State of Balance
Definition
'The state of balance is a systemic neutral, a stillness that manifests throughout the system.'[1]
'A state of balance is a particular kind of stillness in which all the forces acting on the fulcrum come to rest. This includes the pushes and pulls in the connective tissue matrix, the fluid dynamics and the energies in the bioelectric field. The concept involved from the osteopathic point of balanced tension which took only the structural element into consideration and in which tension referred to connective-tissue tension. Within biodynamics this has been expanded to include the action of fluids and particularly the interplay of the underlying forces.'[2]
Derivation
State of balance is a key concept in biodynamic craniosacral therapy. In the 1990's at the Karuna Institute the term developed from using a 'point of balanced tension' to describe a local shift in connective tissues. The concept expanded into 'reciprocal tension in tissues', 'reciprocal tension in fluids' and 'reciprocal tension in potency'. A 'state of balanced tension' covered the systemic effects in tissues, fluids and potency. The simpler term 'state of balance' came to include a dynamic equilibrium in the whole body and a sense of stillness emerging.[3]
Discussion
‘Over time we will drop into what is most natural to us, a simple presence and spacious state of awareness. It is as though all the push-pulls of our life settle into a state of balance and an inherent ground of aliveness comes to the forefront.’[4]
'A state of balance is a very important therapeutic principle. It can be considered as a settling of the motion of the whole system in relationship to a particular pattern of experience. It is as though the whole system has deepened enough to allow all the resources to be focused on one place. All the opposing forces around the organizing centre (or fulcrum) of the pattern of experience – the pushes and pulls, the eccentric motions, the twists and swirls – slow down and balance out. Something happens (Becker 1997). There is a shift in the field as the nature of the fulcrum changes. The attempt to find a systemic neutral, where the whole field settles in relationship to a fulcrum, is the biodynamic approach and leads to a deeper, more significant shift. If working biomechanically the focus is not on the whole; there is a local reorganization called a point of balanced tension, often felt solely within the tissues. Sills describes a state of balance as a mysterious gateway (Sills 2001). There are often clear surges of potency and a crescendo of stillness at the moment the conditional forces organizing a pattern of experience are dissipated. In a state of balance the complete focus of the resources and the tide that can manifest, given the current relationship, is on a primary fulcrum. It is a momentous event. If you can be present at the precise moment a state of balance happens it is possible to drop further into stillness, into long tide or into dynamic stillness.'[5]
'Where an inertial fulcrum is present there will be disorganized and sometimes chaotic motion around it. The fluids move in swirls and eddies like a river around a boulder. Tissues such as muscles and ligaments become distorted, twisted contracted, overstretched and there will be disturbance in the energy flow. However when we can come into a natural state of rest, where all the elements come into balance like two children on the seesaw, in this place of vibrant stillness, the entrapped biodynamic and conditional forces can be released, can move out of their inertial state. They no longer need to maintain the stillness at the heart of the fulcrum but can return to their normal dance and flow. When this happens the patterns that have been generated around the fulcrum, tissue and fluid patterns also start to resolve. So in a state of balance we are actually working with the forces at the heart of the fulcrum not just the effects generated in the body physiology. Therefore the changes tend to be profound and long-lasting. And because of the tensegrity of our entire structure and the cohesion of fluids, releasing one fulcrum causes change in the entire body, the entire organism.'[6]
‘One of the roles of the practitioner is to access this stillness through what is known as the state of balance. In this state, the biodynamic potency and the conditional forces present within an inertial fulcrum access dynamic equilibrium, a state of balance where options are again available and healing resources can be expressed. The state of balance is a systemic neutral, a stillness that manifests throughout the system. Thus this neutral is expressed in every field of action; potency, fluids and tissues. As we shall see, when this stillness is accessed, “something happens”. Forces are engaged within the inertial fulcrum being attended to, and inertial potencies are activated beyond the containment and compensations held. The wider field of potency also comes into play and a permeation of potency into the inertial site then occurs.’ [7]
When the state of balance is attained 'the practitioner may sense that the entire field of potency, fluid, and tissue settles, stills and comes to balance around the organizing fulcrum. All sense of tensile push-pull ceases as the inherent forces come to balance and stillness is accessed. It is a state of dynamic equilibrium between the potencies centering the disturbance and the inertial forces maintaining it and is not static, but is an alive and dynamic state of interchange. The state of balance is not just a local phenomenon. It is experienced as a systemic neutral, a settling and stilling within all three fields of potency, fluids and tissues. Within the state of balance, the action of primary respiration is now oriented to this one issue. It is thus uncoupled from all other inertial issues and can be more safely dealt with. This generates, in essence, a new fulcrum around which the whole system is poised. It will seem as though the inertial fulcrum is now freely suspended within its field of action and can shift within the phases of the primary respiration. As this occurs, changes take place in the inertial potencies present within the fulcrum and in the bioenergy field as a whole. As the potency within the fulcrum begins to shift within the phases of primary respiration, a disengagement from the conditional forces being centered occurs. Potency is then freed to act beyond its containment of these forces and other levels of healing process can then be initiated. The practitioner may perceive many kinds of phenomena during this process. These may include: (1) fluid drive, a sharp, directive drive of potency and fluid through the area, (2) a of welling-up and permeation within and around the inertial fulcrum that may have a soft yet powerful quality, (3) systemic expressions of potency such as surges in inhalation, shifts of potency within the fluids and through the midline and (4) field phenomena generated by the Long Tide.'[8]
References
- ↑ Sills F. (2011) Foundations in Craniosacral Biodynamics: Breath of Life and Fundamental Skills. Volume One. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.
- ↑ Ukleja K (2016) State of Balance. Da Sein Institut, BCST training manual
- ↑ In conversation with Katherine Ukleja 2016-09-24 at Da Sein Institut
- ↑ Sumner, G. and Haines, S. (2010) Cranial Intelligence - A Practical Guide to Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy. London: Singing Dragon.
- ↑ Sumner, G. and Haines, S. (2010) Cranial Intelligence - A Practical Guide to Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy. London: Singing Dragon.
- ↑ Ukleja K (2016) State of Balance. Da Sein Institut, BCST training manual
- ↑ Sills F. (2011) Foundations in Craniosacral Biodynamics: Breath of Life and Fundamental Skills. Volume One. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.
- ↑ Sills F. (2011) Foundations in Craniosacral Biodynamics: Breath of Life and Fundamental Skills. Volume One. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.
