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Rising with the sunrise
Dying with the sunset
I make this moment my only longing
My only pilgrimage
… this moment is everything!
-Osho- |
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In the process of attempting to express an aspect of Biodynamic Craniosacral that most interests me, I have gained invaluable experience. Just as if meeting a new client, this work has been an organic entity to whom I have had to learn to ground myself, define clear space, listen attentively, and witness what is. I have had to be non-judgmental, accepting what is and not to what I would like it to be, and finally learn to let the master unfold its divine wisdom. It is within the silence, here in the stillness, that I have found the real juice, the ultimate destiny, the purest wellspring of Life. It is my intention therefore, to demonstrate that the core principles of biodynamic craniosacral are in fact synonymous with the principles of meditation and self-realization. I will share seeds of wisdom from many different sources that resonate the same magic and wisdom I have found in the Biodynamic Model. Through presence, listening, passive and non-judgmental being we have access to our true nature, our connection with divine wholeness. This work in other words, is a humble expression of the gratitude I have for the peace and simplicity I have found within the Breath of Life.
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- Buddha said, “As long as I had no knowledge of the treasures within me, all outside things seemed valuable. Now since I have found the diamond within, all earthly diamonds have paled into insignificance." Chandrakanthan
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| The Core Principles: |
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Osteopathy was born through Dr. William Sutherland & Dr. Andrew Taylor Still. The experience of learning about and exploring the body scientifically, brought them into contact with the spiritual. Although their literature and talks were infused with mystical wisdom, in their time the world was not ready to receive this aspect of the work. Although both osteopathy and the cranial model became ‘medicalised’, modern practitioners and teachers around the world live in a fertile climate for spiritual expression. They now have the freedom to reweave the spiritual into Craniosacral. Many practitioners support their work and teachings with various meditation techniques, Buddhist influences, shamanism, and other spiritual and religious dimensions. It is on this basis that I have organized Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy into a few core principles. In general it is what I use when working with a client. They also represent how I approach Life’s gifts and challenges in any given moment.
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| The First Principle |
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The first principle I wish to address is presence. The present moment is the key springboard for all biodynamic work. It has always a deep contemplation of mine that if this moment is the only moment, than why is healing not possible right now? It is in the present that we can connect to the source, the potency of Life, the original matrix of health, silence, and genuine healing. Dr. Rollin Becker has stated that, "Patients and their problems do not retrace steps to return to health. Health is NOW."(Kern, p.228) This is our fountain of youth, our paradise, and the peaceful domain that I call home. "Within the Dynamic Stillness we are healed without process or time. From the Breath of Life a new living matrix is created in each moment. The Tide brings us the power of Life and ‘feeds’ us. … We are following motion to its Source; the finite and infinite into the Whole." (James S. Jealous)
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The present has nothing to do with time. If you are just here in this moment …there is immense silence, stillness, no movement; everything has come to a sudden stop. The present gives you the opportunity to dive deep into the water of life, or to fly high into the sky of life …once you have tasted the juices of the present …once you are in tune with life then nothing matters. And to me, life is all there is. (Osho, p.59)
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According to many spiritual masters, the present moment is all there is. In other words, consciousness is here and now. There is no past nor a future, there is only now. Problems, suffering arise when we are not in the present, when we are not ‘present’, when we are not presence itself. "We are very seldom able to be truly in the present and yet it is where the Spirit is, in the everlasting now, imminent, not in some other place … The Spirit is right here and now, in all of us. We are here because Spirit has incarnated."(Boxhall) Similarly, Jonathan Bethel explains that within shamanism, "the silent watcher within that is in the world, but not of it. Every moment is a test … attempting to pull us into division and suffering. Only by yielding to the moment and abiding in the now, does master achieve success."
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There is a very simple way to ground ourselves in the present moment. Through the groundbreaking work of Peter Levine, and his understanding of trauma, we come to use what he calls the felt sense. The vehicle of spirit, our body, is therefore our vehicle for presence. He defines the felt sense as “a medium though which we experience the fullness of sensation and knowledge about ourselves.”(Levine, p.8) By simply bringing awareness to the sensations within our body her and now, we can delicately look at different events, perhaps traumatic, that have changed our way of being. Peter Levine also uses the technique of titration, slowly looking at a traumatic event by looping between a safe place and the felt sense. Furthermore, it is by using the felt sense that we are taken beyond suffering, the separation from our source which is available to us here now. Levine shares that “The past doesn’t matter when we learn how to be present; every moment becomes new and creative. We have only to heal our present symptoms and proceed. A healing moment ripples forward and back, out and about.”(p.39)
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| The Second Principle |
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The second principle can be called being in the core. Once we are present, it is then essential to connect with our core, our primal midline, the center of our being. I allows us to be the both the mirror and the anchor for our clients as they journey into their beings. According to Michael Shea, the term Biodynamic actually comes from the embryological research of Eric Blechschmidt. He states that from our primal development, “there is a force found in the fluids of the embryo that … organizes the developing embryo.
