History of Cranial Osteopathy

In 1899 William Garner Sutherland a student of Andrew Taylor Still observed a disarticulated skull and noticed that 2 of the 26 bones joined together in such a way that they resembled the gills of a fish. He speculated that the cranial bones were therefore designed for a breathing motion, and therefore the sutures or joints between the bones in the skull have an ability to move. This movement is what osteopaths are able to feel when they place their hands on either side of the head: an expansion and contraction in response to this breathing mechanism. Sutherland named this breathing motion as the�Breath of Life. You may recognise this as other expressions such as Qi in Chinese medicine.