About Stillness Trainings and our Logo:

Terry Collinson and Brendan Pittwood (we) established Stillness Trainings in 2006. Our aim is to offer a training of a high standard that brings in the essence of resonance and biodynamic principles and approach to all aspects of craniosacral therapy training. The foundation of the training has grown out of our own extensive study, experience, training and practice.

The courses we offer also come from a foundation of the research and teachings of many great writers, thinkers and researchers throughout history as well as teachers in the cranial field. Most notable of these are:

      • The founder of Osteopathy, Dr Andrew Taylor Still DO.

      • The founder of Cranial Osteopathy and the Cranial Concept, Dr William Garner Sutherland DO, on whose work the   Biodynamic model is based.

      • Dr Rollin Becker DO - in the years following Dr. Sutherland's death in 1954, Dr. Becker played a crucial role in keeping Dr Sutherland’s work alive. He went on to inspire generations of osteopathic teachers and students.

      • Dr John Upledger DO, OMM - throughout his career as an osteopathic physician, Dr. Upledger has been recognised as an innovator and leading proponent in the investigation of new therapies. His development of ‘CranioSacral’ Therapy, and his work with Autistic children in particular, has earned him an international reputation. He opened the way for the practice of craniosacral therapy to practitioners who were not osteopaths.

      • Franklyn Sills MA RCST - through his patients and teaching experiences he realised the benefit of supporting the body in its inherent wisdom to self-heal and self-regulate. He returned to Dr Sutherland’s later discoveries and developed the biodynamic approach to craniosacral therapy, which in simple terms embraces the therapeutic principle of be-ing rather than do-ing. He is the author of Craniosacral Biodynamics, volumes 1 and 2, and The Polarity Process.

      • Paul Vick BA RCST, - developed the Resonance principle in working with the biodynamic approach to Craniosacral Therapy. In 2000 Paul headed a teaching team from the UK bringing the professional training in the biodynamic and resonant approach to craniosacral therapy to Australia and New Zealand. He now concentrates his teaching in the UK and Europe.

      • Dr Ray Castellino DC (Retired), RPP, RCST draws on almost four decades of experience as a natural health care practitioner, consultant and teacher. His current practice focuses on the resolution of prenatal, birth and other early trauma / stress through an approach combining polarity therapy, craniosacral therapy, play therapy, trauma resolution, birth simulation and pre and peri-natal psychology.

      • Dr Peter Levine, on whose practice and publications about trauma and its resolution profoundly support the practice and teaching of the biodynamic principles and practice of our work.

We deeply acknowledge our teachers who have brought us to this place of inspired learning and teaching and also to our way of teaching, which comes from the heart and from a place of integrity and respect for ourselves and our students, who join us on this exciting journey of self-discovery, exploration and becoming.

The Logo:

As you come to understand the biodynamic principles you might find a resonance with the many aspects of Being, which are reflected in our logo – this “calligraphic mark”. The logo also bears a mirrored similarity to the treble clef, representing a Resonance with our own frequencies of space and vibration.

The Stillness Trainings logo developed by chance, if there is such a thing!

Terry met Graeme Davey early in 2006 (www.gravey.com). He is an artist and designer amongst so many other attributes and in 2008 he was short-listed for the design of a new logo for the CSTA (Craniosacral Therapy Association UK www.craniosacral.co.uk). Graeme was so inspired by his first experience of biodynamic craniosacral therapy that he created our logo, including some of the words below:

The feeling of Stillness is honoured with ancient origin
creating a timelessness.
This is nothing new.
This is where we come from
and where we choose to go.
The centre of Stillness
The calligraphic mark speaks of ‘real origin’
sits solid and turns within,
rising and falling,
coming and going in an infinite flow.
Expressing within it the Three Tidal rhythms
arising out of the Breath of Life
whilst sitting Grounded and Present.
A balance of the male and the female.
The essence of wisdom
A centre of Stillness and creation within.
Creation from the Breath of Life.