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The force permeates all cells of the body and a matrix of connectedness or “wholeness” is generated.” He also states that “the form and function of the whole embryo and human body is oriented to the stillness found in the cellular midline of the embryo.” He goes on to say that “The heart, which starts at the top of the head, deeply bows and ends up at the center of the circle. Thus, wholeness is experienced as a … complete circle, bowing to its inner nature.” (Shea, p.iv) Moreover, James Jealous describes that "The Breath of Life comes into the body. We can sense various rhythms that are created from it, and we can perceive that process taking place … We can actually perceive the Breath of Life come into the body, come into the midline, generate different forms of rhythms in the bioelectric field, fluids and tissue. Essentially what’s happening is genesis. It never stops. Moment to moment we are building new form and function." (Kern, p.25) It is from this humble place of honoring that Life has been Breathed into our being, out of silence and in love, that we are able to be present with humility and openness.
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Moreover, when we reach into the core of our being, we ground ourselves in the present with deep understanding. We are able to approach the moment refreshed ourselves, re-sourced, from a place that is fresh and new. Some call this the ‘beginner’s mind’. “The more a person goes deeper into himself, the more mature he is. When he has reached the very center of his being, he is perfectly mature. But at that moment the person disappears, only a presence remains; the self disappears, only silence remains. The knowledge disappears, only innocence remains."(Osho, p.90) He goes on to say that "The real juice of life is within you. This very moment you can turn within yourself, look into yourself. No worship is needed, no prayer is needed. All that is needed is a silent journey into your own being. I call it meditation, a silent pilgrimage into your own being. And the moment you find your own center, you have found the center of the whole existence." (Osho, Gold Nuggets, p.177)
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| The Third Principle |
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The third principle of a biodynamic life is coming into relationship. I know that Biodynamic Craniosacral came along my path because I was searching for a kind of healing, both for my self and the practice of healing in relation with others that spoke to my heart. It addressed my need to be in meditation, silence, the present moment, and a way in which I could be free of the restraints of my ‘doing’ mind. Now that I have simple keys to help me be present, and grounded in my core, I can then be ready to listen for the impulse to connect. According to Buddhist influences, it is said that "suffering is relational in nature … [and] the healing process is likewise relational in nature. … Its origins are found within the dynamic tension generated by the relationship between emptiness and form.”(Karuna Institute) I have found therefore, that “The Breath of Life as an Intelligence is doing its best to transform both the therapist and the client.” (Shea, p.6)
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To expand on this principle, there is no "I" that is responsible for healing clients, Life is, Health is, Presence is! "I" may be the facilitator through my humble presence and integrity, and only then true work can happen. "There is no doer and no done to. There is only the joint practice. And I may not know what has taken place on a structural level, and the client may not know, and both those are scary, and it is perfect and who is scared, not me, only my ego!" (Boxhall, 2005) And Biodynamic Craniosacral is truly a joint practice. I am at One with the person I am treating, and Health is running the show! Because of this I no longer feel as if I need to give answers, even if I had them to give, because I am merely the witness to the work that happens in the individual. As Michael Shea notes, the Breath of Life “exists not to be understood, but rather to be appreciated.”(Shea, p.6) In the space of a session, it is such a precious gift to be able to bear witness to creation, genesis happening every moment!
