October 8 – 2009

Questions and comments for this issue:

+ Follow on comments about ‘How you came to Cranio sacral?’
+ Can I get qualified from Open Source Cranio?
+ How to market a cranio sacral therapy practice?
+ Can you make a living as a cranio sacral therapist?

Hello,

Let me tell you about David Tomilson who is doing
great things over at his New England Center for
CranioSacral Therapy website which he has
dedicated to ‘Stories from the people and places
of CranioSacral Therapy.’
http://cstmedia.wordpress.com/

He has made some cute little videos with his
son about cranio sacral and he has started
to interview different cranio sacral therapists.

His first interview is with Sharon Desjarlais
and it fits in well with the main theme of this
newsletter as it is about marketing your cranio
sacral therapy practice.

It is a great interview and Sharon has some
great tips.  You can listen to the interview here.

Sharon runs a marketing program especially for
cranio sacral therapists called  CranioSacral Success
you can visit Sharon’s site here.

Rightio, let’s get on with the mailbag.

***FOLLOW ON COMMENT FROM ROSEMARIE IN THE UK ABOUT HOW SHE CAME TO CRANIO SACRAL THERAPY***

Firstly, I would like to say how wonderful and
refreshing that you have created an on-line
cranial support network and for free too!
It is so supportive for me to know that there is
someone else ‘out there’ who understands the
inner struggles involved in this kind of work and
to bring people together via the ‘web’ ……..so we
can ‘resonant’ with one another rather than feeling
like being all alone on a ship on a stormy sea
(sometimes how I have felt!).

How I came to craniosacral therapy……….the long
or the short version?!……….maybe a mix of the two.
Have been exploring natural medicine since the
age of 18 (last 20 years)  in ‘spurts’.

Was guided towards Cranial Osteopathy by two
very special friends and after a cranial treatment
(with an osteopath) was so inspired I began my
journey in 1992 doing an Access into Science
course.  Finally, funds allowing I arrived at the
European School of Osteopathy in 1996 (specialists
in cranial work).   Did two years of grueling (truly)
academic years (plus practical, of course) and
finally ‘burnt out’.  Ended up with a serious Thyroid
problem from stress and sleep deprivation and
had to leave in 1998.  Very upset with this decision
but physical and mental health at stake.

Spent 2 years recovering………things then improved
for me……..relationship and had a beautiful baby…..
…..cranial work for him on day 7!

Anyway……..when he was a few months old, was at
a mother and baby group in Crouch End, North
London where the organiser was handing out flyers
for a drop-in family craniosacral session nearby.
I thought  about it………I had heard of craniosacral
therapy and phoned the guy, happened to be
Richard Kramer (registrar of the Craniosacral
therapy association! and head tutor for the student
clinic of a craniosacral school too!).  Anyway, I was
so inspired………got all the prospectuses of the
colleges and decided on CTET in London.  It has
been an amazingly long journey to get here………..
basically from 1992 (thought was doing my
exploration before into healing) to when I
qualified in 2006………so a 14 year journey!

I wish I could say that I feel so………confident now
with my background in Osteopathy and the other
areas I have explored but I don’t……….at least not
yet!  I am amazed still if anyone improves……….
but I guess it can take a long time to build up
confidence and working knowledge…….experience,
intuition………quietness, stillness…..clarity or
whatever it takes to be a remarkable practitioner
who manages to assist people in such a positive
way that their practice naturally grows through
word of mouth!

I am still waiting for such a ‘state’ to occur for me…..
…….but in the meantime I recognise that I need to
get the message out there about CST and how
powerful it can be……….marketing guidance would
be a great thing to have included in your forum………..

Anyway……..thanks again

Love Rosemarie (hanging in there!)
UK

MY COMMENTS:

Hello Rosemarie,
Thanks for sharing your journey. I am going to talk
about marketing below so I  will keep my answer
till then.

***QUESTION – CAN I GET QUALIFIED FROM OPEN SOURCE CRANIO?***

Hi John

I have recently discovered your newsletter/web site.
This all looks wonderful.  Do I understand correctly
that I can take the courses offered on Open Source
and work with a mentor and become qualified to do
this work.  I am excited about cranio sacral work
and am currently reading one of John Upledger’s
books.  I am anxious to learn.

Thank you,

Kathy
USA

MY COMMENTS:

Hello Kathy,
In typical cranio fashion the answer to your
question is yes and no. The information on Open
Source Cranio is far from complete at the moment.
It is mostly in outline form with some notes.

When it is complete you will be able to go step by
step through the learning process.  Each new
technique or piece of information will have a lesson
that will usually include a video that you can return
to again and again.

At the end of each lesson there will be a list of
assessment criteria for that lesson.  This will give
you detailed information about what you need to
know and be able to do to be competent in the
technique or information covered in the lesson.
This is something that you can use yourself and
your mentor can also use as a guide to work from.

At the moment I am not independently wealthy
which means I can only work on Open Source
Cranio when I am not treating or mentoring
people.  The other projects like my book and
the Masterclass video series are to generate
alternative streams of income so I can get on
with Open Source Cranio but they are as yet
not enough.

So as it stands unless someone makes a
substantial donation (see ‘Donate’ button in
the right hand column) and I can devote more time
to making the training videos etcetera it will take
years to complete Open Source Cranio.

You don’t sound like you can wait years.

The other thing to consider is what kind of therapist
you want to become and what kind of person you
want to treat. When you get clear on that you need
to ask yourself what kind of qualification would make
it easier for that ideal patient to come to you.

For example there are certain groups of people and
certain countries in the world where an official
qualification may not be that important.  They will
only be interested in how effective you are.

Then there are other countries where the type
of qualification you have is very important.  For
example if you want to treat people in California
you need to get a qualification from a school that
is recognised by that state and then you need to
get a license to treat people which has a number
of prerequisites including insurances.

If you decide getting a particular qualification will
make it easier for your ideal patient to come to you,
then the next thing to do is find out what the
recognition of prior learning requirements are for
the qualification.

Recognition of prior learning is where your
previous experience is taken into account in the
awarding of a qualification.

Different schools will have different criteria
for this. Some will laugh in your face when you bring
it up and tell you that the only way you are going
to get a qualification from them is by doing their
courses.

Others will tell you that they don’t insist you
sit through their courses but they will charge you
a fee for recognition of prior learning in the
individual modules of their training and another fee
for the actual qualification itself.

Don’t be surprised to find that when you add up
the cost of having your prior learning recognised
for all the modules of their course that it comes
to almost the same cost as if you had paid the
money to do the courses in the first place.

The bottom line is you can use the information
on Open Source Cranio regardless of what
qualification you want to get, or not, or what school
you get involved with, or not.

***QUESTION – TIPS FOR STARTING A PRACTICE?***

Dear John,
I am really impressed with your passion and commitment.
I am due to graduate from my CST course next week in
England.  What was the first thing, or the most effective
thing, you did on graduating to ensure a steady supply
of clients? Did you advertise, give talks? I have some
ideas but it’s always good to get some advice from those,
like yourself, who are successful.
Best wishes
Simon.
UK

MY COMMENTS:

Hello Simon,
Thank you for your kind words.. Your question is very
like the next letter so I will answer it there.

***QUESTION – TIPS FOR STARTING A PRACTICE?***

Hi John,
I am a qualified Reflexologist and in September 2005 I did a
4 day course in Cranio-Sacral Reflexology in Mullingar Co.
Westmeath with Martine Faure-Alderson. I was so impressed
by the Cranio-Sacral element of the course the I wanted to
learn more and more about it all as it seemed so fascinating.
I researched courses in Cranio-Sacral therapy on completing
this course in Cranio-Sacral Reflexology. I was directed to the
College of Cranio-Sacral Therapy in London. I began the one
year course there in September 2006 and completed the course
in July 2007. Since then I have been busy with my two young
children. I want to start up my own practice in the very near
future and keep up learning Cranio-Sacral therapy.

Have you any tips for starting up as a therapist?

Regards,
Catriona
Ireland

MY COMMENTS:

Hello Catriona,
The main thing that will help you grow a strong
practice may sound obvious – be very good.
Get remarkable results consistently.

If people have a positive experience with you
they will tell 5 other people.  If they have a
negative experience with you they will tell 20
other people.
So nurture your word of mouth carefully.

One of the most unacknowledged ingredients
in building a successful practice is time.  There
are many things you can do to kick start the
process and I will go into them below but it is
my experience that it takes about 2 years to
build a strong practice from scratch.

Now on to the marketing stuff.

FINDING YOUR IDEAL PATIENT
Before you launch yourself into any marketing
activities the first thing you need to  do is think
about what sort of people you want to treat.
What kind of a practice you want to have.
Getting that clear in your head will make a big
difference to your marketing efforts.

Write down what your ideal patient would be like.
Include in as much detail as possible.  Once you
get really clear about the sort of person you want
to treat then you can start to ask yourself the
following questions about them.

- Where do they shop?
- How do they get their information about things?
- How do they learn about new services?
- What do they do in their recreation time?
- What sort of clubs they are attached to
(Tennis, hiking, bike riding?)
- What sort of clubs do they go to?
- Where do they live?

As an aside, the answer to that last question
should determine where your practice is located.
There is no point locating your practice on the
other side of town from the people you want to
be treating no matter how convenient it is for you
or what a great deal you are getting on the
treatment room.

You have to be pretty ruthless with yourself about
this point.  I have seen many a therapist move into
a room they really liked that had ‘great energy’ and
was a real bargain only to find that no one would
make the journey to it.  That is also why treating
people from your home will only work if your home is
in the area where your ideal patients live.

GET WRITING.
So once you get clear about who you want to
treat and where you want to be located then the
next thing is to start writing.   Don’t write for any
particular thing like a website or brochure or talk
just write for clarity.

If the thoughts of writing are too much you can hire
someone to do it for you.  You can do it through
elance.com.  I will explain more about elance below.
The important thing is that what is written expresses
your perspective on your work.

A common mistake I see in cranio sacral websites
and literature is trying explain what cranio sacral
therapy is and how it works.  If you ever watch
someone reading these kinds of explanations
you will see their eyes start to glaze over before
they get to the end of the second paragraph and
the fourth reference to the craniosacral rhythm.

Keep your ideal patient in mind and write for them.
Don’t worry about everyone else.  Try and get into
the head of your ideal patient and what THEIR
head would be like when they are looking for a
solution to THEIR problem.  Try and speak to
them there.

The first thing you should write is a description
of where THEY are at.  Outline their problem in detail.

Here is an example from my website of the sort
of thing I am talking about.

“Is your faith in the medical system shattered?
Has your wallet been emptied by over confident
therapists? Have you been on the emotional roller
coaster, rising with hope that each new approach
is going to work, then crushed when it doesn’t?
Have you tried everything and still not got the
results you wanted?”

You get the idea – use your own words.

Next write about yourself and how you are
qualified to talk about helping them.

Next write about how what you do can help
solve their problem.  Keep it simple with not too
much jargon.

Next write what the benefits of coming to you for
treatment are from THEIR perspective are.

Here is an example from my website of the sort
of thing I am talking about.

Visit the last resort first . . .and save money.
It became a joke among my students and
graduates that we were actually in the resort
business because for most of the people who
came to see us, we were the last resort.
It doesn’t need to be like that. Most people are
floored when they add up how much they’ve spent
so far trying to get better.
Don’t waste any more of your money.

Benefit from no returns.
When you understand that cranio sacral therapy
helps trauma release from your body, then it makes
sense that once restrictions are released in this way,
they are gone for good.
So when you’re done, you’re done.
It’s as simple as getting a big piece of cellophane
and scrunching it into a ball and then assisting it
to unravel itself.
Once it has unraveled itself, there’s no need to
‘maintain’ its state of unraveled-ness.
So you don’t need any ‘maintenance’ treatments
to keep your health. What you spend having
treatment is finite and has a very definite end.

Gentle on you.
Cranio sacral therapy is a very gentle approach.
There is no pushing, adjusting or manipulating your
body into a set or ‘correct’ position. There is no
intrusive probing into your past. The contact is very
gentle and people often fall asleep during treatment.
Because of this gentleness it is good for children
and people in a lot of pain.
You will feel the benefits within 4 weeks.
Most people feel the benefits immediately. If it
takes longer you will generally see enough
improvement after 4 weeks to know that it’s going
to work.

Gets to the root of the problem.
There are many approaches that will give you
complete reduction of your symptoms. The trouble
is the reduction only lasts for a short period of time
and then you have to return from more treatment.
Eventually this kind of approach makes your body
dependent on the treatment.
Cranio sacral therapy works with the root cause
of the problems. This has the effect of causing
lasting relief of symptoms.
In 15 years I have never had anyone return for
treatment for the original problem they came to
me with.
Not one.

These are all great benefits from the patients
perspective.

Next write about what you charge and why it is
good value.  You may find this hard but if you
can’t explain why it is good value you may be
charging too much.
This is a time for taking the bull by the horns.
If you feel what you charge is good value and
you can explain why then your ideal patient will
be grateful.  It’s your job to explain it to them not
their job to try and intuit the reasons why it is good
value.

Once you are happy with what you have written
try it out on some family or friends who are the type
of people you would like to treat.

Ask them to read it and give you feedback about
it.  You don’t have to take the feedback but you will
find it illuminating.

What you have written forms the backbone for
your marketing.  You can adapt and edit it for the
different types of marketing activities you might
engage in. What type of activities you engage
in will be determined by the sorts of people you
want to reach.  Reread everything you have
written every six months or so.  You will be
surprised at what you want to change and edit.

TESTIMONIALS
It is important to get testimonials from people you
have treated.  Most people will come to see you
because of a word of mouth referral. If they can’t
get a referral then all they have to go on is what you
have written.  People who don’t know you will
generally be suspicious of what you say about
yourself.  It’s not personal, we are all jaundiced
by sales claims.

Having testimonials go a long way towards
easing that suspicion.

The good news is that getting testimonials is
relatively easy.  When a patient is finished their
treatment program you can explain to them that
there are other people who have the same
condition who would be helped if the patient
wrote something about their experience of
treatment.

Give your patient the option of remaining
anonymous in the testimonial. Obviously the full
name and location with a photograph is ideal.

Here are some of the ways you can use your
written material, including your testimonials.

WEBSITE
I can’t over emphasize the importance of getting
yourself on the internet.
If you don’t know anything about computers and
the thoughts of organising a website for yourself
seem overwhelming, fear not.
There are plenty of ways around it.

With websites there are a few simple things you
need to know and the complicated stuff you can
get someone else to do for you.  I will explain
where you can find those people in a minute.

