May 11 – 2009

Questions and comments for this issue:

+ Follow on comments about tinnitus
+ Will the Open Source Cranio training
materials be enough or do I need a school?
+ Is entrainment the same as hypnosis?

Hello,

You’ve wondered ‘What the bleep?’ You’ve discovered
‘The Secret.’   Well now get ready for ‘The Living Matrix.’
From what I have seen of the trailer it looks like a
combination of these two movies but focusing on health,
medicine and wellness.

I haven’t seen the full movie myself so let me know if
you have and what you thought of it.

And speaking of epic cinema check out my first
video podcast on YouTube and let me know what you think.

I have had such interest in my DVD Masterclass
series that I am exploring the possibility of making
it available online. Once you have a broadband
internet connection you will be able to watch them
online. This will make it much cheaper to see them
also.

Now, on with the mailbag.

***FOLLOW ON COMMENT FROM JUDAH LYONS ABOUT TINNITUS***

In answer to the question, ‘Have you had any
success with tinnitus?’ he answers. . .

Yes, somewhat successfully, but most clients in this
day and age don’t give me sufficient time to deal with it!

***FOLLOW ON COMMENT FROM SANDRA FEIST ABOUT TINNITUS***

Hi John

Re Tinnitus.

I have treated tinnitus where there have been great
results and other times, some brief relief. I also
always consider diet and suplementation, so here goes:
1. I agree with tight membranes impacting on the
bones and causing tinnitus.
2. Releasing the TMJ can ease tinnitus.
3. A clenched jaw impacts on the TMJ and then as
per point 2.
4. Kidney challenges also seem to affect tinnitus
and this fits with Chinese medicine of the
kidneys and ears being linked. I feel the
liver also plays a role.
5. Omega-3 essential fatty acids in high doses
can help enormously. I had a client whose
tinnitus eased at 3 Omega-3 a day and disappeared
at 6. I wondered what this was all about – could
there have been some arthritis or did the Omega-3
oils halp the membranes, brain etc.
6. Anti-malaria medication can cause tinnitus.

Warm regards
Sandy

>>>MY COMMENTS:

Thanks for that Sandy. All useful perspectives
on tinnitus.  I didn’t know that about anti-malaria meds.

***FOLLOW ON COMMENT FROM ESTELLE SAWYER ABOUT TINNITUS***

Hi John
I read life on man a few years ago found it to be
scary and imagined that I could feel all kinds of
creatures crawling on me for a couple of days.

On a serious note I love to meditate at night
before falling off to sleep and I do believe it
to be a great advantage to me while doing Cranio.
I have not treated tinnitus before but have
treated a lady who had gone to her GP because
she felt off balance all the time. She came
to me for Cranio, while I was holding into
her temporals I could actually feel that her
ears were off balance. The one ear was higher
and more posterior than the other and the ears
were truly trying to balance themselves out.

Just held in until there was complete calmness.

Loved hearing from you

Estelle Sawyer
South Africa

***QUESTION***

Dear John,
If I follow your materials and find myself
a mentor whom I see regularly, could I get the same
training as with a school on the Sunshine Coast which
is adverstising five day workshops nine times over two
years?
Kate Pascoe
Australia

>>>MY COMMENTS:

Hello Kate,
Probably the best person to answer this question
is your mentor. They would need to look over the
training materials provided here, which are as yet
very limited, and the school you mention and then
advise you as to what they think is the best option
for you considering the kind of cranio sacral
therapist you want to become.

If you particularly want to get a qualification
from the school you mention, you could approach
them and find out what their recognition of prior
learning criteria and costs are.

***QUESTION***

Dear John

Recently, a client expressed surprise about how quickly
his body fell into a deep state of relaxation after just
a few minutes of CST. He wondered whether I had hypnotised
him. I had never related hypnosis to CST before, but this
connection made sense. As I am not experienced with
hypnosis. I didn’t feel like I could comment on similarities
or differences between hypnosis and what occurs during a
CST session. I wasn’t sure how to answer him. Since then
I have thought about entrainment and how this may relate
to hypnosis. Can you shed any light on this subject?

Happy Easter and best wishes

Cathryn Nitschke
South Australia

>>>MY COMMENTS:

Hello Cathryn,
There is an aspect to the way John Upledger teaches
somato emotional release that is similar to hypnosis.
Specifically the part where the person has no recollection
of the session.

This kind of approach has never been my cup of tea.
Some restrictions release without there ever being a word
said. Other restrictions need to come through the person’s
consciousness.

I have had some people get off the table and tell me
they had no recollection of what happened even though we
spent much of the time talking. It happens rarely and any
releases achieved usually don’t hold.