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| The Fourth Principle |
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Once we have come into contact with the client, or come into relationship with whatever being-ness is happening, we encounter the fourth principle: listening. Eckhart Tolle speaks of the awareness of the "empty" space, the space between. He invites us to “pay attention to the gap - the gap between two thoughts, the brief, silent space between words in a conversation, between notes of a piano or flute, or the gap between the in-breath and out-breath. When we pay attention to those gaps, awareness of "something" becomes --- just awareness. The formless dimension of pure consciousness arises from within you and replaces identification with form.” It is important to note that when working with the human body we need to be aware of form through the anatomical complexities of the human design, so that we understand the difference between expressions of health and illness. More importantly however, we must not latch on to the movements of symptoms, but listen for the Health of the system. ”It is the stillness of the Tide, not the stormy waves that bounce upon the shore, that has the potency, the power.”(Sutherland, p.16) And simply being aware is healing in and of itself. Mike Boxhall has stated that, "There is no difference between this work and meditation."(Working from Stillness) He goes on to share that "The secret … is in our state of presence … I need to meditate and come into a state of being which is relatively un-attached. If I can be unattached … observation without judgment is compassion – Karuna …I am ready to receive what is offered … whether it comes into awareness or not!"(Boxhall, 2005)
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With strong roots in my core, I experience that when I find myself amidst a great deal of movement and noise, the presence of silence is even greater. When I look see a tree swaying in the wind, hearing the wind through its bows, I feel a simultaneous presence of Silence. I feel as if only silence truly is. Conversely, "When you are not in meditation you are separated from existence, and that is your suffering. It’s the same as when you take a fish out of the ocean … because the ocean is where he belongs, he is part of the ocean and cannot remain apart. Any suffering is simply indicative that you are not in communion with existence, that the fish is not in the ocean. Meditation is nothing but withdrawing all the barriers – thoughts, emotions, sentiments – which create a wall between you and existence [existing]. The moment they drop, you suddenly find yourself in tune with the whole: not only in tune, you really find you are the whole." (Osho, Simply Silence)
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It is listening to the individual’s system, to a story that wants or needs to be told, that opens doors to liberating Life force, that which has been occupied in containing the untold event. The art of listening needs to happen without judgment or interpretation. "The heart of the therapeutic work is not to change our self nature, but to penetrate it and appreciate our inherent freedom … Both therapist and client are thus on a mutual journey of exploration in which their processes are interdependent …extend[ing] into a mutually arising field of consciousness." (Boxhall, 2005)
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| The Fifth Principle |
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This leads us to the fifth principle of biodynamic spirituality, a core principle of meditation and therapeutic practice, being without judgment. It takes awareness to be. It takes discipline to be non-judgmental. As human beings we have the gift of the mind – an incredible tool of awareness and exploration, it is also a relentless vehicle of analysis and control! When working with a client, it takes discipline not to want to figure it all out, not to want to understand what is going on inside them and offer explanations through our limited field of reference. It takes, therefore, a great deal of trust just to allow things to be as they are. "Trust simply means that whatever happens we are with it, joyously. Not reluctantly, not unwillingly – then you miss the whole point – but dancingly, with a song, with a laughter, with love. Whatever happens is for the good. Existence cannot go wrong. If it does not fulfill our desires, that simply means that our desires were wrong."(Osho, p.156)
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The following two poems speak of the wealth of being without judgment.
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| The Guest House |
This being human is the guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
a momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture.
Still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
Meet them at the door laughing
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes
because each guest has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
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Tao Te Ching
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In the beginning was the Tao.
All things issue from it;
All things return to it.
To find the origin,
trace back the manifestations.
When you recognize the children
and find the mother,
you will be free of sorrow.
If you close your mind in judgments
and traffic with desires,
your heart will be troubled.
If you keep your mind from judging
And aren’t led by the senses, your heart will find peace.
Seeing into darkness is clarity.
Knowing how to yield is strength.
Use your own light
and return to the source of light.
This is called practicing eternity.
(Mitchell, 1988)
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Not only is it essential for us to meet each new moment with as it is, new and unique, just as it is, we must also be aware of effort-ing. The founding fathers of the cranial concept spoke of the inherent intelligence within the system and the need to allow its work to happen.
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| The Sixth Principle |
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This brings us to the sixth principal, non-doing. "The heart of this work is doing nothing, just being in awareness and accepting, completely without judgment or reaction, whatever we are being shown. The deeper intelligence … knows what it needs to do. This, I believe is what Sutherland meant by "rely on the Tide.""(Boxhall, Working from Stillness) The essence of not doing, is being! It is trusting in the force that organizes, creates and maintains Health. This is difficult to explain to a client when attempting to describe the work, but it is the truth! I will further expand on this topic throughout the paper.
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Lao Tzu
There is no need to run outside
For better seeing,
Nor peer from a window. Rather abide
At the center of your being …
Search your heart and see …
The way to do is to be.
(Kern, p.122)
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Tao Te Ching
If you realize that all things change,
there is nothing you will try to hold on to.
If you aren’t afraid of dying,
There is nothing you can’t achieve.
Trying to control the future
is like trying to take the master carpenter’s place.
When you handle the master carpenter’s tools,
chances are you’ll cut your hand.
(Mitchell, p.74)
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| The Seventh Principle |
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In recognizing and trusting in the Tide, we also remove the subject and object, the therapist and client, and are simply free to be. It is our presence, and yet conscious giving of space that allows the alchemy of the moment to be healing. We allow Health to be, and do what it needs to in order to maintain balance and harmony. Similarly, if we remove the object of silence (the master), and the subject (the disciple), we are free to be the master, and are free to be silence itself. And again with the example of Tantra, we remove the object of love, and becoming Love itself. Two beings meet in meditation, they deepen the expression of silence. Simply being together, neither following nor identifying with the movements that may tempt them, they just allow. They are totally open, without expectations, agendas or judgments, allowing whatever needs to arise and be seen. Both individuals can sit back in the master’s chair and the mystery unfolds by itself. It is deeply rich and nourishing, and allows both individuals to see each other as the divine beings they truly are.
