In mid-September, I made my second trip this year to Tasmania, Australia, to attend Part 3 of the Craniosacral therapy course. In this report, I will summarize what I learnt from the course and discuss how the Craniosacral therapy relates to Brain Gym®.
Craniosacral therapy is a practice where a practitioner places her hands on the cranium and/or sacrum, sensing the rhythm of the cerebrospinal fluid flow while awakening the body's inherent natural healing power. The cerebrospinal fluid is produced and absorbed within the brain at a constant, pump-like rhythm. In sync with this flow, the cranial bones and the sacrum move like a cradle. The rhythm of cerebrospinal fluid flow can be divided into three levels, each corresponds to a distinct state of consciousness:
Normal consciousness: It flows at 8-14 cycles per minute.
Mid-tide: When the flowing speed slows down to 2.5 cycles per minute, it is considered a state where healing occurs.
Long-tide: A very slow rhythm of one cycle every 90 seconds, regarded as a state where only health exists.
Whereas the mid-tide is a flow with the capacity to bring healing within the body and its surrounding energy field, the long-tide embodies the rhythm of the balanced state in nature – akin to tidal currents. Compared to the mid-tide we focused on in Part 2 of the course, this course's theme, the long-tide, was a profound state like the void with stillness.
<Facial Bones and Cranial Nerves>
In the first half of the course, we practiced touching each individual facial bone (orbital bone, zygomatic bone, nasal bone, sphenoid bone, ethmoid bone, palatine bone, maxilla, mandible). Although the areas accessible from the face are limited, placing fingers there with intense focus allows one to feel the small bones moving. Ideally, the bones should sway evenly from side to side and front to back, however, due to asymmetrical skeletal structure or the unbalanced body-mind state from stress, imbalances can be frequently observed. In my own case, for example, in addition to the inherent asymmetric structure, perhaps due to stress from starting a new job in late August, it was marked that only the right side moved vigorously. At the Craniosacral therapy, even if imbalance exists, a practitioner does not forcefully correct the movement; instead, the body's inherent motion allows the practitioner to guide the process. Then, after moving fully in a guided direction to the end, it naturally shifts to the opposite direction, as the body itself seeks to restore balance.
l Orbital region
Four cranial nerves related to vision and eye movement pass around the eyes, indicating the eyes' deep connection to the brain. In my experience as a receiver, when tension around the eyes eased, it felt not only brain fatigue was relieved but also stagnant thought was released, as if accumulated mental blocks deep within the brain were overflowing. Just as I had learnt in the Brain Gym® Creative Vision course, I realized that thought lied behind vision.
l Nasal region
The vomer and ethmoid bones, located deep within the nasal cavity, appear to be related to subtle energies. The vomer can be approached from the area behind the front teeth inside the mouth. This bone seems to be highly susceptible to emotional influences and prone to manifesting the effects of birth trauma. Indeed, as a receiver, I felt terror as if drowning in water and was driven by an impulse to grasp hold of something. When I shared this experience with the instructor, she suggested it might be from the memory of birth trauma.
l Around the mouth
The upper jaw and cheek areas, covered by thick muscles, are particularly affected by stress. Furthermore, the mouth is linked to emotional patterns from childhood and self-consciousness stemming from dental unalignment. It also seemed common for dental treatments to create undue force within the oral cavity.
In the second half of the course, we leant about the body state affected by trauma. Then on the final day, as a group, we did whole body unwinding which was a remarkable experience.
<Body state affected by trauma>
The relationship between trauma and the cerebrospinal fluid (flow of water) was explained as: "The body is 70% water. Stress, shock, and karmic memories are all stored within the flow of water in cells and tissues, and within the etheric body surrounding the physical body." The area below the waist, where the sacrum is located, is considered the unconscious realm. The first to third chakras located near the sacrum are thought to be particularly susceptible to karmic and genetic influences. Furthermore, it is common for cranial distortions to occur during birth as the baby passes through the birth canal, often remaining permanently. Additionally, experiencing physical or emotional stress or traumatic events throughout life can significantly disrupt the rhythmic flow. These memories are said to be stored within the etheric body, the light body, and reflected in the craniosacral movements.
The course instructor is also a teacher of Aura-Soma®, and explained well from the perspective of Aura-Soma®. In Aura-Soma®, it is believed that when one experiences shock, a gap is created on the left side of the etheric body, located several tens of centimeters from the body's surface, causing the etheric body to shift to the left. This phenomenon can actually be sensed during the practice of Craniosacral therapy, and it is particularly noticeable in the bodies of those who have recently experienced shock.
