I would say that the concept of Ignition may be the most profound and elusive concept in entire cranial sacral system. It is the essence of the work and requires a great deal of practice and perseverance to begin to contact the Spark of Life that we call Ignition in the cranial system. It has been observed to carry the essence of who we are, knowledge akin to Jing in the Chinese system. When one is gifted to be Witnessed by this Divine Essence which is often called the Breath of Life in our work, one is changed at some level for ever. But, remember the classic teaching, you don’t go searching for it and muck things up by the power of your intention creating waves of motion. You must wait for that which transmutes all things into form! There is a spark that is palpable that creates motion within Primary respiration. Seldom is it the first thing that you become aware of when listening to the system you are holding. Wait, and don’t have expectations that this Spark will be evident just because you are told of its existence. The beauty of this Biodynamic approach is that you don’t have to know, its more of a state of quiet observation. Of course one needs to have established a blue print of what we are listening to with techniques to use appropriately when the situation calls for them, but other than this foundational training, its about many hours of work. One can listen to the subtleties of a classical guitarist playing a celestial piece by Bach, by I dare say it is felt more deeply as the wooden box is vibrating against the body of the player who becomes imbued with Bach’ divine connection. Sit listen and repeat many times. The spark of life will become evident. [Read more…]
IGNITION IN THE CRANIAL SYSTEM
Ignition in the cranial system is a deep topic and will require more than one post. And if I ramble, please forgive me as I am also going to first reflect on our industry or maybe our education system in general, especially in the USA. Although I have been practicing cranial for years, the amount of hours sitting and listening to the systems of many clients is dwarfed by those giants that came before me like Doctors, Fulford, Becker, Mangoun, Jealous and others. Its humbling! Our education system and many of our massage schools as well, encourages mediocrity. Sorry if that stings, I am not singling out anyone. Just look at the claims of graduating students who offer multiple disciplines on their business cards as soon as they graduate! Now, I know that in order to keep a licensure that isn’t supported by the ruling medical system, one is supposed to do continuing education in order to be considered legitimate. Unfortunately, that is often the driving factor, and not the actual knowledge of the work itself! I know this to be a fact, because I receive lots of emails through our website. Often times they will not buy the dvds we offer because they can’t get their CEU’s in time. There is the assumption that an online course should be quick and easy. And there in lies my entire point. When I was studying at the Rolf Institute, many of my teachers were practicing cranial sacral therapy as well and visceral work in addition to the foundational work taught by Dr. Rolf. When I asked why those disciplines were not being taught alongside Dr. Rolf’s work, the answer (which didn’t make much sense at the time) was get a Rolfer’s hands for 5 years and then move on. I totally get it now after 30 years of practice. It pays to play in “the fields of a discipline” for awhile before adding yet another. [Read more…]
Stretching Part 3
Ok let’s finish this series up. Again, I want to reiterate that there may be newer information about stretching that will contradict what I am about to share. My suggestion is to try this out for awhile an always err on the side of caution, don’t push without mindful attention. There is potential for injury in any form of stretching. So we have discussed dynamic stretching and passive stretching I would now like to wrap this up with isometric type stretching and see if you gain more flexibility by doing it. There are 3 methods one can look at and try then evaluate. The first method is to stretch the muscles but not maximally. So, take it to the edge and back off. Wait for a few seconds or more and then increase the stretch. Wait for a period of time and increase the stretch again. What that entails is waiting for the mechanism to adjust and applying a bit more pressure to the stretch carefully. When you have reached a point where you have achieved what you believe to be the maximum stretch, apply short strong tensions, followed by quick relaxations and within a second or two another tension. You’ll get it, just play with the concept, its a type of undulating movement. The amount of force used is between 50-100% of your maximum. Then hold the last tension for about 30 seconds. This is a very different approach to yoga type workouts. [Read more…]
The Importance of Stretching Knowledge in our Bodywork Practices: Part 2
Let’s continue this discussion about stretching with the concept of “partner” stretching. As a therapist we are our clients’ partners and we have schools now available for training or CDs to teach the nuances. I know that many therapists are in fact stretching their clients with great success. For those of you who haven’t started yet and are considering it as an additional tool, one word of caution, you can’t feel what they are feeling, and the moment that you have caused pain and gone too far it might be too late. So, if you begin to stretch your clients, just always make sure to be very aware of the “end point” as I call it, either of muscular tension or bone structure. [Read more…]
The Importance of Stretching Knowledge in our Bodywork Practices: Part 1
Have you ever noticed that many of the patterns of dysfunction that are brought to our practices repeat themselves regardless of how many sessions we might perform with them? I am going to propose how using stretching, in its many approaches, can change that pattern and create lasting healing in our clients.
I don’t care if someone has come to you for Cranial Sacral therapy, Rolfing, Feldenkrais, Alexander technique, myofascial release, acupuncture, chiropractic and on and on. Most have come because they are suffering a painful condition. In many or even most cases, stretching in some form would have either helped to prevent the condition or accelerated its healing. [Read more…]
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