Andrea Martini
D.O. MROI Lecturer at the C.I.O Italian College of Osteopathy in Parma
The fundamental principle of osteopathy that differentiates it from other Western manual therapies, it is self-correction.
This occurs thanks to the continuous search for balance using the forces of the involuntary system that Dr. Becker, the great American Osteopath and student of Dr. Sutherland, discoverer of the cranio-sacral system, defined biodynamic forces.
This "strength" is expressed through what was defined as the cranio-sacral mechanism which is powered by cellular respiration which produces a liquid fluctuation and which is reflected in the membranous system of mutual tension (the external meninge called dura mater both cranial and spinal and with the relative fluctuation of cerebrospinal fluid).
The relevant fact that Sutherland discovered was that the craniosacral mechanism is the only region of the body in which this "primary system" cellular, liquid and membranous constitutes both the internal motor and the manifestation, which is why he called it the "primary respiratory mechanism".
This "hydraulic pump" it is expressed throughout the body through the fasciae, that is, the anatomical and physiological whole made up of the totality and continuity of the connective tissue.
I remember that the elements of the primary respiratory mechanism produced by primary respiration (so called by Sutherland because it is present from the beginning of embryonic life) use only this internal and involuntary biodynamic force to unlike the other parts of the body which, in addition to this involuntary mechanism, use all the movements and demonstrate all the activities that classical physiology has taught us and which Sutherland defined as "voluntary mechanism" to differentiate it from primary.
To finish this small but necessary aside I add that spatially the body in the so-called inhalation phase makes a lateral expansion and a longitudinal shortening, on the contrary in the so-called exhalation phase it carries out a longitudinal elongation and a transverse narrowing.
That said, the question is how can using SOULSPENSION be useful to us? Analyzing the contact points of the body on the SOULSPENSION, which we can call fulcrums, we will notice that: the spheres in contact with the occipital bone exert a gentle but present pressure on an area of confluence of the external meninges (called dura mater) in its spinal portion and cranial, this area was called "Sutherland's fulcrum" by osteopaths. who called this area the center of the cranio-sacral mechanism.
We also find in this area the floor of the fourth ventricle, fundamental for the functioning of the vegetative neuro system. The balance on the fourth ventricle causes relaxation of the muscles, breathing and heartbeat.
The pressure on the paravertebral muscles, light and constant and punctuated by pulmonary breathing, causes a myorelaxation which after a while reaches the point of "massaging" gently the spinal orthosimatic ganglia with probable beneficial visceral effects due to the correlated somato-visceral relationships.
At the sacral level we find the sacral parasympathetic ganglia responsible for the visceral activity of the last intestinal tract and the pelvic organs, as well as the movement transmitted by the primary respiratory mechanism.
We can divide the work of SOULSPENSION into two phases: the first phase in which through breathing exercises and specific movements the structures are mobilised, the muscles are relaxed to then access a second phase where, passively, the involuntary system is left to carry out the "intelligent" that only he knows!
In conclusion, SOULSPENSION can be of help to all health professionals by contributing to the treatment carried out by a doctor and/or therapist who with his intervention triggers a process and finds in SOULSPENSION an important ally to support this health process.
Finally, let us remember that none of us doctors and/or therapists heal but contribute to activating the body's innate self-healing forces either with the aid of allopathic or homeopathic drugs or than any other work on the person's body and psyche.