For this first-ever episode of Ways to Grow I had invited Esther Martínez Navarro to talk to us about Biodynamic Craniosacral therapy which she describes as a really gentle, non-invasive, hands-on, bodywork. And the goal of this approach is to support the healing process by listening to the body and regulating the nervous system. The idea is not to fix anything from the outside but allow the body to get in contact with the resources and heal.

If you suffer from stress, anxiety, insomnia, pain, panic attacks, digestive issues, dis-regulation of the autonomic system, or if you need to reconnect with your body, or on the other hand, you have a baby that has breastfeeding issues or sleeping issues, or is crying a lot or has reflux or colic, or the baby had a difficult birth or pregnancy was not easy, this episode may interest you

Apart from all this, we talk about burnout, trauma, addiction, parenting... Here are some highlights of this session:

"The architectural biology of what is happening is actually, and that is what Stephen Porges would say, is that the body is feeling safe and when the body feels safe and I say the body, not the head. When the body feels safe, it can switch off the defensive mechanisms and that is when the body can actually rest and sink and melt."

"Stephen Porges always says that safety is the treatment."

"One of the most important questions is, what is the intention? Because we always work with an intention and before every session we will set an intention."

"Ray Castellino used to say that in order to have a hundred percent yes, I need to be able to say no because if not, the yes is conditioned and it's not real."

"In order to survive, some of us, have had to not be in contact with who we really were. In order to maintain that attachment with our caregivers, we had to shut down who we were and that was something really smart to do and that saved our lives. But now, in the present, as adults, this might be getting us in trouble or even sick. We can get sick."

"We understand behavior as being something under voluntary control. As adults, we are not able to do it but we expect children to be able and their nervous system is not yet ready. The structures that help us do that, are not there yet. And they will develop on time and the way we respond to them is going to have a huge impact on their ability to actually regulate and respond in different ways."

"We should ask not why the addiction but why the pain? what is that addiction trying to help us with?"

"The body needs to feel safe in order for us to have access to information that is there. And even going beyond the technique is also the relationship that you have with the person that you are working with. That is actually what is healing. It's not that much the technique is how safe we feel."

"Peter Levine always says, is not the technique… It is the relationship"

"It is important to understand that families are systems and the idea is to help with that co-regulation of the family and that is what it actually changes"

"Those headaches do have a lot of information and is that understanding of what is going on, not necessarily from a cognitive point of view but the body actually processing whatever might be going on."

"The wisdom in the body is beyond what any therapist can know. So, trusting that is one of the key principles in biodynamic craniosacral therapy"

"Gabor Mate: Tension needs attention. So, whenever there is tension in the body is telling us that something is going on, so pay attention to what is happening in the body"