                                                                                 Terry L Collinson 2006

Curriculum Overview:

We offer training in Integrated Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy in Australia and New Zealand. Courses include Introductory lectures, professional Practitioner training of 48 days over two years and Post Graduate courses, including an Advanced Diploma. Any changes to the format will be posted on the web site or contact the administration for the latest information.

The Vision:

Our aim is to support students in a journey of self-discovery, learning and development, to enable them to graduate as safe, resourced professionals who are confident to continue on their path.

The Mission:

With quality resourced teaching, we co-create an integration of individual’s learning style and course material in order to support the embodiment of the Biodynamic and Resonance Principles.

Values

Integrity, Love and Respect
Quality, Boundaries and Honouring
Family, Responsibility, Co-operation and Community

Testimonials:

“An astonishing journey creating a fundamental and permanent change. The subtlety and power of this work is profound. Terry, Brendan and their team have created a professional and challenging course content. The opportunity to be challenged and grow was enabled by the safe space created around the learning.

The course offered me a thorough theoretical and practical understanding of the work, delivered in a way which created my own journey of self growth. The excellent student clinics conducted each seminar allowed this new learning to be experienced and grounded.

Throughout the course Terry and Brendan were open and accessible, providing excellent mentoring and feedback.

Biodynamic Craniosacral is a journey of transformation. Stillness Trainings developed my ability to be completely present and offer safe, reflective, and neutral listening to achieve this. It was a privilege to be part of this training and experience the transformative resonance created”.

Gary Draper (Adelaide)
Physiotherapist

“I would like to thank you both very much for guiding me on an extraordinary journey in one day - on your introductory course to cranio-sacral healing.

I enrolled on the course with a view to learning something that might benefit my family. Less than a week since the course, I have found the impact on myself, both physically and emotionally has been unexpectedly profound. I look forward to sharing the benefits with my family too.

I thank you both very sincerely for your exceptional commitment to sharing your knowledge, skills and experience with others. It is very clear that you do this through a very strong personal belief in the good that can be done through disseminating your work”.

Anne Casey (Sydney)

“I have been practicing Acupuncture and Massage for almost 20 years. Having trained in both the USA and Australia, I have experienced many different workshops and programs over many years.

I have also presented trainings in most states in Australia, and lectured in Acupuncture and Massage faculties in our colleges. I say clearly, simply and without embellishment:

This course is the best I have seen – by a significant margin. The commitment, care and concentration of the facilitators is clearly evident at every stage of the journey. It is the only course I have done that has profoundly changed my foundational beliefs and clinical practices absolutely.

If you are attracted to Cranio Sacral therapy as a transformational tool (and not just as another means of fixing backs and necks) do this training.”

Greg Robson 2008 (Queensland)

Introduction to Craniosacral Therapy:

You will probably be reading this information because you have heard of, or have experienced the profound effects of Craniosacral Therapy, and you would like to learn more. It is not easy to describe in words what this therapy is about. The best way to discover how it works is to experience it, and observe how your body responds. There are also many craniosacral therapy approaches to working with the body. Stillness Trainings is dedicated to teaching the “Biodynamic” and Resonant approach where we take the fourth Osteopathic principle to as close to absolute as possible because we have found this the most respectful and effective way to support the body’s healing at all levels.
Craniosacral Therapy’s roots are in Osteopathy, going back to the work and teaching of Dr Andrew Taylor Still and his discoveries in 1874, and the work and teachings of his student Dr William Garner Sutherland who developed an approach to Osteopathy known as the “Cranial Concept”. Over the years it has become a discreet discipline, a gentle, effective and non-invasive way of working with the whole body.

Dr Sutherland’s development holds the basic principle of the inherent life force of the body, which he termed the “Breath of Life”, or a Primary energy, which has integrative and healing functions. He discovered that the Breath of Life was expressed as subtle layers of impulse, which could be felt as Tide-like rhythms within the tissues, and that the Tide created a form of motion, unique in each of the organs and tissues of the body.