One of the most important, and often overlooked,
things with websites is the domain name.
The domain name is what comes after the www
For example with my Irish website the domain
name is www.cranio.ie

I will come back to the name part in a minute
because I want to talk about the other really
important part which is the suffix. That’s what
comes at the end of the domain name,
the .com end.

It is important to get a domain name for the
country you are working in.  So for Ireland that
would be .ie for the United Kingdom that would
be .co.uk for South Africa it would be .co.za
for Poland it would be .pl and so on.

Each country has their own suffix.  Having the
right suffix for the country you live in will make
it easier for google to find you when people in
your country look for you.
(Technically speaking the suffix for America is
.us but it is rarely used so if I lived in America
I would get a .com suffix.)

If you are not sure what the suffix is for your
country you can look here

Double check it by looking at local businesses
and see what suffix most business are using.

One last thing on suffix’s, .net  .org and so on
don’t generally work as people will forget the
subtle difference and look for .com or the suffix
of your country.

For example if I couldn’t get
www.johndalton.ie
but I saw that
www.johndalton.net
was available it would be tempting to get it.

Let’s check this against what I like to call the
Party Rule.  The party pule states that your
domain name has to have a more than 50%
chance of being remembered by a mildly
inebriated person you tell it to at a party.

So if I told this person my domain name was
www.johndalton.net
there is a good chance that the next morning
they would look for
www.johndalton.com
then
www.johndalton.ie
and when that didn’t work they would give up.
So no .org .nets etc. please.

Now back to the name bit. The bit between the
www. and the .com

You could try for craniosacraltherapy but
it will probably be already taken.  There are
some countries where it hasn’t been taken but
it will be gone in most.

What I suggest you use is your name.
So in my case the domain name would be
www.johndalton.ie
Short, simple, memorable and relevant
- and it passes the Party Rule.

If your name is unavailable I suggest you
use your name plus cranio so in my case it
would be
www.johndaltoncranio.ie
I don’t suggest you use craniosacral or
craniosacral therapy as most people won’t
remember it.  I have found that cranio is the
only part of cranio sacral therapy that people
remember on first hearing the name.

It is important to buy your domain name yourself
and it is relatively easy to do.  Just type ‘domain
registration’ into google and you will find  lots of
companies offering to sell you domain names.

Lastly, bear in mind that domain names are a
commodity like anything else and different companies
will have different prices. Shop around for the best
price.

Next find yourself a hosting company. A hosting
company is the company where your website lives.
If your website was a horse, the hosting company
would be the stables where you keep it. Don’t be
tempted by free hosting. There is usually a catch.
The most common one being the inclusion of the
hosting companies name in your domain name.

So for example if I opted for free hosting with a
company called Bluebird Hosting there is a good
chance my domain name would end up being
www.bluebird.johndalton.ie

Shop around.  I have found this company
very good. powweb.com

Next thing to do is find yourself someone to set
your website up for you.
I suggest you go to elance.com and register.

Then place the following ad.
_______________________________________________________

Job Title – WordPress Instalation and Setup.

Category – Web & Programming

Job Description – Set up wordpress site.
Install and activate the following plugins -
- All in One SEO Pack
- Akismetincluding
- cforms ( Including configuration of basic contact form)
- Google XML Sitemaps

Suggest WordPress theme for natural therapies website
- minimum of 3 suggestions – plus minor modification
of theme to suit site.

Inclusion of staff training in wordpress usage.

Hosting company and domain name already in place.

Desired Skills – WordPress

Job Type – Fixed price
- Approximate Budget – Between $50 and $500
_______________________________________________________

Then sit back and wait.
Before long you will have bids from all around the
world from experienced professionals offering to
set up your website.
They can all see each others bids so they will try
to get your work for the lowest price.

Have a read through elance’s guidelines before
you start so can set miles stones and generally
make sure that you pay on results.
You can explore elance here.

Once the site is set up you should be able to
update the site yourself, adding all text you have
written. You will know how to do this because the
professional will have given your staff, you,
training.

Give your web site about 6 weeks to begin to
show up for in google searches.  Adding to your
website on a regular basis helps keep it up in the
rankings.

PRINTED MEDIA
Over the years I have tried it all, flyers of all
shapes and sizes, brochures, adds in magazines and
newspapers.
Nowadays I mainly just use business cards and postcards.
Both of which are geared toward sending people
to my web site where they can get all the information
they need to make an informed decision about
whether they want to come and see me.
I use Vistaprint for these.

I suggest you get good quality card for your
business cards.  This is not a place to skimp.

BROCHURES
Whether or not you do a brochure will depend on
who your ideal patient is.  They may like to have
something to hold and review.
For me, the disadvantages of brochures far out
way their usefulness plus I don’t need them for my
ideal patients.

The main disadvantage of brochures is that to
produce one that looks professional costs a lot of
money.
It is also very hard to get everything that you
want to say into a brochure no matter how small
you make the print.

Letter box drops, tiny advertisements in the local
paper, flyers up at the your local health food shop
and notices stuck on community boards are probably
NOT going to get your practice where you want it to be.
Here is a little scenario to explain why I say that.

Mum and Dad are walking past the local health
food shop with their 4 year old Autistic child.
They see a photocopied flyer for Cranio Sacral
Therapy on the notice board, behind the Dream
catcher making workshop and beside the ‘Learn
to Channel’ weekend.  It is highly unlikely that
Dad will turn to Mum and say ‘Hey, Betty this
cranio thing just might be worth trying for
Timmy.’

A word of caution: When you first start marketing
yourself you can invest a lot of energy doing things
that are comfortable for you to do.  They even allow
you to feel like you are really doing something to
build your practice, letter box drops are particularly
good for this, but they may not be very effective
and can leave you feeling somewhat of a failure
when no one responds.

Always come back to your ideal patient and ask
yourself if they would respond to what you are doing.

WORKING WITH LOCAL BUSINESS
One way to create word of mouth referrals in your
local area is to work with suitable local businesses
so that they will refer to you.

Firstly you need to discern which businesses are
suitable by their product / service to helping you.
Look at the local businesses and see which ones
spend time talking to their customers.  What do their
customers talk to them about?  Is it feasible that in
the course of conducting their own business that
these people may have reason to mention you?

For example, hairdressers, podiatrists, beauty
therapists and barbers spend a lot of time talking
to their customers.  Their customers talk to them
about a whole range of things from work to holidays
to their children and partners, including their health.

It is feasible that a hairdresser, if they knew
about cranio sacral therapy, would mention it during
a conversation about their client’s skiing accident
or chronic back pain etc.  This business represents
a good opportunity for you to receive word of mouth
referrals.

Be mindful of the appropriateness of the business
you approach.  Is their product or service in alignment
with the work you do.  Bartenders spend a lot of time
talking to their customers but probably wouldn’t be a
suitable business for you to work with. Again it comes
back to who your ideal patient is.

When you have identified 3-4 suitable businesses
in your locality you will need to introduce the owners
and/or staff to what you do.  In order for them to be
able to reasonably refer someone to you they need
to know a bit about what you do.  What is it good for?
Is it gentle?  Who does it help? etc.  This can be done
on an individual basis or as a group.

When talking about cranio sacral tell stories about
patients you have treated to highlight how cranio works
rather than dry and boring explanations.

If you are working with 3 or 4 businesses you may
find it easier to talk to them all as a group.  A good
start is to write an introductory letter to each of them.
Outline what you have in mind and invite them to
your clinic to hear a bit more about cranio sacral
therapy.

I suggest you make this meeting a generous affair.

Most business people are always looking for new
ways to boost their profile.  Provide tea and biscuits
or wine and nibbles etc.  Try to create an arena for
discussion and interest.  They will be coming to hear
about cranio sacral therapy but also to take advantage
of having other business peoples experience and ideas.

Provide each business with a gift package of say,
10 Cranio Sacral assessments as a limited special.

There are some important things to consider when
offering this:

• Make sure the business is conducive to offering such a gift
• Be sure that you make up your own vouchers to be offered
• Do not present it as a “FREE” treatment but as a
  Cranio Sacral assessment “VALUED AT $XX.00″

This last point is very important, if you don’t put
the value of the free gift then the people who come
for the free assessment will find it hard to reconcile
the value of your treatment when they come to you as
a patient.

Encourage the businesses to give these free
gifts to customers that they feel might benefit
from your treatment.

As you can see there is quite a bit to marketing and
there are new ways to market coming up all the time.

***QUESTION – CAN YOU MAKE A LIVING FROM CRANIO SACRAL THERAPY?***

Hey John

I have a question about Cranio and I suppose
you’re the right one to answer it:

Can one actually make a living out of just doing
Cranio?

I asked this in our group and all the (elderly) ladies
said: no way. The have maximum 3 clients a day,
and in maximum 3 days a week. They all say the
feel very exhausted after Cranio and couldn’t
cope with more clients anyway.

Now I have the feeling there’s something wrong.
Because when I use Cranio, I feel relaxed,
nourished and in stillness. So actually, it gives me
a lot. And I have the impression, Cranio is so
powerful that one should be able to have a full
practice every day, if wanted.

What do you think?

Thanks for your thoughts

David
Switzerland

MY COMMENTS:

Hello David,
Can you make a living from just doing cranio
sacral therapy? Hell Yes!

That is just what I have been doing for the last
15 years – and that includes moving country twice
and starting from scratch both times.

With regard to burn out there are different levels
to it.  The first thing to master is the energy transfer
that can occur during a session.
I talk about that here and here.

The next level of burn out to avoid is treating
too many people in one week.  Any more than
18 people (2 children = 1 adult) a week will start
to burn you out within a couple of months.

If you take care of these first two levels you
can still become drained if you don’t take a
break at least once a year preferably in nature.
Minimum 3 days, 7 days if possible, ideally
14 – 21 days.

Once you take care of yourself in the ways I
have listed you can go on for years doing very
satisfying work, earning a reasonable income,
with lots of free time.

That’s it for this issue.

Till the next time.

Your Mate,

John D.

November  14 – 2006

Questions and comments for this issue:

+ Where I bang on about Jet Lag and treating yourself.
+ Chronic Fatigue – looking for the meaning of symptoms.
+ Palpation broken down into Symmetry, Amplitude and Quality.
+ Is bone ‘set’?

Hello ,
I have some very important findings to share
with you about jet lag.  As you know I’ve just
moved back to Ireland.  The night we arrived here,
my wife Mege said she had a backache and asked me
to have a look at it.

Now here’s the interesting bit.  When I tuned
into her system, I found that her cerebro spinal
fluid was all over the place.

No, I don’t mean in an ‘Aliens’ sort of way.  I
mean her system felt like one of those snow domes
that had been shaken.

What’s a snow dome?

You know, one of those little glass domes
filled with water that you shake and it looks like
snow falling on the inside.

Why was her CSF so disturbed?

Well, as I stayed with her system, it revealed
that the source of the disturbance was, and this
is from her CSF’s perspective, the sudden movement
across a huge distance.

Wha?

I know,
but there was a really strong sense that the
connection between her CSF and it’s external
environment had been disturbed greatly by the
change in location. It was in turmoil because it
had nothing to orient itself with.

Orient itself?

Yes, there was definitely a sense of her CSF
sloshing around trying to find reference points to
attune with.

And in that effort to orient itself, it was
very clear to me how linked our CSF is to it’s
environment on a local and global level.

It reminded me of the way bats use sonar for
navigation in the dark.  They emit a high pitched
sound which bounces off the surrounding terrain.
The bat can tell where it is by how long it takes
the sound to bounce back to it.

It doesn’t feel like our CSF emits something,
it feels more like the sort of connection that we
as therapists make when we entrain with a patients
system.

It’s the same with our CSF, it entrains with
the energetic rhythms of it’s environment.

This is probably obvious but I’ll mention it at
this point, the moon stood out as the main point
of triangulation for our systems.

The moon?

Yeah, it felt like the moon was crucial to
orientation.  It worked something like this.

The first point of orientation was the system
itself.  The second point was the systems position
on earth.  These two reference points, while
crucial didn’t seem to provide enough dimension.
It felt like the moon provided a third point of
dimensional reference and so triangulated the
system in space.

The disturbance in Mege’s system felt like it
was caused by the sudden change in two of the
reference points.

So what did I do about it?

Well, like most things, seeing what the problem
is is 90% of the solution.
I acted as a sort of conduit for her system.  I
consciously attuned to the locality.
As soon as I started to do this her system
paused.  It felt like it was listening to a rhythm
my system was drawing its attention to.

Then I consciously attuned to the location of
the moon.  Within minutes her system had settled
into deep harmony with itself, and its current
location.  Mege popped off into a deep sleep.

I was able to partially orient my own system
but not completely.  As to why that is I can only
include it with all my other experiences of trying
to treat myself.  Never with much success.

It could be just me but I suspect it’s the same
for everyone.  A classic example is in the release
process, which as you know, involves the
practitioner holding as the patient’s system
encounters its restrictions.

The patient needs to let go, the therapist
needs to hold.  It doesn’t make sense to me that
you can do both at the same time.  None the less,
never being one to allow good sense to get in the
way of having a go, I tried it anyway, a few
times.  Always the same result.

Just when I was about to release, one of two
things would happen.  The part of me that was
releasing would take over and my whole system
would go into letting go, including the part that
was supposed to be holding.
End result = No release.

Or the part of me that was holding would stay
in charge so my system would never let go.
End result = No release.

So as I said I didn’t have as much success
attuning myself to the new time zone.

Mege, on the other hand, woke up the next
morning feeling FANTASTIC!  Over the next few days
she commented, more than once, on how everyone had
greatly exaggerated the effects of jet lag.  She
couldn’t see what the big deal was.

If you get a chance to treat someone who has
moved time zones recently, can you include what I
have described in your treatment and let me know
if you find something similar.  I suspect you
will.

There is a great opportunity there for someone
who is interested in pursuing the commercial
applications of treating jet lag.  Think of all
the business people who travel through time zones
regularly.  You could set up in an airport, nay
airports around the world and help all these
people deal with their jet lag in a more painless
way.

No, don’t thank me, it’s the least I could do,
what are chums for.  Royalty cheques accepted
graciously.

Also, I finally got the therapist listing up.
Have a look at it here.

http://www.open-source-cranio.com/therapists/listing.html

If you have sent me your details, have a look at
your listing to make sure I spelled your name
correctly etc.  Have a look at some of the other
listings also to see what you could add to yours
to make it more representative of you.

If you haven’t already sent me your details
have a look at the others and see what you are
missing out on.

If I had any doubts about whether it was worth
my while to go to the trouble of creating this
resource, I got an email last week that clinched
it for me.

