A new Reading Well for teens collection will launch in public libraries in England and Wales on World Mental Health Day 2022 (10th October 2022). The scheme will support the mental health and wellbeing of teenagers, providing information, advice and support to help teens better understand their feelings, handle difficult experiences and boost confidence.

• The list features 27 books and a range of supporting digital resources covering topics including wellbeing, anxiety, depression, body image, neurodiversity, bereavement, life experiences, sexuality and gender identity.
• The collection is targeted at teenagers (13-18) and includes a wide range of reading levels and formats to support less confident readers and encourage engagement
• The list was co-produced with a group of diverse young people as well as health professionals from organisations including Royal College of GPs and Mental Health Foundation; the book list has been curated by teenagers for teenagers so that it is authentic to issues they and their peers wish to read about
• In 2020, almost 1 in 2 young people (47%) said they didn’t feel in control of their lives and 1 in 3 (32%) that they felt ‘overwhelmed’ by feelings of panic and anxiety on a daily basis
• At the beginning of 2022, more than 400,000 children and young people were being treated or waiting to be treated for mental health problems in England – the highest number on record
• The focus of Reading Well is to provide helpful reading to support people to understand and manage their health and wellbeing. The lists are created to provide early-stage support and are not a replacement for clinical intervention
• Reading Well for teens is run by The Reading Agency, a national charity that tackles life’s big challenges through the proven power of reading. They help 1.9 million people benefit from reading every year

Bio: Natasha Devon MBE is a writer, presenter and activist. She tours schools, universities and events throughout the world, delivering talks as well as conducting research on mental health, body image, gender and equality. She campaigns both on and offline to make the world a fairer place. Natasha is founder of the Mental Health Media Charter, which scrutinises the way the media report on mental health. She works with a number of charities, is a Patron for No Panic,  as well as an Ambassador for Glitch and the Reading Agency.  

Twitter/Insta @_NatashaDevon

Check her LBC show every Saturday 7pm https://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/natasha-devon/

Check her debut novel ‘Toxic’ https://www.amazon.co.uk/Toxic-Natasha-Devon/dp/1912979896

Clip 1: 'In biodynamics, we attempt to meet the whole person. Over time we can settle. We can include the complexities without disappearing, without speeding up. One day you'll skilfully notice this bone, notice this shape, it's safe, there's no trauma. Wow. I can finally let go of that pattern as a whole gesture.

I shift from the inside. My breath changes. My heart changes. My gut opens. My head feels free and there's a movement and an expansion in the whole head, the whole person.

A deep, beautiful, incredible letting go from the inside. That's biodynamic craniosacral therapy.

We have to start in that place of safety, that wide deep relationship that acknowledges a whole person with all sorts of levels of stories.

That may sound inefficient and time consuming. It's absolutely not. It's the quickest way I know of working.

We're getting into this territory of aligning with the Dao. Aligning with an intelligence that's greater than our intellect. If we find safety, if we relate to these natural rhythms and forces, if we can pay attention in the right way, then we can facilitate these movements and directions.

We can facilitate these letting goes as sort of a shedding. Just an internal softening. Change in this model is about soft letting go rather than dramatic forcing.'

Episode Notes

'Non doing' is something I first learnt about from my study of Zen Shiatsu. 'Zen in the Art of Archery' (Herrigel 1953) opened up a whole new world for me. I still think this is the best book if you want to understand biodynamic craniosacral therapy.

From Zen I quickly discovered Taoism. My understanding was deepened by the teaching of Franklyn Sills. There was real joy in my time as a tutor at the Karuna Institute hearing Franklyn make links between BCST and his study of Taoism. There was a clear focus on change emerging from within facilitated by the presence of another. 

In his later writing, WG Sutherland, the founder of the cranial osteopathy, radically changed his early focus on biomechanics. 'Don’t try to drive the mechanism through any external force. Rely upon the Tide' (Sutherland 1990). This expansive model of trusting the tide, is foundational for the biodynamic model. 

The power of cranial work comes from its gentleness. The ability to facilitate change without force. In a session, when I feel something let go from the inside, it is one of the most exciting things I know. In this webinar I will try to draw out some of the principles and skills we teach in biodynamics that are rooted in non doing. 

Available as video podcast https://youtu.be/1S_2Bb3zSBU or https://vimeo.com/750070707

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. We explore how Ciara's journey from giving massage at the age of 6 into being a fully fledged bodyworker. Always moving, always massaging, Ciara now is an essential part of Body College Galway. She is also a very experienced yoga teacher across lots of styles and formats. She shares how honouring hidden movements and gestures can supports biodynamic practice.

Things happen around Ciara, not least setting up a vibrant health centre as a destination venue outside of Galway. One really valuable element of the conversation is hearing how Ciara's complete commitment to being a great bodyworker helps her clarity in her work and draws clients towards her.

Clip 2: 'If I'm standing at the edge of a cliff, my physiology is completely different than if I'm lying in the middle of a field. The way we brace and hold our bodies when we don't feel safe is really tangible.

Cliff side, everything in me is contracted and I'm aware of every little bit of wind and I know where my feet are and I'm contracted. I'm wired in that moment. And then the other one is much more languorous, much more slow, very aware of a wholeness and environment.

So how do we support people when they walk in to go from these contracted states, which are possibly long term, and then to bring them to softer, deeper, more relaxed states in their body?

I feel I do this through communication, connection, contact. Just that sense of giving people permission and mapping and supporting them to feel their bodies. Often in the world that we live in we override and ignore, and then eventually we don't even know how to connect with our bodies.'

Clip 1: 'Suddenly a totally random new idea will emerge that will meet this client in this moment. And I'm like, you know, I have this idea, how would it be? And we'll explore something together.

That's the magic for me in craniosacral, is that there is this wild creativity in relationship, in safety, that can emerge.

The relief in somebody to be so met and so held.

This is fascinating to me. I'll work for days and weeks and suddenly I'm like, oh yeah, one of these moments is emerging and suddenly the magic of that moment or the wildness of that moment emerges.

And I, I love it. I love it.' 

Bio: Ciara Ni Dhiomasaigh has trained in many forms of bodywork. It has been a life long passion to touch and to move. She trained in Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy (BCST) in Karuna with Franklyn Sills and Katherine Ukleja. Ciara is an essential part of the Body College teaching team with Steve Haines and Josef Steiner in Galway. She runs a thriving BCST practice and also teaches yoga. Ciara has a vibrant world wide community of yogis who do a daily 20min yoga class on YouTube. She is also a massage therapist, tango teacher, farmer and sea swimmer. She lives in Connemara, in Galway with her dogs, hens, ducks, and geese surrounded by wild and beautiful nature. She grows all her own vegetables and lives with her partner Josef Steiner, also a craniosacral therapist. 

Yoga Instagram: bodywisdom_ciara  |  Naduir Instagram: Naduir.ciara  |  Naduir Face Book Page: https://www.facebook.com/Naduir  |  YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/ciarabirdy2