Dr. William Garner Sutherland, the founder of craniosacral work, initially focused on a biomechanical approach, using motion testing and manual manipulation to release unhealthful patterns in his patients’ craniosacral systems. (Anatomically, the craniosacral system consists of the membranes that enclose the brain and spinal cord [that is, the central nervous system]; the bones of the sacrum – the triangular bone at the spinal base – and the cranium, which are attached to those membranes; the cerebrospinal fluid, produced in the brain, that bathes the brain and spinal cord; and the fascia [connective tissue] that extends from the membrane system throughout the body.) In a previous post, I mentioned Dr. Sutherland’s hair-raising experiments on his own craniosacral system and the sometimes unsettling results of those efforts. You know you are truly devoted to your profession when you donate your own body to science — while you are still alive!
Eventually he had an experience with a dying, pain-wracked patient that completely changed his practice. As he sat at the man’s bedside, quietly making contact with the patient’s craniosacral system, he sensed an immense stillness and came into contact with what he later termed the Breath of Life as the patient peacefully passed from this life into the next. After this profound experience, Dr. Sutherland’s focus shifted from a biomechanical approach (bones, fascia) to what he termed Primary Respiration — the involuntary, rhythmic, tide-like motion of the craniosacral system. (This motion was later confirmed by Dr. John Upledger, who, while assisting at a surgery, noted the independent motion of the membrane surrounding the patient’s spinal cord. He went on to found the Upledger Institute, teaching a biomechanical form of craniosacral therapy outside the osteopathic profession.)
Dr. Sutherland regarded Primary Respiration as the body’s guiding principle, expressing itself in every cell, carrying the Breath of Life, via the cerebrospinal fluid, throughout the body. This was an expansion of Dr. Still’s teaching that cerebrospinal fluid, which he termed “this great river of life,” “is one of the highest known elements that are contained in the body, and unless the brain furnishes the fluid in abundance, a disabled condition of the body will remain.” Indeed, insufficient CSF is a serious condition that can cause, among other things, headaches, double vision, blurred vision, and hearing problems.
Watch this space to see how biodynamic craniosacral continued to develop through the years.