December 24 – 2007

Questions and comments for this issue:

+ Terry Collinson on Stillness Trainings
+ Is fibromyalgia similar to chronic fatigue?
+ How do I get a mentor?
+ Question about shingles.

Hello John,

Apparently it’s the season to be jolly – I
didn’t realise I was out of step the rest of the
year.  If you know what I’m supposed to be doing
in the other seasons, can you let me know.

So in the spirit of the season, here’s a little
gift for you. john@wellnessda.com

No, don’t thank me, it’s all part of the
service and as I said ’tis the season.  Why is
everything to do with Christmas in Olde English?
‘Hark, tis the postman.  I see him on yonder
hill.’

Anyway pop that little beauty, john@wellnessda.com
in your email address books and when I send you
updates from my Wellness Detective Agency they
won’t bounce off your spam filter and you will
actually get them.

Updates from my what I hear you ask.  Well the
notion of being your own Wellness Detective is
gathering momentum and to keep up with it my
website has become a resource for people who are
taking responsibility for their health and
happiness.

It starts with adopting the perspective that
nothing in your life happens by accident. If
nothing is random then everything is a clue.  As
well as the Wellness Detective Agency email
updates, in the New Year I will be releasing audio
and video segments too.

http://www.WellnessDA.com/

Speaking of gift giving, if you are looking for
a present for the person who has everything, then
you could always about get them a personal genome
map.  All you need is a swab from the inside of
the mouth and $1000 USD. https://www.23andme.com/

Aw, you shouldn’t have.  No really, you
shouldn’t have.

Anyhu, let’s get on with the
mailbag.  The first letter is from Terry Collinson
of stillness trainings.  I really like the way she
talks about the training she teaches with Brendan
Pitwood from New Zealand.

***TERRY’S LETTER***

Hi John,

Lovely to hear from you. Hope all is well with you
and your new life in Ireland.

Our training (Stillness Trainings) began early
this year with 12 wonderful students.  They are
loving the teaching and the work and Brendan and I
are heartened with our efforts and with the way it
is all going.

We put in place so many aspects to nurture and
support the students learning and process, as well
as that of the teaching team.  As you know the
teaching is of the ‘biodynamic’ approach, but we
also keep it very pure and true to Paul’s teaching
of Resonance, plus our development or deepening of
being in relationship from Brendan’s training with
Ray Castellino (pre and perinatal psychology).

We are lucky to have four assistants who graduated
in Australia with Resonance Trainings – Sarah,
Tanya, Michelle and Glenn.  We spend two days
before each seminar to grow ourselves as a team
and our own process so that we are ‘healthy’ and
bonded and are able to deeply support each other
and so then the group.

Because of our course/school accreditation with
PACT we have added nutrition to the teaching, and
we decided to add applied pathology throughout the
course, which as added a great dimension to the
work we had not foreseen.

Thank you for your encouragement and support to go
ahead and teach what I/we have to offer.

with love
Terry

***QUESTION***

Hello John

Your website is simply brilliant! I don’t know why
I hadn’t seen it before.

I am a newly qualified craniosacral therapist
(biodynamic model) and the info on the student
newsletter is very helpful. I have a new client
with Fiobromyalgia and wondered what tips you had
for working with this?

I feel this condition is similar in some respects
to chronic fatigue ME with the reduced thresholds.
I have a sense that facilitated segments also have
a role here.

Working with stillness is so wonderful but this
isn’t always possible initially as the person and
their system needs to be met where they are.

I qualified in July and want to develop my skills
and experience by doing an apprenticeship of sorts
by working alongside a very skilled and
experienced CST practitioner. I have been trying
to find a host practitioner to do this in the UK
but my enquiries have drawn a blank as people
appear not to want anyone else within their client
space. I am a CSTA UK member.

Any suggestions please?

Do you do any student mentoring yourself?

I look forward to your reply.

Many thanks for a very useful website.

DP
U.K.

MY COMMENTS:

Thank you for your kind words about my
websites.  I’m glad you found them helpful.

I have found often the root of Fibromyalgia can
be located in the cerebro spinal fluid itself.  It
has a particular quality to it.  A bit like static
electricity or fizz in the cerebro spinal fluid.
When the person has an ‘attack’ this static-fizz
quality can be felt radiating out along the nerve
pathways, particularly the intercostal nerves.

I have found the underlying root cause can be
similar to chronic fatigue in so much as they both
put the persons life on hold.

The similarity stops there as the mechanics feel
different to me.  Fibromyalgia has a much more
aggressive quality.  There is usually a lot of
pain involved and this sets up a very different
dynamic within the person than chronic fatigue.

As I think about the people I have treated with
Fibromyalgia, what they all have in common is that
the root cause has nearly always been very core.
So while it important to work with the physical
and emotional expressions of the disharmony,
without addressing the core issue, the results
will be temporary at best.

I know – core stuff – heavy jelly – who needs
it?  Such is our work.  Best not to resist it and
know that if you couldn’t help they wouldn’t have
come to you.
How’s that for a double negative.

In relation to your mentoring question, I think
most practitioners will be reluctant to allow you
to be in their room when they are working.  This
is because they have heard about all you and let’s
face it, you’re trouble!

Just kidding, couldn’t resist.  They will be
reluctant because of the intimate nature of the
work and the trust that builds up between the
therapist and patient.

One way around this is for you to bring the
experienced practitioner into YOUR session.  Bring
a patient to their rooms and work with them as
they tune into what you are doing.

You can do this in two ways.  You can bring
someone you have been practicing on.  Someone who
is NOT ill.  You can get feedback about specific
techniques from your mentor as you are doing the
technique.  You can use this way to get feedback
about any aspect of your practice that you are
unsure about.   Obviously the person you bring
will need to be very comfortable with hearing
where you need improvement.

Don’t bring a fellow student or therapist.  I
have found that their intention makes it very hard
to assess what is going on.  For example, if you
are getting feedback about your frontal lift, then
person’s intention will be involved immediately in
lifting their frontal bone.  For that reason it is
better to bring someone who knows nothing about
cranio.

