Have you heard of craniosacral therapy but aren’t sure what the term biodynamic means?
Or perhaps someone has recommended cranial work and you’re wondering which type of craniosacral therapy is best for you?
These two therapies share a history and are in many ways similar. They are both styles of bodywork that involve gentle touch. They both developed from osteopathy. During sessions, clients lie down (fully clothed) on a massage table and usually stay still during the session. Both therapies are quiet and subtle, and can be deeply relaxing. But important differences exist between them.
Biodynamic craniosacral therapists focus on the whole body
The first important difference is one of focus. As the name suggests, traditional craniosacral therapists tend to focus on the head and the lower spine, the sacrum. They will usually spend time holding the head and often also the sacrum. In contrast, therapists practising the biodynamic style might contact anywhere on the body. Biodynamic craniosacral therapists focus more on the whole body. These therapists might contact the feet, abdomen or shoulders, for example, as well as the head and sacrum.
Traditional craniosacral therapists perform adjustments and biodynamic therapists do not
The second difference involves what the therapists actually do. Traditional craniosacral therapists perform manual adjustments. These are usually small and sometimes barely perceptible to the client. Adjustments might be a light pulsing with the fingers at points on the head, or soft movements of the hands underneath the head.
Biodynamic craniosacral therapists are very different in this regard. They do not make any adjustments. They simply make hand contacts and observe what happens in the body.
This second differences is important because it is a difference of intention. Traditional craniosacral therapists try to influence the body to realign itself, while biodynamic craniosacral therapists try to create an environment in which the body finds its own way to health.
The difference is between biomechanical and biodynamic
This makes more sense if we use the term biomechanic for the more traditional type of craniosacral therapy. The differences exist between the biomechanical and the biodynamic approach. In this context, biomechanic refers to the therapist having an idea about how the body should be better aligned and how to get there.
In contrast, biodynamic refers to the body as a dynamic ongoing process. The idea is that the body knows what to do to heal itself. The therapist has an intention to create safety and attention for the body, but not intervention. Realignment to an ideal might not be necessary. If it is, the body will work that out itself.
These differences might sound subtle or inconsequential, but they can significantly change the therapy. While they might look similar to an outside observer, one is about doing and the other, the biodynamic, is about purely listening. It is about non-doing.
Sensing and listening to physiological rhythms is central to both types of craniosacral therapy
Craniosacral therapy began with the observation that the bones of the adult skull (or cranium) expand and contract in subtle, rhythmic movements. These bones are not completely fused.
Craniosacral therapists learn to sense these micro movements with their hands. They also learn to sense the movements of the sacrum. According to craniosacral therapy, small misalignments can cause patterns of tension through the whole system of the skull, spine and the tissues within. These holding patterns can influence the health of the whole body.
The traditional aim of craniosacral therapy is to realign these bones and therefore the membranes within them and the fluid that flows through them. This fluid (called cerebrospinal fluid) flows constantly through the brain and around the spinal cord.
Like the biomechanical style, biodynamic craniosacral therapists learn to notice these rhythms and movements of bones and fluids. But the biodynamic approach also involves noticing other body systems (such as responses of the nervous system) and movements within other fluid systems (such as blood and lymph circulation).
The biodynamic approach pays attention to the whole body. When the therapist brings attention to the whole body at once, the body often moves into a more subtle state overall. For the client, this can feel like deep relaxation and a sense of wholeness. Sometimes clients feel the body making its own adjustments, such as small movements, emotions or feelings of aliveness. These states can certainly happen during traditional craniosacral therapy but are more likely in the biodynamic approach.
The differences between these two therapies are clear. They are based on their intentions, techniques and emphases. At the same time, some therapists naturally work more biodynamically than others. To decide between them, it is usually best to try individual therapists and see how they work.
The biodynamic approach suits people who prefer less intervention and subtler states
In my experience, the biodynamic approach helps my body system to enter into deeper, holistic states. My body then releases tension in its own way, which feels more effective than a therapist trying to shift something for me. It is often surprising.
As a therapist I focus on non-doing to help the client’s system shift in a similar way. I am more of a witness, listening and holding space, than a therapist with an idea of how to fix something. In the deeper, subtler states more healing seems to take place naturally.
I love the deep listening of biodynamic craniosacral therapy, the feeling of being held without intention and of allowing the wisdom of the body to emerge in its own time.