The essence of craniosacral therapy’s approach to health and healing is the ability of the practitioner to ‘listen’ through their hands to the body’s own story within it’s patterns of motion and pulsation. Any changes in these Tide-like rhythms might indicate that the body’s health is compromised in some way, revealing a wealth of information to the experienced practitioner.

We understand that all disease and ailments involve impairment of the free-flow of energy, so restricting or limiting the natural healing, self-correcting abilities of the body.

The resonant and biodynamic approach describes the way of working with the body where there is support of the body’s own inherent intelligence and healing abilities. The practitioner’s ability to Be with the patient, in a very particular way, creates the foundation for change in the body – an invitation to greater health. Practitioners trained in this way discover that the body can heal itself, in it’s own rhythm and order without force or “fixing” by means of interference or manipulation. The patient and their whole being is held in safety and respect.

About the Teachers:

Terry Collinson BCST, RCST, SRP

Terry runs a busy Craniosacral Therapy practice in Sydney. She completed the Advanced Diploma with Resonance Trainings in 2003. Terry continues to be inspired by the profound nature of this work, in the body’s drive towards health and in its innate ability to heal itself.

Having trained in Craniosacral Therapy with Franklyn Sills in London and at the Karuna Institute in Devon, UK, Terry was invited to train to teach the biodynamic work over five years with Resonance Trainings and Paul Vick in Australia and New Zealand. After graduating in Edinburgh as Physiotherapist in 1972, Terry has had articles published, presented conference papers and lectures and taught for most of her professional life in Edinburgh, London and Australia. Almost from the beginning Terry developed a keen interest in working with babies, children and families and she was a teacher with the Childbirth Education Association and consultant to the Nursing Mothers Association for many years.

Terry is also a Reiki practitioner and deeply acknowledges her teacher, Barbara McGregor, and the practice of Reiki to the beginnings of her consciousness of the metaphysical causation of disease, the mind-body connection and felt sense of how the body heals. Subsequently this led to her own development of a biodynamic and resonant way of being, and being with the patient’s system. Terry is a member of the Pacific Association of Craniosacral Therapist (PACT) and the CSTA UK and a Supervisor for CSTA in Australia. She is Co-Course Director and Senior Tutor with Stillness Trainings in Australia & New Zealand.

Brendan Pittwood RCST RBT PBT MNZCHP

Brendan is a Craniosacral Therapist, Prenatal and Birth Therapist, and a Remedial Body therapist, who runs a busy practice in New Plymouth, New Zealand. His focus is on the family, specialising in the treatment of babies, children and birth process related issues.

When Brendan left school, his passion for understanding how things worked led him to become a motor mechanic. He became involved with engineering, pulling things to pieces and figuring out how they worked, then getting them going again. During that time he developed an interest in complementary therapies, particularly massage, but massage didn’t fit the bill completely. So, Brendan left the engineering world and began training in Osteopathy, engineering of a different sort, with a great perspective to view the human organism.

From there Brendan completed his Biodynamic CST training with Resonance Trainings and Paul Vick in 2002, and the Advanced Diploma in Craniosacral Therapy in 2003. He then began training to teach the biodynamic approach to CST & became the Administrator for Resonance Trainings in partnership with Paul Vick. He brings new elements, depth and understanding to the nature of the biodynamic approach to Craniosacral Therapy, and works together with Terry Collinson as ‘Stillness Trainings’. He is Co-Course Director and Senior Tutor with Stillness Trainings in Australia & New Zealand. Brendan has also taught business practice workshops and facilitates Womb Surround Birth Process workshops.

See his web site for further information. OHCP

From its inception Brendan has been closely involved with the Pacific Association of Craniosacral Therapists (PACT), (2008/9 Chairman) an organisation set up to support the CST community and assist in broadening awareness of CST in both Australia and New Zealand.