ARTICLE

CRANIOSACRAL THERAPY: ITS EVOLUTION AND SPIRITUAL DIMENSION
by Anthony P. Arnold, PhD

Craniosacral therapy has long been known to offer effective relief to persons suffering from chronic pain and physical limitations. Originally derived from the practice of osteopathy, it makes sense that craniosacral has such an effect. Yet, many attest that this gentle form of therapy also provides a unique connection to the emotional and spiritual life of the individual. Participants report that a craniosacral session can awaken and heal the memory, refresh the spirit, and confer new life energy. How different is this from other forms of therapy? Is there a special spiritual dimension to craniosacral work? How has this evolved?

Medical practice and some alternative therapies strive to maintain an objective view of symptoms and symptom relief. They attempt to work only with that which can be scientifically observed and verified. Personally, most medical doctors recognize the significance of feelings and attitudes on the health of their clients. However, their training has not prepared them to integrate and work with these broader aspects of the individual. They often view strong feelings and unconventional attitudes as complications, better handled by another professional.

Holistic or alternative therapists increasingly recognize that attitude, outlook and experience are significant in the development and solving of life‟s problems. Yet, there remains the question: What to do? The notion of the doctor as the expert “fixer” has extended into most holistic modalities. As a result, the therapist often feels inadequate unless he can present an effective procedure to apply to each symptom.

If craniosacral touches the emotional and spiritual as well as the physical, then how can the therapist respond safely and competently?

Origins

More than a hundred years ago, a young American osteopath was intrigued by the structure of the cranial vault. He noted the great number of bones and joints forming the protective environment of the brain. Yet, conventional medicine, in his country and time, held that the protective bones of the head form a rigid shell. He challenged that doctrine and experimented with the possibility of flexibility and movement within this structure.

This was William Sutherland, whose explorations extended from the late 1890s, when he was a student, into the 1950s. Throughout his life, he questioned teachings and beliefs that ran contrary to experience and logic. He sought explanations based on experience and careful observation.  He and his early colleagues found that the bones forming the cranial vault do respond to external pressure with both toughness and resilience. In addition, they were surprised to discover a subtle rhythmic motion among the bones. This rhythm is slower than the breath, far softer than the heartbeat. It extends along the spinal column to the sacrum. Skilled hands can sense its resonance throughout the body.

Eventually, Sutherland proposed an explanation. Cerebrospinal fluid provides a nurturing and protective cushion around the brain and spinal cord. It is contained within a sheath of skin-like tissue lining the skull and spinal canal. An unknown physical process causes a fluctuation in the production of this special fluid. The resulting variation in fluid pressure moves the bones and joints of head and spine.

Fascia or connective tissue forms a sheath around all the bones and organs of the body. Connective tissue provides linkage and security at the joints between the bones. The strength of connective tissue maintains stability and integrity; its flexibility allows resilience and movement. Both strength and resilience are important for healthy functioning. In the head, the resilience of the fascia both allows and restrains movement among the cranial bones.

Because the rhythmic movement of cranium, spine and sacrum affects the entire body, variations in the rhythm around the body indicate patterns of freedom and constriction in the connective tissue and muscle. When these variations are recognized, a new form of therapy is possible. Pain and restriction that do not respond to assertive manipulation often diminish with a more subtle work. A light touch, in harmony with both movement and restriction, provides the gateway to more complete release of symptoms. This is the origin of craniosacral therapy.

Cranial Osteopathy

Osteopathy developed as a manipulative form of intervention. Practitioners traditionally attempt to ease joint pain and constriction by lifting, pressing, or twisting bones into an idealized alignment at the joint. This assertive approach extended into early craniosacral work. However, sensing the craniosacral rhythm requires a softer touch than general practice. This led to an important feature in the development of craniosacral therapy: the entire approach became softer than conventional osteopathy.
To work with these very subtle rhythms, practitioners learn to sit quietly, hands in position, sensing beyond skin, breathing, or heart beat to the rhythmic motion which seems to originate within the environment of the central nervous system.

No longer could the practitioner merely apply a series of standard adjustments to his patient. He must first make contact and observe. The practitioner learns to be present quietly, engaging through touch in a non-verbal dialog. A special emphasis on qualities of presence and receptivity became characteristic of craniosacral work. The standard procedures primarily provide a framework within the practitioner can learn the heart of the work: to touch with respect, to observe, to follow, support and encourage.

The evolution of craniosacral therapy

Principle of this work: branching in two directions

Osteopathy and kindred forms of alternative therapy hold that the body has the key to healing, that the practitioner stimulates or supports the natural healing process. Yet, there is great variation in the implementation this fundamental adage. How does one join and support the natural healing process?

Guiding the body, working from a plan

Traditionally, the manual therapist realigns the body. When the joint is accurately aligned, muscle and connective tissue resume a more natural arrangement. Body tissues can relax; there is less pressure on nerves. Pain subsides; range of movement returns.

This approach emphasizes the knowledge of the therapist. He has studied the idealized convergence of bones at joints. He follows standard procedures to align joints, apparently taking a leading role in restoring the body to balance.