24/10/06

Hello John,

On Sunday, I spoke to the cranio therapist who is
listed for Ipswich, Queensland. From one
conversation I have regained some hope that my
daughter can be healed. I am a healer, although an
untrained one, but all the symptoms have baffled
me for a long time. I have decided on how to
manage her pains but have had no idea how to
remove them altogether.

When my daughter colours in those body pictures
doctors have that let them know where pain is
located, she colours in every little bit then
darkens the areas that hurt most. It often brings
a smile or chuckle to the doctor but it always
brings such sadness to me. None of them believe
she could possibly be in that much pain.

Since speaking to this practitioner I am daring to
hope that we may be on to something that will
work. My daughter is afraid to hope; there’s just
been one too many times of trying. But we will
start treatments next week. I am reassured after
reading your website. I like how you think and I
like that it matches my philosophies about health
and wellness. Thankyou J

Warmest regards,

Denice.

Get your listing up now and get it as good as
you can.  It WILL make a difference.

Alright, on with the mailbag.

***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

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’s 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’s a main
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 when it is in disharmony, they will put their
whole lives on hold until it 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.  It’s a little
paradoxical. Someone with chronic fatigue having
huge endurance.  But don’t be fooled by the lack
of energy issues.  I have found they have lots of
energy for keeping their lives on hold.

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 is 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.

***QUESTION***

Dear John,
Thanks for your great newsletters.  I really
appreciate the different areas you talk about.

I’m still struggling with the nuts and bolts of
palpation.

Can you give me some pointers on how to filter out
all the different things I feel when I try to tune
into someone.

Thanks
Pete
Brisbane.

MY COMMENTS:

No worries Pete and thanks for the feedback.

Placing your hands on another person’s body for
the purpose of assisting in their healing process
is a privilege.  Approach each person as if they
were a baby.  In many ways our bodies relate to
touch as babies.

The majority of people you treat will have had
at least one traumatic medical experience.  The
memory of that trauma is locked in their body.

The person may be your best friend or lover but
once they lie down their body will become
cautious, running a dialogue something along the
lines of,

“Hang on a minute. The last time I lay down on
a bench like this and there was another person in
the room who was standing up, IT HURT! WARNING!
WARNING! ALERT! ALERT!”

It’s not like the person is going to jump off
the table and run away, but they will be
defensive.  Don’t take it personally.

From the time you opened the door of your
treatment room, the patient’s body has been
checking you out to see if you are safe.  That
scanning process continues throughout treatment.

The patient’s body will test you to see if you
are there to ‘DO’ something or to be available to
assist it in what it is trying to do.

When you contact a patient’s body it is good to
hold the following intention in your communication
to their body.

‘What are you trying to do?
How can I help you?’

As you know, the contact of the hands on the
body in cranio sacral therapy is exceptionally
light, often described as a Butterfly Touch.  Like
the touch of a butterfly alighting upon the body.

A butterfly is not a moth.  A moth has an
agitated almost frantic quality.  In trying to get
the Butterfly touch happening it is easy to
develop the touch of the moth which is as bad as a
heavy touch.

Now lets break up what you are feeling when you
tune in.  Think of it like this.  As you listen to
a piece of music, many different dimensions of the
music are conveyed to you.  Volume, stereo
balance, tempo, mood etc. Describing the music in
words won’t duplicate the music; it will merely be
words following an experience.

Tuning in to a person’s cranio sacral system is
like listening to music, something is conveyed in
the contact with their body.  In refining your
cranio sacral palpation it’s necessary to identify
each aspect of what you’re feeling with your
hands.  This serves the purpose of highlighting
aspects of the communication that you may not have
noticed.

Sounds hard. Why bother? Why not just go with
the feeling?

Well, the more you can interpret the rhythm the
more you will get a sense of the whole Cranio
Sacral System and where the restrictions are.

It also helps you note subtle changes in the
patient’s body.

It also helps you communicate your palpation to
other Cranio Sacral therapists.

One way to help refine cranio sacral palpation
is to divide it into three aspects; Symmetry,
Amplitude and Quality.

SYMMETRY

Symmetry relates to whether the rhythm is
stronger on one side than the other.  Like the
stereo balance of the music.  With your hands on
the person’s feet you may feel the rhythm stronger
in one foot than the other.  That is called an
asymmetry.  Taking note of symmetry can help you
build a total picture of the whole Cranio Sacral
system.

AMPLITUDE

Amplitude refers to the power and frequency of
the Cranial rhythm. It is described with words
like
* Strong or weak
* Powerful or faint
* Steady or erratic
* Fast or slow

Amplitude can indicate the location of a
restriction in localised areas.  If the general
amplitude in the body is strong yet very weak in
one leg, palpation of that leg will reveal a point
at which the amplitude will change from weak to
strong.  This can indicate the site of
restriction.

Amplitude also includes how the power and speed
of the rhythm relate to each other.  A very slow
rhythm in the whole body can indicate a weak
system.  A very fast local rhythm can indicate a
restriction in the system in this area.  A fast
rhythm manifests in areas that are cut off from
the rest of the Cranio Sacral rhythm through
direct injury or restriction.  A very fast and
powerful amplitude will be more ready to release
than a faint slow rhythm.

QUALITY

Quality refers to the mood, atmosphere or
feeling of the rhythm.  Like music, this aspect of
palpation is quite subjective.  One person’s
passionate song of freedom is another’s anarchic
scream from hell.  When you first palpate for
quality it may present itself to you as having a
predominant attribute like :

* tight or loose
* active or passive
* tense or relaxed
* hard or soft
* solid or fluid
* warm or cool
* agitated or calm
* dynamic or lethargic
* powerful or weak

Usually a cranio sacral system will have a
combination of attributes.  For example it may be
like a dense, liquid softness.

How poetic.

Start waxing lyrical because your job is then
to refine these attributes making them as specific
as possible.  A way of doing this is to relate the
attributes to something that is in your
experience.  You do this by asking yourself the
question, ‘Like what?’  In the above example you
would be asking yourself
‘A dense, liquid softness like what?’

The answer to the question ‘Like what?’ can
take many forms.

* Objects – chair, engine, cage, sponge,
* Elements – fire, earth, air, water
* Substances – wood, metal, wool, lava
* Sound – bells, boom, lullaby, scream
* Fragrance – mildewed, putrid, flowery, fresh
* Light – bright, dark, mottled, pulsating
* Taste -  bitter, sweet, sour, tangy

Keep refining the quality until it is as
specific as possible.  Using the same example your
conversation with yourself should go something
like,

‘A dense, liquid softness like what?’
‘Honey.’
‘What kind of honey?’
‘Honey that has been mixed with milk, but not
watery milk.’
‘What kind of milk?’
‘Condensed milk.’
‘How has it mixed with the honey?’
‘With a barmix.’

This may seem pedantic but it’s important to be
this specific so that you will be able to sense
the beginning of a release.  This may be signaled
by something as subtle as a feeling that the
condensed milk is becoming more viscous as it then
transforms into fresh milk.

GENERAL QUALITY AND LOCAL QUALITY

Each Cranio Sacral System will have an overall
or general quality but within that bigger picture
there will be local areas of different quality.

In a strong solid system, one leg may feel weak
and fragile.  This inconsistency highlights a
possible restriction.  The difference between
general and local quality can take the form of a
general quality of, for example wood and a local
quality in the neck of metal.  This communicates a
disharmony to you.

APROPRIATNESS

It is rare that a patient will be aware of
their own quality. Regardless of how dramatically
it presents itself to you, do not describe it to
them in the terms above.  We use this form of
description to help us focus our attention and in
that it has purpose.  But it won’t mean the same
to a patient and is likely to disturb them.

Telling your patient that their brain feels
like a fungus covered soft cheese is not going to
go down well.  Trust me.

Symmetry, amplitude and quality inter-relate to
give you a comprehensive sense of the cranio
sacral system under your hands.

***QUESTION***

Hello John,
I got your book last week and found it incredible!
What a velvet hammer.  Those innocent little
questions at the end of each chapter really got
me.
Very well done.
I am recommending it to all my patients.

Now here is my question. If a pattern of
restriction has ossified in the cranium, is that
it?  Is it set for good or is it worth treating?

Best wishes.
SP
Arizona.

MY COMMENTS:

Most of our experience of bone is of dead bone.
The sort of stuff that looks like bone china -
dry, brittle, fragile.  As cranio sacral
therapists we are involved in communication with
the body.  It’s therefore most effective to
communicate with bone as it is, which is alive.
Live bone has some qualities which are not
immediately apparent.

For example, live bone is WET.  It’s full of
blood.

Also, it behaves like PLASTIC.  Meaning it
responds to the pressure put upon it.  Wolf’s law
and all that.  Consider the mastoid processes of
your temporal bones.  You didn’t have them when
you were born.  They were pulled out by the
sternocleidomastoid muscle as you were learning to
hold your head erect.

Bone is not stone; it is renewing itself all
the time.  You can use this knowledge to help it
renew itself in a new direction.

There’s a good example of this in one of the
case histories here.

Here’s another thing, bone doesn’t become
restricted in isolation.  This is particularly
relevant in the cranium.  If a bone is restricted,
99 times out of 100, it’s because there is
something pulling it into a restricted state,
often membrane.  The bone doesn’t become
restricted in isolation.  Always look for the
pattern of restriction.

That’s all for now Kate,

If you still haven’t got your copy of my book,
‘Why Do We Get Sick?  Why Do We Get  Better? -  A
Wellness Detective Manual.’ then do yourself a big
favour and get it.  It’s taken me years to learn
and refine the material in that book.
It will help you become a better therapist and
it will make your job easier when your patients
read it.
Read about it here.

You can be reading it in just a few minutes and
discovering the sorts of conversations I have with
patients everyday.

Till the next time.

Your Mate,

John D.

January  18 – 2007

Questions and comments for this issue:

+ Talking during treatment.
+ How the face reflects the cranial rhythm.
+ Why is the ventricular system so important?

Hello,

Let me just put my Hula Hoop down for a second
so I can talk to you.  You don’t Hula?
Why, it’s the latest re-fad.  You know, a fad
that makes a comeback.

In America, “hip hooping” classes, videos and
Hoopster clothing lines are springing up across
the country. Beyonce and Charlize Theron are huge
fans.  They are always pestering me to join them
at hip hooping class.

I can see I’m wasting my time talking to you
about this.  You just want to hear about cranio.

Fair enough, let’s get on with the mailbag.

***QUESTION***

Dear John,

Thank you for your newsletters they are wonderful.

Here is my question.
I would like to get some of my patients more
involved in their process when we are working
together but I don’t want to do a full somato-
emotional release type thing with them.
Do you have any suggestions for an intermediary
type approach I could do?

Thanks again.
PR.
California.

MY COMMENTS:

Okey dokey.  Here’s something you can do.

Once the person is on the table and you are
settling in and chit chatting and generally
entraining with them.

No, not entertaining them, I said ENTRAINING
with them. Now take that clown suit off and lets
get back to the session.

Tell the person that you are going to do
something a bit different this week.  Keep your
tone light.

Take up a contact that allows you a good sense
of the whole cranio sacral system.  Ask the person
to close their eyes and begin to see themselves
shrinking on the inside until they are small
enough to walk around, inside the structures of
their body.

Whenever you are talking with a patient choose
your words carefully.  I used the word ‘see’ on
purpose.   ‘I want you to see yourself shrinking
on the inside until you are small enough to be
able to walk around inside the structure of your
body.’

Don’t say visualise or imagine as I have found
these words can short circuit the process before
it even gets started.

Why?

Well, because some people are convinced they
have no imagination and others have tried
visualisation before and are, ‘just no good at
it.’

Start off with a relatively restriction free
area.  Ask the person to describe what it looks
like.  Get them to describe the area in as much
detail as possible.  Encourage them to tell you
what they see, even though they may be inhibited
by their lack of anatomical knowledge.

They can shrink themselves to whatever size
they need to be to pass between structures or see
something in detail.  Ask them if everything looks
okay in the area.  If it is, move on to another
area, one where you sense a restriction, though
you don’t need to tell them you think it is
restricted.

If they tell you that everything is NOT okay in
an area, ask them to describe what it is that
looks unnatural.  Encourage them to be as specific
as possible.  You may need to move your hands
closer to the area they are describing.

Ask them what needs to happen for the area to
return to a more natural state.

Wait for their answer.

If they are having difficulty seeing a way to
correct the situation you can suggest solutions to
them using the symbols they have communicated to
you. Make full use of their size in the area.

They can climb in between bones and push them
apart.  They can pull and push things with their
hands in very specific ways. You can suggest
little tools that may help them, but avoid
frightening tools like hammers and saws etc.

You can suggest light beam machines to warm
cold areas.  Ice guns for cold.  Muscle oil
aerosol cans for tight or stiff muscles and so on.

All the time you will be monitoring and
following the changes they are making on the
inside with your hands.

This is generally an enjoyable technique for
you and the person.  It seldom has a huge
emotional aspect and is particularly good with
patients who are very out of touch with their
feelings.

Most people don’t find it threatening and are
amused by what they find in their bodies. They can
be surprised at the clarity of the images they
see. This is because the following of your hands
enables the person to see more clearly the
restriction in their bodies.

This technique is a very useful way to involve
the person and use their attention as an extension
of yours, to check things out and correct them
from the inside.

As you get more experience with it you will get
a sense of who this technique is appropriate for.
It is a good introduction for other forms of
therapeutic conversation which you may intend to
use in future treatment sessions with the person.

***QUESTION***

Dear John,
I am currently studying the face and the way it
moves with the cranial rhythm.  Frankly I find it
confusing and hard to remember.

I’m hopping you have some little analogy or trick
for making it a bit clearer.

Yours Sincerely.

KS.
Canada.

MY COMMENTS:

Before I get into the face I need to quickly
run through flexion and extension in the cranium.

Think of the cranium as a balloon.

During extension the balloon narrows and
elongates and during flexion it expands and
becomes squat.  Long and thin in extension, short
and squat in flexion.

To understand the way the face moves with the
cranial rhythm, take the balloon and add a small
box.  Attach it to the balloon roughly where the
face hangs off the cranium.

Now, lets look at how the box moves with the
balloon.

In extension the balloon will become long and
thin.  The box will arc inferiorly and narrow as
the whole balloon elongates

During flexion the balloon will become short
and squat.  The box will arc superiorly and
broaden as the balloon shortens and broadens.

So what does this feel like in practice?

Sit at the head of the person.  With their
permission, place your hands on their face, thumbs
on their forehead and fingers on their mandible.

