Course Descriptions 

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Energetic Ethics (4 Hours)

 

As bodywork practitioners, we need to be very clear about where we end and our client begins, not only physically/mentally/emotionally, but especially in our energetic fields. The more a practitioner can become aware of their own energy, and the more they can develop good habits of self-awareness, the better practitioner they can become. In this class, students will explore how to sense and palpate energetic fields surrounding bodies, become more aware of their own energies, and how to adjust their therapeutic presence for a variety of clients and situations. 

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​Basic Class (32 Hours)

 

This class teaches how to listen and feel the inner movements of a person’s body. You will connect to the basic cranial rhythms and see how they impact the body. You will study fascial intelligence, the diaphragm releases, and the cranial lifts. Each day participants will both give and receive a practice session. By the end of this class you will be able to give a full basic craniosacral session.

 

Follow-­Up to Basic Class, Unwinding Meridians Rhythms (32 Hours)

 

This class explores deeper cranial rhythms and the neutral touch. You will learn the unwinding process of the head, neck and extremities. In this class we use the meridians to open the heart and release the lungs. You will learn how to use energy to direct a healing flow, and find your ‘original voice’.

 

Sphenoid Studies and Intelligence (32 Hours)

 

When a child is born there are many pressures on the skull that hold the base of the brain and the platelets of the head into fixed positions. The normal hardening of these bones locks the skull into a ‘baby position’. Without intervention this position stays with us for the rest of our lives. In this class we will be able to increase the flexibility of the cranial base and allow the brain to function within the maximum space available. The creation of space for the brain will release a whole new avenue of intelligence that was unavailable before.

 

Talking to the Heart and the Birth of Love (32 Hours)

 

In this class you will go beyond working in total silence. You will practice the use of your ‘original voice’ and help your client to do the same. You will engage the intelligence of cells and organs and speak directly to structures inside the body. You will release blockages from around your own heart and heart protector and those of your client. Since therapy is dependent on the love that the therapist can allow, everyone who wants to claim this ability has to make sure his/her heart is as free and open as possible.

 

Allowing Expression and Listening (32 Hours)

 

This training addresses TMJ dysfunctions and opens up the muscles and tendons of the jaw, tongue, hard/soft palate and ears. This involves intra oral work. You learn how the sympathetic and para-­sympathetic nervous systems are interconnected with our brain and how they impact our general well-­being. You learn how to correct dysfunctions that arise from dental interventions like braces, implants, and negative input from others.

 

Understanding and Working with the Alarm Systems (32 Hours)

 

Survival is the main goal of our body, so that we can fulfill our life tasks and evolve. Unconsciously we take on other peoples’ opinions, angers, anxieties etc. In this class we learn how to consciously remove ourselves from these encumbrances and utilize the delicate mechanisms of control, to pilot our own course in life. Here we explore the reticular alarm system and the total stress cascade response in the body. We learn how to take ourselves off ‘automatic pilot’ and consciously direct our own stress cascade.

 

Eyes, Vision and Education (32 Hours)

 

The eyes record everything we encounter. Understanding their anatomy and connections to the thalamus and visual cortex will help us release the energy they have had to absorb. We de-­stress the eyes and the brain. We will explore the drag that the medulla and cerebellum have on the brain stem, and study the functions of the visual cortex. Finally you will be able to reverse your direction of vision, resulting in eyes that can also look within.

 

The Immune System and Working with Stem Cells (32 Hours)

 

This system is governed by the thymus and an array of organs, such as the spleen, liver and the total lymphatic system. You will clean and revitalize these systems and learn to work with stem cells. You will constantly repair and replace tissues, bringing your body to a peak of healthfulness. Then we will explore the specialized Immune system which is responsible for maintaining the health of the brain and spinal cord within the dura mater. In this unique milieu, we have totally different fluids and specialized glia and stem cells working in the glymphatic system that is so specialized it was only observed a year ago.

 

Babies and Small Children (32 Hours)

 

All babies are from the very beginning perfect. Look into a baby’s eyes and you will find innocence and the perfection of Enlightenment. This class also reveals your own perfection and restores your chances for trust, innocence and love. From this point, you can be in true empathy with a new-­born child. Including and beyond our techniques, you will see how to really communicate with the intelligence of babies, to welcome them into this world and find them still at the source from which they have come to us in this life. Herein lies the true secret of all of our work. To make real contact with a new being, to give love but also to receive love from such a one. A blessing. You will learn the techniques which can help you come in tune with or correct situations relating to the birth experience.

Required reading: CRANIOSACRAL THERAPY FOR BABIES AND SMALL CHILDREN (2006) 

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Advanced Classes 

 

Please note that these courses require permission from Etienne.

 

Brain I (32 Hours)

 

This class focuses on the special skills needed to experience brain matter. It is the ultimate exercise in both neutrality and awareness. Here we meet right at the cusp, where one’s energy starts to materialize and where cells are as close to pure electricity as is humanly possible. It all starts with the eyes, looking inside the body. From there we will refine our skills of touch so that it will be possible to transcend the human form. Our focus will then move to harmonize the symmetry so that all brain parts can integrate. The brain’s pathways cross the midline at different parts. This creates an explosion of possibilities; we will be able to harmonize these different places and regain unity. You will learn and be able to use neural stem cells to repair all places that are damaged or suffer from lack of oxygen. You will be able to travel around the brain and visit your total ventricle system and repair this wherever this is needed. Finally, we will be able to unwind and experience a fully harmonized brain, a Buddha Brain. Pre-requisite: Understanding and Working with the Alarms Systems.

