August 06 -2006.  Brisbane.

As adults we are no longer physically held in the way we were as children.

Full body release is a technique that holds us like a baby.

A team of cranio sacral therapists tune into a patient and literally pick them up as they provide complete support for their system.

When provided with intentioned gravity-free support, our bodies begin to release deep, full body patterns.

Wonderful and beautiful as it is, this is a technique that is used infrequently in practice as the logistics involved are prohibitive.

A minimum of six cranio sacral therapists are required to make up a team. When each therapist has a busy practice this is not easily organised.

I use full body release as a post graduate workshop because it is an excellent tool for helping cranio sacral therapists gain a deeper sense of whole body patterns. They can take this knowledge back to their practice where it informs their one to one patient work.

Each participant at the workshop takes a turn leading a team and being a patient.

At the beginning of the process the ‘patient’ is surrounded by the therapeutic team.

The team leader begins to tune into the patient’s cranio sacral system and calls in the other therapists as they are needed.

As the patient’s system begins to release and unwind it stretches out. The team follow this and give support as the patient becomes airborne.

My role in the process is to monitor the patient and team and offer assistance where needed.

The patient’s body goes through and intricate ballet of movement that the therapeutic team must keep up and follow accurately, holding as the patient’s system releases.

Like a big piece of cellophane that has been scrunched up for years, once given the right support, it begins to unravel.

There is continual communication between the lead therapist and the patient.

The process feels timeless but eventually draws to a natural close and the patient returns to the ground.

Their system is settled by the lead therapist and the team takes a well earned rest. We then go through a debriefing process where we assess the effectivenes of the team.

What sketching is to artists, full body release is to cranio sacral therapists. It gives them a chance to deepen their palpatory skill and get a broader sense of full body patterns. When they return to their practices and are once again working alone with their patients, the benefits of the full body release seminar are evident.

The main feedback I get about this seminar from the therapists is how much more they can feel in their patient’s body.

<< Back to Basics 1 syllabus

Every interaction that occurs between a cranio sacral therapist and the person you are treating follows the same general outline.

❍ Tuning in to yourself and then the patient
Tuning in means being open to receive whatever the person’s system wants to reveal to you. Tuning in is making yourself available for communication.

It is important to approach the person with as little going on inside yourself as possible. Our thinking is often unconscious to us. We need to tune into ourselves (make it conscious) to see what is going on in there before we approach another.

As we tune into ourselves we can drop as much tension in our bodies and unnecessary thinking as possible. Once we have
made a ‘blank slate’ of ourselves we can then approach the person and tune in to them.

❍ Following the body
This is giving the body the space in which to move and the sensitivity to follow it.

❍ Holding Against Restrictions
Following is important but it will be pointless if the therapist doesn’t identify the restriction and hold against them at the right time.

❍ Waiting for Release
It is vital to allow the body time to release in. You may find yourself in an awkward position or just get bored, but you must wait on the body, trusting that it will release.

❍ Following through
Following through is continuing to follow the dance once the release has occurred. It means avoiding just plonking the limb or whatever part of the body you are working on, back on the table when you are finished.

❍ Reassessing
This means standing back and looking at the bigger picture in the light of the new release you have helped to achieve. What difference has it made? What does that difference prompt you to do next?

The above goes on in the larger scale of the whole treatment program, in each session, in each technique and in each release within each technique.

So the fundamental cranio sacral treatment approach is

❍ Tuning in to yourself and then the person
❍ Following the body
❍ Holding against Restrictions
❍ Waiting for Release
❍ Following through
❍ Reassessing

<< Back to Basics 1 syllabus