Imagine yourself in a beautiful place in nature that you love. You are surrounded by the rhythms of plants, birds, insects, animals, clouds, wind, water, rock, sun, moon, stars, and everything else around you. The day turns to night and to day again, the moon phases wax and wane, constellations and planets move, and seasons change. You can walk, run, climb, jump, hunt, grow and forage food, make fire and cook by it, drink from fresh streams, and live in a small tribe of people. These are rhythms of being on Earth that all of our ancestors lived by and evolved in.
Now see the cities, factories, power plants, paved roads, and everything else that humans have created on Earth today. The structures for life in civilization add many layers that obscure natural rhythms. Electricity, screens, cars, unseen waves (cell, radio, wifi…), and so much more, affect the body’s rhythm. Societal constructs–such as 24 hours in a day, 12+ years of schooling, scheduled mealtimes, a 8-10 hour work day, a 40+ hour work week, a 7 day week, 2 weeks of vacation a year, retirement after 30 years, and so on–define collective rhythms that many people live in. These mentally constructed rhythms reflect little to no regard for the natural rhythms that live in all of our bodies and psyches.
The nature of the human body is indeed beautiful. With it’s vast orchestra of rhythms, it is a perfect and intelligent vessel for consciousness. The rhythms of our inner world respond to the outer world in every moment. Feel your breath in and out, rhythmic and always present. Same as your heartbeat, regularly pulsing. All the other organs and glands of your body continuously live by their own rhythms as well. Every single cell in your body rhythmically lives out its life’s purpose. Each cell is eventually recycled and replaced by fresh cells, in a rhythm of renewal. And you never have to think about any of it, it just happens. Wow! What a miracle!
Flowing beneath all other rhythms is the CranioSacral rhythm: the dance of the fluid surrounding your brain and spinal cord. This Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) is filtered out of the blood, and is lighter than the blood–it is a super-conductor of electrical energy. The lightness of CSF brings cellular energy and electricity to the brain and nervous system, which conduct the symphony of the entire body. The expansion and contraction of CSF in waves is constant throughout life, just like the breath and heartbeat. Fresh CSF enters from the bloodstream and used CSF returns to the blood to be recycled, in a subtle rhythm.
CSF makes its home inside the skull and spine. This home environment becomes restricted by stress, injury, and trauma of all kinds. As a result, CranioSacral waves become weakened and blocked in many different places. Most modern people are also stuck in a fast CranioSacral rhythm, which may be as quick as a few seconds. This is similar to the fast heartbeat and shallow breathing that is indicative of chronic stress. But the CranioSacral rhythm can dance much more slowly and gracefully than this; one unrestricted wave can last 2 minutes or longer. The CSF dance always wants to express itself freely and expansively with nature’s intelligence.
CranioSacral therapy listens to the CSF waves and allows this liquid life force to move through blockages. With conscious touch, the practitioner’s hands help to bring the wave through any restrictions in the membranes and bones of the spine and skull. The natural result of more flow is a slowing down and expansion of the waves, the relaxation of a stressed and traumatized mind and body, and deep rest. In this expansive space lives the body’s natural capacity for healing, renewal, inspiration, joy, love, and bliss. We all deserve to be free and at home in our bodies!