I came to realise that if a person’s system is
indicating to me that a particular release needs to
come through their consciousness then that is what
needs to happen. Not a partial journey through the
consciousness that is forgotten as soon as
the session is over.

On reflection I came to see that this had to do with
the person needing to integrate whatever was revealed
to their consciousness in the release and they couldn’t
do that if it remained unconscious.

So, for me, there is no link with hypnosis and
entrainment or cranio sacral therapy and hypnosis
for that matter.

Entrainment is the melding of you and your
patient’s systems. Your cranio sacral rhythms become
synchronised. When you still point, they do and visa
versa. The depth you can achieve within yourself helps
them achieve greater depth.

Entrainment is deeply relaxing to a person’s system
because among other things you are listening to their
system in a way that it is unused to and it finds it
very soothing.

The other thing that came to mind from your letter
is that in the course of entraining you may be
inadvertently causing still points. This will make him
feel very relaxed. I say inadvertently because it
isn’t a good idea to actively induce still while
you are entraining.

The reason being that an induced still point causes
changes in the person’s system. When you are entraining
you are trying to get a sense of how the person’s system
is normally. So inducing a still point kind of defeats
the purpose.

And finally the fact that he mentioned the whole
hypnosis thing and put it to you that way would incline
me to think that he had something he wanted to release
but was anxious about what might be uncovered and was
looking for a safe way to do that. Just a thought.

So that’s it for this issue.

Till the next time.

Your Mate,

John D.

April 4 – 2009

Questions and comments for this issue:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mary Hegarty
24 January 2009

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

MY COMMENTS:

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

***FORUM QUESTION***

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

MY COMMENTS:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

***QUESTION***

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

MY COMMENTS:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy days.

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

***QUESTION***

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

Lots of greetings,
Iva
Croatia

MY COMMENTS:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So that’s it for this issue.

Till the next time.

Your Mate,

John D.

January 4 -2009

Questions and comments for this issue:

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

Hello,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There was a question about insurance from Sara.

And a discussion about depression.

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

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

http://www.craniocean.com/

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

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

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

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

Anyhu, let’s get on with the mailbag.

***INVITATION FROM NICA IN BERLIN***

Dear john,
How are you doing?

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

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

What are your thoughts?

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

Nica Berndt – Caccivio
Berlin

>>>MY COMMENTS:

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

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

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

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

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

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

cheers John, keep up the good work.

Malcolm Hiort, Director,
Australian Craniofascial Therapy School

>>>MY COMMENTS:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I believe it’s a mushrooming problem worldwide.

>>>MY COMMENTS:

Thanks for that Al.

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

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

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

What have your experiences with Craniosynostosis
been like?

***QUESTION***

Thank you for creating such a helpful website!

I am writing to you in relation to Trigeminal Neuralgia.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Any feedback on my dilemma would be gratefully received.

Thanks

R.A.
Gloucester, U.K.

>>>MY COMMENTS:

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

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

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

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

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

Do patients need to believe?

Am I making it up?

***QUESTION***

Hi John,

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

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

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

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

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

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

I know that you are the best!

Enjoy your day!

Nellian Bekker
Cape Town

>>>MY COMMENTS:

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

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

WAIT.

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

Wait.

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

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

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

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

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

***QUESTION***

Death and Rebirth:

Dear John

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

How can CST help?

Ingrid Hoffman.
Rathfeigh Tara Ireland

>>>MY COMMENTS:

Hello Ingrid,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So that’s it for this issue.

Let me wish you all the very best for 2009.

Till the next time.

Your Mate,

John D.

There’s a lot more to cranio sacral practice than vault holds and energy cysts.  The reality of helping people who are sick and in pain can be very challenging and confronting.  Cranio sacral therapy can be lonely isolated work with a big space to have your confidence dwindle.

Do any of the following sound familiar?

• In your practice do you sometimes wonder, ‘Did I really feel that or am I making it up?’
• Do you feel you can really leave your “stuff” outside your treatment room?
• Even though you know, “No one can heal anyone else.” do you still feel responsible?
• Do you have trouble with the, “Well, what’s wrong with me?” question?
• Do you have people who come for one treatment then never come back?
• Do you feel you could be getting better results in your practice?

If you answered “YES!” to any of these questions, don’t worry you’re NOT alone. In fact, that list of questions was created from years of personal experience in my own practice and from working with other cranio sacral therapists and students.

This Masterclass DVD series covers all these questions and a lot more.  There are 7 DVD’s with more than 9 hours of viewing.

Review

Here’s what Lisa Gillespie a veteran craniosacral therapist (16yrs+) has to say about the Masterclass DVD series.

Here is what is covered in the DVD set.

