Andrew Cook Craniosacral Therapy

02/03/2026

Retirement!
(end of April 2026 - see below)

17/02/2026

12/01/2026

Working with Fascia....

Sometimes there are patterns of tension and torsion, and of inter-relationship - that do not conform to the usual anatomical patterns (musculoskeletal, dermatomes, etc).

Blaschko’s Lines are one of the (probably) many more subtle patterns that may define or place limits on fascial mobillity, and which originate from the period of embryological development.

The figure below looks similar-ish to the dermatome map (see images in a google search), but also different.

They may occur in very asymmetric spirals - where clearly a small area of developing skin cells became stuck, so the cells grew to cover the body properly (but in order to do so they followed a path that does not conform with the major underlying fasciall alignment).

So my suspicion is that one of the causes of "odd" fascial spiral tension patterns that cause structural asymmetry over time (and which are generally kept freely moving by high quality exercise, but which then start to dominate again when exercise stops) - are Blaschko’s Lines.

Whatever the cause (Blaschko’s Lines or not) - when working with the body it becomes apparent that it is constantly attempting to resolve these non-functional tensions.

A little respectful assistance using very basic CST techniques helps the body to come to a neutral, in which these residual tensions have been resolved.

I hear a lot of people blaming themselves for "poor posture", when actually there are inherent subtle tensions that - present 24/7 - impose a non-symmetrical, or non-vertical alignment on the spine, neck, legs and arms (and diaphragm, and organs, etc etc).

Usually supprisingly easy and quick to work with - especially considering how long the opattern might have been present. because your body in truth is not interested in pathology - it's interested in expressing Health.

An article from the dermatology section of GPnotebook: Invisible lines that some skin diseases follow .

19/11/2025

Not the Vagus nerve...

There are an increasing number of memes around the topic of hacking the Vagus nerve, how the Vagus nerve does this and that and somehow does EVERYTHING that makes life relaxed and calm and healthy.

Well yes - the Vagus is definitely part of what goes on...

But actually your body is a completely integrated system in which every anatomical feature has at least two roles. There is redundancy (multiple inputs from multiple "parts" to every task); and the specific balance - of what is providing what - shifts according to nuanced shifts in adaptive demand.

You are living in an organism finely adapted to be most adaptable to whatever Life throws at it - a capacity that has evolved and made itself more effective and efficient for a few billion years as a life-form, and two or three million years as a hominid hunter-gatherer. That's why we are alive now, as a species - we have a vast, largely ignored (and abused) adaptive capacity.

That adaptive capacity/response is a whole-organism process rather than being tied into a specific anatomical part.

So "Vagal Hacks" do "something", but if they truly are a hack they may get you to where you would lie to be for a short while, but then sooner or leter it all goes back to where it was before.

For something more permanent and sustainable I carry out educational treatments - see https://www.body-mind.co.uk/ - so you have a far deeper and practically applicable understanding of how your body works, and the tools to use that in your everyday life.

A freely accessible resource library is also available at https://body-mind-resilience.com/

I wish you very good health!

18/11/2025

I've been developing a health-based model of "trauma" and "dissociation" for some 20 years now. It's reassuring to see that I'm not the only person with this way of seeing things.

You might be interested in the work of Gabriel Natureza, who has formulated a health and resilience-based version of Autonomics.

He's doing a couple of workshops in Europe next year, and his books are well worth a look. See https://restorativepractices.com/live-courses/ and the books "Neurobiology of Connection" and "Ground" at https://restorativepractices.com/product-catalog/

My own online book and health-based model of human experience can be found at: https://www.body-mind-resilience.com

Your friendly Global/local culture repair engine

11/11/2025

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/29/soil-sandpit-children-dirty-biodiversity-finnish-nurseries-research-microbes-bacteria-aoe
The future has something of the past in it
Not surprising - since this is much more (when compared to the inside of a building) like the environment we evolved in for a few million years

In Finland, kindergartens are exposing children to more mud, wild plants and moss - and finding changes to their health that show how crucial biodiversity is to wellbeing

30/10/2025

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N97cgUqV0Cg
Truly amazing

Regrading your question: one cell dividing into 3 cells. It's actually dividing into 2 cells and not 3 cells, except that one of the daughter cells will have...