Wisdom in the Body

by Michael Kern

  Neutral position

  Imagine a circular see-saw with children sitting all around it. The point of balanced tension is where the weight of all the children is evenly distributed around the central fulcrum point.9 In the body, it is at this point that there is the least resistance in the tissues and the minimal amount of “push and pull.” The point of balanced tension is actually unique for each strain pattern in the body.10 Dr. Magoun describes it as, “The most neutral position possible under the influence of all the factors responsible for the existing pattern.”11 It can also be compared to putting the gears of a car in neutral.12 When a car is in neutral gear, it becomes available for movement in any direction.

  Once there is no tension being exerted in one direction or another, a state of greater ease is accessed in which the forces held within an inertial fulcrum can most easily resolve. Therefore, by accessing a point of balanced tension a doorway is created through which the dissipation of inertia and the re-organization of a pattern can take place.

  Facilitating the stillness

  As much as tissues may naturally seek to move towards the neutral of a point of balanced tension, they may be rendered unable to do so by the patterning and demands of various pushes and pulls operating within our physiology. It is then that some gentle hands-on encouragement from a practitioner is required.

  One of the main ways to encourage a point of balanced tension is to facilitate a slowing in the patterns of craniosacral motion around the particular fulcrum being worked with. This is done by the introduction of subtle suggestions of stilling from the practitioner’s hands. When a point of balanced tension is found, the motion within the involved tissues and fluids settles. Although relatively active skills of facilitation are sometimes used (when working at the level of the C.R.I.), there are no added forces that need to be applied. The stillness is simply found by following tissue or fluid patterns anywhere within their expressed range of motion, and then making the suggestion. A point of balanced tension can often be facilitated at or near a boundary within this range of motion.

  Local stillpoint

  When the point of balanced tension is reached, the tissues and fluids settle into a neutral position. This is sometimes referred to as a local stillpoint, as this stillness is localized to the particular tissues and fluids around the fulcrum being worked with. This is essentially a position at which the body can make its own adjustments. When it is reached, the practitioner need only wait for the intrinsic forces of the patient’s own physiology to get to work. We can, as Dr. Sutherland used to say, “Rely upon the Tide.”13

  As tissues and fluids move towards a point of balanced tension, pulsations, vibrations or other motions sometimes appear as a re-organization starts to take place. When any trapped potency is released, heat is often given off. It is here that old memories locked in the body can also come to the surface and begin their process of resolution. Therefore, stressful experiences that we may have been unable to integrate previously may be revisited. As long as the body is then able to access the necessary resources, the dissipation of trapped potencies and the process of healing can be completed.

  Eye of the needle

  The point of balanced tension has been compared to the “eye of the needle.”14 It is a precise opening through which suspended forces are able to pass, in a similar way to how thread is passed through the eye of a needle. The threading of these suspended forces can be a palpable experience. As the Breath of Life becomes once more able to permeate the tissues and fluids, it may at first be felt as just a trickle, then perhaps a bubbling, followed by a stream, until the area breathes openly and primary respiration is fully restored. During this process one young boy described how he could feel his face literally changing shape as his birth trauma started to resolve. “It’s just like in the film The Mask!” he exclaimed.15

  The stillness at the point of balanced tension can also act as a doorway that opens to deeper levels of primary respiratory function. Perceptions of deeper tidal forces and of more profound states of stillness can unfold from this place. As we pass through the eye of the needle provided by a point of balanced tension, a reconnection with our deeper forces of health can occur. At this point, it is common to experience the slower rhythms of the mid-tide and the long tide which can then come more into relationship with our everyday physiological functioning.

  States of balance

  In biodynamic craniosacral practice, the emphasis of treatment is on working with the deeper tidal rhythms of primary respiration as a starting point. When relating to these deeper tides, the forces that organize tissue and fluid patterns can be more directly related to. Therefore, when treatment is orientated to the mid-tide or long tide, an opportunity is created from the onset for the patient’s physiology to become touched by the deeper aspects of the Breath of Life and the blueprint for health it carries.

  At these levels of function, because there is a more direct relationship to resources and health, the practitioner can become more aware of the natural tendencies of the patient’s system to find balance (see “Mid-tide skills” section). In fact, when a connection to resources has been established, states of settling, stillness and balancing around a particular fulcrum will often occur naturally. This kind of stillness is referred to as a state of balance.16

  In many instances, a patient’s physiology can simply be followed into the stillness of a state of balance. However, sometimes this natural tendency requires some support, in which case it can be facilitated by subtle invitations introduced through the practitioner’s hands. Any natural priorities of motion in the pattern around the fulcrum can be followed and then the invitation of stillness introduced. Once the settling and stillness of a state of balance has occurred, a deep opportunity is provided for self-healing.

