Kintsugi
The Japanese art of repairing pottery using liquid gold solution can be traced to the 15th century. Now an epoxy resin solution with brass, tin and copper is used. A man came to see me after been thrown in the air by the impact of a car. He fell badly and injured his head and shoulder. The shoulder appeared to be frozen in his attempts to move it. Suspecting that the impact had affected his brain I gently held his head and followed the tide like cranial rhythm. We also worked on the co-ordination of his shoulder and neck muscles. While cradling the head in my hands I sensed something going on as if he was still in shock. The arm started to move, not completely but a definate change had taken place. After 2 or 3 sessions he said to me, “I feel like something has happened to my head. It is a sense of golden liquid trickling through the brain.” The plates in the skull are joined by tiny wiggly lines called sutures. They are like the volcanic surges under your feet in Iceland. Sealing the broken pottery with kintsugi resin leaves it stronger than before.
Craniosacral rhythm
Your brain is protected by craniosacral fluid CSF, and the meninges around the spinal chord. A tough membrane called the dura mater (Latin: tough mother) protects these delicates structures. The dura mater is attached at the top of the neck and the base of your spine called the sacrum (sacred bone, seat of emotion). Sometimes chronic headaches are related to a fall or coccyx damage many years ago. A trained craniosacral therapist or cranial osteopath can detect very small changes in pressure in your head and many points in your body. By listening with our hands and fingers we can detect the movement of the brain like a sponge gently rocking in a bath. Personally I combine the therapy with some gentle changes using your own muscles to correct imbalance in your posture. This saves multiple sessions and makes the cranial “listening with a mindful touch” more effective.
The rapid rise of a lift in a skyscraper, paddling in a big swell at sea, repeated knocks on the head, birthing trauma, falls in snowboarding or martial arts, horse riding or motor accidents can all alter the craniosacral rhythm.
Treatment with craniosacral therapy
A trained cranial osteopath or craniosacral therapist can detect small changes of pressure in the head and many points on the body. By limiting the pressure change in one area they allow the body to re-direct the fluid to areas of apparent blockage. John Upledger used to refer to energy cysts. Imagine being hit by an object. The energy from the impact lodges itself somewhere else in your body, sometimes in a different area to the impact. Viola Frymann used to quote, “The problem is where the pain isn’t”.