The second way is to use your mentor as a
‘second opinion.’  For this you would be bringing
one of your own patients.  You can get your
mentors help in a couple of different ways.  They
can tune into the person and help you deepen and
enhance your sense of what the root cause of the
problem is.

You can have your mentor tune in as you treat
the person.

You can treat the person and have your mentor
work with you as your assistant.

You can have your mentor be the lead therapist
and you act as their assistant.

In all the different permutations of this
second way the common thing is that you don’t
discuss the person in front of them.

The only thing your mentor should say to the
person is to confirm whichever aspect of your
treatment are going in the right direction and add
the different expanded bits they may want to add.

Anything else won’t be appropriate.  Talking
about technique and how you can improve will
undermine you in the eyes of your patient.

The thing to remember is that they are your
patient.  They have come to you because they
recognise that you can help them.  I don’t mean
this in a territorial way but more on a larger
scale about how patients find who they need.

And yes, I do mentoring.

Speaking of which, I intend to include a list
of mentors in addition to the therapist lists  I
have on my websites.  Being a mentor basically
means making yourself available for a student on a
one to one basis.

You should get paid for it at the very least
what you charge for treating people.  Time wise
that is.  Let me know if you are interested in
being included in the mentor list.

***QUESTION***

I am Training in craniosacral therapy, a friend
has shingles around the sacrum, in the past she
had shingles on the brain and almost died. Do you
suggest any holds or ideas on treatment.
Thank you M – Australia.

MY COMMENTS:

Shingles is one of those conditions that evoke
the hands thrown up in horror kind of response.
Like the poor person has got something strange,
foreign or alien that the rest of us don’t have.

So just in case you didn’t know – if you’ve had
chickenpox as a child you will have latent
varicella zoster virus lying dormant in your
dorsal root and cranial nerve ganglion.

Should it become activated it will travel down
your axon causing a lot of pain along the way and
finally erupt on the surface of your skin in very
painful blisters – and at that point it will be
called shingles.

SHINGLES!! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!

Once you understand this then you can see that
the question you need to be asking yourself is why
has this person’s immune system become so low as
to allow the reactivation of this virus.

One thing that can do it is stress.  Physical
stress like working too much and not playing and
working some more and still not playing and
generally being a dull boy.

What I have seen more often is emotional
stress.  The kind of impossible emotional dilemma
sort of stress like being sick of taking care of
the kids but having no way out.  Hating the job
but needing the money.  Not wanting to take care
of the aging parent but not wanting to put them in
a home either.

Another useful question to ask yourself is, ‘Of
all the symptoms this person could have got, why
did they get such a painful one?’  I’ve never had
shingles myself but from what I am told and have
felt, it is very painful.

The good news is you are in with a winning
chance from the get go.  As you know cranial work
has this wonderfully soothing effect on the
nervous system.  All that focus on the cerebro
spinal fluid and still points and what not.

Because shingles is closely involved with the
nervous system it can respond very quickly.  The
person should get enough of a relief to think that
this cranio thing is top notch and will keep
coming to see you as you both work through the
deeper, less fun, if I can use that expression,
reasons why they had these particular symptoms in
the first place.

Lastly, a high proportion of people who get
shingles are over 50.  I bring this to your
attention because their immune system may simply
be clapped out from years of abuse.

That’s it for this issue.  I wish you a very merry
Christmas and a fantastic new year.

Cheerio for now.

Till the next time.

Your Mate,

John D.

January 27 – 2008

Questions and comments for this issue:

+ Follow on from Jean in Ireland.
+ Blueprint follow on from Gayle in Cape Town.
+ Shingles follow on from Donovan in Durban.
+ Can you treat people with active Cancer?
+ CST and people recovering from Stroke?
+ Shingles follow on from Eva in Australia.
+ Treatment for Focal Dystonia.

Hello,

Another brand spanking New Year fresh from its
wrapping is off and running.  You know in olden
days Kings were very careful about what they did
on the first 12 days of each New Year.  They
believed each day represented its equivalent month
in the year.

So if they wanted January to be peaceful they
would spend the first day of the New Year in
contemplation.  If they wanted August to be joyous
they would have a party on the eight day of the
New Year and so on.   They were careful to not
have anything happen in those first 12 days that
would affect them negatively in the coming year.

Considering it is now the 27th I suppose I am a
little late in telling you all this.  Depending on
how wild and crazy your New Years Eve celebrations
were, January may be finding you with a continually
sore head and a feeling of remorse.

I’ll type softly.

For myself, the coming year will bring the
expansion of my Open Source Cranio project.   This
is about making cranio sacral training information
available to people in developing countries
through my websites.  For me this is a no brainer
as cranio sacral therapy doesn’t require any
technology to practice. Just a pair of hands.  But
then you knew that already.

The idea is that if someone in a remote village
has internet access, which is not as unlikely as
it sounds, they can begin to learn the basics and
start practicing.

Would you like to help? Register
yourself as a mentor or contribute an article or
suggestions or perspective that you think might
help that person.  If you can’t think of anything
else just let me know you want to help.

Anyhu John, on with this, bursting at
the seams, mailbag.

***FOLLOW ON FROM JEAN MCDONALD***

Hi John,
good on you for your description of
cerebral palsy – can’t really add to that!

Thanks for the listing. The practice is general
and of course working with the children is
particularly interesting.

In the Novara Centre some multidisciplinary work
is happening and this is working well. A boy of
four at present is being cared for from an acute
episode when starting big school- my colleague is
a Kinesiology’s suggested we work together.
Progress is apparent – from a craniofacial
viewpoint second trimester showed as problematic
and the child had suffered some bullying at
playschool.

Stillpoints are amazing for this child, he becomes
so insightful of his own place in the
difficulties. He has returned to his birth and re-
entered many times over, a much calmer child!

Little Jodie (the case study I sent you a while
ago) is doing well. The treatment involves
palpating the parietals and now that she is older
some more on her cranial base which has
dysfunction with the left side.  Drawing the
sacrum to lengthen the dural tube is always
necessary and the respiratory diaphragm with a
tonic liver for the last number of months has been
less so on the last visit.

