etc. Put them in
the bag.

Bring to mind all your immediate family,
your brothers and sisters, if you have
any. Put them in the bag.

Bring your parents to mind. Put them in
the bag.

Bring to mind your children, if you have
any. Put them in the bag.

Bring to mind your partner. Put them in
the bag.

Bring to mind your home. Put it in the
bag.

Bring to mind the street you live on.
Put it in the bag.

Bring to mind the district you live in.
Put it in the bag.

Bring to mind the city you live in.
Put it in the bag.

Bring to mind the country you live in.
Put it in the bag.

Bring to mind the continent you live on.
Put it in the bag.

Now bring to mind the world. Put it in
the bag.

Bring to mind the solar system.
Put it in the bag.

Bring to mind the galaxy. Put it in the
bag.

Bring to mind the universe. Put it in
the bag.

Now, bring to mind your body and put it
in the bag.

Bring to mind your past. Put it in the
bag.

Bring all your feelings to mind and put
them in the bag.

Bring to mind your personality. Put it
in the bag.

Now.

Tie the string up on the bag, good and
tight. As you look at it, the bag starts
to move away from you, getting smaller as
it does so. Slowly at first but then
quicker as it gets further away.
Eventually it gets so small, it
disappears.

Now, take a moment to reflect.

You have put everything in that bag,
everything you own and love. The universe
you live in. Your body, your feelings and
your most treasured possession, your
personality.

It has all faded away and disappeared.

Gone.

Yet, something remains.

You.

This is your presence.

Take some time luxuriating in the
freedom and simplicity of your presence.

In a moment I am going to ask you to
open your eyes. When you open them stay
in this state.
Don’t start to move around or stretch.
Just include your sense of sight in what
you are registering with your presence.

So, when you are ready, gently open your
eyes.

Allow yourself to stare blankly out into
the world.

Be as simply present as you can.

When you are ready, make eye contact
with the others in the group.

And that’s about it.
Right about now people are usually smiling
at each other.

It’s important NOT to make a definite
transition from, ‘Now I am Meditating.’ to ‘Now
I am not Meditating.’ It’s not a good message
to put in your mind.

Meditation has many effects, one of which is
increased awareness.

Without that definite, meditation ON/OFF
switch, you will find that you become more
aware - generally. It sort of overflows from
your meditation times into your whole life.

Why hold into extension during the parietal lift?

Posted by John Dalton on August 12, 2008

+ Why hold into extension during the parietal lift? - October 05

Dear Mr Dalton,
I enjoy your newsletters very much and find your
answers to the questions very insightful. They
have given me much food for thought.

My question is very basic.
I have been told to apply medial compression when
doing the parietal lift.  This feels wrong to me
as I feel like I am crushing the patient’s head.
Is medial compression necessary or can I just get
straight on with lifting the parietals?

Kind regards.

J.S.
Austria.

>>>MY COMMENTS:

I’m big, big, BIG on accurate technique so I
don’t think your question is basic at all.

It’s too easy to get all flowery with cranio
sacral and neglect to give the persons body the
sort of expert assistance that comes from having
really good technique.

You’ll read in some cranio sacral books where
they simply tell you to apply medial compression
during the parietal lift.

It’s right, sort of, the point being to
disengage the squamous sutures, which has to
happen before you can begin any kind of superior
lifting.  But you will get a better lift if you
enlist the help of the rhythm.

The parietal lift is, after all, a direct
technique so if you can include any indirect
technique in it, all the better.

You can do this by following the parietals into
extension and then holding them there.  As you
continue to hold them, the rest of the cranium
will go into flexion and the building pressure
will disengage the squamous sutures for you.

Nifty no?
You’re disengaging the sutures, your probably
still pointing the patient, your including
indirect within direct, it’s got it all.

Once the squamous sutures are disengaged you
can start the superior tractioning intention.

Then it’s a hop skip and jump to the remaining
sutures disengaging and a continuation of the
superior traction until you get a sense of the
falx stretching.

Beauty.

And it all couldn’t happen without the squamous
sutures disengaging.  So yes it’s important and
necessary.

Do the issues of the parent affect the treatment of the children?

Posted by John Dalton on August 11, 2008

+ Do the issues of the parent affect the treatment of the children? - October 05

Hello John,
I am treating a 3 year old boy - Toby, for
behavioural problems.  He is responding well.  I
see noticeable changes in him and I can feel him
releasing energy cysts in each treatment.

