We Are All Healers
Take a moment to find one of your scars and reflect on how your tissues have reknit, reminding you of your innate healing potential and ongoing growth.
As living beings, we are in a constant state of change, adapting to our internal and external environments. Our blood vessels contract and dilate to conserve or radiate heat; our hormone levels rise or drop in response to sunlight; and our immune cells rush to the site of an intrusion to prevent us from being digested by tiny predators like bacteria or fungi. We are also constantly remodeling our physical structure, making neurotransmitters and hormones for use as needed, converting the information from a day of experience into long-term memory, and digesting the nutrients we consume to create a supply of raw materials to meet this demand. Our bodies are constantly busy, even when we are at rest.
All of this is happening right under, behind, and above our noses, and we don’t even need to think about it. We are walking fascinations.
What about psychological wounds? Those are a bit trickier, but we can turn them into scars, too, transforming emotional pain into resilience and understanding.
No one does this healing for us. No one can do this healing for us. That doesn’t mean we are alone in it. We can and do receive support from family, friends, therapists, stories, nature, and even strangers who are in the right place at the right time. We are all healers, and we are all in this together, giving and receiving aid as the situation necessitates. Some of us have more experience with healing than others. Some of us receive more assistance, and some of us provide more - the scales are never fully balanced.
How do we tie this back into the Upledger paradigm? Well, this is the first component, understanding that we are all healers.
“Human beings and all living biological systems are gifted by nature with ingenious and inherent methods and processes by which they survive, function, adapt, and self-heal.” (1)
In CranioSacral therapy, we therapists assist in this healing process through hands-on connection to the body and by following the subtle rhythms and communications of the craniosacral system. We understand that we are not actually doing anything of importance other than acting as an assistant to this healing, which we can never fully predict or understand. By letting go of our need to be in charge, we can work with this incredible self-healing power and follow its treatment plan. This surrender allows us to help, not hinder; to provide resources without overwhelming; and to do no harm.
In Naturopathic Medicine, our first guiding principle is not to harm. Our second is to trust the healing power of nature. (2) These can both be met by accepting that we are all healers, subsuming our ego-driven need to be right, and by trusting in the healing power of nature through following its messages. One way to do this is to listen to and respond to the craniosacral system. I have yet to find a more transparent, consistent, and precise way to communicate with this innate healing power.
If you have been on a craniosacral therapy treatment table, what has your experience been? Have you been amazed when your therapist has uncovered old wounds and patterns in your tissues? Have you had epiphanies at the table that have helped you connect more deeply with yourself and your life? Have you experienced profound healing of pain or dysfunction that didn’t respond to anything else you tried, even problems that are years or decades old?
I would love to hear about it. Sometimes it is hard to find an audience to witness our recollections because they seem so fantastical and improbable, but your stories are welcome here. If you would like them published anonymously on this blog, let me know. If you would rather keep them just between us, you are still welcome to share them with me.
-To our health!
Dr. Currey
References
International Alliance of Healthcare Educators. (n.d.). The Upledger CranioSacral Therapy paradigm: A clinical approach. https://www.iahe.com/storage/docs/articles/Upledger-CST-Paradigm.pdf
American Association of Naturopathic Medical Colleges. (n.d.). The 6 principles. https://aanmc.org/6-principles/