Jodie is receiving remedies for her vaccines and
at present the polio one is being addressed. She
is much more affectionate to Mum and to her little
sister and initiates hugs and kisses with both,
this is separate form the craniosacral treatments
which would frequently end with a move to Mum’s
knee.
She has overcome her great difficulty with Music
class – she tolerates it now if it is not in the
big hall and can articulate that they don’t give
her the guitar or whistle.
Best wishes,
Jean

MY COMMENTS:

Thanks for that Jean.  From the feedback I get
from other therapists and students who subscribe
to this newsletter, getting a glimpse into someone
else’s practice is very helpful.

***BLUEPRINT FOLLOW ON FROM GAYLE IN CAPE TOWN***

Hi John

I don’t know if they were in your part of the
world, but a few years back there were these 3D
pictures around. They basically look like a whole
lot of messy dots, and then when you relax your
eyes, you suddenly see the picture.

And you can always see that picture every time you
look at it. The more of these 3D images you look
at, the better you get at seeing the image.

Ok so I know that was using an image- like
description, but it might make sense to some
people. The blueprint – to me at least- is as
solid and as apparent as the image that you would
see.

If I had to compare “seeing the blueprint” with
any other of the more common 5 senses, I would say
that it is like your sense of smell. Perhaps the
‘whispy and mist-like’ can be described as an
aroma. It is tangible, it is stronger from the
direction of the source. It has an associated
memory or emotion. It also has a “rabbit-hole”
effect. The more you try to analyse the smell, the
more you can describe the components that make up
that scent.

Hope I made some sort of sense?

Gayle (Cape Town, SA)

MY COMMENTS:

Thanks for that Gayle.  It is always good to
get another perspective on how different people
relate to different structures.  I’m not a
‘smeller’ myself but I really like it when someone
can involve their sense of smell in their
palpation, it must add a whole other dimension.

Try as I might, I could never do those ‘magic
eye’ things.  In the end I decided that there was
no image there really and it was all an elaborate
conspiracy to make me look stupid.

What?

It might be . .

***SHINGLES FOLLOW ON FROM DONOVAN IN DURBAN VIA
HIS WIFE – HE HAS HIS HANDS FULL AT THE BARBEQUE -
GIVE HIM A BREAK***

Dear John

Thanks so much for your lovely newsletters (this
is Dee, Donovan’s wife and mother of his adored
2.5 year old daughter Naomi!!!!).

I have to confess that I read your newsletters
with great enjoyment, especially as I am handling
the advertising and promotion of cranio here in SA
and I eagerly absorb all information about the
various conditions and problems it can treat, and
as you are a guru in this therapy, I hope you
don’t mind me sneaking a peak at the info you send
to Donovan.

Yes, Donovan has treated a woman who had shingles.
She was brought to him by a student practitioner
who was feeling overwhelmed and asked for his
support.  The whole top half of her body was
covered in the sores and she also had HIV AIDS.
She believed she was cursed by the local
witchdoctor and she was going to die if the
shingles spread and joined at the midline of her
body (she was told this by an “Inyanga”/aka
Traditional Healer).

Yes, we live in a very interesting culturally
diverse country with many of our inhabitants being
governed by very strong cultural beliefs.  He has
asked me to tell you this on his behalf (he is
braaining [barbequing] our meal and his hands are
filthy) that during the 4 sessions he had with
her, he worked on boosting her immune system and
holding into, and working with these deep seated
fears.  When this began shifting, her healing
accelerated dramatically.  Unfortunately, she was
very unreliable in keeping her appointments and
only came for the 4 sessions – even though she was
being sponsored to come.

I trust that you were suitably rewarded by Santa
for being a good boy this year, and I look forward
to more of your newsletters in 2008.

Warmest regards from Sunny South Africa and
wishing you a fabulous 2008.

Dee, Donovan, Naomi, Hamish and Angus (our 2
scottish terriers)

MY COMMENTS:

Thanks for that Dee and Donovan.  It conjured
up a very cute mental image of Donovan up to his
armpits in barbeque sauce, roaring cranio sacral
descriptions to Dee.

‘I said holding into her deep seated fears,
not folding into her cheap pleated smears.  What
does that mean anyway??’

It sounds like you helped the woman in question
a lot Donovan.  It was also another glimpse into
the different sorts of issues that practitioners
in different parts of the world are dealing with.

***QUESTION***

Hi John,

I look forward to putting my details on your site
when I finish my course and get some more
practical hours up!

I am interested in your theories on treating
cancer patients?  My Cranio teacher says it is a
contraindication if any cancer active is in the
body?

I have tried looking it up in Cranio books but
have not found any information, if you do treat
cancer patients what are you treating them for,
the cancer, the pain, the side effects?  I read
somewhere (it may even have been on your site) of
people having chemo being treated but it did not
say why or how?

Luv your work!

Karen
Australia

MY COMMENTS:

Hello Karen,
The main thing to get about contraindications
is they are for YOUR protection as much as the
patient.

The chances of you doing any harm to the
patient are slim to nonexistent.  On the other
hand, the chances of you giving yourself a major
fright and setting you palpatory skills back years
is very high.

For example, let’s say you go against your
teachers/mentors recommendation and start treating
someone who is in the middle of dealing with
cancer.
And let’s say they have a major episode the day
after you treat them and end up in hospital.

Take a minute and think about how you would
feel.  Can you imagine how difficult it would be
to stay objective about your contribution to their
being in hospital.  Can you imagine how hard it
would be to avoid putting yourself through the
wringer wondering if your intention was too heavy
or too light, how you could have missed what was
coming and so on.

I am not saying don’t treat people with cancer
or who are having chemotherapy.  I am saying that
you need to nurture and protect your growing
palpatory skill.  It is hard enough to develop
without unnecessarily putting it in the way of
potential body blows.

To answer your question, I have treated people
with most stages of cancer, benign, malignant,
aggressive, in remission and I have treated people
who are having chemotherapy and radiation
treatment too.

Here are some things to consider . .

When someone has a life threatening condition
you need to take a very long perspective on their
situation.  We need to stand back from our
conditioned response that the happy ending is
where the patient ‘beats the big C’ and lives
happily ever after.

