The Origins of Craniosacral Therapy: American Indian Bodywork

Andrew Taylor Still was born in August of 1828 in Lee County, Virginia, to a father who served as a missionary and physician. The Stills had a violent history with Native Americans. After Andrew was born, his family developed peaceful relationships with the Shawnee and Cherokee Indians. As he grew up and entered medical school, Andrew assisted his father with healthcare for the Native Americans on a Kansas reservation. The curious student learned physical adjustment techniques from the Indian bodywork practices he witnessed.

When the Still family worked with natives, they noticed that women taught bodywork to the tribe. These matriarchs mastered healing via energy work, bone setting, and breathwork. Their methods involved manipulating tissues, organs, joints, acupressure points, and energy channels that correspond to meridians. They used narrative healing- dialogue with the musculoskeletal system and intense breathwork to restore vitality or spirit. This style is similar to the Somato Emotional Release in craniosacral therapy, where we converse with the client about internal happenings accompanying emotional and energetic movements.

Craniosacral therapy draws from tenets of American Indian bodywork and osteopathy. Dr. Still meshed early training experiences on reservations with medical knowledge and opened the American School of Osteopathy. William G. Sutherland enrolled at this new school and furthered Andrew's work to develop cranial-osteopathy. In 1950 Harold Magoun refined cranial-osteopathy and taught it to John Upledger, who created craniosacral therapy.

Touch, energy, and spirit were intuitive forms of tribal healthcare that still influence manual holistic therapies today. While practicing Osteopathy, Andrew often used the phrase "taking an Indian look at things," which meant listening to the body without thought. In CST, we train to observe the body without judgment. Dr. Still's medical knowledge, combined with Native American healing practices and spiritual beliefs, formed the substrate for osteopathy which grew into craniosacral therapy.

Teachings in the Science of Osteopathy

https://sctf.com/publications/books/#:~:text=From%20Teachings%20in%20the%20Science,the%20articulations%20of%20the%20bones.

The History of Craniosacral Therapy

https://iacst.ie/history-craniosacralt-herapy#:~:text=Craniosacral%20Therapy%2C%20or%20CST%20as,Stills%20 system%20into%20cranial%20osteopathy.

Traditional American Indian Bodywork, the Origin of Osteopathy, Polarity, and Craniosacral Therapy

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277013012_Traditional_American_Indian_Bodywork_the_Origin_of_Osteopathy_Polarity_and_Craniosacral_Therapy