Craniosacral Therapy, Entropy & the Law of Cure
To many people, Craniosacral Therapy is simply a form of subtle manipulation or massage that only affects the body’s structural alignment
Whilst this view is understandable, since Craniosacral Therapy developed within Osteopathy, it is actually a far cry from what Craniosacral therapy actually is, and what it has the potential to treat.
Craniosacral therapists recognise that there is a dynamic within us that is always trying to move us in the direction of greater Health and equilibrium. Whilst this may, at first glance appear to be some sort of arcane, metaphysical concept, there is scientific research to back it up.
The second law of thermodynamics shows that all systems begin to breakdown and deteriorate over time. This process is known as entropy, and we can see its effects all around us. Our cars, houses and even our bodies lose energy and run down as time progresses.
However, this is not the only force at work. There is also a force that opposes this entropy and moves us into higher and higher states of organisation and functioning. We can see this process at work in evolutionary terms, where there has been a movement from simple molecules and primitive organisms to more complex beings. We can also see it at work in the world around us and in our own lives.
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In Craniosacral therapy, we work directly with this organising force, and refer to it as Inherent Health.
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Whilst Inherent Health is a more than just a mechanical process, for many years the mechanism by which this organising process was unknown. Then, in 1977, a theoretical chemist named Ilya Prigogine came up with an answer, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize. He recognised that all open systems (of which we are one) are constantly exchanging energy with their environment. He found that open systems are constantly taking in energy and matter and then dissipating what they don’t need back into the environment.
He further found that in order for a system, or an organism to move to a higher level of organisation it has to go through a temporary period of chaos and instability in which some of the built up entropy in the system has to be discharged. It is at this period of instability (what Prigogine called a Bifurcation Point) that it can go into one of two directions. If it is unable to discharge much entropy then the system will slowly begin to move in the direction of increasing disorder and deterioration.
If, however, it is able to discharge most of the built-up entropy that has accumulated over time then the system will change and evolve to a higher level of functioning. This is a different meaning to the term evolution than we have been brought up to understand. Within us, this process of taking in the environment and discharging, or letting go of what we don’t need happens on many different levels. It occurs physically, metabolically, emotionally and psychologically.
One of the ways in which this process is constantly at work within us is through our ability to discharge any build-up of excess or toxicity that begins to accumulate internally. This excess includes the normal waste products from the body’s everyday metabolic activity. It also includes emotional excess that can arise where emotions are not fully expressed in a way that is appropriate at the time. This can lead to emotions becoming suppressed, giving rise to chronic tension and internal imbalance.
On an everyday level, we are discharging this excess through our normal channels of elimination. These include defecation, urination, sweating and breathing as well as through appropriate emotional expression. However, when this excess begins to build up to a level where these normal channels of elimination can’t cope anymore, we move into our very own period of chaos and instability that is marked by specific symptoms.
These symptoms include sneezing, coughing, excessive mucous production, skin rashes, tiredness and fevers. Examples of such acute conditions include
- The Common Cold
- Influenza
- Eczema
- Upper Respiratory Tract infections e.g. laryngitis, sinusitis
- Tonsillitis
- Childhood diseases, such as chicken pox, mumps and measles.
Most people consider these acute conditions to be an irritation and an inconvenience in their lives, and will do almost anything to get rid of the symptoms so that they can carry on as normal. However, if we view these acutes from the perspective of Prigogine’s work, they clearly represent a Bifurcation Point.
In other words, at this point we have entered our own period of chaos and instability that we have a very real opportunity for growth and development. What will determine whether this occurs or not is the way in which we view, and then handle the presenting symptoms. If we see these symptoms as somehow bad or wrong, then it will be more likely that we will seek to stop them by some process or other.
This quite often involves medicating these symptoms, shutting down the discharge process and thereby increasing the degree of excess, toxicity or entropy within the body. It is through continual suppression of acute symptoms, whether physical or emotional that we set the scene for the development of more chronic conditions later on.
If, however, we recognise the wisdom behind this process and can understand and support what it is the body is trying to do, then the potential for the shift to greater organisation and functioning becomes possible. This was evident prior to the mass vaccination campaigns for measles and mumps when parents would recognise that if the illness healing priorities of the body were met then the symptoms would naturally abate and children would demonstrate developmental leaps once they were cleared.
So, how can we tell if a condition is progressing in alignment with the body’s healing priorities? This is where the Law of Cure comes in. Also called Hering’s Law, after Constantin Hering who developed it, the Law of Cure has four components.
- The First Law of Cure – states that cure moves from the top of the body downwards. This means that we may see symptoms start in the upper part of the body. If the healing process is normal, then these symptoms will begin to clear from the head down. If symptoms appear in the lower body and begin to move upwards, this is moving in the opposite direction to the law of cure. This law also indicates that healing needs to begin with the correct mental attitude.
- The Second Law of Cure – this law states that healing starts from the inside and moves outwards. This is the direction of discharge or elimination, where excess needs to move fro mdeep in the body towards the surface n order to be eliminated. Chronic disease tends to move from the outside of the body deeper into the interior.
- The Third Law of Cure – healing progresses from a more important organ to a less important organ.
- The Fourth Law of Cure – symptoms disappear in the reverse order of their appearance. It is important that these re-emergences are seen as what they are and not as the emergence of a new disease process.
As Craniosacral therapists work directly with the organising principle of our Inherent Health, the body will engage whatever healing resources it needs in order for the condition to improve. In some instances, this process may progress smoothly. However, in other situations there may need to be emotional and/or physical discharges that need to be supported before the condition can improve.
It is for this reason that Craniosacral Therapy is more concerned with enhancing Health than it is on reducing disease
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Great article Graham. I found it educational and clear. This certainly ties in with my own experience of the healing process. Keep up the good work!
Really appreciate reading this. Gives me some new language for explaining to clients the phenomena of temporary chaos on the way to healing. And in a non-CST framework, it ties so beautifully into a conversation I was having with my hubby re: our 2 year old and the importance of supporting her through discharging emotions vs. distraction/logic. Thank you!