When working with people with life threatening
illnesses, more than anything else you need
humility and respect for their process.

Bearing in mind that you don’t know what their
process is about.

I have found it helpful to adopt the
perspective that the circumstances of a patient’s
life are not random but are very significant to
them.  This includes the way they will die.  I
take it that the way they choose to die is as
significant as the way they choose to be born.

This makes it is easier for me to stand back
and not try to ‘fix’ them.

I have talked about this in other newsletters
so won’t go on about it too much now.

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

Treating someone who is having chemotherapy or
radiation treatment can be very helpful for them.
I have found it is similar to treating someone who
has had a pin or plate put in their body to help
with a compound fracture.

Their body will be freaking out and trying to
dispel the foreign object.  Treatment usually
involves helping their body to integrate or make
peace with the foreign object.

With chemo or radiation treatment the person’s
body will be freaking out in a similar way because
it is in essence being poisoned or attacked.  Your
job will be to help their body deal with the shock
of attack.  To find some kind of equilibrium in
the situation.

Treating people with life threatening illness
is not for the faint hearted.  It forces you to
look at very fundamental questions about what you
are really doing.  Once you embrace the inherent
challenges it can be very rewarding.

***QUESTION***

Hi, John

Your Q&A’s thus far have tremendously contributed
to my knowledge as a cranio sacral practitioner.
It is now my turn to ask a question.

My mother is 76yrs old and has had a stroke due to
her tissue (mechanical) valve being in for too
long without replacing it. She had a clot in her
frontal area, which was dissolved with medication.
She is back to normal and does not have any after
effects. How can I help her in a cranio way?

All the best for the New Year.

Regards,
Shahnaaz
Cape Town, South Africa

MY COMMENTS:

Hello Shahnaaz,
I am glad you find my newsletters helpful.

As you know, most strokes are caused by a blood
clot forming in some part of the body and then
travelling to the brain and causing a blockage to
the blood supply and then permanent neurological
damage to the effected area.

Recovery from stroke is the transferring of
function from the damaged area to another part of
the brain.

If someone comes to me for treatment and they
are recovering from a stroke, the first thing I
would do is check if they still had a tendency for
clotting.  If I got a sense that they did, I would
withdraw gently and not continue treatment.

Not because I could cause another stroke but
because of the effect it would have on me if they
had a stroke while I was treating them or even the
day after treatment.

Also the family of the person involved may not
understand that I couldn’t have caused a stroke
and that could cause a lot of complications and
ultimately interfere with me treating the other
people I treat now and in the future.

For me it’s not worth the risk.

So if you feel that the clotting is over. .

‘How will I know?’

If you are asking this question then you
haven’t had enough experience yet and you need to
get a second opinion from a more experienced
practitioner.

Assuming you are not asking that question I
would focus on assisting the transfer of function
process that will be going on in the brain from
the area that was damaged to the new areas.

Based on what you have written it sounds like
your Mother has recovered well.   Has she asked
you to treat her?

If not, you have a very weak contract with her.
By contract I mean the framework within which you
work with a person.   It is set by what they ask
you to help them with.

So if someone asks you to help them with their
painful knee then that is the contract.

Regardless of whatever other issues you may
feel in the persons system, if these issues don’t
affect the knee problem directly then you will be
going outside the bounds of the contract if you
start trying to treat these issues.

Just because you can feel it doesn’t mean you
have been asked to ‘fix’ it.

I have found the loosest contracts are nearly
always with family members.  This happens because
of the history between you and the fact that they
knew you before you were a cranio sacral
therapist.

There is no tricky way around this. It’s not
like you can go to your Mother and ask her, ‘Would
you like me to help you recover from your stroke?’

The strongest contracts come from a request
that has originated from the person unassisted,
un-enticed.

What to do?

If your Mother hasn’t asked you to help her
then I suggest you wait until the next time she is
talking about her health.  When she states a
concern that you feel you may be able to help with
then say it.

‘What?’

“I could help with that Mum.”

Then, and this is important, keep quiet.  If
she doesn’t respond, leave it.  You don’t have a
contract.   If you respect the fact that she
hasn’t asked you it will make it easier for her to
ask when she is ready.

***SHINGLES FOLLOW ON FROM EVA IN AUSTRALIA***

Merry Christmas John!

I have two responses to your newsletter below:

I would be happy to be a mentor. I’m at Lisarow on
the Central Coast, just north of Sydney,
Australia. Contact phone no 0410234490.

I have had shingles myself, or at least that is
what it was diagnosed as when I was 25. Situated
in a particular place between two ribs on the left
side.  Had pain off and on during childhood, then
a lot of pain and much longer periods during the 4
years I worked in Nigeria, which was a very high
stress time, emotionally.

What sent it on high alert was that I got mould
allergy and sneezed a couple hundred times a day
for a few months, and that’s when it was
diagnosed. It calmed down with nose spray to stop
the sneezing, but was still very much there in the
rib cage, just not rampant. I never have had any
blisters from it, though. Since I started having
and doing CranioSacral Therapy I haven’t had any
relapses.

I have also treated someone with an acute shingles
outbreak on her arm. The lady had already been for
treatment a few times for a lot of other problems
a few months earlier. This time she came for
treatment the shingles had come out in blisters on
her arm just 2 days before the session. I treated
her as usual but also did Photonic Therapy
(acupuncture with a red light instead of needles)
on the specific points for shingles as well as
around the blisters.
2 days later when she saw the doctor the sores
were nearly gone. The doctor had never heard of
such a rapid retreat of shingles without
medication.

Best regards,

Eva Kuhl Bornefelt
Central Coast, Australia.

MY COMMENTS:

Hello Eva,
I will add you to the Mentor list.

Thank you for sharing your personal experience
of shingles.

It sounds like you did a great job with the
woman you were treating too.

***QUESTION***

Hi John, Hope all goes well in the wider world
beyond our shores. . .

A quicky that may be a useful topic for the next
newsletter. . .

I’m currently treating a fellow who has presented
with Focal Dystonia. Being a writer, and avid
keyboardist, he is experiencing a gradual increase
in tonic spasm mostly within carpal/wrist flexors.

