Written by Mary Reis; edited by Giorgia Milne
This past week, at the end of a cranial session, my client said to me, “I’m gonna get me a job like you got… Just grab the feet and listen to the story.” I loved her simple and somewhat accurate description of the work.
I had held her feet for the entire session and, in a way, “listened” to her story. The “story” was the felt sense of cranial / tidal rhythms coursing through her system. My job, or disposition, was to just be. To be with the motion present, to be with motion as it is, and palpate with not just my hands, but with my whole being, while sensing into the back of my heart. Following & trusting the tide, and simply being present; sensing what I felt and being aware of the felt-sense qualities, characteristics, and impact or effect on the tonal atmosphere. This approach to cranial work is known as Biodynamic Cranial Touch (BCT), aka Stillness Touch.
BCT senses into what is. As therapists we do not direct the treatment or try to “fix” anything. Without looking for anything in particular, we sense into our midlines & the SA Node in the back of our hearts. While doing so — truly sensing into our bodies & not “thinking” our way into sensing — we orient to the wholeness, which is where the health is.
This disposition of unwavering presence allows Primary Respiration to take control of the session. Primary Respiration is a rhythmic motion that shows up when we are embryos, before our hearts begin to beat (that’s why it’s called “Primary”). It is a slow, living, breathing (or respiratory) motion. It is what guides our growth, development, and healing in utero, and throughout the rest of our lives.
Primary Respiration can be felt when we slow down, get out of our heads, and perceive directly through a whole-body-felt-sense-awareness. As therapists sensing into our midlines and orienting to wholeness, allowing Primary Respiration to take over, we can feel different tidal rhythms and types of stillness:
Fluid Tide
Long Tide
Dynamic Stillness
Pure Breath of Love
Each of these tides and/or stillness have a distinct rhythm and common qualities. Fluid Tide’s rhythm is 2.5 cycles per minute, while Long Tide’s is even slower. Dynamic Stillness is a deep stillness that spreads through the whole body, that is alive and full of potential or power. Pure Breath of Love can manifest in infinite ways — with any or all of the other tides, and its crystalline qualities can leave one in a state of bliss. These tides and stillnesses course through the entire bodymind, and beyond the body boundary. They are different manifestations of Primary Respiration, and they are the health in the body. Perceiving these emanations while still sensing ourselves within unwavering presence, we allow the health / wholeness to guide the session.
Interesting to note, the CranioSacral Rhythm (CSR) — the expansion / contraction cycle that happens 6-14 times per minute in the craniosacral system — is usually NOT felt in BCT work because Primary Respiration is in charge. Palpating the CSR requires a different disposition. The practitioner senses into the specific structures of the client’s craniosacral system (bone, fluid, membrane and nervous system). But unlike the inward sensing of the therapist from within their own body boundary in BCT, the therapist primarily senses into the client’s craniosacral system to assess its state. Primary Respiration recedes into the background, much like the wildlife and insects do when we hike through the woods. With in-depth knowledge of the craniosacral system, the practitioner takes control and assesses the system, making changes in order to optimize it. It is a “fix-it” approach, or therapy. The more subtle Primary Respiration remains elusive and the CSR becomes prominent.
The client I mentioned earlier likes to say, “I don’t know what you are doing to me, but it sure works!” She comes for BCT work because “I don’t have much going right for my spine”, and when she leaves, in addition to having less pain in her back, her bladder problem diminishes. I am not focusing on or trying to change any of the symptoms she comes in with, nor am I assessing her system for treatment purposes. Yet the process of sitting in presence & orienting to wholeness, helps ease them all.
If you are interested in orienting to wholeness and sitting in stillness, Giorgia Milne will return to the Gainesville area to offer the introductory level course: Biodynamic Cranial Touch Initiatory Course. Class happens Friday August 23rd to Sunday August 25th at Casa Micanopy, and offers 24 CE’s. For more information or to register for the course, contact Mary Reis at 352-246-6280, or maryreis@me.com. Giorgia’s website has more information about the work: www.touchofpresence.com.