During flexion you will feel your thumbs and
fingers move closer together while in extension
they will move further apart.

Once you get this overall movement you can work
out the specifics of each bone relatively easily.

Here are some other things to consider.  The
mandible and the frontal bone moving towards each
other in flexion could put stress on the bones of
the face but this compressive movement is
naturally absorbed by the orbits.

This makes the orbits particularly vulnerable
to any restriction patterns present in the face or
cranium, especially the posterior aspect of the
orbit.

Certain bones of the face are designed to
reduce the amplitude of the movement of some of
the larger bones they articulate with. These bones
are the palatines, the zygomae, the vomer and the
ethmoid.

You can think of them like ‘washers’ between
two larger bones.  William Sutherland called these
bones the ‘speed reducers’ but they do not
actually reduce the frequency of the rhythm, they
reduce the amount of movement or amplitude.  So a
40 micron movement of the frontal can be reduced
to a 10 micron movement in the Zygomae. [Remember
a sheet of writing paper is 100 microns thick.]

***QUESTION***

Hi John,
I am being repeatedly told that the ventricles are
very important but I am not sure why.  I have
asked this question of my tutors repeatedly but
never got a satisfactory answer.

I would be grateful to hear your explanation.
Thanking you in anticipation.
PB
South Africa

MY COMMENTS:

It may be easier for you to think of the whole
system in terms of plumbing, which it is in a way.
It’s a very important and significant plumbing
system.

The ventricular system, is a collection of
cavities and canals deep within the brain and
spinal cord. It consists of 4 ventricles connected
by various channels.  It always looks to me like a
model of a space ship.  Think Star Trek.

The four ventricles are made up of the 2
lateral Ventricles located within the two cerebral
hemispheres, each of which connect via an inter-
ventricular foramen to the 3rd ventricle which is
located between the two thalami of the brain.

The 3rd ventricle connects inferiorly through
the cerebral aqueduct (or aqueduct of Sylvius as
you will see it in some books) to the 4th
ventricle which is located between the cerebellum,
posteriorly and the pons and medulla, anteriorly.

The 4th ventricle continues inferiorly as the
central canal passing down the centre of the
spinal cord.

The whole ventricular System is filled with
Cerebrospinal Fluid.

So that’s the plumbing.  Now let’s look at
inlet and outlet valves.

The INLET valves are located in the roof of
each of the four ventricles and are called Choroid
Plexi.  These are filter like structures through
which cerebrospinal fluid is formed as a filtrate
from arterial blood.  Arterial blood enters the
choroid plexi from the cerebral arteries; then
blood cells, proteins and other large particles
are filtered out.  The pure colourless fluid that
filters through this choroid plexi into the
ventricular system is cerebrospinal fluid.

I will get to the outlet valves in a minute.
First I want to focus on something that is very
easy to get confused about.
We know that the membrane system contains
cerebrospinal fluid, right?

Just nod.

And now we have a good idea of how
cerebrospinal fluid enters the ventricular system.
And we also know the ventricular system is
contained within the membrane system.  The thing
is the ventricular system is, for the most part,
closed.
So how does cerebrospinal fluid get out of the
ventricular system into the membrane system?

Very good question.  It all happens in the 4th
ventricle.  In the posterior and lateral walls of
the 4th ventricle there are three foramina,  – the
foramen of Magendie which is in the middle
posteriorly and the 2 foramina of Luschka,
bilaterally.

It is through these 3 foramina that
cerebrospinal fluid passes out into the sub-
arachnoid space where it circulates around the
brain and spinal Cord.

Now back to the OUTLET valves.
Cerebrospinal fluid is eventually returned to
the blood via the Arachnoid Villi which protrude
from the sub-arachnoid space through to the
superior sagittal sinus of the Brain.  It re-joins
the venous blood which then drains from the venous
sinuses via the internal jugular Vein to be
returned to the heart.

So that’s the plumbing, the general flow and
the inlet and outlet valves.   The significance is
that this system is in continuous use which means
it has to be in working order all the time.  If
any one of the valves or canals of foramina are
not working properly the effects are serious.

Just think of the person having a spinal tap.
Only a tiny amount of cerebrospinal fluid is
removed yet the person will have to lie horizontal
for 24 hours to avoid severe headaches.

Also if there is a problem in this system it’s
not like you can just shut it down while repairs
are made.

So that’s it for this issue.

Cheerio for now.

Till the next time.

Your Mate,

John D.

February 26 – 2007

Questions and comments for this issue:

+ The CST steak knives set.
+ Facial bone movement revisited (how knowing how to describe it could save your life)
+ Why do we need to learn anatomy and technique if the work is fundamentally energetic?

Hello John,

I’m feeling a bit like a steak knife salesman
in an infomercial because I’m excited!!
I’m excited about all the great stuff I’ve
added to my web sites. . . and it’s all just for
you.
No, don’t thank me, just call the number at the
bottom of your screen now.

In the ‘Patient Resources’ section of my sites
I have added Free downloadable Articles and Books!

There is a great article by Al Pelowski about
treating a new born baby that won’t stop having
seizures and another one by Trish Banks about how
to address the emotional needs of the family,
particularly the children, when going through
separation and divorce.  It’s basically a mine
field map and excellent stuff.
There are the Wallace D Wattle books.  That’s
right all three of them.  The science of getting
rich, being well and being great.

As you might have noticed, it is giving me a
lot of pleasure to finally get around to making
all this great information available.
You can direct your patients to the page and
let them get whatever article they want or you can
print out the article you feel is relevant and
then give it to them.
John Upledger, Peter Levine, Jim Jealous, there
all here at

http://www.open-source-cranio.com/resources/downloads.html

But wait there’s more!

I have finished the ‘CST Therapist and Student
Resources’ section.  So now you can find all those
cranio sacral books you have been looking for, all
in the one place.
Edward Muntinga’s excellent 3D Cranio sacral
DVD is there too.  It is such an excellent tool
for getting your head around the way the cranio
sacral system moves.

http://www.open-source-cranio.com/sacral-training/resources/

And it just gets better!!

Etienne and Neeto Peirsman have just brought
out a book about Craniosacral Therapy for Babies
and Small Children.  It has heaps of very cute
pictures of Etienne treating babies.
Get a warm glow here. http://www.craniobabies.com/
Now I know where Geppetto ended up.
Pinocchio will be so pleased.

But that’s not all!!

I’ve been keeping the best till last!!!
I finally managed to do something I’ve wanted to do
for ages.
No, not combine roller balding and hang gliding,
though I am getting closer on that one.
No, what I’ve finally managed to do is set it up so
you can now download Free Anatomical Animations from my
sites.
You can see a fetus and a developing embryo here

http://www.open-source-cranio.com/sacral-training/embryonic-development/

Phew! I think I need a lie down after all that
excitement.  So while I’m doing that
let’s have a look at the mail bag.
Okay, there’s no bag really.
It just sounds better than saying, ‘Let’s have
a look in the Inbox.’

***QUESTION***

Hi John,
Just a quick question on your last issue about the
face.  I didn’t get the box on the balloon thing
for the face.  It sounded good but I just didn’t
get it.  The movement of the facial bones is
something I had given up on being able to
verbalise.
I can feel it but couldn’t describe it to save my
life.  I do know if I could get my left brain
involved it would good.
Any (other) ideas?

Saludos
F.K.
Berkeley, CA.

MY COMMENTS:

Man, your letter made me laugh.  I immediately
had this mental image of you having to describe
the movement of the facial bones to save your
life.

There you are with a gun to your head and the
villain whispering menacingly in your ear, ‘Just
tell me the way the vomer moves in flexion and no
one needs to get hurt.’

What a hoot.
Far be it from me to get in the way of you
living to a ripe old age so I’ll do my best to get
you out of danger.

Let me explain why you may be having trouble.
We all have a predominance in the sense that we
receive information through.  The common
descriptors for this are visual, auditory and
kinaesthetic.  Smell and taste are included under
kinaesthetic.
Visual people will receive information by
seeing.  Auditory people will receive information
by hearing and kinaesthetic people will receive
information by feeling.

Our predominance shows itself in the way we
communicate.
A visual person will say, ‘I SEE what you
mean.’
An auditory person will say,  ‘It SOUNDS like
you understand.’
And a kinaesthetic person will say, ‘I FEEL
like you both missed the point.’

Learning styles is a large field and well worth
knowing about so you can adapt your language to
you improve your communication.   If you know what
type of person you are talking to, visual,
auditory or kinaesthetic, you can adjust your
language to the way they will best receive what
you are saying.
You can find out more about it here.

http://www.vaknlp.com/

http://www.businessballs.com/vaklearningstylestest.htm

http://www.grapplearts.com/Learning-Styles-in-Grappling.htm

So I hope you see what I mean and you are now
feeling like you will be able to really hear me on
this facial bone thing.  (That should cover all my
bases.)

I am guessing you are predominantly
kinaesthetic.  So my description of the cranium
and face being like a balloon with a box stuck on
the front didn’t really hit the mark with you
because it is a visual metaphor.

Here’s the good news.
Once you know about these learning styles you
can translate one style into another or more
importantly into your own style.
So in this case I suggest you get a balloon and
inflate it but not too much.  Then draw a face on
it. Then pull it into extension and squash it into
flexion.  Do it a few times until you can really
feel it.  Then get a little box and tape it to the
balloon.  Then make the balloon go through flexion
and extension a few more times. Watch the way the
box moves as you do this.

Taking my visual metaphor and turning it into
something you can actually feel should make it
instantly understandable to you.

You can translate anything you are having
difficulty learning into your own learning style.
Kinaesthetic people can make models of everything.
Visual people can translate everything to
pictures, graphs and diagrams.  Auditory people
can translate everything to sound, musical if
possible.

Another really powerful thing that kinaesthetic
people can do is include smell and taste wherever
possible and practical.  These are very powerful
senses and will really lock it in.

You are right about getting your left brain
involved.  It is very important.   I am going to
talk about it more in my response to the next
letter so I won’t go on about it here.

One last tip, stay away from medically
inquisitive villains that carry guns – it will end
in tears.  Probably obvious but someone had to say
it.

***QUESTION***

Dear John,

I am a year into my cranial studies and very
excited and captivated by the beauty of this work.

I avidly consume everything I can about cranio
sacral and have read most of the major works.

In Hugh Milne’s books he talks about this work
being fundamentally energetic yet goes into great
detail about anatomy and technique.  John
Upledger’s earlier books are very technical and
mechanical but his later books are more spiritual.
Franklyn Sills books are mostly spiritual and
philosophical with some mechanical stuff and
William Sutherland’s writing is very spiritual.

You haven’t written a book but the topics you
cover in your newsletters (Thanks by the way,
they’re great.) range form very specific and
technical to very ‘out there.’

What I am trying to understand is if this work is
fundamentally energetic then why do we need to
learn all this anatomy and technique?  If it is
all so fluid why so much structure?

Looking forward to your answer and your book if
you ever write one.

Joe
Sydney.

MY COMMENTS:

Well Joe, I HAVE written a book (sniff, sniff,
pout, pout) it’s just not about cranio sacral per
se.

Anyway I’ll pull in my bottom lip for a minute
and answer your question.

Yes, this work is fundamentally energetic but
it doesn’t follow that we don’t need to learn
technique or to know about anatomy and physiology.

That would be like saying that playing a
musical instrument is basically about passion and
expression so why do we need to practice the
scales or learn how to read music.

Learning technique is like learning the scales
on a musical instrument or the mastering brush
strokes in painting.   Learning physiology and
anatomy is like learning to read music or the
rules of perspective in drawing.

Once these skills are mastered and the
knowledge becomes part of you then you are into
the expression and passion side of things.  At
that point your craniosacral work will be very
energetic.

Got it?

Not really.

Okay, here are a couple of stories to
illustrate the point.

I have been roller blading for about 7 years
now.  In the beginning I just got it into my head
that I wanted to learn so I bought myself some
skates and went to the nearest bike track and just
. .  started.

I fell over a lot but with practice got the
hang of it.  Within a couple of weeks I was able
to go forward without falling over and was very
pleased with myself.

If you had asked me back then if I could roller
blade I would have said yes and I would have been
right, to a point.

I skated like that for 4 years.  Then I
befriended someone who was a roller blading
instructor.  I thought the idea of having lessons
was a bit below me, I was self taught after all,
but I gave it a go.

The difference was remarkable.  With a few
simple lessons and practicing some simple drills I
was skating better, faster, for far greater
distances, with greater ease and confidence going
up and down hills I would never have dreamed of
and all with a lot more safety.

4 years of skating hadn’t actually improved my
skating.  I discovered that practice doesn’t make
perfect it just makes permanent.  It wasn’t until
I had those lessons and practiced the right things
and yes, some of the drills I had to practice were
boring, that I really began to skate.

When I am out skating now, I sometimes pass
someone who reminds me of what I must have looked
like before I had those lessons.  Sweating a lot,
working very hard but inefficiently and with very
little grace or control.

Here’s my second story.

One day a Zen master cam upon a group of men.
A large boulder had become dislodged in a
landslide and the men were trying to shift it out
of the road.  They had obviously been at it for a
while because they were covered in sweat.  It was
also obvious that they weren’t having any success
because the boulder hadn’t moved an inch.

The men recognised the Zen master and asked him
if he could help.  He told them to have a rest
while he reviewed the situation.  The men sat on
the grass and watched the master closely.

He walked around the boulder once and then came
to a stop at a point that seemed significant to
him but didn’t look any different to the men.

He placed his two hands on the boulder and
began to apply gentle pressure to the boulder.
The men looked at each other thinking the master
had gone a bit soft in the noggin.

Suddenly the boulder began to move and rolled
off the road.  The men were astonished.  They
rushed forward cheering and congratulating the
master.

When they asked him how he did it, he replied
that the difficult part was seeing which way the
boulder wanted to go.  Once he saw that he simply
helped it go the way it wanted to go.

I love that story.  I read it about 18 years
ago and I’ve never forgotten it.  The thing about
it is that if you took the master aside and asked
him how he ‘saw’ which way the boulder wanted to
go he would have told you that it took him years
to get to the point where he could see it.

He would tell you that when he started out
years beforehand he was just like the men
struggling.  He would then tell you how he had
gone through a series of learning steps to get to
the point where he could see.

But you never get that kind of ‘behind the
scenes’ with those Zen stories you just get the
wisdom.  Which is great but it can make you feel
like you will never be as cool and have ‘moving
really big boulders’ as your party trick.

Cranio sacral teachers are faced with a
dilemma.  They have had the dazzling insight that
it is, as you say, all energetic but they also
know that they did a lot of ground work to get to
the insight.