He is a man who lives life on his own terms, his
own agenda, despite the fact he has a couple of
very young children and a loving wife.  Driven,
ambitious, capable.

Any resource/ideas/anecdotes . . . politically
incorrect focal dysplasia jokes???

PS Happy X-mas to you and yours.

Greg Robson
Brisbane.

MY COMMENTS:

Hello Greg,

I don’t make jokes about conditions.

I am far too wonderful and holy for that.

From what you have written it sounds like your
patient has focal dystonia only and not focal
dysplasia, which is more on the epilepsy side of
things.   Let me know if I got that wrong.

The thing that stands out to me about focal
dystonia is that it mainly occurs when the person
is focused on a particular task.  Classic cases
being the concert pianist or surgeon who only get
the spasms when they are about to perform or
operate.

It always feels to me like the bodily version
of stuttering.

And in terms of root cause, this is where I
would be looking.   What is going on for the
person in relation to their expression or their
work?

Are they happy/frustrated in their work?
Do they feel the work is a good vehicle of
expression for them?
Do they feel like they are bursting with
expression and their work holds them back?
Are they frustrated?

Are the spasms symmetrical? If they are
predominantly in his left hand/wrist it could be
to do with receiving.  If on the other hand . . .

‘Hang on, that’s a joke!’

No it’s not. I actually meant his other hand.
His other hand is his right hand . .

‘Oh. . . ‘

If his spasms are predominantly in his right
hand it could be to do with expression or power or
expressing his power.

The medical model for what is going on
mechanically describes the brain as being a bit
like a cartoon character that has been given too
many instructions to carry out at once.
Eventually they shake their head vigorously, with
an accompanying sound effect, which I can’t spell
and shake the confusion away.

I know you have probably looked this up Greg
but bear with me while I explain it for the other
readers who may not have.

You know the way the left side of your brain
controls the right side of your body and visa
versa.

Just nod.

Well it gets more specific.  There is a sort of
map called your somatosensory cortex that deals
with each part individually.  So each finger, for
example, has a specific region.

This is different from you tomato-sensory
cortex which is the part of your brain that helps
you find tomatoes in the dark.

‘Really?’

No, not really.  That was a joke.

‘But you said . . .’

It wasn’t about a condition.

‘Oh . . ‘

Can we get on?
If you have ever watched a musician in full
flight you will notice that their fingers move so
fast they are almost a blur.

The medical explanation for focal dystonia is
that with repeated practice of the same movements,
the brain gets confused and the regions of the
somatosensory cortex for the fingers involved get
kind of mashed up.  But unlike the cartoon
character the brain is unable to shake the
confusion away.

While it is a good explanation I don’t think it is
the full story.  To fill out the picture a little
more let me include a little quote from an
interview with John Upledger that adds another
perspective to the smearing of the somatosensory
cortex theory.

Here’s Johnny . . .

‘I just wanna share a little study that I came
across.
In February 1988, ‘Brain Mind Bulletin’
published in the abstract some work that was done
at UC San Diego. They were trying to understand
how somebody like a professional pianist or a
professional violin player could move so fast,
with the messages going up to the brain, decision
made, and back down again. So they used
electrodes, and they used an EEG.

What they found was that the electrical
impulses that control finger movement were not
going up the arm! The decisions were being made
right there in the hand! You could use electrical
measurement of neuron impulse conduction as a
reasonable indicator. So what that says is, you
have decision making ability in your hands!’

You can read the full article here

http://www.open-source-cranio.com/resources/articles/Intelligence.pdf

Now that’s jolly interesting isn’t it.

So another way of looking at it might be that
the people who don’t get focal dystonia could be
more surrendered to the intelligence of the hands
that John Upledger is talking about.  While people
who do get focal dystonia could keep engaging
their brain and so confuse it.

This would lead me to ask the questions I
always ask about anyone with any condition.

Why did they get it?  Lots of people don’t.
Why them and not someone else?
What does it mean?

While you are thinking about that here are some
of the mechanical places you can look because
regardless of the deeper issues everything prints
out mechanically.

As you know, nerve impulses are conducted by a
mixture of chemical and electrical means.  The
chemicals are conveyed in fluid and the electrical
impulses are . . . well . . energy  . . . and
guess what we work with fluids and energy!!

Alright!!

I would check the nerve supply from the brain
to the area involved, in this case his hand.  I
would also be taking a close look at the brain and
in particular the cortex around the posterior
aspect of the parietal lobes, around where they
meet the occipital lobes.

This is generally where the somatosensory
cortex is considered to be located.  I would be
checking the cerebro spinal fluid in this area and
the meninges.  The lambdoid sutures might give you
an indication for what is going on beneath.

That’s it for this issue.  I know,
hard to believe but don’t fret there will be more
next month.

Cheerio for now.

Your Mate,

John D.

March 3 – 2008

Questions and comments for this issue:

+ From Tammy in Washington.
+ From Peni in Cape Town.
+ From Nica in Berlin.
+ From Georgette in South Africa.
+ Frederic Cherri looking for Therapists to go and work in New Zealand.
+ From Barb in New Zealand
+ CST and anorexia?
+ Poem sent in by Sarah Willoghby
+ Drowning trauma and flailing arms?

Hello,

It’s a packed newsletter this month, with a
possibly life changing email in it for you.
That is if you want to go and live and work in New
Zealand.  Having been there I can tell you it is
beautiful!

If you are one of the people who have been
gently emailing me wondering when your therapist
profile is going to be up, I’m happy to tell you
that it is.  Have a look for yourself here

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

If you can’t find yourself,
. . . meditation is often a good place to start.

Sorry, couldn’t resist.

If you can’t find yourself, on the listing, and
you have sent me your details then send me another
email gently wondering what the hell is going on.

If you would like to be added to the listing
send me an email and I will send you back the
general information I include.

For myself, I was quite the cranio social
butterfly last month.  I met up with Nica Berndt-
Caccivio when I was in Berlin. She has sent in a
letter which you can read below.

No, it doesn’t start with, ‘Dear Mr Dalton, As
a result of your behaviour I have been banned from
the bar we met in. . .’