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The essence of prayer
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Silence calls to me, it haunts my every breath.
It beckons me home with unrelenting simplicity.
It is everything I see, everywhere I look, everything I am.
Sky bound the clouds drift its wings.
Liquid diamonds dance of a lake, reflecting hollow riches.
Summer’s insect symphony relentlessly echoes the call.
I kneel in prayer, heart open to the earth that hosts my being,
and waves of exquisite love flow through me.
I am nothing and everything at once.
I silently laugh at this unfathomable wealth.
Blessings cannot begin to honor this grace,
and I can do nothing but give up my face.
My separate self falls and love rises to meet it.
I say nothing, and eternally am.
Listen, the love-r is amidst us.
Sweet liquid drops of emptiness fall from your lips.
I dive into the exquisite pool of wonder, and offer everything I am not –
that we may dance in eternity. – Kaveesha -
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| The Eighth Aspect |
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The eighth aspect of a biodynamic way of life is recognizing our connection to Source, Health, and the Original Matrix. Many of us during our sessions, go to ‘that place’. It is indescribable, unknowable, deep, dark, silent, and timeless. It is what is referred to as Dynamic Stillness – still, yet absolutely potent. Mike Boxall relates, that "As there is no awareness of, just awareness, pure and simple, there will be no awareness of being in this place whilst one is in it … you don’t know where you have been until you come back." There is a Rumi poem that reminds me of being with Health.
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Do not sit long with a sad friend.
When you go to a garden,
do you look at thorns or flowers?
Spend more time with roses and jasmine
(Moyne, p.21)
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Such a connection to the fountain of youth, being able to return to our source, to rest in pure silence, stillness, is a luxury that is our birthright. We were created from silence, with stillness as our midline, love as our center, and Intelligence to guide us. This abundance is truly a miracle, and at any given moment we can rest in that pool. Diving into the emptiness that is our home, truly resting our weary minds and bodies until we are refreshed and ready to face life anew.
When I know that this resource is available to us all, I call upon it in times of need. When holding a client in my hands, and facing a moment where I truly don’t know what to do, where to go – I am lost, helpless, I call upon the masters, guides, teachers, Intelligence, and the Divine to help us both. I say a prayer. The more I work with people, and be-ings, the more I realize that I know nothing. I don’t know how to describe what happens other than to say that there is always a miracle. It seems that at this point the ‘I’ is truly out of the way, and the “master mechanic” is free to do its work.
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There is thus, without a doubt a higher force existing within and maintaining our beings. Dr. Sutherland explains that “Within th[e] cerebrospinal fluid there is an invisible element that I refer to as the “Breath of Life”.” He elaborates by asking us to visualize this “as a fluid within this fluid … something that has potency as the thing that makes it move.”(Sutherland, p.14) He calls it Intelligence with a capital I, and Dr. A.T. Still calls it ‘the highest known element in the body’." He trusted this Intelligence so much that he taught, “it is something that you can depend on to do the work for you. In other words, don’t try to drive the mechanism through any external force. Rely upon the Tide.” Trusting in this higher force means that we are never alone with the work, and we are only responsible for the integrity of the space we hold for the individual. The deeper our personal work, meditation and self-healing has gone, the deeper the space we can hold for the being in our hands.
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As an example, I had once heard that my master Osho was even conscious at his conception. This was a phenomenon that I thought was surely possible, but not within my reach. In my very first biodynamic class however, I was able to experience it. I had always experienced panic when being held at the head. In my biomechanical craniosacral training, I went through a great deal of trauma, and saw that I made progress in that respect. Now, being held by a beginner, with love and tenderness, my death, dissolution, and conception was revealed to me. I initially experienced a feeling of panic, and then realized that here now I was safe. I was able to bring into my felt sense the experience of total expansion and nothingness, and sense that as part of my inner existence in the body. I had reconciled with form and grounded the presence of the divine within me. It also allowed me to truly comprehend that the process of creation is happening every moment through the Breath of Life.
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I wish to be an authentic human being divinely, expressing love, and radiating peace and silence. The extension of this expression is recognizing "Spirit … is a vital principle, that which is the source of life. Let us talk of spirit as that which underlies all form and from which all from derives, and in that understanding, let us realize that the body, mind, feelings, thoughts, desires, even birth death, the concept and the reality of re-incarnation are all form, all arising out of Spirit. It is not possible to work with the Spirit from form it is only possible to become the Spirit.” (Boxhall, 2005) Through the recognition of our inner divinity, we can both recognize and mirror it in the presence of other beings. This expands the web of healing throughout Life, and feeds the possibility that we will find a peace not only within, but also without.