This is the original context of craniosacral work. The practitioner touches a specific location, hands positioned in just such a manner. As he becomes quiet, he begins to sense the subtle movements of the craniosacral rhythm. He notes the quality of the rhythm as it expresses itself through muscle and bone in this region. His hands are in concert with this motion. Following the traditional formula, he may lightly emphasize or resist the pattern of movement. He seeks to bring it into symmetry, into a quiet yet clear expression. The balancing and freeing of the craniosacral rhythm coincides with a release of muscle constriction and discomfort. This subtle work has provided effective relief to persons suffering from long held pain and restricted mobility.

Yet, purely manual and symptom oriented procedures do not always help. When the body has endured pain and limited function for a long time, it adapts. The body develops a pattern of compensation that allows the most effective functioning in view of the limitation. Muscle and connective tissue often tighten to support and protect a vulnerable area. The body finds ways to move that respect and circumvent the afflicted region.

When the manual therapist focuses on a specific symptom, the body sometimes resists this attempt to interfere with its pattern of compensation. The therapeutic procedure triggers the body‟s defenses. Muscle and connective tissue hold even more strongly. The intervention that sometimes provides relief may sometimes stimulate more constriction and pain.

Still, craniosacral often provides relief in just such cases. The reason appears to lie in the special qualities of the craniosacral method. This is described in the next pages.

Beyond manual therapy

Even as craniosacral therapists follow this manipulative yet gentle and effective model, their experience invites them beyond the framework of their knowledge.

Perception broadens: with lighter touch, we sense a greater range of movements and processes within the body.
Practitioners touch lightly to sense the subtle nuances of the craniosacral rhythm. With light touch, the body begins to relax. Muscle and connective tissue release some of their protective constriction. As the therapist remains quietly and attentively present, the organism itself begins a process of release and reorganization.

Many signals accompany this process of release. Practitioners notice sensations of warmth, prickling, pulsation, tightening, easing, hardness and softness. There are eye movements, changes in breathing, skin color and tone. The perceptive capability of the attentive practitioner expands to include very subtle nuances of touch, movement, vision.

In addition to the physical sensations, practitioners are often touched by feelings, such as inner lightness of heaviness, constriction or relief. These are concurrent, but not synonymous with the release process experienced by the client.

Release extends beyond the symptom

As therapist and client observe these inner processes, it becomes clear that more is happening than was expected. As relief is felt in one part of the body, other places respond, softening or tightening. The balance of muscle tone achieves a new pattern through the body.

Relief of a symptom involves an easing of constriction in many other regions of the body, regions that have no obvious connection to one another or to the hand position of the practitioner. It becomes clear that the painful symptom is only the obvious aspect of a larger pattern of adaptive constriction.

The body is finding its way to healing, using the supportive presence of the practitioner, yet going beyond his conscious knowledge and intent. Thus, healing is revealed as an inner process, stimulated or supported by a therapy session, but involving much more than the procedures administered by the practitioner.

The release process shows the way

As release and rebalance are the goals of therapy, then the process of release within the body may act as the guide during the session. This process of release, springing from the inner knowledge and capacity of the organism, is fundamental. It is of far greater significance than adherence to any specific modality of therapy.

Healing extends beyond the physical: Memories, feelings, spirit

As long held physical constriction releases, repressed pain emerges and dissolves. Fragments of thoughts, images and feelings pass through conscious awareness. These impressions may represent a theme, or they may appear to be random.
The evolution of craniosacral therapy

At other times, the client lies quietly, sinking into a place of relaxation and peace. Physical signals diminish and speech is not easy. This can be difficult for the therapist who relies only on the obvious physical signs of release. These ordinary signals are replaced by an aura of tranquility or of inner occupation. The client is aware of therapist and the environment, yet distantly. Afterwards, there may remain chiefly a recollection of being deep in oneself.

As the physical constriction releases, as tissue softens and assumes a more natural and relaxed position, the hold of old fears and doubts diminishes. The release process is completing itself in body, mind and spirit. After such an experience, clients return to ordinary consciousness with a feeling of lightness, freedom and ease.

More on the vivid experience and images of the release process

An upsurge of pain, images or feelings may be associated with this profound inner process. Usually, such an experience emerges, reaches a peak and dissolves. With the period of quiet which follows, comes a softening and balancing of muscle and connective tissue. This signals the completion of a phase of the larger process.

Vivid sensations, images and memories can be fascinating to practitioner and client alike. Some schools of therapy are spurred into more directive activity. Questioning and probing can hold and intensify these fleeting impressions, so that they become more elaborate and impressed on consciousness. Yet there is no evidence that this well-intentioned intervention is more effective in bringing a release of constriction and more freedom. Such an effort may not accomplish much beyond satisfaction of the inquiring mind. Moreover, it may interfere with the flow of inner-directed healing.

Memories are not a precise depiction of past events. Rather, they represent a perspective on the past, colored by subsequent thoughts and experience. They represent the sum of hopes and fears gathered around an unresolved loss or pain. The present as well as the past influence their coloring.