Later in the month I met up with Orla Foley in
Dublin.

It’s very good to meet up with other therapists
and I encourage you to do it whenever possible.
Regardless of training and experience it is always
refreshing to discover how much you have in common
in your approach and that was certainly the case
with Nica and Orla.

You can see some happy snaps of both here.

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

If you want to see what therapists are near
you, have a look at the ‘Find a therapist’ part of
my web sites.

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

And finally, I’ve been blown away by the
response to the launch of my Wellness Detective
Manual Updates.

Not counting the emails I have received and the
upsurge in subscriptions to the Updates, I have
also received quite a number of comments from
people who are using the different perspectives in
their own lives.

Comments, not private emails, public comments
posted on the site.  I am so impressed that people
would take the risk of sharing this kind of
personal information with the intention that it
might be of help to others.
You can read them at the bottom of the article here.

http://www.wellness-da.com/detective/why-is-change-difficult/

Now, if you were one of the people who emailed
me wondering what to do with the ‘Wellness
Detective Updates’ email, all you have to is click
on the link in that email, to start receiving
updates.  If you have deleted that email you can
still get the updates but you will need to
subscribe on the website.

So far you will have missed out on the article,
about why we find change so difficult.   It
includes some pictures of me in Berlin too. You
can see it here. . .

http://www.wellness-da.com/detective/why-is-change-difficult/

and you can also register on that page too.

Rightio, let’s get on with this gargantuan mailbag.

***FROM TAMMY IN WASHINTON***

John;

I am a newbie to craniosacral therapy, I received
my certification one year ago from Beth “The
Goddess” Cachat. I love this work.

Thank You so much for voicing this stuff about
responsibility and really listening to our bodies
and being your OWN wellness detective. I am
creating a website and expressed some of this on
my text and my website designer cast me a glance
and said one word, “gutsy”. I put the project
aside.

There is value in being supportive and nurturing;
however, I feel that my patients are missing the
attitude somehow, they prefer to remain passive or
locked in their current pattern even though they
are coming to me saying they want change in their
bodies. I am figuring out what my part is in all
of this. It is quite a project. Thanks for your
voice, you seem to be speaking what is bubbling up
for me.

Looking forward to receiving the book to loan to
my clients!

Regards

Tammy McLendon CST, LMP
Washington.

MY COMMENTS:

Hello Tammy and thank you for your supportive
words.

Yes, the ‘Fix Me!’ mentality is deeply
ingrained.  I see it as part of our work to help
ease people, in some cases kicking and screaming,
into a more responsible perspective.  It goes with
the cutting edge territory we have chosen.

I hadn’t heard of Beth Cachat before but from
what I have since read she sounds great.  I love
that, Beth ‘The Goddess’ Cachat, thing.  I think I
should adopt it too.

Let’s see, John ‘The God’ Dalton.
No, I don’t think I could back that up.
How about, John ‘The Demigod’ Dalton.
Alliteration, curses!
John ‘The Hands’ Dalton?  The Mouth?

Oh, I can’t decide.  I know, I’ll have a
competition.  Send in your suggestions,
for me or yourself and I’ll feature them in the
next newsletter and the winner gets a free place
at my right hand.

What?

***FROM PENI IN CAPE TOWN***

Hello John
I’m truly excited about receiving my first news
letter – Thank you!
No, I don’t have any leftover headaches from any
new year’s hangovers…..becoming wise (and
boring) in my young age. However, I promised
myself to celebrate life much more this year

The idea of mentor sounds good. How exactly do I
go about registering ?

I’m still getting a feel of how the articles are
written so that when I do contribute it will be
short and to the point.

With regards cancer patients.
I’ve only seen a few and not over long periods of
time.

I would rather work with clients who are in
remission but this is not always the case.

My approach is with great respect and caution. I
always check in with the client’s ‘Inner
Physician’ to see whether it is appropriate for me
to work with the client.
Also, I ask that the area of concern to be ‘walled
off’  if necessary, while the rest of the body can
receive the benefits of CST. I trust this process
implicitely.

A friend who was diagnosed with breast cancer (now
in remission) which resulted in a mastectomy is
now busy having reconstructive surgery. She came
for CST session purely for the experience as she
now councils women with breast cancer and would
like to be able to give them as much information
re well being as possible.

I was guided by her ‘IP’ to avoid the area which
is being reconstructed which I duly did and
continued to address the rest of her body.
She felt the benefits of the session strongly.
This prompted her to invite me to speak to the
women about CST and its benefits which I’ll be
doing in a few months time.

Another client diagnosed with a cancerous brain
tumor and medical science can no longer assist
him.
He has adjusted his life accordingly and is doing
pretty well on his own. He asked me for a CST
session and only received one treatment which he
found very beneficial. As yet, he has not been
back for more.

re focal dystonia – Unable to comment as I’ve not
had anyone as yet.

re shingles – I’ve had an attack of shingles and
was lucky to detect it before it was full blown.
Immediately saw my GP (who is also a Homeopath and
practices Chinese medicine) who gave me
acupuncture directly into the ‘alarmed’ area.  I
did some self help at home by using the ‘cranio
balls’ 15mins a day and recovered within 2 days.

Treating family members: personally prefer not to
treat my own family if a serious case as I feel we
are emotionally ‘hooked in’ which can get in the
way.

Smells: This one for Gayle (i should tell her
myself)…some time ago I was picking up alot of
smells during  clients sessions -they weren’t
pleasant smells. Since I was unable to understand
what they were about, I asked a colleague of mine
who flatly said -
‘I don’t know, I can’t help you….perhaps you
should wear a nose peg’ . the mind boggles !

Since then have not had those smells but have had
a smell which triggered a past life for a client
(she smelt it as well) …..oh,could go on and on,
but won’t !

Until next time,
be well

Peni
Cape Town

MY COMMENTS:

Thank you for all that Peni. To register as a
mentor just let me know you are interested and I
will add you to the list I am putting together. It
will be going on the web site in the next couple
of months.

For myself, I have always felt cancer to be
part of the person’s body and different to a virus
or bacterial infection, which feels alien to the
person’s system.  So the idea of walling off the
cancer doesn’t really come up for me.