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Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. “In a real sense all life is inter-related. All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever effects one directly affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the inter-related structure of reality.” (Kern, p.57)
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And now that we have addressed the different facets of the same diamond, the circle that prays to itself, is now open. As Dr. Becker astutely points out, "I feel we have the opportunity to go deeper into the study of stillness."(Becker, p.72) For me this is an invitation to put the theory into practice. In the first place, it is a spiritual homecoming just being able to sense the craniosacral system. The first moment I was guided into sensing it, I nearly exploded with excitement! I recognized the flow as something that I have been feeling in my body my entire life, but have never had the words to describe. I felt as if a veil had been lifted and I had come home to such a magical aspect of my being. With tears in my eyes I sensed and thus described it as if being able to feel a flower opening its petals to the morning sun and then closing them again at dusk. What bliss!
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The Mirrors in Nature:
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Perhaps stemming from my initial analogy of the CRI as the breath of a flower, I have always loved using Craniosacral as a tool through which to connect with nature. I have used it with animals, plants and the elementals (rocks, water and so on.) My beloved master Osho wrote: "Existence is one. Its expressions are millions, but the spirit that is expressed is the same. It is one godliness with an infinite variety of creations."(Gold Nuggets, p.32) I have found that this is true with anything, if you sit silently and listen, it will reveal itself to you.
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A shaman gave me a wand for example. It was made of the dried vine of a sacred medicinal Amazonian plant, with a crystal tied onto its tip. I held the wand in my hands with both hands open and relaxed. I asked the vine to show itself to me. Initially there was just a lot of what Elizabeth Hammond calls "perturbation", and then as that settled, the essence of the vine came forth. It was as if it were alive. It began to move like a snake and then I could feel the upward spiraling motion of its growth pattern. I could feel it reaching for the sun and the crystal at the tip began to burn like fire! In another experience, I was given the skin/hide of a Lynx. It had been trapped many years ago and had been stored away. At first I felt lost - what am I to do with this skin? Then one night I felt it was time to just be with it. I spread it out over my legs, and began feeling the fur, petting it as if it were a cat. Grounded in my core, I began to relax and open myself to its teaching. I sensed the skin begin to come alive. I could feel the feline movements through the forest, silently walking, and stealthily running. It was as if I could see through its eyes. Then in a flash I could feel it stop, and noted it’s right hind leg. It was trapped. It shared its death with me, and I could feel such a deep place of compassion. Its story was told, and I felt as if it was in peace.
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And trees have always been a symbol of potency for me. The more deeply rooted a tree is, the stronger and higher it can reach into the sky. Trees are also flexible in the face of the wind, bending, swaying and dancing with winds and rains of varying intensities. As the tree grows upwards, so it does outwards, expanding in centrifugal circles. These circles remind me of the ripples on a pond, and the waves of the tide as they expand in inhalation, and elongate in exhalation. When I listen to a tree in the cranial way, it often takes a moment before I can feel anything at all. I seems at first as if two very different worlds are meeting. It seems essential to be deeply grounded in my own fulcrums before the tree will show me anything at all! As it begins to show itself to me, I often sense the expansion of the tree from its core outwards. I will then generally note a simultaneous up & downward motility of the fluids. Once it has begun, it is pure grace! It is as if the mystery of the universe is unfolded before me, only comprehensible through the presence and silence of the heart.
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I have also experienced Life in its most raw form, and have relied upon the principles of biodynamic craniosacral to guide me through, through the witnessing and supporting of the birthing of a dear friend. It was the birth of their second son, and they called me at 7:30pm to tell me that her waters had broken, and the midwife had asked them to come in to the birthing house to check everything out. They called back around 9:00pm to tell me that she was in fact in labor, and that I should come down when I was ready! I packed my things and was on my way.
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I arrived at 11:00pm, and she was in the bath. Entering the space was like entering a huge biosphere, a space of being that was so absolutely potent – as if you could feel every molecule within it vibrating.
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Her contractions were about 4 minutes apart, paired, and increasing with intensity at each interval. I did an inner prayer to be deeply in my core, in peace and strength for the mother, father, baby – and the midwife.
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I supported her body sometimes holding her lower back, sometimes her neck and head (so that she could move her body as she needed to in the water but not go under or hurt herself on the edge). With the movements of her body in the water, it was as if I was witnessing the mother’s birth.
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During her contractions, her neck would crown back, and her legs would shorten and push down. The space was incredibly magic. As the contractions proceeded to intensify, I could sense fear in her voice, and having been present at her first birth (which had taken place in the hospital and was quite ‘traumatic’), I knew why. I sensed that she was reacting to the pain of the contractions instead of just ‘being’ with them – her voice was high pitched and I could sense the fear of not being able to do it alone/handle the pain (she had had an ‘epidural’ at the first birth.)