The woman I practiced with during the course had an artificial hip joint on her right side. She had undergone surgery as a child, and every after a certain number of years, replacements have been required. She mentioned that during her most recent surgery, she felt as though a part of herself had been lost. Initially, when touching her feet as she lay on the bed, the energy was felt only on the right side of her body. Then, paying attention to the cranial movements, a strong pulling sensation towards the right side was discernible. It felt as though the body's center was situated on the right side, with nothing on the left. When I asked the instructor about this, she said this might be caused from a gap in the energy body on the left side. Following her body's natural movement towards the right, at a certain point it shifted towards the left, and ultimately it felt as though the midline had returned to the center of her body.
Throughout the course, I learnt that being conscious of the midline is crucial in working on the realm beyond the physical body, so-called, the light body, with the long-tide. There was a practice to feel the cranial movement while visualizing a torus - a doughnut-shaped magnetic field – expanding from the body's midline. The torus is found in nature; for instance, when you cut an apple vertically, it can be recognized as if the skin formed a circular pattern from the center, the core. Likewise, an energy field expands outward from the midline of the body, and our energy circulates infinitely from the midline, the spine, or the line connecting the crown chakra to the root chakra.
<Whole body unwinding and re-experiencing the birth>
Fascia unwinding is a method to encourage the certain part of the body to move in its natural direction to release stagnant tension, and we did the whole-body version at the end of the course. The recipient lay supine on the floor while other participants supported her limbs. Then, the participants sensed the movements of the recipient's body and guided it in that direction. As the first to lie down, I was rolled about on the floor, utterly bewildered as to what was happening. After a while, I came to rest face down with my weight shifted to the left side, my right arm raised and my right knee bent. It was at this point that I finally realized the movements I experienced had been recreating the motions of my birth. Apparently, I had been born in this very position, head downwards, in a prone state. Initially dazed, I gradually began to feel a sense of blessing, though this emotion was soon overshadowed by fear. I also felt pain in my right knee. When I mentioned this to the instructor, she suggested that the fear and knee pain might stem from my birth experience, adding that it was time to release them. Throughout my life, I have frequently experienced intense irrational fear in various situations. Furthermore, due to a tilt in my right pelvis, I tend to walk with a slight bow-legged gait, placing strain on my right knee. It was surprising to realize through bodily sensation that these tendencies might have persisted since birth.
The bodily movements of other participants varied considerably. One participant who had experienced a relatively smooth birth exhibited rapid, short, whirling rotations. Another participant displayed complex movements which the instructor hinted as multiple experiences not only from birth but also from childhood. Observing this, I felt inexplicably uneasy and when I mentioned this to the instructor, she suggested the emotion I felt might be hers stored in her body from that time.
<Conclusion>
From what I learnt from the course, I have come to the conclusion that the Craniosacral therapy work relates to Brain Gym® in three points. Firstly, it releases tension accumulated on the face by balancing the movement of facial bones. In Brain Gym®, there are several physical activities to be used for the same purpose such as energy yawn, lazy eight, and neck roll. According to the instructor, tension around the eyes may have caused by that in the cranial base and the back of the neck, hence the lengthening activities from Brain Gym® to stretch the back of the body would also be helpful to release the tension in the eyes and the cranium.
Second point is that the Craniosacral therapy is based on the idea that our bodies inherently know how to make an adjustment, and honors and follows the natural movement that the body presents. In Brain Gym®, it is also believed that we can make a difference through movements and we honor each student’s own will. Although the Craniosacral therapy may give an impression that it is a passive therapy with the recipient lying down, in fact, it is dynamic in that the body keeps moving in reaction to the practitioner’s touch in order to rebalance itself.
Third point is from the perspective of midline. Needless to say, we know the importance of being on the midline and working on the midfield in Brain Gym®. In the course of the Craniosacral therapy, it was unexpected to work on the energy field with the concept of torus, and hear that the midline can be off center in the light body by experiencing trauma, but in Brain Gym® In-depth course, we also leant several balancing methods to work on the higher dimensions in the realms of ecological balance and emotion. It seems there are complicated implications of the difficulty of finding midline, which may date back to the time during or before birth. In any case, it is important and a blessing that we know some modalities to address it.
Finally I think it would be a good idea to use both the Craniosacral therapy and Brain Gym® for a client especially who has a strong emotional stress. From my own experiences, Brain Gym® balance could cause some stress for someone who is new to Brain Gym® or in dealing with a big goal. In such cases, having the person lie on the bed and receive the Craniosacral therapy in the first place would be effective to ease stress before starting a balance. It is very relaxing and would be good to reassure and let the person trust the process.