Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/296580
� Melt and Transform The next time you run into a tissue restriction in a client, try the following skills drawn from polarity therapy. Before you begin, allow your hands to become very sensitive to all the qualities you feel associated with the client's tissue restriction. When you have become attuned to the pattern, administer these three styles of contact: First, allow your hand(s) to go progressively into the pattern, whether it is into the belly of a muscle or the connective tissues. Find the right angle that allows you in, and gradually move toward the right depth. Now, wait. Hold a firm, dense, focused contact without trying to push through anything. Try to meet the pattern with its own energy; that is, try to be an exact reflection of the qualities in the pattern. The area will start to melt and transform. When it does, begin to vibrate the area or stimulate the tissue, using a rocking contact, an oscillating hand, or the point-based stimulation of a fingertip. Finally, when you feel ease, movement, openness, softening, and streaming energy returning in the tissues, lighten your contact to a very gentle level, and simply support the movement of life energy. These three styles of contact can help us most appropriately meet the energies present in our clients. A more detailed level of work occurs when we study the Five Element reflexes in the three poles of the body. We are then able to work with specific qualities of energy, the organs governed by those, and even life themes associated with the Five Elements. The most important idea is using a contact that is resonant with the qualities presenting in the client, being sensitive to how that changes, and modulating our level of engagement depending on the client's needs. Settle into Stillness Another useful skill is facilitating a still point—a way of helping the various movements settle into a still state, where the movements are temporarily suspended and the living system seems to rest. This can lead to profound therapeutic results. The process of helping the client's system settle into stillness is more of an attitudinal or resonant process than a manual skill. When the pushes and pulls, strains, and other conditions in the client's system become suspended in a temporary neutral state, they often transform themselves, generating healthier new expressions of movement and life. This dance between stillness and motion is at the heart of BCST. Tune In Take some time in every session to simply hold a still contact. One good way to tune in at the beginning or end of a session is to cradle the head or use a bilateral contact like holding both feet, hips, or shoulders. You might feel a sense of the body widening or expanding very gently, then retreating inward toward its core. This is called motility. While many people palpate this dynamic as a subtle tissue movement, fluids in the body are fluctuating in the same rhythm; for example, cerebrospinal fluid is welling up in the spinal axis then receding toward the sacrum. Energy dynamics are similar, although they take place at a more subtle level. All of this works in symphony and can be felt as one gentle movement of expansion and contraction. Say something like, "I am just going to hold this still contact with you for a couple of minutes. It helps me become aware of more sensitive dynamics in your system." It is very therapeutic to allow some time in each session where you simply reflect the client's dynamics without trying to change them. Becoming aware of the client's rhythms and tendencies, and consciously reflecting what you are aware of, allows the client's system to begin to self-regulate at deeper levels. WORKING WITH ESSENCE AND FORM Basic skills and awareness of the principles of biodynamic craniosacral therapy (BCST) and polarity therapy can add to any therapeutic practice. Both were developed by osteopaths with a high degree of palpatory sensitivity, an awareness of the essential movements of life, and a deep respect for how life balances and self-regulates its inherent dynamics. You can begin to develop your own awareness by using the following methods: I t p a y s t o b e A B M P C e r t i f i e d : w w w. a b m p . c o m / g o / c e r t i f i e d c e n t r a l 77