Disc One Contents

• Introduction from Al Pelowski, principal of The South African Institute of Cranial Studies.
• Overview of the Masterclass and intentions.
• The story of my life through the prism of how it resourced me for cranial work.
• Rain Makers – “They don’t make the rain come; they allow it or, more exactly, their inner atmosphere of allowing and affirming what is, creates a climate in which what needs to be happens.”
• Introduction to Reframing; a concept developed out of Neuro Linguistic Programming that helps unlock rigid perspectives, release our creative energies and allow us to be more fluid and responsive.
• Applying Reframing to the uncertainty of craniosacral work.
• How to get out of the way and allow the body to get on with what it needs to do.
• Reframing responsibility in a treatment session.
• How acknowledging that everybody is as sensitive as everyone else helps increase your connection.
• How to recognise the level of connection between you and the person you are working with and avoid doing harm.

Disc One Trailer

Disc Two Contents

• Symptoms; how to let them present themselves to you rather than chasing around looking for them.
• Staying neutral; how to avoid getting pulled into the drama and remain compassionately present.
• How treating people teaches you all you need to know.
• Refining our understanding of palpation.
• An introduction to the energetic blueprint that underpins our bodies.
• How your own blueprint works, what it feels like and where it comes from.
• Vacuum Intention; a way of inverting your intention to create the best environment for a body to find equilibrium in.
• Feedback and question from the participants on a vacuum intention exercise.
• Not Doing, the power of it, and how to go about it.

Disc Two Trailer

Disc Three Contents

• Working With Children; how to avoid the common mistakes.
• Dealing with defenses, why it isn’t personal and the importance of setting the frame of your relationship.
• Using a mental whiteboard to help remain fluid throughout the course of treatment.
• Being scanned; recognising when it’s happening and how to work with it.
• Assessing the appropriateness of what you say in a treatment.
• The metaphysical contract between you and the people you treat, and why sticking to it is so important.
• Being overwhelmed and how to deal with it.
• Symbology of the Body; a simple system for using the location of symptoms to help you discern the significance of why the person has the symptom in the first place.
• Examples of body symbology in practice and some exercises to illustrate it.
• Primary lesions, what they are and how to work with them.

Disc Four Contents

• Questions from the participants on the material covered so far.
• Exploring how people get better?
• Analyzing the patterns of recovery and how a dip in the recovery progress can give insight into the underlying causes of an illness.
• Deconstructing reality to help improve effectiveness.
• Alternative models for inner and outer space.
• Treatment application for deconstructed reality.
• Introduction of a sensation exercise to help expand and explore inner space, and change your internal shape as needed.
• Feedback and questions from the participants on the sensation exercise.
• Exploring structures in the body from the perspective of deconstructed reality.
• Working with people with autistic spectrum disorders or schizophrenia.

Disc Five Contents

• Being more effective when working with children with autistic spectrum disorders by not trying so hard.
• Frequency of treatment? How often? For how long? and when to stop?
• Anatomical Doodles; a way of simplifying complex anatomy so it stays in your head.
• More in-depth exploration of primary lesions and the importance of the correct focus.
• Core Lesions; what are they and how to work with them.
• Questions from the participants about core lesions.
• Treatment program length as it relates to core lesions.
• Working with people with Tinnitus and Ménière’s disease.
• Life And Death; how seeing the bigger picture helps alleviate the fear associated with it.
• Working with people with terminal illness introduced.

Disc Six Contents

• Questions from the participants about working with people with terminal illness.
• An exercise for expanding your palpatory field.
• Full Body Palpation, how to see more by doing less and where past lives and other “psychic phenomena” fit in the progress towards wellness.
• Symbology of the body continued with feedback and questions from the participants.
• Anatomical Doodles for more complicated structures.
• Centering yourself to bring it all together and why, “good intentions,” are not enough.
• Working with people with Trigeminal Neuralgia and an example of an extreme case from my practice.

Disc Seven Contents

• More in depth exploration of the energetic blueprint that underpins our bodies.
• A practical application of stillness with an exercise for working with the blueprint.
• Feedback from the participants on working with the blueprint exercise.
• How the blueprint relates to working with people with down syndrome and also people with autistic spectrum disorders.
• An explanation for auras from the perspective of the blueprint.
• A comparison between the workings of the blueprint and tissue memory.
• Working with life stories and trying to see the biggest picture possible.
• Tension Myositis Syndrome, what it is, what it isn’t, and how to work with it.

As well as all the above I talk a lot about my own practice throughout the Masterclass and give numerous examples of how the material covered is applied in real situations.  I also answer question from the participants on all aspects of cranio sacral practice.

Cost $169.50USD including priority shipping. (3-5 Days within the US, 6-12 Days outside the US)

Get your copy of the Masterclass DVD series now and bring your practice to the next level.

Note: By clicking the ‘Buy Now’ button below you acknowledge that these DVD’s contain some strong language.