The problem is his mother says he has not changed
at all.  She just won’t admit he has made any
progress.
I am starting to think that she has something
wrong with her.  I Think SHE needs treatment.
I don’t think Toby is going to advance until she
sheds some of her baggage.

Is that right or am I just making excuses for my
own inadequacies?

Any thoughts would be helpful.

Kind regards.
P.M.  Perth.

>>>MY COMMENTS:

I have found that if parents are reluctant to notice
changes in their child it’s because they are afraid
of getting their hopes up.

They want their child to improve so much that they
don’t trust themselves anymore.  They’re afraid
they are making it up and only seeing what they
want to see.

USE A PATIENT DIARY
To help parents focus on what IS changing, I
use a patient diary.  Which, by the way, works
just as well on adult patients who have difficulty
recognising their improvements.

Here’s how it works. At the first session you
get the parents to list the child’s symptoms and
get them to give each symptom a rating between 0
and 10.
0 is perfect and 10 is the worst it’s ever been.

Then ask the parents to record a new figure for
each symptom at the end of each day.  When they
come back the following week they will have a
record of the child’s symptoms and how they
changed for that week.

That helps to keep them focused on what is
changing rather than on what is not changing.

CULTIVATE AND ENVIRONMENT OF CHANGE
With children who have been labeled
“difficult”, a lot of your work is in helping the
parents to see that the child is now in a position
where they can CHANGE.

You need to help the parents and the child
understand that the child’s symptoms are caused by
physical restrictions. For example a bone in the
child’s head is compressing on their brain and
that when it has released, there is a good chance
that they may not have the symptoms anymore.

You’ve got to convey to the parents and the
family that they need to drop old ways of relating
to the child.

‘Oh Toby doesn’t like to eat with the rest of
the family. That sets him RIGHT OFF.  It’s just
the way he is.’

All those kind of opinions will need to be re-
evaluated.  You need to get the family as a
collaborator in the treatment.

KEEP OFF TARGET.
It’s also is important to point out to parents
that the initial improvements in the child’s
condition may not be in the areas that they expect
them to be.

I explain it to them in terms of a target. The
bulls eye is the main symptom the parents want to
change.

For example, when a child comes with autism and
are displaying classic autistic tendencies, like
unemotional, obsessive behaviour, it’s really
important to point out to the parents that the
first indication of change may not be that the
child will suddenly throw their arms around their
parents.

More likely it will come in a peripheral way.
The child may start singing or start building
things or take an interest in something that isn’t
inanimate, like a pet.

INFORMING THE PARENTS
It also goes a long way towards greasing the
wheels of change if you explain the process of
cranio sacral therapy to parents as much as you
can.

Get across to them the length of time cranio
sacral therapy takes to have effect.  Sometimes
with the children you can treat them two or even
three times before the parents will start to
notice an effect.

That may not seem like a long time on paper but
it is two or three weeks that they have got to
keep coming back for treatment, in the face of no
apparent improvements.

Get the family involved at the beginning of the
treatment program.  Then if there is no apparent
improvement for the first couple of weeks they
will be more inclined to persevere.

Seem like a lot of work?

The difference between a child and an adult
coming for treatment is an adult comes of their
own accord and they have control over whether they
come back or not.

With a child, the parents have that control and
if the parents get the feeling that the treatment
is not really helping they won’t come back.

Having said all that.  The ideal is treating
the whole family.  This is particularly so with
learning difficulties or behavioural disorders.

As a child begins to change it will help the
process enormously if everybody in the family can
be NEW about that and allow them to change.  A lot
of families won’t be new and they will still
relate to the child as they where in the past.

In a way they will keep the child stuck in the
pattern long after the cause of the pattern is
gone.

For example, if a child is having big tantrums
as a result of a compressed parietal and you help
the parietal to release. The cause of the tantrums
will be gone.  But the child may still have
tantrums because that’s what is expected of them.
There is a space within the family that expects
them to have tantrums.

Treating the whole family helps create a shared
state of change in the family dynamic and in that
is a window of opportunity for the changes that
you have helped to facilitate in the child to
become permanent

If you are not treating the whole family you
will be treating the child in isolation. The other
members of the family may not want things to
change.  Particularly older brothers and sisters.

If you can’t treat the whole family you will be
indirectly treating the family through the child.
And that ain’t easy. It’s like trying to wallpaper
the house through the letter box.

Don’t be afraid to ask Toby’s mother to come
for treatment.  Chose your moment well. Put it
tactfully.  Avoid implying that she is holding
Toby’s progress up.

She may really want to come for treatment but
doesn’t know how to make it happen.