What Is BioDynamic Craniosacral Touch Therapy?
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“Mind Body Healing” Centres
BioDynamic Craniosacral touch therapy (BCST) is a gentle, light touch technique used to release pain, tension and restrictions in the body. The focus of the work is on the craniosacral system which includes the bones of the face, skull, spine and sacrum as well the fluid and membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. The practitioner can work on the craniosacral system through your clothing on any part of the body.
The practitioner tunes into the subtle rhythms and movements of the body and allows the body to unwind and "tell it's story". Craniosacral therapy has been described as psychotherapy for the body. It is ideal for releasing past trauma and freeing up the mental, emotional and physical restrictions caused by such trauma.
What is different about Biodynamic Craniosacral “Touch” Therapy?
Biodynamic Craniosacral “Touch” Therapy or BCST is a subtle and gentle entire body approach to the human experience. BCST actually works with the core of our being, our inner core, to affect the 4 aspects of human potential - the Physical, Mental, Emotional and Spiritual aspects of the human mind/body.
Physically
Biodynamic Craniosacral Touch influences the spinal column, brain and central nervous system, along with the fluid that bathes it, the cerebral spinal fluid or CSF. From the bones of our skeletal system to the bones of the cranium and throughout the ebbing and flowing of our endocrine system, this cranial modality is gentle yet effective.
Mental
With its scientific foundations in biology, somatic psychology and neuroscience, BioDynamic Craniosacral therapy has developed from the osteopathic tradition. You will lie fully clothed facing up on a massage table, whilst the therapist uses light touch to monitor and rebalance your body's structural, fluid and energetic fields. Treatments are safe and paced, relaxing and enjoyable.
Emotionally
It is common for Biodynamic Craniosacral Touch to affect primary and very deep patterns while enabling the client with the space and resources needed to explore their emotional landscape. BCST gives the client a deep sense of resourcing within. This resourcing provides a safe place for emotional issues to be able to be resolved and healing to take place.
Spiritually
BioDynamic Craniosacral Therapy can profoundly change individual's lives by opening doors to both our hearts and soul. Biodynamic Craniosacral work is a deeply soulful and heart-centred approach to healing.
Origins
The work of Dr. W.G. Sutherland, who believed that the human system was comprised of more than simply biochemicals, bones, tissues and fluids.
As the breath of life unfolds throughout numerous layers within the body, its potency is palpable. This biodynamic ordering process expresses a deep treatment plan in order to resolve the inertial resistance found within the body. The inertia stems from unresolved trauma created by life experiences becoming encapsulated within the human system.
The Biodynamic Craniosacral “Touch’ Therapy practitioner is trained to sense different levels of stillness and is able to palpate the expression of the system as the treatment evolves according to its own ordering principal. This hands-on therapy is non-invasive and non-manipulative, it is a subtle and gentle healing experience.
For example, Dr. Sutherland experienced and described a "Creative Intelligence" which organizes and orders various layers of the human system. Tidal movement is a manifestation of this intelligence being expressed. Within the human system, 3 different tides can be sensed or palpated, these are: The Cranial Rhythmic Impulse, the Mid-Tide and the Long-Tide.
As Practitioners we use our ability to identify the parts of the nervous system that are not functioning optimally and our awareness of the “always available health” in the body to assist the system in bringing itself back into balance. This supports greater ease and helps the body decrease symptoms.
BCST is fast becoming a popular choice for supporting and healing a large range of conditions. Craniosacral therapists recognize that health is always present, even in the midst of disease. People often report feeling wholly recognised, relieved, and deeply relaxed, as well as lighter, happier, and back in touch with inner freedom. Worries, tensions and stresses are lifted. You begin to feel your natural health flow throughout your body. You feel calmer and resourced.
In optimal health, all living tissues subtly ‘breathe’, contracting and expanding. There are still-points in between. Craniosacral therapists detect and release emotional and physical restrictions throughout the body that could potentially cause sensory, motor or neurological dysfunctions, facilitating the body’s ability to heal and access wholeness.
In our natural state, the nervous system is in a state of balance. When rooted in being, optimum doing can arise. Our minds and bodies are fluid and flexible, restful and productive when required. However, in daily life our bodies become shaped by our activities and habitual thought processes. Our bodies literally hold our experiential world - past, present and future-imagined. Science appreciates this complex relationship (see, for example, Bessel Van der Kolk’s The Body Keeps The Score, and trauma expert Peter Levine’s In An Unspoken Voice).
The nervous system can become stuck in recurrent cycles of anxiety, fear, and even powerlessness. Unresolved stresses further weaken the immune system, making us prone to other conditions.
Seeking Treatment?
If you are seeking Craniosacral Therapy, you may be interested -
Seeking Training?
If you are interested in becoming a qualified Craniosacral Therapist, please read the information about our BioDynamic Craniosacral Touch Therapy Course.