Cranio-Sacral Therapy is a modern branch of a tradition whose roots are over 100 years old. Originating with the visionary work of Dr. William Garner Sutherland it has been carried through to the present by a few visionary Osteopaths Like Drs. Rolin Becker, Franklin Sills and James Jealous.

Dr. Sutherland experienced directly that "all healthy living tissues breathed rhythmically with the motion of life". This subtle "motion" is felt as one of several "enfoldments", as the" Breath of Life" moving through the tissues.

The theory is that the material body is kept alive by the presence of an energy field, known as the “bio-electric field” in physiology, and as the “spirit” in religious traditions. In China the energy that makes up this field is called “chi,” in India “prana.” The Bible refers to it as “the breath of life.” And it is a "kind of breath" - it is not static, but rather fluctuates. This fluctuating field of energy is not controlled by the body’s nervous system, but is independent of it, and, in an evolutionary sense, much older than it.

Although there is evidence that this type of subtle work has been practiced for thousands of years, it seems to have been lost to the western world during the last few hundred years at least. The earliest written reference to the “movement of the spinal nerves” and it's importance in life, clarity and “bringing quiet to the heart,” is found in the I- Ching, the Chinese Book of Changes, which is 4,000 years old. The ancient Chinese called such work “the art of listening.”

Craniosacral work differs from most other modalities by its lightness of touch, and the long, attentive duration of each contact. It's tenet is that presence, focus and gentleness are the foundations of healing. The cranial practitioner’s job is to facilitate and enhance the flow of the "Breath of Life", and thus the inherent workings of the healing response.

In the hundred years since William Sutherland first began documenting the effectiveness of cranial osteopathy, there have been more than 40 scientific papers published documenting various aspects of its effectiveness, and at least 10 authoritative textbooks published. Notable are the successful treatment of newborn children with birth defects, temporomandibular joint disorders (TMD), and psychiatric disorders. Many of the osteopathic medical schools in the USA teach it. The American Dental Association has found it to be an effective adjunct to orthodontic work.

Craniosacral work can also be highly effective in helping the return of lost mental clarity, and can help alleviate chronic depression. Some, find craniosacral touch a deeply spiritual experience. And a few find it creates a fertile ground for the kind of transformative insight that paves the way for important life changes.

In my opinion Hugh Milne D.O. and Charles Ridley D.C. have probably done the most to move this work forward into the realm of non-osteopathic practitioners (and particularly to practitioners of SI), and it is with the two of them that I study.

Studying with Milne and Ridley has helped me to deeply refine my touch sense and has profoundly influenced how I practice Structural Integration. My aim now as a Structural Integrator is to, in addition to focusing on fascial balance, always be working across the somatic continuum from gross anatomy to subtle, knowing that integration happens along (at least) 2 axis, the axis of the gross tissue body in gravity (the Connective Tissue Matrix) and the axis which aligns the gross with the subtle (the Matrix and the Breath of Life).

As a client you should be aware that CranioSacral work as a modality is fractured into several significantly different "schools of thought", (primarily biomechanical, biofunctional and biodynamic) as well as being divided between the two very different worlds of the Medical DO (a world in which, despite it's holistic roots, is itself divided as to the value of subtle manual therapy) and the non-medical "Bodyworker" (the ones who are usually advertising CST work in alternative papers). Because of these divisions, it can be confusing to a layperson when considering this therapy. There is a wide range in the approach, level of education, and quality of expertise of Practitioners. And unfortunately there are far too many people with a weekend class or two under their belt advertising themselves as CranioSacral Therapists. This is a work that takes years to develop a professional level of skill in.