Every drop knows the Tide
Osteopathy is founded upon the wise application of the hands and the inherent wisdom of the body to heal itself. With a deep knowledge of anatomy, dissection, physiology and the clinical sciences, Osteopathy is at once a healing art and a science.
The philosophy, principles and practice of Osteopathy are unique.
Osteopathy in the UK is one of the most vibrant and diverse professions of any in the world. There is much research and scientific endeavour with a broad post graduate programme of teaching and research.
Osteopaths study a four to five year programme, leading to a BSc or MOst., in Osteopathy.
Osteopaths are registered with the General Osteopathic Council who maintain and promote high standards in Osteopathic education, clinical practice, professional development and public accountability. The title Osteopath is protected in law.
Osteopathy was founded by American physician, Dr Andrew Taylor Still in 1870. He formally taught Osteopathy from 1892 onwards and the first American School of Osteopathy opened its doors in Kirksville, Missouri in October 1894.
Osteopathy was brought to London in 1930’s by Edward John Littlejohn who opened the first British School of Osteopathy at Buckingham Gate, London in 1917.
Dr Still’s principles and practice of Osteopathy, as in his daily life, were based upon a profound understanding of Anatomy and the creative impulse of God in man and Nature.
Dr Still spoke of the Triune Man – in mind, matter and motion … study well its manifestations.
He described God as the ‘all known Architect’ and provided a philosophical system of medicine which recognises the source of the body’s ability to heal.
Dr Still created a system of natural healing which pioneered the use of techniques for treating the vascular system to enable health to return to the diseased part.
Dr Still realised that the health of the nervous system depended wholly upon the arterial system. His work in treating arterial and venous circulation was matched by his understanding of the prime importance of the lymphatic system, wherein as he stated: ‘the principle of life more abundantly dwells’
Such principles continue to form the basis of current Osteopathic technique and practice.
Dr Still stressed the importance of healthy behaviours to support the inherent wisdom of the body to heal and disavowed the use of injurious substances or drugs. ‘I believe man made a mistake when he undertook to inject poisonous substances into the human system as a remedy for disease, instead of applying the laws of creation to that end’.
The founding principle of Osteopathy is the knowledge of the inherent wisdom of the body to govern health.
Through a sense of touch called palpation ‘knowing the normal’ of healthy tissues enable an Osteopath to recognise dysfunction and disease.
Osteopaths are trained in their palpation skills to detect tiny changes in the matrix of tissues and are able to distinguish between different layers and organs of the body and thereby to recognise health and where there is disturbance in the physiology of organs and other structures, which may lead to dis-ease and dis-harmony.
Osteopaths work with the health and those laws governing nature to re-establish the health of the whole.
Dr Still stated: ‘The primary purpose of the Osteopath is to find health’.
Osteopathic palpation is extremely sensitive, is reproducible and others can be trained to perform those skills. It is both a science and a craft.
Osteopaths are trained in the very sensitive application of touch, learning to recognise states within the body often unseen by the eye, which may indicate a disturbance from normal wellbeing.
Information learned through the wise application of the hands through palpation of the body permit accurate diagnosis and is often more enlightening than even a detailed case analysis.
Osteopaths are trained to sense the different tissue layers within the body, during health and in disease. We are trained in ‘knowing normal’, in understanding what healthy tissues feel like through accurate sense of touch. Just as we can all detect the difference between cotton, silk, wood and wool by touch and we understand that they have characteristic qualities that differentiate them, so Osteopaths are trained to detect small differences in cellular structures which make up the defining characteristic, unique to every tissue in the body; whether it is nerve, lymph, blood vessel, tendon, ligament or bone.
Every tissue in the body arises from a particular cell from which the embryo forms, imbuing it with a unique quality and characteristic, which with training, an Osteopath can learn to distinguish and recognise as a having a normal characteristic when in health. In time, Osteopaths build up an extensive library of different tissue senses in their perceptual memory and experience.
Every structure has a cellular ‘memory’ of events that have occurred to it throughout life. Rather like the rings of a tree which show the rainy winters and the long, dry summers, so that each body structure imprints events which occur to it. This creates a cellular chronology, a history of time which a person has lived through and is also shaped by experience.
Osteopaths can learn to read this rather like a three dimensional book. Such imprinting of memory can occur within particular tissues, especially the membranes of the body which help compartmentalise and protect the body structures. The body has an intricate web of membrane called fascia which adheres and envelopes all body structures. It helps provide a stabilising system for the entire body. Fascia enables Osteopaths to palpate the body wisely and learn from the information coming into our hands. It can be likened to a three dimensional communication and mapping system where gentle touch can tune in and learn about body events – even when the person can no longer recall them.
