Katherine Ukleja Cranial

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Katherine Ukleja Cranial

As an elder of our global cranial tribe, I travel widely to share my passion for Primary Respiration Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapist and International Teacher

28/10/2026

TO TOUCH and TO HOLD

Two verbs which describe the simple actions of our hands, yet each with a much richer meaning. When we are touched by something it means that we are moved emotionally, we empathise, we respond from the heart. And to be held means to feel safe, secure, not alone.
In our hands-on practice we use our hands to touch. Our hands have the capacity to detect subtle messages from the body, we touch diagnostically. Our touch also promotes healing.
We also use our hands to hold, to transmit tactile messages of support, of acceptance, of understanding. For us the holding field is literal, not conceptual, our hands do the holding.

13/10/2026

EMBRYONIC ECHOES

The biodynamic model of Craniosacral therapy is based on an understanding of the forces of creation. In the human embryo these forces ignite all living processes and determine specific
patterns of growth and developmental movement. These patterns remain linked to our subtle physiology throughout life and can be sensed in the motility of our tissues and fluids.

As archetype, the embryo points to what is timeless in human experience. Our gut reactions, our openness or guardedness even our spiritual aspirations all originate in our embryonic journey.

I will be teaching EMBRYONIC ECHOES, a seminar for professional Craniosacral Therapists, for the last time soon.
October 22 - 25, in Exeter. There are still a few places left.

Bookings: https://circlecranio.com/post-graduate-cpd

01/10/2026

TRANSCENDENCE

In our practice we have all experienced moments of awe; a heightened, inexplicable experience which seemingly transports us beyond the knowable, material reality into a transpersonal web of universal interconnection. For me these unfathomable depths are reached through medium of Potency, the liquid light, as a conduit into dynamic stillness.
The images below speak to me of the remarkable scope, the art, of Craniosacral Biodynamics. The first is a microscopic view of histology, the second, a painting by Agata di Masternak from a series entitled Anatomy of the Soul.
https://www.agatadimasternak.me/histology-of-the-soul

22/09/2026

POTENCY, OUR INFALLIBLE GUIDE

The Potency is the magic ingredient in Craniosacral Biodynamics. It revolutionised my practice decades ago. Coming from an osteopathic background my hands were well-versed in palpating tissues – bones, ligaments, muscles, fascia. But, when I landed at Karuna, the late, great Franklyn Sills taught the Cranial Concept with an orientation to tissues, fluids and potency.
The fluids remained a bit of my mystery for me for quite some time, but I took to Potency like a duck to water. The amazing animating force behind the fluctuation of CSF, the motility of anatomical structures, drew me in and never let me go. Over the years I developed a deeper and deeper relationship with this vital force and how it functions in the multilayered entirety of the Three Bodies.
I came to understood at a visceral level what Becker meant when he wrote ‘I am talking about kinetics of the energy fields that make up this stress pattern’ and ‘allow the biodynamic intrinsic force within to manifest its own unerring potency’. Following these principles my clinical, gentle-touch practice yielded profound, long-lasting results for my clients, who brought an ever-wider spectrum of issues to my door.

DANCING WITH POTENCY is a seminar that grew out of my direct experience of the organizational, adaptive, protective and healing functions of Potency. As I move towards retirement it is this intimate knowledge of Potency that I most want to impart to practitioners at all stages of their professional life. Hence I am offering this seminar in Sweden, Spain and Switzerland this autumn. The seminar encompasses everything from the simplicity of tidal motion to the transcendent experience of a parallel reality which materialises in dynamic stillness.
There are still a few places left in Madrid. It’s not too late to grab a flight and join me.

Dancing with Potency, Madrid, Spain October 2 – 4, 2026
Bookings: https://marealarga.com/katherine-ukleja-dancing-potency/

31/08/2026

VITALISM

Potency and Craniosacral Biodynamics are entwined at an elemental level.
The principles of both the biomechanical and the biodynamic approaches in Craniosacral Therapy go back to WG Sutherland. The former follows his identification of Primary Respiration, the subtle rhythmic motion present in the fluid and tissues of all living organisms. The latter rests on Sutherland’s curiosity about what it is that drives that motion. His answer to the second enquiry was his ‘discovery’ of Potency of the Breath of Life.
I have put ‘discovery’ in inverted commas because, while to Sutherland the presence of Potency came as a revelation, historically it places him squarely in the Vitalist tradition.
Vitalism is a school of scientific thought that dates back to Aristotle. It attempts to explain the nature of life as resulting from a Vital Force peculiar to living organisms and different from all other forces found outside living things. This force is held to control form and development and to direct the activities of the organism. Vitalism has lost prestige in the scientific community, but it still has traction with practitioners of many forms of complementary medicine, including Craniosacral Biodynamics.

