What is Craniosacral Biodynamics?
In Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy (BCST), the orientation of the therapist is directed towards
the innate intelligence that is responsible for creating and maintaining our healthy existence. In BCST, innate intelligence refers to the vital force that establishes a rhythm of health within each of us. This rhythm flows within the cerebrospinal fluid, and in all of the fluid body. Each one of us has this innate resource, and BCST provides the support and safety for the body to access and enhance it! This allows for balance and resilience. The foundation of BCST is to strengthen and support the client’s natural expression of this innate health. This Force, this Intelligence, this Health is present from our conception to our last breath. It is responsible for the development of the embryo and it maintains, sustains, and constantly seeks to balance us throughout our lives. This intelligence has driven evolution, and is the underlying principle upon which BCST is based.
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The practitioner uses gentle holding positions and approaches the system with the intention of neutrality so that the body can slow down and energetic processes and expressions of health can come forth. Sensitive and knowledgeable hands are guided by any expressions of health that are already at work, and support the healing to occur. These rhythms are expressions of the innate intelligence and will guide and direct the skilled therapist. The main task of the practitioner is to “listen” from a neutral place, to the flow of fluids and tissues such as the cerebral spinal fluid, blood, membranes, connective tissue, muscles, and organs. Anatomy, physiology, and psycho-emotional experiences are impacted by these subtle forces throughout our lifetime.
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Physical and emotional trauma can cause fragmentation in the body, which creates imbalances in the system and causes difficulty processing and integrating the experience of living. An individual can be conditioned to react in specific ways from trauma, and these reactions can be stored in the fluid body. Traumatic events can obstruct and distort the natural flow of innate health. BCST helps a person gently process the trauma whether it is physical or emotional.
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ORIGIN
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The Craniosacral Therapy method is based on the experiences and achievements of Dr. William Sutherland, an American osteopath from the early 20th century. He found that the cranial bones were not solidified, but in fact, a certain degree of movement occurs in the skull. He also observed that these movements are produced by a force inherent in the body that he called the BREATH OF LIFE. This primary vital force is expressed in all human beings (tissues, fluids, cerebrospinal fluid), the central nervous system, the sacrum, and the meninges, Dr. Sutherland referred to this structure as the PRIMARY BREATHING MECHANISM, because it occurs before the respiratory movement, which only begins at the moment of birth, so it is considered primary. Since the 1970s, other collaborators have continued to study Sutherland's perceptual discoveries, developing the biodynamic model of cranial osteopathy. Since then, there have been many developments in Craniosacral Therapy with different ramifications.
Some of the conditions that BCST can help:
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Migraine headache
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TMJ (temporomandibular joint syndrome)
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Brain and spinal injury
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Post-traumatic stress disorder (recovery of any type of injuries)
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Emotional stress
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Sleep disorders
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Infant disorders
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Prenatal and postpartum conditions
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Chronic neck and pain
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Surgical recovery