  Balance of underlying forces

  Although, in principle, a state of balance is similar to a point of balanced tension, it refers to a balancing of the forces that underlie any tissue tension patterns rather than just the results of those forces. At a point of balanced tension, local tensions involving tissues and fluids find a neutral place of stillness, but in states of balance a neutral is found in the deeper forces that organize these patterns. Points of balanced tension occur at the level of the cranial rhythmic impulse, but states of balance refer to neutral states that can be accessed within the deeper unfoldments of the Breath of Life.

  Remember that the biodynamic potency of the Breath of Life is the intrinsic natural force within the body. In addition, the body contains the added forces of any stresses it has retained—the biokinetic potencies. The state of balance occurs when all of these forces gathered around a fulcrum reach a state of dynamic equilibrium.

  Systemic equilibrium

  Furthermore, a state of balance is a systemic phenomenon. It is accessed within the unified field of tissues, fluids and potency as the whole physiology of the patient moves into a deeper state of equilibrium around the fulcrum being worked with. As one patient commented, “All of my stresses felt suspended. I lost sense of time.” Another patient reported, “At the beginning of the session I noticed how unsettled and uneasy my body felt. This feeling intensified to start with, but then all these sensations converged towards something in the center of me … and my headache disappeared!”

  In states of balance, a transformation of inertial patterns can occur from within as we reconnect with deeper aspects of the Breath of Life and its inherent healing principle.

  Mysterious gateway

  A state of balance provides a doorway leading to yet deeper levels of function. It is another “eye of the needle” that is also sometimes referred to as a “mysterious gateway.”17 It can be seen as a kind of pregnant pause full of healing potential and from which new life can emerge. It offers a gateway to other realms of experience, a kind of “crack between the worlds.”18 Through this mysterious gateway, even deeper states of being can become apparent, as deeper and deeper states of balance may be accessed. This can be a progressive
process, as balance is found first at the level of the cranial rhythmic impulse, then the mid-tide and then the long tide, perhaps eventually leading to a reconnection with the dynamic stillness at the basis of all function. The settling into deeper and deeper states of balance leads us to the very heart of healing.19

  Three-step healing process

  After many years of clinical experience, Dr. Rollin Becker recognized that the process of craniosacral treatment can be simply broken down into three essential phases.20 The first, the seeking phase, involves a recognition that the tissues, fluids and potencies of the patient naturally seek the greatest balance possible. There is an inherent tendency towards this balance, which the practitioner either simply needs to follow, or perhaps gently support with his hands. Essentially, this is a process of following or facilitating tissues, fluids and potencies into states of greater settling and ease until their neutral is found.

  Phase two, the settling phase or what Dr. Becker calls “a pause-rest period,” is when a state of balance is reached. 21 A dynamic equilibrium is found within the whole field of tissues, fluids and potencies around the inertial fulcrum being worked with. It is marked by a temporary stillness of motion around the fulcrum. This state is the essence of the therapeutic process, as it creates the optimal conditions for inertial forces to be resolved. When tissue and fluid motion restarts from this state of stillness, something changes.

  The third and last phase of treatment, the re-organization phase, is when primary respiration resumes within the tissues and fluids after a change has taken place. When this happens, there is a shift towards a better balance and symmetry of motion around its natural automatically shifting fulcra. The practitioner can then notice changes that have taken place and assess any inertia remaining.

  Here’s a summary of the three-step healing process:

  Phase One Seeking: tissues, fluids and potencies seek a state of balance.

  Phase Two Settling: a state of balance is reached and “something happens.”

  Phase Three Re-organization: motion resumes and a change takes place.

  INHERENT TREATMENT PLAN

  We use our hands diagnostically, perceptually, and therapeutically—that’s how simple and profound this is. We are not listening for symptoms but for a pre-established priority set in motion by the Health of the patient.22

  DR. JAMES JEALOUS

  As noted, tissues, fluids and potencies have a natural tendency to seek balance. This movement towards wellness is an ever-present force, driven by our biodynamic resources and the blueprint for health that they carry.

  The conditioning and patterning of the body is organized very precisely, as our physiology intelligently centers unresolved stresses and strains in ways that provide the best possible compensation. Consequently, in the same way that there is an intelligent arrangement to how conditioning is held, so too there is an intelligent (and precise) way that these experiences can be worked out. In other words, specific priorities for healing are also present within us. This is a physiological wisdom that knows best how to resolve our inertial patterns. These natural priorities of healing are referred to as the inherent treatment plan.

