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Technique photos courtesy of Racelle Campanelli. CRANIOSACRAL WORK Fascial Diaphragm Release This technique looks similar to Direction of Energy in that hands are placed on either side of a body structure. It's specifi c to the transverse fascia, and therefore can be used to address all the diaphragms (hyoidal, occipital base, pelvic, respiratory, and thoracic) and joints. For this example, I'll present the respiratory diaphragm. It's particularly helpful in a massage context, because it's calming to the adrenals, helps lengthen the back, and eases breathing. With your client supine, slide one hand (left hand if you're at your client's right side, right hand if you're at your client's left side) under the bottom sheet at the thoracolumbar junction, so your hand covers the last thoracic vertebra and the fi rst lumbars. (The image below shows a seated client in order to illustrate hand placement.) Maintain contact with the body, but do not press up into it. Settle your other hand at the front of the respiratory diaphragm, contacting the xiphoid process, which ensures that your hand will be touching some portion of the left and right ribs. Notice that your hands are offset a bit: the posterior hand is somewhat inferior to the anterior hand. Soften your hands, arms, and shoulders. Allow your hands to contour themselves to the tissue they're contacting. Let your hands have their natural weight; don't hold them off the body and don't press into the body with any effort. Once you've settled, imagine your top hand adding in just enough pressure to engage the transverse fascia. With most clients, this is much less pressure than you'd imagine, usually less than the weight of a nickel. Add pressure in, gram by gram, until you feel the fascia move under your hands. If your hands are relaxed, they will move with the fascia. Keep that amount of pressure, and allow the fascia to move you. Maintain contact as the tissue moves. When your work is complete, you'll feel the diaphragm soften and/or spread, and you'll notice there's no longer fascial movement under your hands. Direction of Energy This is an adaptation of a technique that William Sutherland created to release restrictions in the cranial sutures. It's been found effective in releasing tension anywhere on the body. Sit or stand comfortably, and place your hands on either side of a place in your client's body that is tense or has discomfort. Relax your hands, arms, and shoulders. Allow your hands to contour themselves to the tissue they're contacting. Let your hands have their natural weight; don't hold them off the body and don't press into the body with any effort. While maintaining a grounded, neutral presence, intend that healing energy be sent from one of your hands to the other, through your client's tissue. Your client can imagine the kind of energy that would be most helpful (e.g., a color, sensation, or texture), and you can intend that type of energy. Take care not to work with your own energetic resources; source the energy from outside yourself. In the same way, don't intend to take the energy in; let it pass through. TRY THESE TWO TECHNIQUES Two simple, effective techniques taught in the Upledger Institute curriculum are Direction of Energy and Fascial Diaphragm Release. They can easily be combined. In both techniques, signs of successful tissue release include sensations of heat/cold, goose bumps, muscle fasciculation (twitching), sighs, borborygmus (tummy rumbles), and softening/spreading. If you keep your hands and shoulders relaxed, you'll get a clear sign when your work is complete: your hands will naturally drift off the body.