Physically cancer feels to me like the body
reverting back to being one cell type.  Just like
is was in the hours after conception.
Just one type of cell.

Cancer feels like the whole body trying to
become one type of cell again, what we call a
cancer cell but one type of cell none the less. It
always strikes me as symbolic of a desire for more
simplicity.

As I’ve said before in other newsletters

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

what I focus on more are the reasons behind why
the persons system might be doing that.

It sounds like you are doing good work with the
people you are treating with cancer related issues
and best of luck with your talk in a few months.

***FROM NICA IN BERLIN***

dear john,

here some thoughts for -maybe-the next newsletter:

cancer:
my experience with women after a breast-cancer and
chemo-treatment is very positive. the gentle touch
and the immune system-support treatment is helping
them to release again their body, to trust their
body, to believe in their body and sometimes even
to love their body again.

so its a lot concerning the psychological support
to these women after the very aggressive  chemo-
treatments. -I am always working very slow and
very very careful. just observing how much space
the client needs. usually a lot!

parents:
there i have right now the situation that my dad
has serious problems with his heart.
he did not contact me for any help, but during our
phone calls.. i live in berlin and he in
switzerland… happens regularly a lot.
what I mean: at the phone he asks me for example
if I would have an advice for him what to do when
he is afraid to hear his heart not beating
regularly.

then I give him “small tasks” like “touching and
talking” to his heart….and: he reacted very open
and positive!
a few days later I send him a letter with the same
things again (important to open the door-but not
too wide…)and things like for example:
“if it helps you, you can draw a picture from your
heart”.
heart ,4 words:
hear
heat
art
ear
(out of hugh milne book nr.1)

he was very open and right now his heart is
supporting him again…

thats it!
sorry for my english!!!!!!!!

greetings out into the cranio world from berlin!
nica

Nica Berndt – Caccivio
Berlin

MY COMMENTS:

Thanks for that Nica.  As I said above, it was
very nice to meet you in person when I was in
Berlin.

‘Important to open the door-but not too
wide…’  I like that, very wise.

***FROM GEORGETTE IN SOUTH AFRICA***

Hi John,

Yes I have treated a lady with breast cancer
receiving chemo and radiation as well as
homeopathic support.
Although the cranio sessions were supportive, not
trying to fix anything, she released a lot but
never had a healing crisis afterwards.
We talked a lot about a positive attitude, healthy
food, fun in live and death.
Unfortunately she passed away but I know that
Cranio helped her to leave smoothly.
As you say, she choose her departure.

Talking now about my client with shingles, he had
3 cranio sessions and in between came on the
magnetic blanket 3 times a week for 3 weeks.
The lesions have completely subsided, he doesn’t
feel any discomfort anymore.

Cheers.
Georgette

MY COMMENTS:

Thanks for that Georgette.  It is never easy
when someone you have been treating dies.  I am
sure your treatments and your presence made the
final part of her life so much easier.

***FROM FREDERIC CHERRI IN NEW ZEALAND***

“… The Craniosacral Clinic & Institute of New
Zealand is looking for 1 or 2 experienced
practitioners to come and help us launch another
brand new clinic.

We can arrange with local immigration and for the
right applicant a working visa. Ideally we would
like for the applicant to stay and work with us
for 6 months (12 is possible). If the applicant
has or desire to acquire an assistant experience
on an existing 2-year Training Course, there is a
possibility to integrate one of our Trainings in
an assisting capacity.

We need a couple of confident and experienced
practitioners (minimum of 2 to 3 years of regular
clinical practice).  You will recognise yourself:
adaptable, ease with people of all walks of life,
skills and passion for the work !!!, travellers or
adventurers and fun lovers (NZ IS a great place to
live! ask me I have been here 15 years).

We will make it worth your while in adventure
whilst over here. If you already have a specialty
or a passion for some specific aspects of CST
(perinatal, pediatrics, immune or any other topic)
it will be even better as we are developing
clinical aspects and research in these fields.

We can help with Immigration as well as
accommodation. This clinic is also the
Headquarters for the Craniosacral Institute of New
Zealand (www.csti.co.nz) with a planned Student
clinic, and on-going supervision. We already have
2 trainings on the go.

The intention is to have a CST only clinic with 3
to 4 full time practitioners.

Please contact Frederic Cherri at any time:
Email: info@csti.co.nz
Ph: +64 9 3760 963
Mob: +64 21 640 660 …”

***FROM BARB IN NEW ZEALAND***

Hi John
Thank you for another ‘right rivetting read’.
Much to digest as usual.  I love folklore so I
also thank you for that insight into the ways of
the Kings of yore.  I consider myself to be pretty
damn special too so quickly checked my diary to
see exactly when I came ‘splat’ off my bike -
phew, the relief – the 13th!

Having not hurt myself since 1990 (pretty jammy
really) it was fascinating to experience my
assessment of the accident as it happened,
immediately post, and then during recovery. Though
craniosacral therapy works best with the attention
of another practitioner I have to say that in
emergencies your own hands are the next best ones.

I feel I did some really good work with myself.  I
covered all the basics and the bits that hurt, and
then a little thought popped into my head.

I replayed my acrobatic arc into the air,
registering that instead of traveling forward I
was suddenly traveling sideways.  I realised I was
moving so fast I was unlikey to lose much skin as
I was coming down like a ton of bricks (I really
must lose those extra kilo’s) and unlikely to
skid.  My body streched out fully (why? to spread
the impact?). I landed hard on my right side
taking the brunt of the impact on the ribs below
my armpit, my head crashed onto my arm then my
right hip touched down – hardly even a bruise
there – a lovely purple imprint of the rough seal
on my side though.

Now the little thought that popped into my head
was about my sternum – that had to be the big
bounce point.  I put my hands their even though
there was no pain.  Now here’s what I love, though
there was as yet no discomfort, the sense of
relief was huge.

I had stretched every muscle from my hips up, even
those little ones under your chin (I’m sure the
workout did that area good), had left-ear-ache for
two days and then the ribs kicked in for 10 days
or so.

