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.

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.

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.

I was invited to teach a Post Graduate Seminar to Cranio Sacral Therapists in Cape Town. The seminar was titled, ‘Expanding the Base.’ and I’m finally getting around to writing something about my trip.
In short, it was a great success.

The teaching side of it went particularly well, the participants got a chance to go beyond the limits of what they thought was possible. We explored the boundaries, we questioned our perception of reality, we reframed many of what are considered difficult aspects cranio sacral work, we looked into why people get sick, why they get better and how we can support the process better.
We definitely expanded the base.

I had a great time and judging from the smiling faces and hugs at the end of the seminar, I think the people attending had a good time too.

And sure look at them, don’t they look delighted.

With a little help I managed to video the whole thing so it will be available on DVD in the future.

The seminar was held in a conference centre that was once a convent. Still run by the nuns it reminded me of places I have taught at in Australia and Ireland. I think it was the scones that tipped me off. They were the same in all three countries and I’m guessing in all convents around the world. Munching on one at tea break I realised that McDonalds didn’t invent franchising after all.

Cape Town was an unexpected and pleasant surprise. It’s a city of converging oceans, colourful people and bloody big mountains. It felt like around every corner was a different pocket of the world; some parts reminded me of the Gold Coast, here in Queensland, others the Mediterranean. There were city high rises and small terraces, a bit like Paddington in Sydney. Shantytowns next to security guarded housing compounds. And all of it adding up to what I am beginning to register as the very distinctive flavour of Africa.

The last post grad I taught in South Africa was in Johannesburg in 2002. I found Cape Town very different in a positive way. The Jo-burgers bristled a little whenever I commented on this but I found the atmosphere so much easier in Cape Town. Kitya, the coordinator of the Cape Town CST school, told me that the crime rate is generally about the same in the two cities but I found Cape Town a lot freer of the intense paranoia that made Johannesburg feel like one long held breath, for me at least.

I so enjoyed catching up with my friend Al Pelowski again. He is the principal of both cranio sacral schools in Cape Town and Johannesburg. I hadn’t seen him in two and a half years but by the second glass of wine we had pretty much picked up where we’d left off. He is doing great teaching work there and beginning to set up lots of very good out reach programs in the community, including educational seminars on the facts, all the facts, of vaccination.

That’s us doing the self portrait thing at the early morning airport after the late night supping before.

I’m always made to feel made so welcome in South Africa and the people are so great. I look forward to returning soon.

.