 

Brain II (32 Hours)

 

This class will go into the specifics of the subconscious and the conscious parts of the brain. You will learn to look into your own mirror and visit your own possible evolution. It is your choice what and where you want to go with these insights. You will be able to understand connections, motoric and sensory tracks and how to restore balance. We will look at all homeostatic processes and release them from static charges so they can work freely again. be able to face your possibilities as if they were an adventure and not a trauma to be feared. Finally, we will explore totally new ground by diving in and experiencing the world of glia cells. It is here that pure energy, pure nothingness finds its expression in this world. This last subject is as close to nothingness as matter can ever be. Pre-requisite: Brain 1.

 

Death & Dying (32 Hours)

 

Deeply understand the physical process that we call dying and the stages that a body goes through when dying, including the emotional, mental and spiritual barriers that a person might encounter during this terminal process. Prepare and learn to use CranioSacral Therapy to help a dying person go through these processes.

 

Advanced Intensive (60 Hours)

 

This is the deepest place that our CranioSacral experience can take you. Attendance is limited to 10 participants and is divided into 2 teams of 5 participants. Each day you will give and receive an ultimate session from the other 4 members on your team. This affords you chances to go into areas of your life that are more hidden but which need to be found, understood and healed.

 

 

 

Systemic Family Constellations

 

Family Constellations is a powerful method to help you recognize difficult entanglements, both in your family of origin as well as in your present family or relationship. Solution-oriented interventions bring understanding, which is followed by a deep relaxation that allows love to flow again between members of the family system. The systemic view focuses on the causes and needs behind symptoms (rather than on the symptoms themselves). Systemic interventions primarily focus on clarifying what is happening, so that people in the system can contribute to making the system vital in their own way. Everyone can contribute to the (sub) system from their own place and position, sometimes by looking in a different way, sometimes through targeted, necessary interventions.

 

These classes are taught by Tina Vervaeke, who taught the first 4 classes at Etienne’s schools in Belgium and Holland for over 10 years. She currently teaches Systemic Family Constellations in Gent, Belgium.

 

Systemic Family Constellations I (32 Hours)

 

We will learn the basic dynamics of family constellations. The students will have the opportunity to have a personal session. Dynamics will be explained accordingly.

 

Systemic Family Constellations II (32 Hours)

 

We will further learn about the systemic dynamics and how to ‘see’ and ‘feel’ in a systemic, phenomenological way. There will be exercises in small groups to train this interesting way of observing. We will also learn how to facilitate a constellation session during craniosacral therapy. With extra attention on how to formulate the questions, and how to guide the session from a systemic approach. Pre-requisites: Basics and Talking to the Heart.

 

 

 

Psoas and Fascial Release

 

These classes are taught by Wilko Ledema, who has been one of the main teachers at the Dutch Rebalancing School for Bodywork & Meditation since 1995. Wilko teaches the Psoas Release 1&2 modules at the Peirsman Cranio Sacral Academy in the Netherlands.

 

Psoas and Fascial Release I (32 Hours)

 

The psoas is a muscle situated deep within the abdomen that can be viewed as the core of the physical body. This muscle influences many aspects of both physical wellbeing as well as the fundamental sense of Being. It is crucially important in supporting balance and ‘centering’ (coming home in yourself), movement and coordination, and also for posture and joint rotation. It is the only muscle that connects lumbar vertebra with the legs and the diaphragm.

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The psoas serves as a highly sensitive mirror and radar for the deepest feelings, reactions and emotions. When affected, the psoas tells the real story of what is happening, far from what eye sees. Moreover, the psoas is at the heart of the area when fear, hurt and trauma are packaged up and hidden away. It is the muscle that makes you fight, flight, freeze or respond.

 

In this module, you will learn how to work with various dynamic and static deep-touch techniques, client-oriented exercises that bring awareness into the psoas so as to strengthen the muscle and help it release its emotional charge. You will learn to make deep contact by conscious touch; respectful entrainment; space for feelings and emotions; the importance of breathing; listening with heart and soul; unconditional acceptance… all of which create the fundamental conditions for profound and vital presence and relaxation.

 

Psoas and Fascial Release II (32 Hours)

 

When you are relaxed, your mind is calm and your body is loose and flexible, your vital life-force (Chi, Qi, Ki, Prana) flows freely.

 

This follow-up module of Psoas Release focusses on the broad energetic context of the hara. Together, the psoas and the hara constitute the key area of your life energy, as well as being the gravitational center of the body and the axis of movement, coordination and mobility.

 

Moreover, this section of the body is a treasure trove of hidden feelings and suppressed emotions. This is where a whole complex of unexpressed emotions gets stored: old childhood traumas, repressed feelings involving sexuality, anger, high sensitivity, daring to be yourself and express your own truth, the ability to enjoy… and on top of all such buried energy there’s a heavy layer of associated fear.

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In this module, you will learn to work with innovative hands-on techniques of bodywork, such as dynamic and static deep (muscle) tissue work, stretches and rotations. You will receive valuable insights into and experience directly the profound ways in which breathing influences, opens up and connects the four crucial areas of body, mind, feelings and, spirit.