CST in the Real World
How are our hands, images, and insight connected?" Lynda Barry, "Syllabus"
It might seem odd to lead of a CST-focused newsletter referencing a comic artist/writer (Lynda Barry) but it's not. Creativity is at the core of doing skillful CST (and all listening based bodywork). Creativity is also essential when constructing a curriculum. Content needs to be both engaging and fun. Lynda Barry teaches at the graduate school at the University of Wisconsin in their "Institute of Discovery". She is basically teaching creativity processes to grad students from all disciplines who are working on their Phd's. I was fortunate to study with her as part of my of process learning how to develop curriculum. It was and remains a game changer for me both as an educator and a clinician.
Michael’s curiosity and enthusiasm are infectious. Thank you!
— Workshop Participant
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There are two intersecting truths that are often left out of medical training. One: meeting the unpredictable dynamics involved in patient require requires great creativity. Most cases don't fit protocols, especially chronic and/or complex ones. Two: the people who we often credit with articulating the modalities that we study came to their perspective and skillset through their own iterative, creative process. Somehow, what many of the schools teaching CST have done is turn this gift of a creative process into some kind of paradigm that can have pretty rigid perspectives about how the work should or shouldn't be done. I think that is a real drag and not consistent with my experience as a full-time clinician for 25 years using CST as a core aspect of my practice. The work should be done uniquely with each person so that we meet their specific needs in the best way possible.
We lead with creativity in all of our work. This doesn't mean there isn't structure, there is; it just happens within an environment that acknowledges one of the truths about bodies, they are unpredictable and unique.
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I appreciate how Michael was able to strike a balance between going where the class went without letting get off the rails to the point where we couldn’t get through the material.
— Workshop Participant
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Our CST program emphasizes coming into relationship with the body itself, through each specific body's ways of being. We approach the work from a principled perspective, connected to the body, and that allows for a diverse way of "doing the work" so that we can meet the patient or client's needs. This is what is most important. It is not important to do the work in a way that affirms some teaching from somewhere. It is important to meet the specific person on your table and the wisdom their system contains. If we are only taught one way to do the work we will not be able to meet the diverse expressions of bodies on our tables.
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I am just leaving with a real appreciation for the body
— Workshop Participant
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At the core of my approach in all of my work is being responsive to the body. This means that the core of my teaching should be responsive to the classroom and the students. There is coherence there. I believe students feel that and it creates an "atmosphere" of trust. Not trust in me, but trust in themselves, the body and the work. When this builds in the classroom, students also learn that being responsive to each specific body builds trust between the body's consciousness and our hands.
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The focus on trust + paying attention to what we notice without having to try to make it mean something or make meaning of it as so freeing.
— Workshop Participant
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