Sian Marion makes links between her work as a cranio-sacral therapist, and the ‘tides’ and the awareness of mind practices fundamental to the Tibetan Dzogchen tradition. Underpinning the theory of cranio-sacral work is the metaphor of the hologram as described by the physicist Bohm. Here the idea of the hologram is used to access the realm of dynamic stillness, and bring about spaciousness, and therefore healing. With its access to this area, Sian suggests that cranio-sacral work can play a valuable role in the spiritual life.
A client comes to me for cranio-sacral therapy. As I make contact with the body, I can see the sense of agitation within his body and the field around. As I open up to this, giving him space, and simply listening, with my hands now in one place, now in another, something starts to change. It is almost as if a benign presence or force seems to come into the room, to enter the field. Rhythmic movements start to take place within his body. There is a sense of melting in some of the hard areas, and when I ask him how he his, he tells me that the discomfort has lessened, and he is able to breathe more freely. As the session continues, the rhythmic flow of energy becomes slower and deeper, and there is a sense of more of an opening, more of a sense of space within his body and the atmosphere in the room becomes stiller and more vibrant.
Later on in the day, I sit to meditate. I chant 108 White Tara mantras, and as I chant, I feel the flows of energy moving through my body till the chanting has died away. The flow of energy becomes slower, deeper and more powerful. My heart starts to open and my mind becomes stiller. All tensions and blockages beginning to resolve within my body. There is a sense of presence, of vibrancy, of stillness.
For some years, I have had a sense of the similarity of these two processes that I am engaged with; cranio-sacral therapy, and meditation. I am always rather wary of drawing parallels too closely between different systems, but I thought I would at least point to some of the features in common.
In the biodynamic cranio-sacral therapy context, we talk about the breath of life. This is the name given to that subtle, almost intangible, force or presence that I sensed in the room earlier. Sometimes this is described through the metaphor of the hologram. The implicate realm, the realm of unfoldment, is the realm of dynamic stillness. It is this dynamic stillness which unfolds various tidal rhythms. The slowest and deepest tide is the long tide. This has the frequency of 6 cycles every 10 minutes. It is the most powerful, the most subtle, and pervades the whole field. The next unfoldment is the mid tide which has a frequency of 2 and a half cycles a minute. This unfoldment is more embodied and manifests the unified field of the fluids of the body, the tissues of the body, and the energy, or potency. Finally, the fastest and the least stable of the rhythms is called the cranial-rhythmic impulse. This can vary between 6 and 14 cycles a minute. It is likened to the waves on the surface of the ocean. The breath of life is always present as long as a person is alive, but often we are not in relationship with it.
In cranial work, by allowing our clients space and holding an open awareness, we can come into relationship with the various tidal unfoldments. This awareness together with the subtle intentions and invitations we may make with our hands encourages the potency to manifest more fully within the body, and to allow blockages full expression, to dissolve and melt away.
In the Tibetan tradition of Dzogchen meditation, we talk not of life, but of the nature of mind. The qualities of the nature of mind are said to be openness or space, awareness or clarity, and sensitivity or compassion. In this tradition the prime intention is to recognise the nature of mind, and having recognised it, to rest in these qualities, opening more and more fully, allowing awareness to clarify, and allowing the heart to open fully into sensitivity and compassion. Thoughts and feelings are simply seen to arise and self-liberate and energies of the body naturally start to release, to flow. The heart, body and mind open, unfold, expand. Awareness itself is said to have a natural rhythm to it, at one moment being clear, focussed and sharp, and then gradually opening out into space, becoming more diffuse, and then sharpening back to a focus once more. This opening and closing reminds me of the tides of cranio-sacral therapy. However the three qualities of mind, openness, clarity and sensitivity seem to be precisely the qualities that we use in our cranio-sacral work. We invite space, the quality of openness. We become aware of what is held in the body, or in the field, and this starts to clarify as we continue to stay open and invite space. The whole process involves sensitivity, perception, subtleness and an openness of the heart.
In my own experience there has been a rich cross-fertilisation of these two areas. My practice of meditation helps me stay more present, helps me be able to stay with not-knowing, to offer space. I open my heart. Further, my experience of cranio-sacral therapy and understanding the conceptual framework behind it has been equally fruitful in my meditation practice. Being able to perceive the unfoldments of the tide has been valuable in allowing me to open up more and more fully to the nature of mind. Opening to the different forces at work within the body and mind. Recognising the process of unfoldment that is taking place within me.
It should be no surprise then, given that from the point of view of the Dzogchen tradition, everything is of the nature of mind, to find that there should be a similarity between cranio-sacral work and meditation. However, the fact that this correspendence is, to my mind, so explicit and clear, I think points to the particularly valuable place that cranio-sacral work plays in the spiritual life of the person, as well as in healing the various afflictions we suffer through the course of our lives.