Jenny Palmer invited me to give
a postgraduate seminar in Brisbane in April 07. I delivered
my 'Core Sucess' seminar, which is a seminar for therapists
generally not just cranio sacral therapists. As well
as the Brisbane folk, some therapists flew up from Sydney.
Here is what Jenny has to say about it.
Lost
and Found - gifts from John Dalton's Core Success
workshop in Australia.
by Jenny Palmer.
If you've ever been fishing, you'll
know that casting the line out may be the trickiest
part. It's important to get the bait right out to
where the fish are biting.
Sometimes, you find huge balls of tangled fishing
line amongst the rocks, where someone did that thing
where the line spools out into a giant knot behind
you, instead of flying cleanly through the air in
front of you. In desperation, they cut the line and
get rid of the giant knot instead of spending hours
trying to undo it.
So what's that got to do with
a craniosacral workshop?
Well, before John came back to
Australia to do the seminar, I had loads of questions
- about my practice, about some people I'm treating
and about cranio in general. It felt a bit like a
giant ball of knotted fishing line. There had been
years of 'stuff' happening in my personal life as
well that seemed to have sucked the essence of 'hope'
from my being.
So, the day of the Core Success
workshop finally dawned and in I went, expecting to
get loads of answers. John welcomed everyone and began
the day with the statement that he had 'no answers
for anyone'.
Great! I thought…….
What John was going to attempt
to do was to help everyone realise that they inherently
had the answers all along. (I thought, 'Like a good
cranio session perhaps?')
Using simple exercises (the 'interactive'
part), there began a gradual awakening to John's opening
statement. It's often shocking when things are revealed
to you in seemingly simple ways. It reminds me of
my own inner 'complicatedness'. My brain gets in the
way at times and wants to know everything - right
now - please!
After a couple of these interactive
exercises, I couldn't really remember my list of questions.
They'd disappeared, or the couple I could remember
seemed to not really be questions at all. (That may
be categorised as having a 'seniors' moment, but I
don't think so.) It was like holding that big ball
of knotted fishing line and all you really have to
do is find that one little strand that seems to hold
it all together - the more you dig your fingers in
and search, the more frustrated you get. The tighter
the knots seem to get. But if you just sit with it,
soften your eyeballs and really look at it, see how
the threads are running, the one bit that holds it
together will become apparent. Just loosen it, a little,
and see how the ball of knots falls apart, slowly,
slowly, easily…
As the day progressed, I got some
wonderful insights into myself and my practice and
the people I'm treating and how I'm approaching everything.
I had been having some serious doubts about myself,
and my ability to help some people. My hope had taken
a battering. That had also affected my faith, in myself.
Some of what I really got was:
• We're NOT in the business of imparting wisdom
(that's a relief in itself).
• We don't teach people to ride a bike by riding
it for them.
• Assumption - if people come to me they want
to get better.
• Assumption - when it looks like you're sharing
a reality, you're not.
• We really don't want to know the end of the
movie before we see it
- even if it is a happy ending.
• Our biggest trap is success (you think you
know for certain what's going on).
• The other main trap is failure (you're certain
you're no good).
And the most beautiful, yet unsettling
thing?
You're part of the liberation
that you might not even see……
And that's the beauty of the mysterious,
still places that we go to every day as therapists.
Or, as that infamous ex US Defence Secretary once
said. "As we know, there are known knowns; there
are things we know we know. We also know there are
known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some
things we do not know. But there are also unknown
unknowns -- the ones we don't know we don't know."
Makes perfect sense to a craniosacral therapist.
We (craniosacral therapists) are
pioneers. And that's tough in itself. It's enriching
to get together with other practitioners and students
and just chat. I wish we could do that more often.
In the meantime, I sit back in that great 'armchair'
and find the stillness that's demanded of us the most
(and remember, you can't see round corners).
The day was lovely - I want to thank John. For his
wisdom and insight and understanding.
He created a still place for us
all (calming and unsettling) - inspiring, gentle,
nourishing, illuminating, warm (just like a good cranio
session?). What I got from that day is still unravelling
in myself, and in my practice. I've really moved forward
with what I want to be doing, and it's falling very
nicely into place.
I can't wait for next year's workshop - I'm starting
on my list of questions now. (Kidding!)
Jenny Palmer
www.ynt.com.au