True healing is a vast process, occurring within the total individual. It is beyond the limited scope of the conscious, reasoning mind. Its goal is the release of long repressed pain, not its elucidation and elaboration. The key is following the signals of release from the body, rather than attempting to organize memory in a valid and logical sequence.

The healing process may continue for hours or days after a session as the organism consolidates a new balance. The client is consciously aware of subtle changes in the body. Many report a fresh and lighter feeling about self and life.

Collaboration

This way of working embodies collaboration between practitioner and client. Though the symptoms of people appear similar, the inner pattern supporting the symptoms is unique. A particular pattern of limitation represents a lifetime of habits, of physical and
personal attempts to cope with life‟s injuries and problems. It is the result of the individual‟s unique efforts to function effectively in day-to-day life.

Likewise, the pathway of release is unique for each person. The body manifests a kaleidoscope of views of the whole person. Whatever that „whole‟ is, the natural inheritance, the collected experience and capability of the person: this individual has the seed of healing, and the unique steps proper to it.

Through experience, we learn to respect the client's past conscious and unconscious efforts to cope and continue functioning. This respect is the foundation for trust and safety in the therapeutic exchange. Trust and safety provide a context for a full awakening of the powers of reassessment and reorganization within the individual. The therapist learns to support this powerful inner process, to follow the direction inherent to each person.

Healing the whole

When a person rises from a session with a renewed feeling of lightness and freedom, she is often at a loss for words. The body moves more easily, feels lighter. The feet feel more connected to the earth. A feeling of ease and wellbeing encompasses the body. We feel it in muscles and joints, the breathing, the impressions of the senses. Simultaneously, that feeling reaches beyond the body, the earth, and the moment. As we try to describe it, each of us draws on the images of childhood, of family and culture. Yet, the more we try to express in words, the further we stray from the experience itself. The fullness of the healing experience goes beyond the physical and scientifically verifiable: beyond culture and belief.

The sacred or the spiritual often seem present. Yet an objective understanding of that presence remains beyond us. All of the speculations and proofs of theology and philosophy are mental constructions. They spring from a specific way of thinking and believing. The stories of mystics and holy people are metaphors, shaped by personal experience and culture. They convey an impression, not an accurate description.

I feel it is true to accept the validity of experience beyond the body. Yet, it is wise to accept the futility of rational understanding. If the pattern of healing is unique for each person, then the spiritual quality of healing is also unique, and beyond rational guidance. It is for the “organism” which we touch to lead us beyond the boundary of rational thought to a more comprehensive grasp of the healing process.

The organism reveals itself, communicates with me through my senses: whether the usual physical senses, or the expanded array cultivated through this work. Thus, that individual totality manifests through specifics. I am directly aware of a sign, a signal, a move, a mood. I sense that there is more behind the signals. At times, that totality, that oneness, may be compelling, close. Yet it belongs to another dimension; it remains beyond our rational grasp, far beyond the thinking mind.

The evolution of craniosacral therapy

That which we name "spiritual" is with us always, recognized or not. The modality of craniosacral helps open my awareness to the spiritual dimension. At times, this otherness predominates in my consciousness. At other times, the physical or emotional aspect prevails in my awareness.

They are aspects or dimensions of a larger, less visible unity. What we name physical, emotional, or spiritual is a collection of signals from the totality of the individual. These signals emerge when the consciousness is attuned, receptive. Furthermore, they manifest from within the context of the body. The body, to my conscious perception, is the unifying, grounding matrix from which the spiritual, emotional or physical appear to differentiate and reveal their nature.

Craniosacral therapy itself is not more sacred or spiritual than other ways. The key to healing is not in a set of techniques. It is not in a special hand position. Rather, craniosacral provides a framework within which we learn to touch. It is the way of being with and responding to one another that opens us more fully to healing.

Furthermore, the sacred and spiritual experience of this therapy does not derive only from the craniosacral rhythm or the cerebrospinal fluid. It borders on superstition to advocate such a belief. Cultures and beliefs have ascribed special importance to many different body parts. The sacrum is sacred. The heart is sacred. The breath represents the spirit or soul.

All is sacred. No part is more sacred than another. The special, spiritual quality of craniosacral comes by way of the attentiveness, the quiet, the profound respect and trust that it engenders between client and therapist.

By Anthony P. Arnold, PhD © 2005 German translation available.

5 Balde Road Santa Fe, NM 87508 USA
Tel: 505 989-4006
email tonyarnold@newmexico.com
http://www.rhythmandtouch.com/

Anthony Arnold brings to his work more than 40 years experience and inquiry into the field of therapy. After doctoral studies at the University of Chicago, he worked for many years as a clinical psychologist. He was founder and director of Duxbury Counseling Services. After a full and varied career in the field of psychotherapy, he pursued his interest in the interaction of mind, body and spirit through the study of Shiatsu, Craniosacral and Massage. He now lives and practices near Santa Fe, New Mexico.

His book, Rhythm and Touch, A Handbook of Craniosacral Therapy, is available in English, German and Italian editions.