This information is wisely applied by the Osteopath for the healing of the person. It is a morally good act. Interestingly, this information cannot be used in any other way. It is given by the body and humbly acknowledged by the Osteopath. It is a reciprocal dance of humility and attentiveness. Always listening at the deepest level, to the inner health of the person. Assisting the inherent wisdom of the body to heal itself.
The unique listening skills of an Osteopath, through sense of touch, working with the inherent wisdom of the body to heal, operates in a wider context, a deeper dynamic.
When we enable our health, body and spirit, to operate in the natural world, in a wild landscape, according to the Universal laws of Nature, health and healing ensue.
Dr Still stated: ‘Osteopathy to me is a very sacred science. It is sacred because it is a healing power through all Nature’.
Dr Still said that Osteopathy is an expression of the natural laws, not framed by human hands.
Dr William Garner Sutherland was a student of Dr Still. Dr Sutherland spent his entire life studying the primary respiratory mechanism, the cranium, the brain and the spinal fluid.
With sixty five years of dedicated study and practice emerged a significant contribution to Osteopathy, which hs become known as Osteopathy in the Cranial field.
Osteopathy in the Cranial field or Cranial Osteopathy, is a highly specialised study and cooperation with the inherent healing forces and universal laws that are both palpable and observable in nature and the human organism. It is also the study of subtle rhythmic motions within nature, known within Osteopathy as the Primary Respiratory Mechanism – Primary because it precedes thoracic respiration and is essential for all life.
Dr Sutherlands’ work is a major contribution and advancement in Osteopathy and applied to all areas of the body not just the cranium.
Dr Still stated: ‘The cerebrospinal-spinal fluid is one of the highest known elements that are contained in the body and unless the brain furnishes this fluid in abundance, a disabled condition of the body will remain. He who is able to reason will see that this great river of life must be tapped and the withering field irrigated at once, or the harvest of life be forever lost’.
Dr Sutherland, founder of Cranial Osteopathy stated: ‘Within that cerebrospinal-spinal fluid there is an invisible element that I refer to as ‘the Breath of Life’. I want you to visualise this Breath of Life as a fluid within a fluid, something that has potency as the thing that makes it move. Visualise a potency, an intelligent potency that is more intelligent than your own human mentality’.
He went on to state: ‘Dr Still envisioned the cerebro-spinal fluid as an intermediary in the movement of Divine Intelligence, a channelling of creation into embryological segments and irrigating them with life, given form and function, order and intelligence to our existence’.
It is an Unerring Potency, the expression of the wisdom of Health and Nature as expressed in the forces shaping embryonic growth and development in tune with other expressions of the natural law which enable the therapeutic powers of the Dynamic Stillness, the Breath of Life, the Tidal potency; the fluids and other natural laws at work supporting and creating life.
I am an experienced Registered Osteopath with over thirty three years of clinical practice and a Registered Homoeopath.
Where appropriate, I provide Cranial Osteopathy with Homoeopathy for the dynamic healing of the whole person. Healing the whole person in Spirit and by Touch. I have a profound interest in understanding the dynamic laws which govern healing.
I have a profound love for Osteopathy and gratitude for the journey of healing and wisdom it reveals.
I practice full time as an Osteopath, with a specialist interest in sports injury and dance medicine; returning those who love their chosen sport to wellness and performance. I particularly enjoy care of the older person in unlocking potential and increased wellbeing, and in learning from my patients.
I have a particular interest in Cranial Osteopathy, delivered throughout pregnancy and during birth, and for newborn and older infants.
With over thirty three year of clinical practice, teaching and post graduate training with the founders of the Sutherland College of Cranial Osteopathy; the Osteopathic Centre for Children, London and the Osteopathic Center for Children, San Diego I have a particular interest in the provision of Osteopathy for children with development and learning delay. I hold a BA in Divinity and Homoeopathy is an integral part of my practice.
Every drop knows the Tide – Dr Sutherland
I am an experienced fell-walker who turned a love for the mountains into exploring and developing a love for climbing. I maintain a passion for the wild places, nature and living gently in such landscapes. With map reading and compass, natural navigation skills combined with weather skills for mountain and sea, developing wild camping and bushcraft understanding enabling solo travel on foot and by sea kayak I am continuing my journeys in the wild places.
‘I love my fellow man because I see God in his face and in his form’ – Dr Still
