Integrative CranioSacral

05/16/2025

This Community Gathering is a must for all bodyworkers. Come learn what all those licks, chews, blinks, and yawns really mean.

𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐍𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 (𝐀𝐍𝐒)
𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐲
May 22, 2025 | 7 pm EDT
US$20 - replay available for life
𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝐺𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒-ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝐷𝑟. 𝐻𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠, 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 30 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑠.
𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: vetcompendium.org/community-gatherings/
Some manual therapists have deduced from their training that one of the main objectives of our bodywork sessions is to bring the horse into a parasympathetic rest-and-digest state. They measure the success of their sessions in yawns and other external signs of release of tension - social media abounds with photos of yawning horses, often with no other comment.
First of all, can we be sure that those yawns represent down-regulation and relaxation?
And should multiple yawns really be our outcome measure? What about detecting actual tissue change?
Is it possible that we are lacking a clear understanding of the roles and functions of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems?
And if we lack this understanding, is it possible that we can cause harm?
Dr. Haussler and his guest collaborators will unpack the complex Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) and how it relates to our manual therapy goals and outcome measures.
𝐃𝐫. 𝐇𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬:
Sandra Harvey, DC
https://vetcompendium.org/sandra-harvey-dc/
Sandi Howlett, DC, CST-D, Certified Veterinary Chiropractor
https://vetcompendium.org/sandra-howlett/
Kevin K. Haussler, DVM, DC, PhD, DACVSMR
https://vetcompendium.org/kevin-k-haussler/
𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: vetcompendium.org/community-gatherings/

Join Dr. Haussler and his guest collaborators at our monthly virtual Community Gatherings where participants share insights and experiences about the topics addressed in our monthly blog posts.Zoom link provided in your purchase confirmation email.Dr. Haussler has offered his blogs and Gatherings fr...

01/18/2025

Join us!

01/07/2025

This class is Level One in the certification of our new Cranial Sacral pathway Join us for the 5 day hands on course. This 5 day class provides an opportunity for participants to develop and expand their non-verbal dialoguing skills through the exploration of inter-species communication. Therapists....

01/07/2025

This class is Level One in the certifcation of our new Cranial Sacral pathway. Join us for the 5 day hands on course. This 5 day class provides an opportunity for participants to develop and expand their non-verbal dialoguing skills through the exploration of inter-species communication. Therapists....

01/07/2025

Join us for this 9 day intensive hands on course to obtain your Level 1 EEBW - Equinology® Equine Body Worker Certification. Dates & Locations CALGARY, AB: Dates: March 13 to 21, 2025Location: Kestrel Ridge Farm Ltd; 242004 Range Rd 32, Calgary, AB T3Z 3L4, Canada SEELEY'S BAY, ON: Dates: May 2...

12/02/2024

https://vetcompendium.org/courses/equine-craniosacral-therapy-the-science-and-art/

Event Blog Resources Collaborators Replay You've earned a certificate! Download Certificate 100% Complete Last activity on November 26, 2024 12:46 pm December 12, 2024 | 6 pm ESTCranioSacral Therapy (CST) is an effective, tissue-based manual therapy that works by facilitating the body’s natural po...

05/08/2024

Yours truly is part of the advisory team. Excellent learning opportunity.

𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬!

Dr. Haussler has invited our Webinar Content Advisors Group, represented by equine osteopath 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞 𝐌𝐮𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫, to co-present his May 16th webinar on 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐮𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐬 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐬. Since this zone of the body is so complex and there is a great deal of info to share with you, and because you have asked that, when time permits, we include assessment and treatment options in these webinars, this sharing of the workload will allow you to get more bang for your buck.

As announced earlier here, our webinars are now 30 minutes longer, for the same price. They start at 5 pm MDT – 2-hour presentation followed by 30 minutes discussion, with the conversation continuing on this page.

Register at vetcompendium.org/webinars/

See Lorre’s biographical notes in comment section.

05/07/2024

Greetings to all of you horse and dog wellness enthusiasts both near and far.

I want to share something with you that I have pondered over the years:

I think about allostasis and homeostasis a lot. Many of us don’t even realize that our family physicians (& therefore our regular veterinarians) are considered to be allopathic physicians. Who knew? And out there in our alternative yet complementary world of health care and wellness, we have all heard about homeopathic physicians. Some of us prefer one method, while others prefer the other. Yet I wonder how many of us actually choose to walk in both worlds?

But before I continue, let’s define the terms:

Allostasis - the process of maintaining homeostasis through the adaptive change of the organism’s internal environment to meet perceived and anticipated demands. The allostatic load can be acute, repetitive, chronic, or cumulative.

Homeostasis - a self-regulating process by which biological systems maintain stability while adjusting to changing external conditions; the ability to maintain a relatively stable internal state that persists despite changes in the world outside.

So for anyone out there who struggles to convey the importance of manual therapies (also think bodyworkers), I simply wish for you to hear what I have to say, and for anyone who minimizes the importance of manual therapies, I wish for you to understand so that what we bodyworkers offer to our equine (and canine) clients is more willingly embraced.

Manual therapies can be thought of as the homeostatic approach to the restoration of health, not the allostatic approach, and therefore is in addition to and complementary to veterinary care.

If this would become the norm, and welcomed by allopathic professionals, the horses under our care would likely recover from illness and injury faster and more fully.

An allostatic load on the horse’s (dog’s) body systems is often severe enough that an allostatic approach is warranted and critical to the creation of a health status where recovery is now possible. This is when veterinary intervention is absolutely necessary. Bodyworkers, we must stay in our lane and fully embrace this fact.

However, it is only part of the solution as the return to homeostasis is also needed for full resolution. This is where manual therapies come into the equation.

As the allostatic load diminishes (the necessary initial medications and/or surgical intervention, for example) the horse’s (dog’s) body systems seek homeostasis. Often the systems have been “thrown offline” which makes the process of returning to homeostasis either exceedingly lengthy or unlikely without complementing the recovery and rehabilitation with manual therapy.

In addition, manual therapy/bodywork may prevent and/or inhibit the allostatic load, and is therefore important in facilitating self-correction of dis-ease (the hyphen is intentional) thereby potentially in the prevention of disease.

This is written with utmost respect for our veterinary professionals, as you have carried a tremendously heavy load for far too long. My goal is to raise the bar - the standard of education for bodyworkers, so we can safely ease that load, and become a welcomed part of the team.

For the welfare and well-being of animals, and the people who devote their lives to caring for them.