According to the architect Frank Lloyd Wright, "Space is the breath of art".

In Architecture, the objective of house design is to support a person and their family in a way that provides a sense of ease and rest at home (a sanctuary of retreat, that has a rejuvenating connection to nature): the opportunity to recharge the batteries, restore the ignition system and get the inherent spark back into life. With a full battery and enthusiasm for life restored, a building then provides breathing space for the full expression of creative and dynamic living. Architecture is all about enriching a person's life: and it is the magical combination of supportive structure and the freedom of functional space that allows this to happen.

Given the right environment, joy is inherent to everyone!

These are exactly the same principles applied in Osteopathic Medicine. By placing hands upon a patient; in providing support, ease, balance and freedom for the body, an inherent joy in life (Health) and motive power is accessed which drives a therapeutic process. "It is the objective of the doctor the find health, anyone can find disease" ~ Dr Andrew T Still (Founder of Osteopathy 1874).

Osteopathy uses the bones of the body (hence the name 'Osteo'pathy) as a gentle mechanical lever to balance all other tissues. Every single muscle, joint, ligament, connective tissue, blood or lymphatic vessel, nerve or organ: every living cell within the body is either directly or indirectly supported or influenced by the structure and function of the body's bony architecture.

Unlike a static building made of bricks and mortar, the physical body is made of many different tissues that can distort in time with the accumulation of life's stresses and trauma. Unfortunately many's people's bodies are distorted in such a way, that they are living in a "building" that does not support their health and happiness. Like the natural enthusiasm for life that is experienced in a well designed home, so too health is always present within a patient's body: waiting for expression.

Our bodies were originally designed and intended for the full expression of natural health.

In the United States, Osteopaths have the same practice rights as Western medical doctors. In Australia, Osteopathic Medicine continues as it was originally intended to be; a complete system of manual medicine that is surgery and drug free. By influencing and integrating body structure, Osteopaths utilise the body's functional capacity for self-healing.

There is enormous value derived from regular Osteopathic treatment. Like the restoration, maintenance and insurance of a family home, that everyone accepts as an integral part of life: there is nothing more important than conserving the structural and functional integrity of one's primary place of residence - your body!

Spontaneous healing occurs when a patient's own healing mechanism accesses information that was previously inaccessible from it's relatively limited single point of reference. That is to say, a distortion of self-awareness through: absent self-affirming life experience, trauma, or a lifetime of unhealthy habits can in the end lead to a shrinking view of one's own capacity for health and happiness. The therapeutic laying on of hands brings added awareness, and this activates the body's natural self-healing mechanisms.

It wasn't so long ago that people thought the world was flat. This misconception arose because no-one could jump high enough to prove otherwise. A little extra perspective or experience goes a long way, in facilitating change in one's life. About the nature of Change.

Osteopathy in the Cranial Field (OCF) was originally used to treat the head (hence the name), whereas today it is used to contact and treat all parts of the body. OCF was discovered by Dr. William Garner Sutherland a student of Dr. A.T.Still (The founder of Osteopathy).

In 1899 Dr Sutherland observed a mounted disarticulated skull (a skull where all the individual bones have been separated and suspended in anatomical orientation) and noted that the joints of the temporal bones were bevelled like the gills of a fish. Given his knowledge of Osteopathic principles, he knew that where any unique structure existed in the body, it naturally had a corresponding function: he questioned whether the temporal bones where designed to accommodate some type of inherent movement.

More on the History of Osteopathy