Healing through touch
Cneasaí and Bone-setting
History
I have followed a two year education into what is called "Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy." This therapy has its roots in the Cherokee Shawnee healing practice of doctoring or bonesetting. Bonesetting is an ancient healing modality practiced by many indigenous cultures, Kalevala bonesetting from Finland and Cúipinéir from Ireland are two modalities that are still in practice. In bonesetting, a practitioner works with the bones as living animate forms, using gentle touch to support the bones to reorganise and settle.
Cherokee bodyworkers, reports Mehl-Madrona, who learned the method from two traditional Cherokee women, are masters at working with energy and the breath, and they also move cranial bones, seeking the ridges, albeit with more force than Craniosacral practitioners. They do this along with osteopathic-like massage and manipulation of musculoskeletal tissues, organs, and joints, as well as acupressure on points and energy channels (that, in fact, correspond to the meridians). They combine all this with gentle rocking and with narrative healing, both verbal and energetic, using story telling, and dialogue with the musculoskeletal system and with the client, and intense breathwork to “restore spirit” to all parts of the body, when giving treatments that they commonly refer to as “doctoring.'
- Renfrew, Nita. (2015). Traditional American Indian Bodywork, the Origin of Osteopathy, Polarity, and Craniosacral Therapy. A Journal of Contemporary Shamanism. Vol. 8.
Dr Andrew Taylor Still lived on Shawnee land and was a fourth generation colonialist. He had great respect for the Shawnee way,spoke Shawnee, farmed on Shawnee reservation land, and learned doctoring during the Civil War and then practiced on his farm and with the Shawnee community he lived among. It is interesting to note when Still first started his practice he advertised himself as a “magnetic healer” and “lightning bonesetter” before naming his methods Osteopathic Medicine. He was very much inspired by what he called 'the indian way'; forgetting what you know and just to quietly observe with no thoughts.” Despite this he did not openly acknowledge that what he called 'Osteopathy' came from the Cherokee Shawnee.
William Sutherland was a student of Still and developed the Osteopathic practice to into the beginings of Craniosacral Therapy.
Healing in Relationship
From my Irish lineage, I connect with the word cneasaí, a healer, which comes from the word cneas meaning skin and evoques the meaning of creating scar tissue through healing. Cneasaitheoir means close companion which reveals the intimate relationship that a cneasaí creates with a client. Healing happens in relationship. Relational touch is a key to this therapy as well as creating a safe space between the practitioner and client to allow the body to unfold and move into a more vital flow.
What to expect during a session
A session lasts around 1.5 hours and will slot well between the ferry timetables. It will include:
- 30 minutes talking for you to share how you are feeling
- 5 minute somatic guidance using breath and connecting to the body
- 45 mins hands-on involving light touch on different areas of the body
- 10 minutes sharing of experience and guidance
The session is held fully clothed.
During a session, people usually report a feeling of deep relaxation with a sensation of floating or rocking on water.
Further Reading