Good teachers manage to convey both aspects.
The need to learn good techniques so it can lead
to the fluidity of expression.

My experience of teaching students who had been
through trainings that focused on the end result
and left out the steps to get there was that they
were very broad spectrum in their approach.

Lots of very colourful descriptions about how
they and the patients body were feeling but very
little specific information about what the root
cause was physically and mechanically.  And when
questioned more closely, had a very shaky grasp on
the anatomy of the region they were describing.

Here’s another reason to know the anatomy and
physiology.  Once you start to become competent in
cranio sacral work the word of mouth builds
quickly.  But the word of mouth won’t be about how
cranio sacral therapy works it will be just that
you were able to help someone.   When people come
to see you they will often be doing so against the
consensus of their friends and family.

The fact that you can understand the language
their doctor uses and can explain the physical
aspect of their symptoms to them in language that
is familiar and similar to the language their
doctor uses goes a long way to soothing their
concerns.

Which explanation do you think sounds most
reassuring?

‘Your head feels very tight and heavy and I’m
sensing a lot of tension on the left side.  It
feels very red and angry.’

or

‘Your head feels to me like it is overfull with
cerebrospinal fluid.  The reason for this is that
one of the bones that forms the floor of you skull
on the left hand side, the particular bone is
called your temporal bone, is being pulled inwards
by the membrane that attaches to it.

This has the effect of pinching your jugular
vein because the hole that your jugular vein goes
through is actually formed in the junction of your
temporal bone and another bone called your
occipital bone.

Blood is pumped into your head by your heart
but there is nothing in your head pumping the
blood back out again.  So it’s really important
that the channels of drainage out of your head
are clear and unrestricted.

One of those channels of drainage is your
jugular vein.  So you can see that if it is
pinched then the blood being pumped into your head
can’t drain out as quickly as it needs to.  So you
get the sort of pressure build up that can cause
the sorts of headaches you are getting.’

Learn the physiology and anatomy Joe and master
all the techniques.  They will lead you to mastery
of the energetic work at the heart of cranio
sacral.

So that’s it for this issue.  Your
steak knives are in the mail.

Cheerio for now.

Till the next time.

Your Mate,

John D.

March 23 – 2007
Questions and comments for this issue:

+ Postnatal depression.
+ Trigeminal neuralgia.
+ Bipolar disorder.

Hello,
Just let me put my machete down for a minute so
I can tell you about a new study on healing and
men.
That’s right I said men, manly men.
Are you listening to me Pilgrim?

‘Males typically defined as masculine – strong,
capable of endurance and tough – were seen to have
an improved recovery rate,’ says Professor Glen
Good of the University of Missouri-Columbia.

‘It has long been assumed that men are not as
concerned and don’t take as good of care of their
health, but what we’re seeing here is that the
same ideas that led to their injuries may actually
encourage their recovery.’

So that’s it for me.  Out with the pink loafers
and the angora sweaters and in with the DKNY
combat fatigues and the Gucci backpacks.  It’s
rugged hard living for me from now on.
That’s right I’m drinking tap water and hiking
to the coffee shop.

So let’s saddle up and have a look see at the mailbag.

***QUESTION***

Dear John,
I really enjoy your newsletters.  I have been
getting them for quite a while now but have never
asked you anything before, so here goes.

A woman called me the other day to ask if cranio
could help with postnatal depression.  I said yes
and set up an appointment to see her next week.

I have never treated postnatal depression before
so I read up on it.  Nothing is jumping out as a
possible cranio sacral link.  I will ‘treat what I
find’ when I see her but was just wondered if you
had any experience of it.

Thanking you in advance.

JL
London.

PS. I downloaded your book and it is excellent.
Should be a bestseller.

MY COMMENTS:

Thank you for the kind words.
I have found that postnatal depression is a
condition that responds really well to cranio
sacral.

The root cause is often as a result of the
birth process.  The main causes being one or a
combination of the following – Labor, forceps,
ventouse, caesarean section and epidural.

The birth process can leave the mother’s pelvic
floor full of restrictions.  This in turn
pulls the dural tube inferiorly which in turn
translates into the intracranial membranes and
affects the sphenoid which in turn leads to
depression.

I have seen this pattern in 95% of the women I
have treated for postnatal depression.

It usually resolves pretty quickly.  6 or 7
weeks.  The initial treatments focus on getting
the pelvic floor to come into harmony and release.
Then once that happens it’s a matter of following
that work up the dural tube into the head until
the sphenoid settles.

I have treated women who have suffered with
postnatal depression for up to 10 years.  After
that length of time they are nearly always on
medication and their second or third
psychologist/counsellor.

It is fantastic and at the same time sad that
it takes so little to get rid of the symptoms and
how much heartache that could be avoided if they
had treatment earlier.

***QUESTION***

Dear John,
I am a Cranio Sacral Therapist. I studied with The
Upledger Institute and have been a Therapist for
nearly 2years. I truly am amazed at what this
therapy can achieve.  The reason I am writing to
you is because I have recently been introduced to
Trigeminal Neuralgia which I had never heard of
until now. I just wanted to inquire when you treat
this problem what areas do you treat for success.
I would appreciate any feed back on this you may
give me.
Thank you so very much.
H.I.
Australia.

MY COMMENTS:

To get an understanding of trigeminal neuralgia
you need to study the structure of the trigeminal
nerve.
I’ll run through it briefly here.

The Trigeminal nerve is the largest in diameter
of the cranial nerves.  It is predominantly a
sensory nerve receiving sensory input from the
face and scalp.  It also provides some motor
supply to the mylohyoid and the anterior belly of
the digastric.

The two trigeminal nerves leave the pons and
travel anteriorly for about two centimetres under
the tentorium.  The trigeminal then forms a
ganglion out of which it branches into the 3
divisions.

OPHTHALMIC DIVISION
The ophthalmic division receives sensation from
the eye balls, the lacrimal glands and the skin of
the forehead, eyelid and nose.  It enters the
orbit through the superior orbital fissure.

Just before it enters the superior orbital
fissure, it sends some sensory fibres to the
tentorium.  That’s why pain behind the eyes can be
an indication of tentorial tension.

MAXILLARY DIVISION
This division is entirely sensory and receives
sensation from the skin of the middle portion of
the face, lower eye lid, side of the nose, upper
lip, roof of the mouth, gums and teeth.
The Maxillary branch exits the cranium through
the foramen rotundum which is formed in the
sphenoid.

MANDIBULAR DIVISION
This is the largest of the three branches of
the trigeminal.
It receives sensation from the lower lip, lower
face, inner cheek, tongue, lower teeth and gums
and the temporomandibular joint.
It also has a motor aspect supplying the
temporalis, the masseter, pterygoid, mylohyoid and
the anterior digastric.
It exits the cranium through the foramen ovale
which is also located in the sphenoid.

So that is the rough geography.
If you are treating someone with trigeminal
neuralgia trace the pathway of the trigeminal
nerve with your intention.

Pay particular attention to the areas of
vulnerability which are for the ophthalmic
division,

• the superior orbital fissure.

For the maxillary division,

• the foramen rotundum,
• the maxilla,
• palatine,
• sphenoid
• and zygomae.

And for the mandibular branch,
the foramen ovale,

• the TMJ area.

***QUESTION***

Hi John

It is a long time since I have written to you, but
thanks for all the newsletters – I look forward to
receiving them.

I want to ask your help today. I have some friends
in Cape Town who have a son approx 40 years old
who has suffered from Bi Polar since he was about
15 yrs old.

They have tried every possible treatment, but have
had no success. I would like to advise them about
the condition and ‘Cranio’ and then to advise them
to seek help CranioSacrally

Please advise ASAP

Kind regards

John Rosen

Johannesburg SA

MY COMMENTS:

I treated a woman before I left Brisbane who
had Bipolar for thirty five years.  She had been
institutionalised a couple of times and had been
given shock treatment at the start of the 90′s and
again in 2000.

When she came to see me she was in the process
of weening herself off her medication.  The
pattern of her symptoms was two months of feeling
very high followed by two moths of feeling very
low and so on.  When she came to see me she was in
a low.

Taking her case history was very intense
because she was obviously in a lot of emotional
pain and couldn’t stop crying.  We got through it
and she lay on the table and I assessed her.

It turned out that the root cause of her
symptoms was – physical. Her sphenoid was
restricted.

In the course of taking her case history it had
come out that she was a forceps delivery.  As you
know, the sphenoid isn’t ossified when you are a
new born.  This woman’s right greater wing was
torsioned in relation to the body of the sphenoid.
The right greater wing was also side bending in
relation to the body, meaning the right wing was
much more anterior than the left wing when the
sphenoid was in neutral.

It always feels to me that the patterns of
restriction in the sphenoid act as indicators of
the deeper restrictions in the membranes.  Bone
doesn’t move on it’s own.  Trauma is nearly always
held most strongly in the membranes.

The other thing I’ve found with depression and
the sphenoid is that it’s not the sphenoid that
brings on depression but rather the effect the
pattern of restriction has on the pituitary gland
which is sitting atop the sphenoid in the sellae
turcica.  Particularly as the infundibulum of the
pituitary perforates the diaphragma sellae.

The restriction pattern in this woman’s
sphenoid was like this.  Deep patterns of
restriction held in the tent and surrounding
membranes since birth.  Her pituitary was also
under pressure at its infundibulum.

She saw me for six treatments at the end of
which she was neutral.  Not high, not low.  She
couldn’t remember ever feeling like that for more
than a day or so when she was in transition from
high to low or visa versa.

I was in email contact with her about two
months later and she was still symptom free.

35 years of symptoms sorted out in six weeks.
Who’s glad they’re a cranio sacral therapist!
Hands in the air! Come on, you at the back, hands
in the air!

Not all people with bipolar will respond as
well as this woman.  Not all bipolar is caused by
restrictions in the cranio sacral system.  I would
encourage your friends to get their son assessed
by a good cranio sacral therapist. It will all
help.

So that’s it for this issue.

Cheerio for now John.

Till the next time.

Your Mate,

John D.

May 06 – 2007

Questions and comments for this issue:

+ How to convince Doctors of the validity of cranio sacral therapy?
+ Migraine question.
+ Do you have to get ‘hands on’ when treating post vasectomy pain?

Hello,
I’m just back from a trip to Brisbane where I
was delivering my ‘Core Success’ seminar.
How did it go?
Very well, thank you for asking.

It was great meeting old friends and some new
ones too.  Some of the very first students I taught
in Australia were there, though they are seasoned
therapists now, and some therapists I hadn’t met
before, some of whom flew up from Sydney especially
for the event.

Jenny Palmer, who organised the seminar, is
going to write something about it so I will pass it
on when she does.

Lastly I want to point you to this wonderful picture I came across in the National Geographic. The man lying in the hospital bed is only days after open-heart surgery. He is having cranio sacral therapy.  I like the picture because it is confirmation of where cranio sacral therapy is heading.  But I’m getting ahead of myself,  as you will see when we get into the first letter in the mailbag.

***QUESTION***

Dear John,
I recently had a patient who told their Doctor they
were having craniosacral therapy.  The Doctor
dismissed it out of hand saying there was no
scientific basis for it and discouraged her from
‘wasting her money’.
My patient told me she wasn’t keen to continue
treatment.
I intend to visit the Doctor in question and see if
I can’t change his mind.
I know Dr John Upledger has done some scientific
studies on CST, I am just wondering if you know of
any other studies or can suggest some good
arguments for the validity of CST.
Thank you for your newsletters.

C.S.
Sydney.

MY COMMENTS:

I was only talking about this at the seminar in
Brisbane the other day.  The simplest way to
explain it is to ask you to look towards the
future.  About one or two hundred years in the
future.

Medicine will look very different.  The
exclusively mechanical model that is currently in
vouge will have expanded to include an appreciation
for the body’s ability to fix itself.  Cranio
sacral therapy, or whatever it is called then, will
feature largely.

Every ambulance and para-medical team will
include a cranio sacral therapist.  Emergency rooms
will include cranio sacral therapists as standard
members of staff.  Maternity wards, and in
particular, delivery rooms will all have cranio
sacral therapists.  Every child born will receive
cranio sacral treatment within the first hours of
life.
Rehabilitation facilities will be dealt with
predominantly by cranio sacral therapists.  The
treatment of chronic pain and illness will rely
heavily on cranio sacral therapy to provide lasting
solutions.
Inmate rehabilitation programs in prisons will
include cranio sacral therapy.  Children with
learning difficulties will receive cranio sacral
treatment as part of their special care.  The main
treatment for autism will be cranio sacral therapy.

On a hill there will be a golden castle where I
will ride out on my favourite unicorn, Tabatha.
No, hang on.
That last bit was a dream.

Now let’s come back to the present.  At the
moment, we are ahead of our time.  We are the front
runners, the pioneers.

The thing about being a pioneer is that it is
difficult.  Just ask anyone from the turn of the
century who was saying that one day humans would
walk on the moon. Or someone from the middle ages
who was saying that one day people would travel by
air.
Think about all the things that we take for
granted now, like radio and TV and the internet.
At one time they all seemed far fetched ideas.  Now
they are commonplace.

The flaws in the current medical model are
becoming more and more apparent to the general
public.  When you think about the future it doesn’t
make sense to seek the approval or ally yourself
with a model that is failing. This is one of the
reasons that I have never tried to convince a
Doctor of the validity of Cranio Sacral Therapy.

Another reason is that the methods of evaluation
and the science are not sophisticated enough yet to
measure what we do.  When they are sophisticated
enough than there will be more of a bridge for us
to talk.

Another reason is that we have not got our act
together enough as cranio sacral therapists.  There
is way too much infighting and ‘my-way-is the-
right-way’ sort of thing going on.  Too many 4-day
courses after which you can call yourself a cranio
sacral therapist.  Too much cranio sacral therapy
as an adjunct to other approaches.  We can’t even
stick to one name for crying out loud.
By the way I am renaming what I do, cranio-
vision-quest-bio-morphic-angelic-sacral-therapy-
approach.

Catchy, no?

Moving on.

It is like the underlying fear and insecurity
that often drives therapists to associations.  The
thinking being that if we all band together we will
be taken more seriously.

Which leads me to ask, by whom?
Doctors?  I don’t think so.
The public?  I doubt it.
In my experience the public will go with a
referral from someone they trust over any number of
qualifications and association memberships.

So I would discourage you from confronting the
Doctor.  Instead I encourage you to trust in the
part of your patient that brought her to see you.
It will do the right thing for her.

Also trust in the Doctor to acknowledge your
successes.