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The midwife then asked her to deepen her breathing and bring the tone of her voice down into her belly. She also asked her to relax her body in order to save her energy, just allowing the work to happen on its own. I also sensed that there was not enough rest in between the contractions, so I asked her if she could forget the last contraction, not worry about the next one, and just fully deeply rest in the space between the contractions.
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The silence that came in was so potent. It was golden, rich, deep and powerful. We all closed our eyes and bathed in the silence ‘in-between’. After some time in the water, she began feeling some nausea and dizziness, so we helped her out. Out of the water her contractions were stronger, but she said she felt more strength herself to support the work. From this point the work went very quickly. She went to the toilette twice, which meant that the baby was pushing down and taking all the space he needed! As the contractions increased in intensity and decreased in time, the silence and depth between deepened. It was as if we all entered the temple/pool of dynamic resource at each interval
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Soon she and the baby began pushing, and the baby’s head began to crown. When it came out (facing the right thigh) [is that called a right side lay?] we saw his hand next to his left cheek, and then noticed that it was stuck under the umbilical cord, which was wrapped around his neck. [His hand prevented the cord from strangling him!!!] At this, the energy shifted – the midwife became tense, and with the help of her assistant (who had now arrived), she got the mother to turn quickly on her side. She was not having a contraction, and they needed to get the baby out and the cord off his throat.
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I looked at the babe who was deep purple, and I tuned into his energy. I asked him if he was all right – it was a response of utter stillness, like holding ones breath and not moving a muscle – as an animal hiding from its predator. It also had the quality of calm, and I knew it would be fine. I resourced myself, then looked at the mother, telling her that she was doing great.
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She then had a contraction, and the midwife helped the baby out, getting his hand out from under the umbilical cord, and then magically twisting the baby in a way that he was free from the cord within seconds.
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She rather quickly lay the baby on the mother’s belly, and began moving it about. The midwife asked the mother to talk to him and caress him, and we all waited to see how he was. The midwife used a pump to suck out the fluid from his throat, and he then took his first breath. After some moments (I have no real reference of time!) he squeaked! The mother lay there with him on her, I was asked to do some things for the midwife.
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The midwife was still a little activated from it all, but the assistant was calm and we were all just enjoying, and so we had to hold space for the midwife for a moment! Her words and movements were abrupt, but we were all so deeply refreshed that there was room to be with it. There were the post-birth procedures, checking on the umbilical cord, waiting until it finished pulsing and more, before clamping it. There was also the birth of the placenta about 7 minutes after the baby. I could see that the mother and father just wanted to be with the newborn, but that the midwife was very busy with what ‘needed’ to be done.
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So that was a bit of unsettling for them, but they were both so relieved that it was a healthy natural birth, and their boy was really fine. He slowly found his way to the breast and drank the colostrum. His color came back to its natural state, and he had his eyes wide open, looking around as if "it was nothing!" We were all amazed at how relaxed he was, really as if he knew exactly what he was doing and it wasn’t the first time he had done it/been born!
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After we all slept a few hours I held the baby. He was the absolute essence of liquid light! His fluid was in a state of deep inhalation and minor exhalation. He was absolute vitality, fluid, expanding into being. There was an accumulation of light through his hips and legs, and he had a few releases that shook his whole body and made him peep! I asked his system about the umbilical cord around the neck, and the response was that it was there, but it was fine, that it didn’t "choke" him. His system gave me the sense that that “hey, everything’s cool!" We later noted that the circulation to his left hand (that was under the cord) was lesser than the right, and so we just had to move his arms around a little to bring the blood more into it. Later that evening I held him again, and I asked him to tell me about it all! He had such a divine presence, the essence of which was total deep state of relaxation, calm and openness.
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We were all deeply touched by the alchemy of the birth, and were in utter gratitude. Having the natural birth was so healing for them – releasing all the cold, intrusive, paranoia and separation of their hospital experience. The baby was so totally relaxed that we all knew it was as perfect a birth as one could have. There was the acknowledgement of the pain and duration of the work, with the realization that it was totally a normal natural process. The parents felt very empowered. I felt so honored to have been there, to have witnessed it all, and to have been able to support their process. Words cannot begin to describe.
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The same time that the baby was being born, another friend on the other side of the planet (Australia) died. It was such a deep teaching that we are never born and never die – that we are a part of the eternal flow of liquid light/love/life that permeates us. What a great gift to have received this teaching.
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My experiences with death (the soul/spirit leaving the body) have thus far been limited to animals. Although perhaps the word limited is not the appropriate word, as the experiences I have had have been extremely rich. I have supported several animals of various kinds to leave their bodies – noting that while ‘clinically dead’ their craniosacral systems, the tidal unfoldments were still in full mobility, and methodically diminishing motility. They shared the experiences of either being hit by a car, or killed by another animal, and I noted that their spirits were not ‘present’. As I sat with them, holding space, slowly I perceived their presence (here in the now), followed by an expanding sense of peace, gently and lovingly dissolving into the vastness of space and "source".