  If the practitioner can identify the needs of the inherent treatment plan, the process of healing is greatly supported. This requires a certain way of listening to and following the patient’s physiology, as the tissues, fluids and potencies naturally seek a resolution. As Dr. Becker observes, “We have … to allow physiological function within the patient to literally train us. We seek to learn: Where is the health in this patient? How do I get it to the surface? The body physiology is literally training us.”23 This essentially involves getting out of the way and becoming a servant of this intelligence.

  In this approach, the patient is looked at from the inside-out, rather than from the outside-in.24 As an outsider looking in, it’s usually more difficult to know what needs to happen, but as an insider looking out, it’s easier to follow the natural priorities of treatment as they unfold. Following these priorities is not only the most real and effective way of supporting cure, but it also eliminates unwanted side-effects. It works with what Dr. Becker called “the bioenergy of wellness … the most powerful force in the world.”25 It may seem uncanny, but the natural wisdom in the body unfailingly knows what it needs next to find optimal balance.

  Letting go of conditions

  As discussed in Chapter 6, the establishment of a clear and appropriate relational field between patient and practitioner is the starting point of this inquiry and will determine any outcome.26 To listen for the priorities of the inherent treatment plan it becomes necessary for the practitioner to work with a wide perceptual field and orientate to the expressions of primary respiration (i.e., expressions of health) within the patient’s physiology.

  The inherent treatment plan is actually the easiest possible way that a particular stress pattern can resolve, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that the first problems to show themselves are the first places that need to be worked with. In fact, it may take many minutes of tuning-in to someone’s primary respiratory system before what’s really important starts to get revealed. This is similar to what may take place if you meet an old friend for the first time in ages. If you ask, “How are you doing?” he or she may tell you all the things that have been happening, but it’s only after a while that they get down to what’s really important. Therefore, it’s helpful for the practitioner to not follow the first inertial patterns that show themselves or get distracted by initial symptoms, but to wait until any “neural chatter” has settled. By letting go of any conditioned patterns of motion and keeping an orientation to the health within the patient, an opportunity is created for deeper needs to get expressed.

  Holistic shift

  Typically, perhaps after a number of minutes, a palpable shift occurs within the patient’s physiology as a systemic settling takes place. This is sometimes called a holistic shift,27 and may be felt as the patient’s physiology expressing a quality of wholeness rather than fragmentation. This signifies a change in orientation from conditioned patterns of motion to a connection with resources and health. At this point, the practitioner may get the sense that they are holding “one thing,” as the unity of tissues, fluids and potency can be more directly sensed. The holistic shift may also go through stages of deepening in quality. Dr. Becker describes this process as, “When the will of the patient lets go into the will of primary respiration.” It is actually the best starting point for session work, as the inherent treatment plan can begin to unfold from this place. The holistic shift can take up to ten minutes to manifest. It can be facilitated when a practitioner simply:

  Keeps orienting to the expressions of primary respiration;

  Keeps letting go of conditioned motion patterns;

  Patiently listens within a wider perceptual field.

  Activation or dissociation

  Sometimes, if someone is very stressed or traumatized, a holistic shift cannot be accessed. Particularly, in states of sympathetic nervous system activation or in states of dissociation, it may be difficult to connect with the physiological resources that signify the emergence of a holistic shift. In these cases, the practitioner may need to help build resources as a prerequisite to working with the inherent treatment plan and dealing with any specific patterns of inertia. The facilitation of stillpoints is a core skill that can assist in this process (see later “Stillpoints” section).

  Engagement from within

  Once a reconnection to resources has been established, the potency expressed within the patient can begin to clarify the priorities for treatment. A movement of potency then occurs towards the particular inertial fulcrum that is ready to be worked with, displaying this fulcrum as a major focal point around which the expression of primary respiration is organized. This may be experienced as a welling up of potency in a particular area, as well as the whole tensile field of tissues, fluids and potency starting to orient around one particular inertial fulcrum.
In effect, a decision is made from within the patient and a particular inertial fulcrum becomes uncoupled from all the rest.

  The practitioner can then go to the indicated area to facilitate a state of balance, providing the patient’s physiology with the greatest possibility for healing. Sometimes gentle encouragements or reminders offered through the practitioner’s hands may be needed to access a state of balance and resolve the inertial potencies held at the fulcrum (see later “Particular conversations” section). Once the fulcrum has resolved, potency may start to shift to another area of the body, and then to another, as different inertial fulcra become resolved. However, the practitioner may never actually know what needs to happen next, as these decisions are made by the organizing biodynamic forces in the body. These shifts in potency towards an inertial fulcrum are sometimes clearer to palpate in the inhalation phase of primary respiration, when there is a natural surge of potency entering the whole system.