Some Words About Craniasacral Therapy

In the course of my quests I’ve come across this field of knowledge.

You may remember from the course of anatomy you had at school that the skull consists of separate bones attached to each other in a specific way. Such places of attachment are called cranial sutures. The bones in sutures preserve their mobility in respect of each other, though only by some fractions of a millimeter. Actually these phenomena are studied by cranial osteopathy and craniasacral therapy (they differ in their points of application: the first one is focused on skull bones, the object of the second one is the dura mater, the so called membranes that separate the right brain from the left brain, the cerebrum from the little brain (cerebellum).

The skull bones “slide apart” according to a specific rhythm (don’t forget these are only fractures of a millimeter) as if increasing the intracranial volume, and then come back, reducing the volume accordingly. It is rather difficult to detect this movement instrumentally (though in English-language publications we can find research works done with the use of cerebral MRT) but one can sense it with one’s hands. They argue much about what it is and what is the reason of it. The official medicine is sceptical about this issue. I believe that the sticking point here is that scientific medicine mainly deals with physical aspect of a man, while osteopathy takes a wider look at him – at least it takes into account his etheric element. So that both osteopath and craniasacral therapist have one point of application – the etheric body. By the way, the Galen’s (1^st cent. AD) famous saying “The best doctor is also a philosopher” pushes the boundaries of materialistic view of a man )))

Rhythmic change of the skull volume is a specific instance of a more large-scale phenomenon. I have called this phenomenon the etheric breathing. The etheric body increases rhythmically (etheric inhalation) and then reduces its volume (the etheric exhalation). This rhythm differs from the respiratory rate and the heartbeat rate. We can sense it in every part of the body (with help of our hands – by palpation). Separate parts of our body move relative to each other in compliance with a certain pattern (in particular, the craniasacral movement of skull (from Lat. cranium) – the edgebone (sacral bone, from Lat. sacrum); the body diaphragm (the phrenic, the pelvic diaphragm); inner organs).

By doing yoga we affect the rhythm, the amplitude and the symmetry of the etheric breathing. The work with musculoskeletal system in asanas enables us to “reach for” the skull as well. The malfunction of the skull bones (insufficient mobility of separate joints, asymmetry of moves) is revealed and confirmed through muscular asymmetry of the body.

This is the reason of why yoga admires me: for every situation there is a solution proposed))) I think yoga includes the methods and means of working with the cranial system (the skull and the membranes) directly. They are the vibration techniques – bramari, mantras, some of pranayamas; actually, asanas have their influence upon this system as well. The only nuance here is that every practice has concrete points of application and “indications”. And it is here that we in fact come to necessity of understanding and comprehending the things that we do with our body.

PS.  So this is what occult anatomy (оccult – from lat.оccultus hidden, concealed; anatomy – from Greek anatome – to cut open; the study of the body plan) is.