Your work hinges on your trust in the human
body’s ability to correct itself.  I am encouraging
you to trust in the body of humanity to correct
itself too.  It really is no different.

***QUESTION***

Hi John,

As always, these newsletters give me great insight,
so thank you for supplying us with it!

I just thought I’d give you some feedback about the
chronic fatigue client I posed a question about in
an earlier newsletter.

I treated the person before the newsletter reached
me, so didn’t have the added help from your
insights. I had been treating this woman for other
things for a while, when the time came to deal with
the chronic fatigue directly. In the space of only
3 weeks the whole issue seems to have been
resolved.

It started off with really good communication with
the hypothalamus, pituitary and membranes where
they were able to correct themselves and stay good.
Next week several past life traumas and associated
local restrictions needed to be released after
which chakras 1 and 2 were able to start releasing
their restrictions. The biggest problem was in the
2nd chakra where lots of damage had been done when
the client as a newborn was given drugs to
counteract kidney failure.

Those drugs caused damage to the nervous system,
which lasted for quite a few years. The result was
a very big block in the energy flow in the area.
I’m sure there were other contributing causes for
the chronic fatigue starting up 7 years ago, but it
wasn’t necessary to go into them. After one and a
half sessions over 3 days with work only with the
2nd chakra there was a definite endpoint, where her
whole body came to peace and I got a very strong
communication that that was the end of it.

She didn’t jump up and down like a two-year-old
right away, but has continued to get stronger and
more energetic every week since. She hasn’t had any
relapses since those treatments in November.

Question.
A friend of mine suffers really bad migraine and
I’m about to start looking for the reason. I don’t
know if it is always the same thing that is wrong
or if the causes are many and varied. I happened to
be there when my friend got really bad with the
migraine, so I tried to help. Someone else who was
there said migraine comes from the stomach
meridians being blocked and building up too much
pressure, giving pain behind the eyes (linking in
with the light fenomena sufferers experience) and
vomiting.
But when I sat with my sick friend and started to
tune in I got the feeling that that is only the
symptom, that the cause lies elsewhere, and her
pineal gland was very persistently engaging with me
and giving me the idea that the cause may have to
do with the pressure of fluid inside the head.

What is your experience in finding and treating the
cause of it?

Eva Kuhl Bornefelt
Central Coast
Australia

MY COMMENTS:

Thanks for the feedback Eva.  I am glad your
chronic fatigue patient made such a good recovery.

The first thing that stood out to me about your
migraine question is when you said, ‘I’m about to
start looking for the reason.’  I encourage you to
change this approach.  I have found it much more
effective to let the reason find you.

Instead of actively looking for the reason,
which is a very active dynamic, I encourage you to
trust the persons system and be available for the
reason to reveal itself to you.

On the nuts and bolts department the pain behind
the eyes can often indicate tentorial tension.
This happens because of the recurrent, meningeal
branch of the mandibular branch of the trigeminal
nerve.  It can be referred pain from the tentorium.

If you were being drawn to the pineal gland then
I would go with that.  Because you also mentioned a
feeling of pressure I would check the integrity of
the aqueduct of Sylvius.  If it is restricted it
can cause back-pressure problems.  You can read
about a woman I treated with this very problem

http://www.open-source-cranio.com/cases/intracranialtension.html

***QUESTION***

Hello John,
A guy is coming to see me next week to see if I can
help him with his vasectomy pain. Have you had any
experience with this? And if so do you have to
treat it ‘hands on’ so to speak.  I’m not
homophobic or anything but I’m really hoping that
you don’t have to.

Thanks.

B.A.
Perth.

MY COMMENTS:

A hundred cheap jokes swirl around my mind but I
am a bigger man than that and much as I might like
to, I will resist.

Fear not.  You can have excellent success
without having to get hands on.  A lot of the
problems with vasectomy pain come from trauma
inflicted during the surgery where the surgeon tugs
over zealously on the vas deferens to get it clear
of the scrotum so they can get on with the
procedure.

When you look at the anatomy of the vas deferens
you will see that it travels from the testes
superiorly into the lower abdomen where it makes a
hairpin bend in the inguinal area before
descending to the prostate.

I have found that the trauma gets stuck in this
bend.  Working in the area of this bend is roughly
where you would have your hands when working on the
pelvic diaphragm.  You can help whatever
restriction is present to release with this
contact.  You can also help any restrictions
further down or in the testes themselves from this
contact using your . . . intention.

So breathe a sigh of relief and be glad you
learned about intention.

So that’s it for this issue.

Cheerio for now.

Till the next time.

Your Mate,

John D.

June 08 – 2007

Questions and comments for this issue:

+ Do I use Somato emotional release?

Hello,

If you sent me an email towards the end of May
and I didn’t reply, I’m not ignoring you and I am
interested, no really.

Sorry, . . what were you saying?

My email server dropped the ball for about 5
days and I didn’t get any mail so if you sent,
please resend.

I have some treats for you now and no, I’m not
trying to butter you up.  Here are some videos of
John Upledger talking about two cases he worked
on. The volume is low so be ready to crank your
speakers up.

The first one is about a boy who had
developmental delay, a spinal tap, cephaly,
seizures and neutrapenia.  The video is in two
parts.

The second one is about a girl with hearing
loss, seizures, and stiffman syndrome.  This video
is in two parts also.

The last one is of Dr John doing his thing. You
may need to lower your volume for this one.

As you know I gave my ‘Core Success’
postgraduate seminar in Brisbane in April. Jenny
Palmer organised the event and she has written an
article about it, which you can read here.

And speaking of postgraduate seminars, I have
also got around to putting up an article about a
full body release seminar I gave last year.  There
are some good pictures of the full body team in
action here.

And lastly I am putting together a page of
links for my web sites.  I have been collecting
and book-marking web sites for a couple of years
now an am just getting ready to share them.  So if
you have a favourite website, a cause, an
organization or a just plain funny site that you
want to let me know about please send me the
address.

Anyhu, let’s get on with the
mailbag.

***QUESTION***

Dear John,
Thank you for your newsletters.  I find them
fascinating and very useful.  I particularly like
what you say about craniosacral at the bottom of
each newsletter. It is a vision which I fully
support.

So this is me participating by asking a question.
I notice that you haven’t talked about somato
emotional release in any of your newsletters.  I
am wondering if you use it and what you think
about it.
Keep up the good work.

KP
Toronto.

MY COMMENTS:

I have received a number of emails asking me
about somato emotional release.  I even had one asking
about its lesser known culinary equivalent,
Tomato emotional release.

Boom. BOOM.
I know. . .
Tomato. . .
No applause please.

So I will combine your answer with the others.
I don’t use somato emotional release per se.  What
I use is a technique I developed called
therapeutic inquiry.  My own cranio sacral
training was somewhat osteopathic in approach and
didn’t really encourage talking with the patient
during treatment.  I felt this ignored a whole
spectrum of possible information.

I studied a couple of different talking
approaches, including somato emotional release but
found that none of them covered everything that
needed to be covered.  I used elements from all
and filled in the blanks.

When it came time to teach this technique I
called it therapeutic inquiry because the essence
of what I was doing involved asking the patient
the right questions, at the right time and in the
right way.

Not everyone needs to verbalise what they are
experiencing when they are releasing a deep trauma
but if they do then you need to know very clearly
what is happening and be able to assist them
verbally and that’s where therapeutic inquiry
comes in.

Knowing the difference between who needs to
talk and who doesn’t is all part of the skill.

At other times you will have a sense that
someone is on the verge of releasing something and
it is one of those releases that needs to come
through the person’s consciousness.  The patient
needs to verbalise it but it just won’t come,
again this is where therapeutic inquiry comes in.

Therapeutic inquiry is used to help a
particular kind of restriction to release.  As you
know, in the course of treatment we use different
techniques for different kinds of restrictions,
some require direct technique, some require
indirect, some require remote work using intention
away from the site of restriction while others
require close work.
Well some restrictions require therapeutic
inquiry.  The sorts of restrictions that usually
require therapeutic inquiry often have a big
emotional component.

To explain why you would need to use
therapeutic inquiry, I need to talk a little bit
about how these kinds of restrictions are formed.
It usually happens during childhood and it goes
something like this: (You can hum along if you
know the tune.)

A child finds itself in a situation it can’t
cope with.  From the child’s perspective the
situation is threatening to its survival.  The
child needs to process the situation very fast and
arrive at a solution that will insure its
survival.  The child quickly reviews its part in
the circumstances that have led to the current
situation.
It identifies the behaviour that is responsible
and labels it as life threatening.  It then locks
that behaviour away in its unconscious, setting up
the emotional equivalent of a reflex arc.
Too important to leave to mere memory, the
child makes it part of its instinct.

Instinct?

If we hear a sudden loud noise our bodies will
have an instinctive protective reaction.  Without
thinking, our body interprets the noise as
potentially dangerous and reacts to protect
itself.  In these circumstances we are operating
from our instinct.
It is into this instinct that the child puts
this emotional reflex arc.   Whenever the child is
in a situation that is similar to the original
situation, it will have an instinctive protective
reaction.

Back to our child.  Time passes and the child
grows into an adult.  The difficult situation has
passed but the embellished instinct does not
change, it stays in place doing its job. Because
it doesn’t adapt with the growth of the
child/adult, what was once a lifesaver, becomes a
source of disharmony in the persons body, or put
another way, a restriction.

Not clear enough? Okay here’s an example.

A young boy pulls a chair over to the stove to
investigate the strange wispy cloudy stuff coming
from a pot.
His mother enters the kitchen. Horrified, she
sees her little darling about to scald himself.
She rushes to the stove, pulls him away roughly,
slaps him and tells him he is a very naughty boy.

The boy can see she is very upset.  In an
instant the boy decides the following, which I
will explain in adult language.

• ‘A. My mother is very angry with me.
  She has hit me and caused me pain.
  She normally doesn’t hit me.
  My mother is the source of love and
  nourishment in my life and if she
  continues to be angry, she will withhold
  her love and nourishment and she may
  continue hitting me.
• B. If she withholds her love and nourishment
  and continues hitting me, I will die.
  C. What did I do that has caused this
  disturbance in my mother?

Reviewing: : : : : – - – -

Answer: I was being curious and
adventurous.

• D. I must incorporate into my instinct

the following directive.

WHENEVER I FEEL CURIOUS AND ADVENTUROUS
I AM IN MORTAL DANGER AND MUST NEVER ACT
ON THESE DANGEROUS FEELINGS.’

The above conclusion is reached within minutes
of being slapped.  The boy includes the new
information in his instinct and gets on with his
life.
As an adult the boy/man finds change incredibly
difficult.  He experiences abnormal stress at the
prospect of changing house or jobs.  When his
marriage breaks down he becomes so tense he has
difficulty sleeping and experiences chest pains.

Fortunately he goes to a cranio sacral
therapist for help.

Cranio Sacral Therapy to the rescue.
High five!
Low five!
No?
Suit yourself.

Therapeutic inquiry allows the patient to get
in contact with the embellished part of their
instinct and begin to communicate with it.  All
going well this dialogue will lead to changing the
directive.

I have found that a restriction will only
change its function by a direct command from the
person.  Even then it can be reluctant to accept
that authority.  The command from the person has
to be with the same emotional intensity with which
the restriction was first imprinted, because the
restriction was charged with the job of protecting
the person against mortal danger.

Restrictions are reluctant to return the
authority if the person is half hearted.  They are
understandably cautious because of the life &
death imperative with which they were programmed.
The difficult part of therapeutic inquiry is in
easing this instinctive defensiveness.

Therapeutic inquiry is a difficult technique to
become competent in because it requires you to do
all the difficult work you are already doing with
your hands and presence AND include this very
precise line of questioning.

Just to give you a little window into the
technical difficulty involved, there is a huge
difference between asking,  ‘Are you afraid?’
or asking, ‘How do you feel?’
The first question suggests the
idea of fear and in a nanosecond the patient will
be thinking.
‘Why are they asking me this?  Is there
something I should be afraid of?’

Asking the patient how they feel allows them to
tell you the way they are experiencing the
situation; not the way you think they are
experiencing the situation.

It is very important to get it right because
you are engaging with a very powerful part of the
person and you don’t want to be messing around in
there.  Therapeutic inquiry is the one technique
that, far and above all the others, I found
students have most difficulty becoming competent
in.

As with every ‘technique’ it is something that
needs to be mastered and integrated.  In practice
I rarely use isolated techniques and this includes
therapeutic inquiry.  Everything blends together
and is significant.

From the first phone call with a new patient to
everything I say to them and everything they say
to me.  It is all significant and part of the
blend of treatment

So that’s it for this issue.

Cheerio for now.

Till the next time.

Your Mate,

John D.

July  17 – 2007

Questions and comments for this issue:

+ Parkinson’s Disease
+ What kind of conditions don’t respond to cranio sacral therapy?
+ How often do you see people?
+ What does a shudder in the cranio sacral rhythm mean?

Hello,

Quite a bit of news to pass on today so do pay
attention as I will be asking questions later.

Harvard medical school’s department of
continuing education will be running three classes
on complementary medicine in psychiatry over the
next year, which is up from one a year since the
class was introduced in 2003. Cranio sacral
therapy is one of the modalities that will be
included in these classes.

The increase is due to the publics growing
disenchantment with antidepressants.  David
Mischoulon, an assistant professor of psychiatry
at Harvard, says doctors who have attended the
class report that more patients are asking for
alternative treatments — due to the side effects
of antidepressants, as well as a lack of response
to the medication. “It is time to broaden the
horizons,” he says.

Always one for broader horizons myself, I say
hats off to Harvard medical school’s department of
continuing education.   Let’s give them 3 hearty
cheers.  Hip hip!

???

Suit yourself.

A while ago I told you about Michael Moore’s
new movie ‘Sicko’.  Well it’s out now and causing
the expected stir in America.  Standing ovation at
the Cannes film festival and all that.  You can
read a review of it by Patch Adams here

http://www.patchadams.org/sicko.html

Yes, Patch Adams is the guy from the movie
‘Patch Adams’.
Well actually the guy from the movie was Robin
Williams but the review is by the guy the movie
was about.
Patch Adams. . . which is what I said in the
first place.
Never mind.

Let’s move on. I received this letter from a
woman of very discerning taste in New Zealand.

‘Hi John,
A friend of mine recently sent me the link to your
site.  We did a training together in New Zealand
in cranio.  I wrote an article about the training
and my experience with the training.
I have posted the article at:

http://www.helladelicious.com/

I really like your site. I have searched the web
all over for sites on cranio and most of the ones
I have found just seem to repeat the same
information over and over in them and don’t really
tell you much about cranio, therefore I am very
glad to see your informative and humorous site.

