What is the difference between Biodynamic Massage and Biodynamic Cranial work?

Biodynamic Cranial

• client is clothed
• practitioner remains mostly still and seated, hands don’t move much
• practitioner endeavors to palpate the most still, quiet part of the client, paying careful attention to the hands-on interface
• the still, quiet places and moments create change in the client’s body & being

Biodynamic Massage

• client disrobes like for typical massage
• practitioner is massaging tissues, hands are moving for most of the session
• practitioner follows the movements of fascia and muscles to find the most still, quiet parts of the client
• practitioner hands sometimes stop for 20 sec to 5 min depending upon how the system responds
• the still, quiet places and moments create change in the client’s body & being

How easy is it to learn and what is the experience like?

Biodynamic Massage

If you come from a massage background, you’re used to feeling muscles and the fascias which envelop them. In biodynamic massage we learn to feel the motility of these connective tissues. Motility is the subtle, slow, undulatory movement of the body’s homeostatic process. When tissues are healthy, one can palpate the regular to-and-fro subtle expressions of motility within them. In biodynamic massage, we still perform massage, and as we’re working, we find hardened bundles within muscles, tendons, fascia. Then we adjust our pressure, direction of force and surface area contact to elicit this motility. We then allow the motility to guide our placement and quality of contact as practitioners, until a ‘neutral’ or stillpoint happens. During this stillpoint, we can witness the client’s system step forward and heal the area being treated, feeling the change happen under our hands.

In the Beginning Biodynamic Massage course we work with connective tissue densities to elicit neutrals which resolve issues. At the Intermediate Biodynamic Massage course, we learn to work with the locations of quietude, or hubs, which deliver the source of health to tissues.

Many practitioners find it advantageous to study biodynamic massage because they can continue to do massage work, which their clients have come to expect. They can easily fit 10 minutes of this work into their typical treatment process, and some can switch over to this work fully, right away. They find it builds spontaneity and diversity into their treatments, since they are palpating and following what is coming from within each client, instead of applying a protocol to the client.

Biodynamic Cranial

Some practitioners prefer to study biodynamic cranial work. It allows them to sit still, be quiet and feel deeply into the interface between themselves and the client’s self-healing resources. This process of moving minimally and connecting deeply to the cranial system lends the practitioner an opportunity to profoundly connect with the quietude that facilitates healing. The nerves and perceptive faculties become refined and sensitive, since the practitioner can focus upon subtle sensation and not have to tend to massaging the client.

In Biodynamic Cranial Therapy the practitioner makes gentle contact, feels the motility of underlying tissues, tracks the movements of motility to reveal the locations of quietude, and then facilitates neutrals or stillpoints to catalyze change in the area.

Many practitioners find it advantageous to study biodynamic cranial work since it can be shared anywhere, has very few contraindications, and brings profound regulation of the central nervous system, glandular system and psycho-emotional-spiritual components.