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"… when the practitioner holds a wide and still perceptual field … and enters a deep stillness within their own inner processes …a stillness will come to the forefront. Becker called it a dynamic and alive stillness. …Intentions seem to come into play from deep origins as an interplay takes place between Stillness and form. It may seem as though Health unfolds within a Stillness that seems to permeate everything.
Stillness is seen to be the ground of emergence and direct support of all form."(Sills, p.8, 2004) |
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I perceive that the spirit coming into form happens a bit like coming through the “eye of a needle”, "the mysterious gateway”. The next phase of transition, being born, is also compression through a small space followed by an expansion on the other side. Spirit, which is limitless, is compressed into form, and then form re-expands into freedom through form. When the body can no longer sustain the spirit, or vise versa, the spirit must then pass through the same form through which it was incarnate, in order to return to the source, as a specific lock requires a specific key.
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When there is a trauma at the point of transition, a car accident for example, the spirit (consciousness) often separates or dissociates from the body as a defense mechanism. This thereby leaves the spirit lingering out of the body as the body’s life force dissipates. It is therefore important, when possible, to re-embody the spirit in order for the full cycle to be completed, in order for the spirit to return form whence it came. In the word of Sills "…form and energy return to the Stillness from which they originally rose." (p.8, 2004) It is another example of the essence of holding loving space for a being to fulfill its own purpose, for its Inherent Treatment plan to unfold. In the core of silence we can all heal and be healed, as we have returned to the source that is our home, our union, our sacred vitality.
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we are one
this journey of I am
in an ocean of I am not
in this vessel of Being
life expressing itself
through the poetry of who I am
the mystery of what I am
and the infinity of what I am not
looking in your eyes
I see only the reflection
the window of my soul
I rest not, I tire not
for here is not only the destination
it is the beginning of Eternity
my thirst, yearning to explore
to learn, to grow
moves through me as the bloods courses through my veins
and the sweet liquid light of my being
my heart explodes this ecstasy
the inner sky
I can say no more
only silence is
-Kaveesha-
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A Guided Meditation:
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I invite you to sit comfortably in a chair. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Feel yourself present. Feel the weight of your body. Where does your body touch the ground, or surface of the chair? Feel the softness of your body and allow yourself to relax. I now invite you to connect with your midline, your primal midline. This is your core, your notochord, and your embryological midline. Sense that it is silence that is at its core and is its potency. Remember that your heart, which was once at the head, is now in the center, bowing to itself. Notice what is happening to your heart as you do this. Take a deep breath. Now I invite you to sense the Breath of Life moving through you. Feel the expression of the Tides through your body and expand to sense it flowing through your being. From this space of awareness sit back and down. Feel yourself sitting comfortably in your chair, the master’s chair. And now listen. Listen to the space between your breaths. Listen for the silence. Invite Peace. Invite Health. Without judging, allow whatever is showing itself to you. Let it be, be with it. Drop deeper into the comfort of your being, deeper into your core. Feel the depth of the well. Sense the wealth of your home. Let silence reveal itself. Know that you are one and the same. You are Peace itself. You are Health. You are Well-ness Being. This is the Miracle of your being. This is your true home. It is here for you every single moment of every day. You can come back here whenever you need to. Feel yourself sitting in your chair, on the ground. Sense the weight of your body and where it is contacting. Take a deep breath. Feel your chest rise and fall, feel your awareness, total Presence. Resourced, rejuvenated. You are here, now. There has never been anything else. You are Silence, consciousness, Liquid Light. You are the Breath of Life.
Ohm Shanti
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When you are ready you can open your eyes. Move with awareness.
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Poetry for the Biodynamic Heart:
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Tao Te Ching
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A good traveler has no fixed plans
and is not intent upon arriving.
A good artist lets his intuition
lead him wherever it wants.
A good scientist has freed himself of concepts
And keeps his mind open to what is.
Thus the Master is available to all people
And doesn’t reject anyone.
He is ready to use all situations
And doesn’t waste anything.
This is called embodying the light.
(Mitchell, p.27)
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Chants of the Dakinis
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Don’t do anything whatsoever with the mind-
Abide in an authentic, natural state.
One’s own mind, unwavering, is reality.
The key is to meditate like this without wavering;
Experience the great [reality] beyond extremes….
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In a pellucid ocean,
Bubbles arise and dissolve again.
Just so, thoughts are no different from ultimate reality,
So don’t find fault; remain at ease.
Whatever arises, whatever occurs,
Don’t grasp-release it on the spot.
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Appearances, sounds, and objects are one’s own mind;
There’s nothing except mind.
Mind is beyond the extremes of birth and death.