Thanks so much,
Sincerely,
Renee’

The article she refers to is very good and if
you are into cooking, Renee has some readily
accessible videos of her cooking on her site.

And since she brought up how fantastic my web
sites are . . . work with me . . . I have just
listed what I think are the top ten causes of
trauma.  Have a look and tell me what you think.
Did I miss anything?

http://www.cranio.ie/

http://www.cranio.com.au/

An finally, let me draw your attention to that
pleasant feeling you are experiencing in your body
right now.  I know it is there because it comes
about as a result of reading something that didn’t
make one mention of, or reference to,
Harry Bloody Potter.

On-with-the-mailbag-ious.
(That’s a mailbag spell.)

***QUESTION***

Hi John

Am loving the newsletter and really appreciate all
the good work and the manner in which it is done.

I am a Chiropractor & Cranio student in South
Africa and have recently started working with a 70
year old man with Parkinsons disease. He seems to
respond positively to the gentle work I am doing
but the shifts are short lived. I would love to
hear if you have worked with people with PD and
hear any insights you wish to share?
Thanks again
JN

MY COMMENTS:

My experience of treating people specifically
for Parkinson’s, is limited so I can’t be of much
help.
If someone else, who gets this newsletter, has
some experience or insights I am sure they will
pass them on to me and I will include them in a
future issue.

I have found that generally as people get older
the treatment program takes longer.  Meaning they
take longer to get better.

So the short-lived effects could be simply
because of that.  You may just need to see this
person for longer or you may need to see them more
frequently in the beginning to help their system
get some momentum.

***QUESTION***

Hi John,
Just been checking out your website. I am a RCST
having trained with Paul Vick. I live in Perth WA.
I have had a practise for 3 years now.

I was interested in

1.  The information that people would give to you,
to make you decide that you wouldn’t be able to
help them with cst – this has always been a tricky
one for me?

2.  You talk about clients coming to see you for
so many weeks- how often would someone see you in
that period? weekly, fortnightly  ?

3.  I was also wondering if it would be possible
to get my details added to your website ?

Thanks for the time you took in reading this

Regards
S.M.
Perth
Australia.

MY COMMENTS:

1. Who I would, or wouldn’t, treat?
As a general rule – If someone thought I could
help them and wanted to have treatment with me, I
would see them.
Having said that, I would explain to them how
much I thought they were asking of their body.
So if someone was blind from birth and wanted to
see again, well that obviously is a big ask.

I have found that if someone is in the middle
of fighting off an infection it is better to wait
until they have recovered so they can have more
resources to deal with the underlying cause of
their illness.
Yes, Cranio sacral is good for breaking fevers
and helping to get over infections generally, what
I am talking about are the more virulent
infections like meningitis.
There is also the logistics of treating someone
in the middle of an infection which would depend
on whether you do house calls or not.

I have found certain kinds of nerve damage
unresponsive to treatment.  For example damage to
the auditory nerve itself or a 20 year old spinal
cord break.

I have found genetic conditions don’t respond
very well either.

2. How often do I see people?
I find seeing people weekly works best.  I would
only see them more often if their system was very
stuck in a pattern and they had a very
short relief from their symptoms after treatment,
like a couple of hours but this,  more intensive
treatment would only last for a couple of weeks at
most.

3. How do you get listed on my site?
It couldn’t be simpler.  I send you an email.
You fill in the blanks and send it back to me.

***QUESTION***

Hi John,
Thanks again to you for your always welcome
newsletter with pertinent and humorous comment.

I’ve just started treating a two and a half year
old girl (caesarian birth) for chronic ear
infections. While assessing her cranially I picked
up a ‘shudder’ when her CS rhythm was in extreme
extension; that is, a shudder in the rhythm as
opposed to the body shuddering. I assumed it was
connected to CNS trauma (possibly from drugs
administered, or shock …??). I would be grateful
for any light on the subject.

Regards,
Harold Epstein.
Cape Town.

MY COMMENTS:

Hello Harold,
It sounds like your palpatory skills are
deepening, which is great.

To quote Sammy Davis Junior, ‘The cranio sacral
rhythm is like the great rhythm of life.’  That’s
not an exact quote obviously, I’ve shortened it a
bit because Sammy had a habit of waffling on about
flexion and extension and the reciprocal nature of
the system at the drop of a hat.
And people used to wear a lot more hats back
then so it happened much more frequently.
Hat dropping that is.
Hat-Tricks were popular too but I haven’t got
time to go into that now.

The cranio sacral rhythm is present in all the
people we treat and the more you go into it the
more you begin to pick up the subtle differences
in expression of this rhythm between one person
and the next.

This shudder that you describe is one of those
differences.  It is an expression of how this
girls system interacted with her birth and her
life to date.  The great thing is that you can
feel it.  Remember when feeling extension was
hard?  Let me illustrate.

Let’s say that you and I are sitting in the
ballroom of the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas in 1966
and we are waiting for the Sammy Davis Junior show
to begin.  You haven’t done too well at the gaming
tables and I am feeling sorry for you.  The fact
that all the showgirls are hitting on me is not
helping your mood either, but I digress.

I try to change the mood by talking about
Sammy’s music.  I say how much I like, ‘The rhythm
of life.’ and particularly how the use of the hi-
hat causes anticipation in the verses and build up
the chorus.

You don’t know what a hi-hat is so I explain
that it is part of the drum kit and consists of 2
cymbals. The lower cymbal remains stationary while
the upper cymbal can be lifted up and down via a
foot pedal.

You’re not really getting it and I’m getting a
bit tired of you ruining the party . . . and this
always happens with you . . . and what did I
invite you for anyway . . . Luckily Sammy takes
the stage and conveniently launches into a
stirring rendition of ‘The Rhythm of life.’

I point out the hi-hat to you.  You see it and
you can hear what it sounds like.  Great.  After
the first chorus the booming sound reduces to the
simplicity of just the hi-hat and Sammy’s voice.
You look at me and smile knowingly. You wouldn’t
have noticed it if you weren’t listening for it
but now you can hear it very clearly.  The effect
the hi-hat has in the song.

The cranio sacral rhythm is like the hi-hat and
the shudder is like the effect it has in the song.

Now don’t get the idea that there is only one
abnormality to the rhythm, ‘the shudder’.  There
are millions of variations.

Right about now I expect you are saying, ‘Well
that’s all great John and thanks for the trip to
Vages but what does the shudder MEAN?’

I could give you a mechanical semi enclosed
hydraulic system kind of answer including cross
currents etc but I don’t think it will help you
much.

Here is the useful thing to know. . .  The very
thing that allowed you to feel this shudder will
also allow you to know what it means.   It won’t
stop with the shudder.

Next time you are treating this little girl and
you feel the shudder, allow yourself to feel what
it means in the context of her whole system
system.

I would pay close attention to how the shudder
is expressed in her neck and here’s why. . .
With chronic ear infections it is important to
check the integrity of the Eustachian tube, as it
is the main drain for the middle ear.

The Eustachian tube is an unusual shape.  In
cross section it’s not circular like a pipe but is
more of an elongated circle shape like a lozenge
or capsule.

As the tube travels up the neck it twists.  The
twist acts as a valve to keep foreign bodies from
travelling up the tube into the middle ear.  If
there are restrictions in the neck it will have
the effect of inhibiting the tube and so drainage
will be compromised.

Drainage may be very important if the child has
had repeated antibiotics as they kill all the
bacteria in the middle ear and leave a kind of
sludge.   It is difficult enough for the body to
drain this sludge, a restriction inhibiting the
Eustachian tube will make it even harder.

So that’s it for this issue.

Cheerio for now.

Till the next time.

Your Mate,

John D.

August 13 – 2007

Questions and comments for this issue:

+ Comments about Parkinson’s disease from
Vicky in Melbourne, Etienne in Belgium,
Nica in Berlin and Joyaa on the Gold Coast
in Australia.

Hello,

I’m feeling a bit like Tarzan in this issue.
Standing manfully atop a tall tree and sending out
the call.  The difference is I’m not summoning an
army of elephants to rescue Jayne.  Jayne rescued
herself years ago and has in fact rescued me quite
a few times, something my chimp pals love to
remind me of.

No, I am putting out the call for cranio sacral
therapists.  Particularly in France, particularly
in the South and South West of France and Denmark,
particularly near Copenhagen.  I have had quite a
few requests from people looking for cranio sacral
therapists in these areas and so far have only
been able to find a few.  Do you know or have any
cranio chums in these areas?
Let me know.

As you can see there has been an excellent
response to the question about Parkinson’s disease
that was asked the last issue.  It prompts me to
once again encourage you to ask a question or send
in a comment.  You can be sure 10 other people are
thinking of the same question or will benefit from
your comment.

On the website front, you can see pictures of
me treating children here

http://www.open-source-cranio.com/baby.html

And my links page is up and growing.  There are
5 main categories – Research and Information,
People, Climate, Services and Products, Funny and
News.

http://www.open-source-cranio.com/resources/links.html

Have a look let me know of any sites you think
I should include.

Let me just climb down from this tree and
change out of this loin cloth and we can get on
with the mailbag.

***COMMENT FROM VICKI IN MELBOURNE***

Hi John and JN
I have worked with a Parkinsons Patient for a
short period of time.(6 sessions. I was standing
in while his usual therapist was away.) This
gentleman has a CST treatment weekly and has been
doing so for quite a few years now. He is also
under the care of a Homeopath in Melbourne who
specializes in Parkinsons Disease.
(www.returntostillness.com.au )

It was quite amazing working with this client
because as soon as I put my hands on him his body
“grabbed” me.  After not too long the shake would
cease and there would be a tremendous quiet within
his system.  This peace would last from a couple
of hours to a couple of days. There didn’t seem to
be any rhyme or reason to it.

In answer to the question, I feel CST is a very
effective management strategy for Parkinsons. In
conjunction with the Homeopathic treatment this
client had used CST to lessen the severity of
symptoms and too slow the onset of the disease. (I
would like to say “Halt” but I am not sure about
this.)  He had been given a pretty short time line
by specialists in which to expect to live a what
he would consider a full life but at the time I
was treating him he was successfully running his
own business.

The other thing I did was organize for his wife to
come in and experience CST for herself and then to
learn some simple techniques like Still Point
induction.  Now the client gets treatment once a
week from a CST practitioner and nearly daily from
his wife. I have not seen him for over a year now
but I will enquire how he is going at my next
Cranio study group meeting. I hope this helps.

Warm regards from Frosty Melbourne

Vicki Saray

MY COMMENTS:

Thanks for that Vicky.  Lots of very useful
tips, particularly the shaking and the inclusion
of Homeopathy.

As you know I’m not a big fan of teaching
simple techniques to family because I don’t think
there is anything simple about cranio sacral work.
In my experience it is complex, layers within
layers and all that. . .
I know that after 14 years I am still trying to
figure it out or maybe it is figuring ME out.  One
way or the other, the idea of teaching simple
techniques feels like going to have your portrait
painted and the artist encouraging you to paint
the background of the painting while they get on
with painting the more technically difficult parts
like the hands and face.  Images of the Mona Lisa
against a Simpsons background come to mind.

Having said all that it sounds like in this
case it is working so what do I know?

***COMMENT FROM ETIENNE IN BELGIUM***

Hi John,
I had some excellent results with Parkinson’s;
however it is a long term commitment for therapist
and client (nothing wrong with that – if you have
the patience).
Parkinson’s is not a disease; it is a simple
question of waste management.
Too much toxic material has accumulated in the
center of the brain (due to stress patterns around
it), that simple Cranio (releasing the chronic
tensions all around) will already have a
beneficial effect.
The fluids need to move!!!

Toxic waste accumulates in and around the
substantia nigra (who produces dopamine) that its
production becomes limited and its dopamine (who
is the messenger that stimulates to the Basal
Ganglia, Globus Pallidus and Caudate Nucleus)
cannot reach its destination. It is the restricted
function of the Basal Ganglia that creates the
typical Parkinson’s lack of movement control.
So, any CS will be beneficial.

Also I instruct my clients (during the sessions -
so they can directly connect with them) about the
functions of the different brain structures
involved and how they work and get blocked due to
the accumulation of waste.
I introduce them to the glia cells who can help in
the removal of waste products and I set up a home-
work program, where the client works twice a day
talking to his glia cells while on a still-point
inducer or on a tennis-sock (if there system can
take the pressure – rarely they cannot).
I also convince them (by asking their brain
structures) that they need to drink more water
(besides the coffee their used to) and I start
them on a daily intake of flax-seed oil, what will
soften the membranes of their brain cells
(instruction also during the sessions).

In the beginning I work on them bi-weekly (or
weekly – depending on your confidence) and after a
few months, they come once a month, depending on
their home-work.
It can become a months long program, sometimes for
the rest of their lives and often (hopefully) they
will get hooked on what you have to offer. Since
they are usually quite old CS will benefit them
tremendously with rounding of this life time.
The elderly are like baby’s, they are so happy to
ride the wave.
Have fun,
Etienne
Belgium.
www.craniobabies.com

MY COMMENTS:

Thanks for that Etienne.  I really like the
whole waste management perspective.  Very useful.
I also like the way you talk about getting the
person involved their own recovery by telling them
about the different structures you are both
working with.  Top Stuff.

I’m not wild about the use of still point
inducers for the reasons I mentioned in my
response to the previous letter except in this
case it is images of the Mona Lisa against a
computer pixelated background coming to mind.

Personally I haven’t found the elderly are like
babies . . . at all.  Hang on, maybe I am being
too quick to say that. They are like babies, just
babies that are locked behind 500 layers of
compensation.

***COMMENT***

yes indeed I have some (small) experiences with my
female cliente (82 years old). as you say john:
take time for the treatment itself and be there
every week, working on the same structures.

maybe the client “really” feels any release just
for a short time – but YOU will feel changes in
each session. sometimes my cliente preferes to sit
instead of lie on the treatment table.(sorry for
my bad english-writing — french is my mother
language!!) just be there…..

love and peace – nica Berlin.

MY COMMENTS:

Thanks for that Nica.  More confirmation that
treating Parkinson’s is more of a long term
proposition.
And Nica, compared to my French your English is
outstanding.

***COMMENT***

Hi John,

I am only part-way thru’ reading your latest
missive (massive missive?) and am sending in this
response in case I otherwise never get around to
it(!)