My CST colleague was unfortunately away on holiday
for the first 8 days of recovery so I was my own
very best practitioner throughout.    The ribs
resolved at 2.24am with a winded sensation in the
right lung, quickly followed by a massive sense of
nausea and a sweat – all done and dusted in 15
seconds or less.

Clever old body, huh? So,  I can now get out a do
a little running as well now.  Oh, one other
thing, much and all as I wanted to get off the
road immediately to prevent the potential coup de
grace of being squished by a car, my body was
still assessing it’s function levels and would not
move as fast as I wanted.  Luckily for me, no
cars.

I look forward to your next installment.
Cheers
Barb
New Zealand.

MY COMMENTS:

Thanks for that Barb.  I think it is a great
description of what you can do if you have to.

***QUESTION***

Dear John,
I loved your article. I have
been learning and practicing cranio-sacral therapy
for the past year and have had lots of amazing
results. I didn’t know what it was but was drawn
to it and am so grateful.

I was just wanting to ask your advice about
anorexia. I am seeing a girl next week who is a
friend of the family who will be undergoing
treatment at Flinders Medical Centre here in
Adelaide Australia for her anorexic condition.

I am wondering what has been your experience with
these type of people.  I am expecting that there
will be some cranial compression. I want to
monitor her CSF rhythm. I want to balance the
cranio-sacral system and all of the cranial bones.

Have you got any interesting case histories you
could tell me about or advice to treat this
person?
Attached is my photo so you know who you are
talking to

Yours sincerely
Laney Thomas

MY COMMENTS:

Hello Laney,
I have found anorexia to be like a mixture of
drug addiction, obsessive-compulsive behaviour and
self-harm.

I approach people with anorexia in the same way
I would any person with a destructive addiction.

‘Are there constructive addictions?’

Here is my experience of the way addictions
work.  There is a pain inside that we really don’t
want to look at and the object of our addiction
helps us avoid having to look at that pain.

The most obvious example of this dynamic in
action is alcohol or drugs. Both of which give a
very pleasurable distraction from the pain.

Addictions can take many forms and we all have
addictions of one kind or another.  Whether it’s
chocolate, soap operas, sex, charity, work,
shopping, exercise, model train sets, knitting or
any of the many other things I do on Saturdays, it
is the same dynamic. A pleasant distraction from
the pain.

‘Isn’t that a rather bleak perspective?’

Yes, but it stops you from separating yourself
from people with destructive addictions, which is
an easy thing to do.

‘I don’t know what is wrong with these people?
I have no addictions’, kind of thing.

I think it is easier to access your compassion for
these people if you do a bit of looking around on
the inside and realise that the mechanics of
addiction are at work in you on a small scale.
The difference is the order of magnitude.

That way, when you look at someone with a
destructive addiction you can look at how much
damage their addiction has done in their life and
that will give you an idea of how big the pain is
they are trying to get away from.

So how does the addiction dynamic work with
anorexic people?

Well it is subtle because there is no obvious
benefit but the underlying dynamic will be the
same.

They will be using the not-eating to avoid a
bigger pain. Being open to seeing what that pain
is will help a lot.

Look at the level of disruption and pain the
anorexia is causing in this girl’s life and it
will give you an indication of how much bigger the
pain is she is distracting herself from is.

I suggest you start from a perspective of
respecting her decision to choose the lesser of
two pains, which in this case is her anorexia.

The symptoms are digestive so I would start
there.  That is where I would have me intention
though my points of contact would initially be far
from there as it has been my experience that
people with anorexia are highly sensitive around
their abdomen.

***FROM SARAH WILLOGHBY***

Below is a poem sent in by Sarah Willoghby.
Depending on how you feel about poetry you will be
either groaning and rolling your eyes or
pleasantly surprised.  I am including it because I
like the way it talks about being with someone who
is in pain.

Let me know what you think.

The Invitation
by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon…
I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.

***QUESTION***

Dear John….

18 months ago a Body Stress Release therapist sent
a young boy to me, aged 6yrs.  He has recurring
‘flailing arms’ and his parents have had him
checked out by medical professionals but they
can’t find a problem.

During his first visit, a lot of persuasion was
needed to get him to lie down – he is happy but
very active – mom was good at ‘bribing’ him with a
promise to buy a treat,  which worked.
Very little was done in this session but it
certainly resulted in him being a lot calmer and
the arms no longer flailing about.

Some months later he had another flair up so once
again mom brought him to me.
This time he was happier to be on the bed and a
lot more co operative. Again, a release was felt.

Since he was undergoing BSR therapy it did not
feel right to impress upon the family to bring him
in more regularly.  The releases seemed to hold
for a long time and I then realised that when he
was under stress, the flailing arms started up.

I saw him last week, now 71/2 yrs old. Initially
he was quite wriggly, moving about a lot – again
in need of persuasion to just be still.. I was
drawn to his lungs and that is when mom told me of
a near drowning at age 2yrs.. His cranial base was
tight and painful for him. As gently as possible,
I managed to release it.

Corrections were made for flexion and right side
bend lesions to the Sphenoid.  Temporals were
cleared and that is when he went into a very deep
sleep. Actually, so did mom. She dropped her head
onto the bed and fell asleep.

During his sleep state I just sat with one hand
under his head, the other under the sacrum
monitoring his csr.

When he awoke his words were ‘WOW mom, that was a
good sleep’. I suggested another session in a
weeks time and he wanted to know how long a week
was. Her reply ‘about 7 sleeps’ His reply ‘ no,
can we make it in 5 sleeps or 3 sleeps’.  I then
said ‘you have your son back’. This was very clear
to me and to her and most of all, to him.

My feeling is that when he is stressed, be it at
school or even at home he could be recalling the
near drowning – the arms flapping to keep abreast.

John, could you or any one else comment on
flailing arms?

Thank you

Kind regards

Peni – (Cape Town)

MY COMMENTS:

It sounds to me like you are on the right track
here Peni.  When I think about trying to stay
afloat in water, I automatically feel my arms
wanting to move.

It is a great case and a great example.

I could go on all night but we are at the end
of this issue.

Cheerio for now.

Your Mate,

John D.