Effortless Alignment

When we are deeply aligned, we feel very present and really ‘here.’ Alignment is a magical place in which we can feel concurrently grounded, connected, and in our power and strength.

Effortless Alignment: Standing Tall

As we stand tall in ourselves, more aligned, the centre of our awareness becomes more global. We discover that our awareness is not centred in our head. And when awareness opens up even further, we can feel very light, free and easy – as if the weight of the world has been lifted from us.

A deep sense of alignment is the coherence of our physical, energetic and spiritual ‘bodies’. Coherence is a sense of internal flow rather than resistance or holding. Aches and pains subside and we can feel deeper rhythms and movements inside of us. Being aligned is a fabulous place from which to engage with the world – where we can be truly ourselves and capable of meeting all the challenges of life.

I would like to say that alignment is natural. It is and alignment requires inner work to come back into a steady relationship with this place inside ourselves. Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy offer a profound way to discover and transform our alignment.

OUR SPINE

Our spine is the organising axis for our physical body – the physical midline. Our spine is the main skeletal structure of our body to which all other bones relate. It’s why our spine is so important for any body-centred practice.

The spine has three segments – lumbar, thoracic and cervical. The spine houses the nerve highway of the body. The spine connects our brain to all aspects of our body, enabling our muscles to be animated and our vital processes to hum along in the background of our consciousness. Within the spinal cord, the nerves are bathed in cerebral spinal fluid, which cleans and revitalises our brain.

Muscles and ligaments weave into and around the spine. This enables us to move and interact physically with people and our environment. The spine is a structure based on tensegrity.

ENERGETIC MIDLINE

Our body is also organised (literally from day one) around an energetic core midline. This midline supplies us with the energy we need to form and maintain our body.

Our energetic midline is well understood in practices like yoga, Chi Kung, acupuncture and spiritual development. Meridians and chakras are rivers and organising energy centres within our midline.

When we have injuries and experience trauma these impact our energetic field compromising our relationship to our energetic midline. As a result of impacts in our energetic midline, it becomes less powerful and unconscious to us. Ensuring that this energy is flowing optimally is fundamental to having a deep sense of being centred, supported, and resourced.

Our energetic midline is core to our physical functioning; our health is compromised when this is not flowing optimally. The spine and the core midline are always in relationship to each other. As access to our energetic midline deepens, we can find our posture changes, and our sense of ease in our spine grows.

Impact of Trauma on Our Alignment

When we experience trauma, we contract our physical body through our fascial network.

Protective contractions of our fascia becomes body memory. We also compound our holding patterns by not moving our body enough and through poor posture – think about the impact of sitting at computers and desks all day long, year after year.

Since the spine is our physical midline, a vast array of fascial networks weaves through it. Some of these networks are visible; others are microscopic, twisting and turning in response to what is happening to us at any one time – especially if we are in an activated state. Our body literally changes shape depending on what we are sensing and how we are feeling. In health we are responsive, we contract to protect when we need to and then we return to an open and fluid state. In health our trauma is not stuck or held in our tissues.

Felt-sense

It is possible to tune into your spine and sense the state of your alignment. To sense this, you need a quiet mind.

When you first try to sense your alignment, you may feel you are not receiving any information. However, nothingness, numbness, and absence are information which suggest trauma is present in your system.

When you have more felt-sense capacity, you might notice inner shapes or textures. Some areas of your spine may seem to crack and creak, and feel dry. Or you might sense thickness or density. You can also discover that your spine feels fluid in places, that it has flow and glide.

Tuning into our spine can also reveal emotions and thoughts. For example, you might become aware of a belief that there isn’t really enough / any support for yourself.

Your body memory has thoughts, beliefs and feelings contained in a holding pattern. It is very powerful to tune into your own felt-sense of your body to explore and release body memory. This attunement takes practice and is part of the healing process.

Coming Back Into Health

Coming back into alignment feels wonderful. Better alignment is both a physical and energetic shift. We can experience ourselves really standing evenly on our own two feet again, feeling grounded effortlessly. Tensions and holding patterns dissolve and we feel stronger and more supported. And that’s the felt-sense of the expression of more health flowing in our body.

Our physical and energetic alignment changes according to what it most optimal for our body. When we have a high degree of health, change is most likely to happen quicker than if we do not.

As a consequence of greater alignment, our vitality increases and we feel more deeply centred and connected. We may also find that we are recovering from injuries we never thought would change; persistent aches and pains are disappearing; and we have more felt-sensation within ourselves. We discover greater levels of health.

Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy offers a unique way to work with both our physical and energetic midlines together facilitating optimal change in our system.