image source: Stefan Pacovski/Philosophy

03/06/2026

FORCES IN ACTION
In Craniosacral Biodynamics we talk about Biodynamic, universal, ordering forces and Conditional forces which are the forces generated by individual experience. Rollin Becker called these Biodynamic and Biokinetic forces, names derived from the work of pioneering embryologist Erich Blechschmidt. Interestingly, Becker refers to both the Biodynamic and Biokinetic forces which operate in the living body as ‘intrinsic’, which means that they are unavoidable, or inseparable from life itself. Later teachers both inside and outside the osteopathic profession give us the idea that the Conditional/Biokinetic forces are introduced externally, which implies that they are somehow optional.
However, Blechschmidt used these terms to describe entirely different phenomena. His work is concerned with movements of tiny particles across the cell membrane and gross developmental movements in the embryo such as the rotation of the gut or the primary heart loop. In both cases, at both micro and macro scales, directional forces are applied, there is a transfer of energy, hence work is done.
So, in Blechschmidt’s terminology Biodynamics refers to physical forces acting in a specified region, which could be a single cell or an aggregate of cells, while Biokinetics is the ensuing movement. That movement could be the bidirectional transfer of particles across the cell membrane or the positional changes of tissues and organs during embryogenesis.
Hence when we ‘borrowed’ Blechschmidt’s nomenclature and applied it to the principles and practice of Craniosacral Therapy it was a massive departure from the original meaning, a case of poetic licence.

12/05/2026

TACTILE PERECEPTION

We use all our senses, our entire sensorium to navigate the outside world. But in our practice, we privilege the sense of touch. Our hands can discern the subtle motion of primary respiration, the overall state of health, the patterns of adverse experiences held in the body and how they compromise tidal motion. Those tactile images revealed to our hands are diagnostic and guide session work. Our hands can also feel how the organism responds to our touch. For instance, a shift in the autonomic tone to a parasympathetic state of calm or the letting go of a tissue memory and realignment of the tensegrity network of connective tissues or shift out of fluid stasis.

All of this if perception, which relies on the brain’s ability to interpret sensory information. Through persistent practice, we can expand our compendium of tactile images and grow our palpatory literacy, our ability to accurately interpret the messages that our clients’ bodies deliver to touch receptors in our hands. This is not guesswork, it’s not intuition, not the channelling of mysterious forces, it is simple the art of touch.

15/04/2026

EMBRYONIC ECHOES
Life is present at conception. Two living cells, the o**m and the s***m, reach their full potential when their DNA merges and a new biography begins. For the next eight weeks life unfolds into a human body. The process of building a body is not linear, structures come and go, a rod becomes a tube then a tube again, fluids pool then canalize, there is no hanging on, no attachment to anything beyond expediency. And so, in a short space of time, just eight weeks, all components of human body are completed. Granted, all of these structures will grow, morph and take on function, but almost nothing will be added.
It’s a period of flux and urgency, driven by the imperative to thrive, for life to continue. It’s at its most vital in the embryo but the principle continues through the lifespan. In this way the embryo is a wonderful teacher of Biodynamic principles. The forces of creation continue to propel us forward. The body continues to evolve day by day, continues to adapt, to meet current needs and contingencies so life can prosper.
This embryonic way of being underpins resilience and health. It manifests in every cycle of primary respiration inspired by the Potency of the Breath of Life.
To learn more about the application of this core principle in the practice of Craniosacral Biodynamics join me in:
Wrocław, Poland, May 21 – 24
https://www.europejskiecentrumterapii.pl/produkt/embryonic-echos-katherine-ukleja/
Exeter, UK October 22 – 25
https://circlecranio.com/post-graduate-cpd

17/03/2026

TREATING THE BRAIN

Many Craniosacral practitioners avoid treating the brain in fear that they will cause problems. But the brain is not magical, it is an organ. Like any other organ it is made up of cells (neurones and glia), it has a blood supply, a 'capsule' made of meninges, both the blood vessels and the membranes have their own nerve supply. Additionally, the brain is bathed in CSF and has a glymphatic drainage system. So when the brain is injured, all and any of those physical components will be damaged. Help will be needed to aid repair and recovery. Craniosacral Tharapy is perfect for the job.

Two cranial practitioners who specialise in this field are running a seminar on 8 - 10 May, in Exeter, UK. I would highly recommend this for anyone interested in improving their understanding and skill in meeting brain injury.

For details email: [email protected]

06/03/2026

THE GROUND LEVEL OF LIFE
HOMEOSTASIS AND PRIMARY RESPIRATION

In his Hierarchy of Needs Abraham Malsow gave us a psychological theory of motivation, famously depicted as a five-level pyramid. This psychological model asserts that people are motivated to fulfil basic needs before moving to more advanced, psychological needs.

At the base of the pyramid, he places immediate physiological needs including homeostasis. His view of homeostasis is limited to the body’s automatic, internal drive to maintain a stable, constant environment for life to persist. When homeostasis is perturbed, physiological needs are generated (hunger, thirst, cold). These needs that take top priority in Maslow’s hierarchy.

Antinio Damasio takes a broader view, he tells us that Homeostasis ‘ensures that life is regulated within a range that is not just compatible with survival but also conductive to flourishing, a projection of life into the future of an organism or a species’ *

The ground level of this pyramid is the province of our practice. We interface with life in the raw. Our paradigm and experience inform us that within the fluctuations of homeostasis order is maintained by the intrinsic rhythmic forces (seen in even the simplest living organisms) that we call the Tide. Through the Tide we tap into the biological imperative to thrive, to flourish. We work from the bottom up, from the ground of potential that gives rise to the full spectrum of health.

*Damasio, The Strange Order of Things

Address

Exeter Natural Health Centre, Queens Walk, 83/84 Queen Street
Exeter
EX43RP

Website

http://www.katherineukleja.co.uk/

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