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Wisdom in the Body: The Craniosacral Approach to Essential Health by Michael Kern D.O., R.C.S.T., M.I.CrA, N.D. (2001). London: Thorsons. 224 pp. ISBN 07225-37085. (2005 edition from North Atlantic Books: 316 pages with forward by Dr. Franklyn Sills.)
As healthcare providers and parents, our world becomes increasingly more complex with numerous healing modalities that seem to rise and fall away; and it is hard to discern which modalities are helpful. One modality, craniosacral therapy (CST), is receiving wider attention. To compound obscurity with confusion, there are many schools and styles of CST that appear to have conflicting philosophies; the core principles of CST can be difficult to explain.
Michael Kern's book, Wisdom in the Body, is a lovely primer on the development, theory, and practice of craniosacral therapy. His writing is simple and direct, covering the basic schools of thought that comprise this therapeutic modality. The book is well organized, with many sub-headings that clearly and efficiently articulate the oftentimes-complex nature of the work. Kern gently builds comprehension of the structural, physiological and functional nature of the craniosacral system. Each chapter ends with a bulleted summary that facilitates orientation and comprehension.
While it appears that the author's primary training and practice is in a field called Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy, originated by Franklyn Sills, his writing style and topics are inclusive of the whole field of experience and all schools of thought. All of the illustrations are clear and easily applied, except for one case: I found myself confused by Illustration 3.16 on p. 69, wherein the axis of...