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The Value of Combining Disciplines

Combining Structural Integration and Craniosacral Therapy
Many of you know that I practice a Yin Yang approach in my vision of therapy. It has worked for me brilliantly in many ways, not the least of which is creating a more expansive palette for me to use. I would like to share one aspect today that may be of interest to you.

When I studied at the Rolf Institute in 1989, many of my teachers had studied cranial sacral therapy, visceral manipulation, and some chiropractic – which they dovetailed at one time with Dr. Rolf’s structural integration work, essentially a form of myofascial manipulation. A few of those teachers actually continued to practice both those disciplines and one very notable one abandoned the structural work completely and moved deeply into the exploration of craniosacral therapy.

I am sharing this with you because I believe there is value in practicing myofascial manipulation and cranial sacral therapy together. As massage therapists we often split the body into equal segments for the allotted amount of time that we are going to work with a client. If a massage therapist or a Rolfer, or anyone that does myofascial work, combines their work with cranial, they have a bit of an advantage. If you can feel the fluid moving through the body and somebody comes into your practice with a particular challenge, you can ascertain which of the limbs, or other parts of the body, have more fluid movement and which is more congested. That allows you to focus on the more congested area, spending more time there until you feel a balance between the two sides. You have the ability to be more focused and efficient with your time.

There is also the economic advantage of having your feet in both disciplines. There are some people that just don’t want to take their clothes off, and do not want the more aggressive touch that Rolfing and myofascial work can literally inflict on them. They prefer to be in their clothes and they prefer the light touch of a more esoteric approach like cranial sacral therapy. Conversely, you may have clients who initially come for a cranial session, but could benefit from some myofascial work. There is a possibility that your practice can be more expansive or fuller because of the additional tools you possess. There are many disciplines such as chiropractic that use an additional alternative therapy, like acupuncture, along with their base discipline to support a more positive outcome. Having both disciplines in your tool belt will potentially create a more successful outcome.

The Importance of the Holistic Shift

Dr. Rollins Becker’s Concept of The Felt Sense

The Craniosacral Holistic Shift

As a practitioner of bodywork for 35 years and a musician for longer, I think one can draw some parallels. The more you practice the deeper your knowledge and skill set. As a teacher for a long time in this profession, I always find it surprising and humorous when students have expectations with their elementary knowledge that are completely impossible to meet without hundreds of hours on the cushion (if you sit on a cushion when you practice the work). I love it when a relatively new student asks me how long I have been practicing. Because the truth is we never stop practicing. That being said, there are milestones you will become aware of that will “shake your hand” and congratulate you that you are making progress along the path and give you inspiration to continue. Progress along the journey means more successful outcomes with the challenges that walk through the door of your offices, most of which are issues of pain. Dr. Becker said he wished no one would tell him their issues when they came into his office, so that he could just listen to the system without any preconceived notions of what he needed to do. This brings us to the heart of this communique.

Dr. Becker left us in his writings the concept of a holistic shift, where a change in the “environment” you are listening to creates a palpable change. There is a distinctive and qualitative change based on a felt sense that something has definitely shifted in the field. Now, the important thing is for you to begin to recognize what this felt sense is for you. 

[Read more…]

Bodywork: The Transformation of Spirit

Have you ever asked yourself when you are doing a bodywork session, regardless of the discipline, why the outcomes are often different? I have posed this question to my students of both disciplines, “What would it be like if you didn’t have to know the answers to the needs of the system you are palpating, but to just be deeply present with what is happening at that moment?” That quality of consciousness flies in direct opposition to how so many of us have been educated! But, fascinatingly enough our outcomes are often quite good. Go figure. Actually please don’t!

I think by now many of you realize that the value of our work is oftentimes our ability to reflect for the patient’s system, so that their homeostatic response is powerful enough to create a level of healing. Two different practitioners, same basic techniques, two different outcomes. What is truly important beyond the obvious of being able to be a part of a positive outcome, is how we transform ourselves deeper and deeper into the Stillness and Lightness of Being, and the joy of that essence permeating our daily lives.  [Read more…]

Lateral Fluctuations

Lateral fluctuations are in the fluid body and can express a lesion in the fluids, or the potential for the system to be creating a treatment manifestation. We know that the fluid body is in reality one organism connected by billions of cells and there are different rates of fluctuations that can be happening simultaneously. The fluid field is a breathing organism that is responding to forces from outside of itself. It is primary respiration and it is intelligent. These fluctuations occur often times in the mid-tide. It is perceived as a transverse wave or motion. But, there is also a vertical movement because the field is literally a 3 dimensional liquid crystalline matrix.  [Read more…]

The Central Channel – Anchoring the Practitioner Fulcrum: Part 2

This is maybe the most important practice I will share. It reflects back to the original technique I taught in the cranial sacral foundational work. It’s the Practitioner Fulcrum, but we are going to add a second name that has been used in Eastern medicine and arts, the Central Channel. The gateway to the Primordial Field. It is in every tradition of meditation in the East. OK, maybe not every one, but it’s an ancient practice.

We have arrived now to this practice on the foundation that has been built by our previous practices. I know there can be the impulse to jump right into this. Unless you have had some previous training in other disciplines, you are making a mistake. Some people can jam successfully on the guitar without knowing any scales, but if one has practiced the scales of their musical instrument it gives you them lot more flexibility, and I dare say more acumen. Enough said.

This is the last technique, and maybe the most important and powerful. You can anchor this strongly into the ground when you feel it clearly and merge with your client’s midline, creating a very safe relational field for the work to unfold in. [Read more…]

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Lyons Institute Blog

Recent Posts

  • The Value of Combining Disciplines
  • Fascial Manipulation and Trigger Point Therapy
  • The Importance of the Holistic Shift
  • Equine Stretching
  • The Benefits of Equine Massage

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