Parkinsons:
My experience is about the same as the South
African cranio-chiro chappy.
The best results I have achieved with PD is by
using gentle stretching / articulation techniques
using the patient’s (client’s) arms and legs as
“long levers” – that loosens up their muscles to
give them some ready relief.  I believe that
abdominal stretching (a technique that has been
coined the “tummy tug”) is also useful with some
of the abdo sx (e.g. bloating and constipation).
PD is a condition which, in relation to cranial
work, I still find myself thinking “Can I do
better?”

All the best, Joyaa
Gold Coast
Australia.

MY COMMENTS:

Thanks for that Joyaa.  The main thing that
stands out for me in your email is the last
sentence.  ‘Can I do better?’

That is a courageous and honest question to
ask?  It’s not an easy question to ask because of
what you may have to live with if the answer is
‘Yes.’  But it is a question that we need to ask
ourselves at the end of each session and the end
of each treatment program.
Not in a beating yourself up sort of way but in
an honest appraisal of how it all went.
Did the person get what they came for?
If not, why not?
Even if you arrive ate the conclusion that they
didn’t get what they wanted because their issues
got in the way, it is still worth asking ‘Could I
have dealt with their issues better?’

So that’s it for this issue.

Cheerio for now.

Till the next time.

Your Mate,

John D.

August 4 – 2009

Questions and comments for this issue:

+ Follow on comment about Hypnosis, should you
stop working with people? and session management.
+ Follow on comments about ‘How you came to Cranio sacral?’
+ How do you settle a person’s system at the end of a session?
+ Question about Polyarteritis Nodosa and working with the immune system.
+ Is a Mothers loving touch as good as a cranial treatment?

Hello,
The tributes for Al Pelowski were many and beautiful.
They continue to come in and you can read them here.

There was an international Memorial held for Al on
Friday the 25th. All around the world people who knew
Al gathered to remember him and his life.  At the
appointed time I sat in meditation remembering Al
and I felt . . . well, not much really.
Certainly no sense of closure.

It wasn’t until hours later when I was  in my back
garden cutting the grass that out of no where Al
came into my head. In particular how he felt like he
had found his place in the cosmos.

I looked at the sky and smiled.  The heavy sense
of loss that had been with me since I heard of Al’s
death was gone and in its place I felt peace.

Typical Al – when I was cutting the grass.

Life goes on.

I have been updating the newsletter archive.  I am
about halfway through the newsletters from 2007
so if you weren’t getting these newsletters back
then you can review them here.

If you have been in contact about my Masterclass
series and are chomping at the bit to get stuck into
them, there is good news and not so good news, which
in Ireland we like to call, ‘de bad news’.

De bad news is that it is taking me forever to
finish editing them all and get them ready in the
format they need to be for DVD.

The good news is that I am going to make them
available online as they are ready.  The rough idea
is that you will be able to watch each video online
for less than the price of a cinema ticket.
(Popcorn optional but not included.)

The first one is almost ready. I just have to
connect up a few more elastic bands at the back of
the computer, collect a few more lollipop sticks
and some pipe cleaners and I should be good to go.

So while I’m doing that let’s get
on with the mailbag.

***FOLLOW ON COMMENT FROM HELENA IN SLOVENIA ABOUT HYPNOSIS AND HOW DO YOU FOCUS?***

Hello John!

While reading your reflection about comparing the
hypnothic state and state after CST, I remember one
therapy when I got one patient in regression. Before
that the whole treatmant was like cleaning her bad
energy loaded in her psychical system. I had my hand
on the table without touching her body and there came
so strong unwinding and macro-motions, like Franklyn
Sills would name it, that I could hardly stand it. Her body
was moving in a really intensive wave motion. I know that
my patient exactly knew what was happening and that was
her way how to release her psychical system. I didn’t
continue to work with her, because my opinion was
that this way she didn’t solve her life problems,
she just sustain her system in status quo.

Anyway here comes my problem. With clients I realy
quickly come to their stress responses, unresolved
traumas, traumatic experiences and psychic
disturbances. And that realy takes time. So, if
I want to work on the knee injury I can’t, becasue
I could be one hour and a half in vault hold position,
doing on traumas. Maybe is this my profesional
handicap while before doing CST I was counseler
in the Center for social work. This started this
year, after one year of studying and doing CST.
I think that there must be just one switch that
starts to release client’s system and I don’t
know how to disconnect it.

Have a nice day.

Helena

MY COMMENTS:

Hello Helena,
In the first part of your letter you mention
that you didn’t continue working with the particular
woman in question.  For myself, I never discontinue
working with someone.  If they shows up and want help
I will treat them regardless of what I think about
their process.

So even if I think someone is messing about and not
really engaging in their process or ‘just sustaining
their system in status quo’ I will continue treating
them.

The reason I do that is that I know their system
will come into harmony, eventually.  It’s unavoidable.
It’s just a question of time and in an odd way knowing
this speeds up the process.

Here’s the thing, when I am treating someone, the
place I go to in myself is, in a way, timeless and
sitting in that place I can wait forever.

This timeless quality is communicated from my system
to the other person’s and it helps them release sooner
rather than later.  Resistance dissolves in the face
of the timeless.  Eventually they begin to change.

From experience I know that if a person keeps coming
for treatment eventually they will get what they want.

In answer to your question in the second part of your
letter about finding the ‘off switch’.  It is probably
better to think of it in terms of managing the overall
treatment program and then managing each session within
that program.

It comes down to not being afraid to negotiate with
the person’s system.

When someone first comes to see me for treatment I
ask them what they would like me to help them with.
Whatever they answer forms the contract between us
and the focus for our work together.
I talked at length about contracts here.

So using your example if the person said they
wanted me to help them with their knee injury, then
that would be the contract between us and the focus
for our work.

In my initial assessment I would look to see what
the root cause of the knee injury was.  If the root
cause was emotional then I would convey that to the
person and include it in our work together.

But. . .
If the root cause was simply physical then I would
just focus on that.  If any emotional issues came up
for releasing during the session I would do some non
verbal negotiation with the person’s system to desist
from releasing the emotional issues as they were not
part of the contract between us.

This approach may seem at odds with the whole
‘going with the body’ and ‘treating what you find’
approach but it’s not.  Going with the body and
treating what you find are cornerstones of our work
but they operate within the confines of the contract.

It is important to stick to what you are asked
to help with – the contract – because it leaves the
door open for the person to renegotiate the contract
down the track.  Going beyond the contract is in
essence disrespectful to the person’s process and
generally ends up messy.

***FOLLOW ON COMMENT FROM JUDAH IN AMERICA ABOUT HOW HE CAME TO CRANIO SACRAL THERAPY***

Thanks John for your newsletter. I began my career
at the Rolf Institute in Boulder, Colorado in the
late 80′s. Many of my teachers practiced cranial
along side the Rolfing approach. A couple of them
also practiced visceral manipulation.  I asked why
it wasn’t taught at the Institute, and they told me
to just Rolf for 5 years. Develop a Rolfer’s mindset
and hands. I made it 4.5 and took my first cranial
class in the mechanical model, with one of my former
anatomy teachers at the Rolf Institute who was also
one of Upledger’s instructors. I took more classes
of that style, then after practicing CST for about
8-9 years I went to the UK every two months to do
the biodynamic approach with Franklyn Sills in Devon.
Franklyn is a wonderful teacher and that training
lasted two years.  So in my practice, I do both the
Rolfing and the Craniosacral therapy.  I have been
teaching both methodologies, although my own path
after 20 years of practice, has shifted to an
apprenticeship with a shaman.
There you have it mate!

Go well,

Judah Lyons

MY COMMENTS:

Thanks for that Judah. A very interesting journey
and I’m sure you could contribute a lot to the
Open Source Cranio project.   I didn’t realise
Rolf Harris was that big in America. Or that he
taught a healing modality.  Come to think of it
I always did find the music of the wobble board
soothingly therapeutic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lofgud4wLLo&feature=related

***FOLLOW ON COMMENT FROM NICA IN THE BERLIN ABOUT HOW SHE CAME TO CRANIO SACRAL THERAPY***

dear friend john,

greetings out of vienna where i teach right now contemporary
dance (and silence….:-)) at the university!

silence:
a very important state of being…..in cranio and daily life.

to find this/ a secure place to be and observe out of this spot .

it feels like a fulcrum…like sitting in the center of
a hurricane: very protected,strong,silent.

how I came to cranio?:
through a long process….dancing, dancing, dancing, and
one day feeling the wish of stopping moving but feeling the
“moves” inside of me.
so I took a cranio session.

it felt like coming home.

somehow I had to “move” so many years to find this inner quality.
to be able to accept the beauty inside of me .
i just wannted to share.
thats how i became,since 2004 cranio scral therapiste……………

a short storry.right?……………………..

all my friendship! aswell to your lovely wife,
nica from berlin

MY COMMENTS:

Hello Nica,
Thanks for that.  Being an astonishingly good dancer myself. . .

What?

. . . I totally ‘get’ the link between cranio sacral work
and dance. It often feels like I am part of an elaborate
dance when I am working with someone.

***QUESTION – HOW DO YOU ‘SETTLE’ PEOPLE?***

Hey John,
really enjoying your website – besides all the practical
information I enjoy that it gives me a sense of being
connected with other craniosacral therapists, especially
through your newsletters.
I was wondering if you could say something about
the integragtion process? How to integrate a session
for the client particularly if they have done some
emotional work – I get a bit lost here – I do the work,
and its beautiful, maybe we have about 10 mins left,
and I don’t want to start another process but rather
spend some time with the body allowing the information
to settle.
In terms of cranio are there ‘settling techniques’
which help the body absorb the session? Stillpoints
of course – but what else can you recommend that won’t
start another process?
Had a dream last night about the integrating I did
with a client last night, and was told I did fine -
but the doubter in me always feels there’s some more
I could have done.
Look forward to hearing from you,
Deirdre

MY COMMENTS:

Hello Deirdre,
I’m glad you are finding the website useful.
Here is one way to think of settling.  Think of a
glass of water that you have been stirring with a
spoon.  When you stop stirring the water settles.

It is kind of the same with settling a person’s
system. Contacting a person’s system with the
intention of assisting it to find harmony can have
a very tomultous effect, particularly if the system
is very restricted and is very ready to release.

So even though your intention is not ‘doing’
anything the person’s system can take advantage of
the support to do LOTS.

Settling is a bit like the opposite of entrainment.
At the start of a session as you entrain with the
person’s system you form a connection.  Among other
things your respective cranio sacral rhythms synchronize.
The person’s system opens up
to you.

Releases come in waves so towards the end of the
treatment session when you feel the latest wave of
release is finished you change your intention to
settling.

You take your spoon out of the glass of water.

If you just took your hands away without settling
the person’s system it would remain open leaving the
person with a kind of gaping hole that would snap
shut at the first sign of threat.

You begin to settle the persons system with your
intention.  You change your intention from following
and holding and following through to presence without
involvement. You are still with the person’s system
but you are not involved with it.

As you make this change you will notice that the
person’s system begins to settle.  In a way, it puts
itself back together in readiness to face the world
again. As it does this you begin to withdraw you
intention from their system and then from you hands.

It is only when you have fully withdrawn your
intention from your hands that you begin to physically
withdraw your hands from their body.

***QUESTION – POLYARTERITIS NODOSA?***

Hello John

Have you had any experience in treating someone with
Polyarteritis Nodosa ?
I’m told that a suppressed immune system is needed to
keep it under control.
Since CST supports and boosts the immune system,
would it be safe to treat this client?
Presently the patient is on corTisone and chemo tablets.
He is very weak (age 53)
My feeling is to go in there with the intention NOT to
boost the immune system but to give him some form of
overall relief.
Your comments would greatly be appreciated

Thespeni in Cape Town

MY COMMENTS:

Hello Thespeni,
I haven’t treated anyone with Polyarteritis
Nodosa so I can’t give you any first hand experience.
Problems with the immune system whether it is simple
allergies or more serious conditions like this nearly
always come back to boundary issues.

Your immune system has to do with defense.
In order to defend you it needs to be able to
effectively tell the difference between what is
‘you’ and what is ‘not you’.  That difference
forms boundary which your immune system patrols.

When there are problems with your immune system
and that boundary is set too far outside your system
invading bacteria and viruses are not detected and
attacked.

When the boundary is too close to your system
parts of ‘you’ are identified as ‘not you’ and your
immune system starts attacking you. Which is kind
of the case with the man you are going to treat.

When you work with the immune system with this
in mind the focus of your work is about helping
it find the right boundary again.

***QUESTION – IS A MOTHERS LOVING TOUCH AS GOOD AS CRANIAL TREATMENT?***

Hello from Mauritius
Dear John, I must say your website is a bank of
resources that i have yet to tap from! Am training
in CST with Al’s group in Mauritius and just completed
module 4 with Jacob a couple of weeks ago. I am looking
forward to more ‘feeling’ and tuning in the tide.

Just wanted to comment on what you and Al noted re
having non-cst practitioners/mums ‘do’ CST on their
offsprings(Sharecare), especially after an incident 2 days
ago.

My friend’s semi-tamed dog rushed on and around my son
and scared the hell out of him. She was only trying to play
but may be ‘biting’ in a playful manner. Luca of course
was catatonic. My reflex as a mum and cst trainee was hold
the chest and help him ‘resolve the trauma’ right there and
then. If other mums could do same and with the knowledge
where to hold, that would go in line with A’s concerns.

On the other hand as a CST proponent, i am inclined to say
mums can only have a very loving touch. Yet again that touch
can determine if that trauma stays a trauma and makes the
body develop conditions /compensations etc..
I am a bit lost here.
I hope you are getting me. So sorry if my english is not so
great and that my comment has been so long.
Salam (bye bye in Kreol)

Jenny
Mauritius

MY COMMENTS:

Hello Jenny,
I think the best way to answer your question
is to bring it back to basics.  People were
recovering from trauma long before cranio sacral
therapy was a gleam in John Upledger’s eye
and before William Sutherland had gleams anywhere
and before Andrew Still had eyes . . .

The point is that we wouldn’t have survived
as a species if we weren’t able to repair ourselves.

Our skill as cranio sacral therapists is in
helping that process.  In a way that skill is
separate to our motivation.

Let me explain – I had many very motivated
people began training with me as cranio sacral
therapists but many of them eventually dropped
out because they couldn’t come to grips with the
skill required.  As you know, it’s not easy.

I think it is important not to confuse a
Mother’s love with that skill.

It is also important not to underestimate
the power of love.

When a Mother places her hands on her
traumatised child the child’s system may
take advantage of the loving energy emanating
from the mother to fix itself.

So that’s it for this issue.

Till the next time.

Your Mate,

John D.