The nature of mind, awareness,
Although using the objects of the five senses,
Does not wander from reality.
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In the state of cosmic equilibrium
There is nothing to abandon or practice,
No meditation or post-meditation period.
(From: Desire: The Tantric Path to Awakening. Daniel Odier, 1999. Inner Traditions. p. 90-91
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HOPI ELDER SPEAKS
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"You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour,
now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour.
And there are things to be considered ...
Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?
Know your garden.
It is time to speak your Truth.
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for the leader."
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Then he clasped his hands together, smiled, and said,
"This could be a good time! There is a river flowing now very fast.
It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid.
They will try to hold on to the shore.
They will feel they are being torn apart and will suffer greatly.
Know the river has its destination.
The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the
river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above water.
And I say, see who is in there with you and celebrate.
At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally. Least of all,
ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey
comes to a halt.
The time of the lone wolf is over.
Gather yourselves!
Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary.
All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.
We are the ones we've been waiting for."
Hopi Nation, Oraibi, Arizona
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Deepening the Wonder
Death is a favour to us,
But our scales have lost their balance.
The impermanence of the body
Should give us great clarity, deepening the wonder in our
Senses and eyes
Of this mysterious existence we share
And surely are just traveling through.
If I were in the tavern tonight,
Hafiz would call for drinks
And as the Master poured, I would be reminded
That all I know of life and myself is that
We are just a mid-air flight of golden wine
Between His Pitcher and His cup.
If I were in the tavern to night,
I would buy freely for everyone in this world
Because our marriage with the Cruel Beauty
Of time and space cannot endure very long.
Death is a favour to us,
But our minds have lost their balance.
The miraculous existence and impermanence of
Form
Always makes the illumined ones
Laugh and sing.
Hafiz |
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This World Which Is Made of Our Love for Emptiness (first paragraph)
Praise to the emptiness that blanks out existence. Existence:
This place made from our love for that emptiness!
Yet somehow comes emptiness, this existence goes.
Praise to that happening, over and over! (Rumi, p.31)
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So close we cannot see it.
So simple we cannot believe it.
So profound we cannot fathom it.
So fine we cannot accept it.
From the Shangpa tradition.
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In gratitude there is trust
this moment unfolding treasures beyond my wildest dreams
flowing through my senses
endlessly unfolding divinity
mystery greater than wisdom
the essence of beauty
the tenderness of love
your being unfolds god
manifest as liquid luminescence
crystal consciousness
swimming in the eternal pool of presence
Kaveesha
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Our Deepest Fear
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Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
by Marianne Williamson
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sweet Liquid Life
swallow up the dark night of my soul
that I may again be whole
to gift the Universe
-Kaveesha-
1999
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CITATIONS:
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Becker, Rollin E. The Stillness of Life, 2000, Rachel Brooks Ed., Stillness Press, LLC. Pages 66-73, Using the Stillness.
Bethel, Jonathan: Eclectic Paths To Integration, Part 3: Shaman/Shadow.
Boxhall, Mike. Advanced Courses in Craniosacral Therapy, Working from Stillness.
Boxhall, Mike. Breath of Life, 28th &29th May, 2005. UK.
Chandrakanthan, A.J.V. The Silence of Buddha and his Contemplation of the Truth. Spirituality Today, Summer 1988, Vol.40, pp. 145-156.
Hopi Elder Speaks. Hopi Nation, Oraibi, Arizona.
Jealous, James S. (From the Biodynamics web site).
Kern, Michael. Wisdom in the Body. Thornsons, 2001.
King Jr., Rev. Martin Luther. From Kern p.57.
Krishnamurti, J. Commentaries on Living, 3rd series. P. 68.
Levine, Peter. Waking the Tiger.
Mitchell, Stephen. Tao Te Ching. Harper & Row, 1988.
Moyne, John and Coleman Barks. Open Secret: Versions of Rumi. Threshold Books, 1984.
Odier, Daniel.1999. Inner Traditions. Desire: The Tantric Path to Awakening. P. 90-91, Chants of the Dakinis.
Osho, Osho – Simply Silence, from Autobiography of a Spiritually Incorrect Mystic. St. Martin’s press. 2000.
Osho. Gold Nuggets. The Rebel Publishing House, 1986.
Rumi, Jalaluddin. The Guest House.
Sills, Franklin. Craniosacral Biodynamics. Volume One. North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, California, 2001.
Sills, Franklin. Craniosacral Biodynamics. Volume Two. North Atlantic Books., Berkeley, California, 2004.
Shea, Michael. Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy: A Primer. 2002.
Sutherland, William Garner. Teaching in the science of Osteopathy.1990.
Tolle, Eckhart. Stillness Speaks.
Williamson, Marianne. A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles, Harper Collins, 1992. From Chapter 7, Section 3.
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