Jonathan M. Lawrence, BA, DO, MRO           

If our ubiquitous friend from Mars were to come to Earth and observe first a cranial osteopath doing his work and then a healer healing, he might not readily distinguish between them.  Further enquiries would elicit from the cranial osteopath that she was adjusting the tensions in the tissues of the cranium whereas the healer would probably say that he was channeling energy into his client's body.  So obviously there is a great deal of difference!  Or is there?  Let us examine this more closely, starting with a look at cranial osteopathy.

  The tissues which cranial osteopathy seeks to influence are the bones of the cranium and face,  the membrane system of the brain and spinal cord, and the connective tissue scaffolding of the body known as fascia.  This is achieved through the utilisation of the cranio-rhythmic impulse or CRI, the third major body rhythm (after respiration and the heartbeat).

  The CRI is readily palpated from any part of the body.  It goes through 8-12 cycles per minute in a normal person and feels like an expansion and contraction of the body tissues.  Dr. William G. Sutherland, who developed the technique early in this century, believed the CRI is caused by pulsation of the brain.  John Upledger, an American cranial osteopath, believes the CRI is due to the cyclical secretion and reabsorption of cerebro-spinal fluid (CSF) that bathes the brain and spinal cord.

  There are differences, too.  Cranial osteopathy restores mobility of the tissues in the same way as more conventional osteopathy does.  For example, mobilisation of the temporal (ear) bone re3leases tension in the jaw joint or can clear the eustachian tube, both of which effects are mechanical.  It is my experience that when there is mechanical locking of a structure, it is not readily unlocked by most forms of healing.  Even here there are exceptions, however, as some healers are intuitive bonesetters.

  Another area of difference is that cranial osteopathy relies on a good knowledge of anatomy.  Restoring normal mobility to a tissue requires a knowledge of the degree of movement that this tissue can achieve.  We may take the temporal bone as an example again.  As the bone moves with the expansion and contraction phases of the CRI cycle, it moves forward and outward, backward and inward along an axis through the opening of the ear.

  As in all healing arts, despite the difference in techniques there is much in common.  The human contact between therapist and client, the relationship they develop together, the time and space given to the client as well as whatever other energies pass between them, are all part of the healing process.  Cranial osteopathy is a way of focusing healing onto the body in a particular way and therefore has its limitation.  Healing itself is almost indefinable.  The limits are simply the talent and imagination of the healer and the ability of the client to accept and utilise this energy.

  So is our Martian friend now more enlightened?  Probably not.  If he has the intelligence to be able to come to Earth in the first place he is likely to know all this anyway.  In fact, I would not be surprised if he could have told us a thing or two about advanced healing on Mars.  But he didn't.

You may quote from or reproduce these editorial clips if you include the following credits and email contact:
Copyright © Daniel J. Benor, M.D. 1991 Reprinted with permission of the author P.O. Box 76 Bellmawr, NJ 08099
www.WholisticHealingResearch.com   DB@WholisticHealingResearch.com 
 

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