Biomechanical Approach
Techniques led by practitioner’s forces, directly or indirectly.

Motion in bones, membranes and cerebrospinal fluid is the focus.

“Mechanism” used as a non distinct collective term.

CRI is a primary expression of the Breath of Life.

CRI 8-14 cycles per minute. Slower rates not identified. Basic rate is 1-3 cycles per minute; a slower rate is specifically identified as Primary Respiration: 100 second cycles.

Perception is automatic. Skills not delineated for different states of consciousness.

Stress and trauma are osseous and membranous in nature.

Stress and trauma may be held at any level in the system. Illness is seen as a systemic dysfunction of the whole person.

No recognition of a Midline or importance of the heart.

Biodynamic Approach

Skills follow movement within the fluid system. Transmutative ability of the Tide is acknowledged. Tidal forces directly interface with pattern of illness. Practitioner works with wide perceptual field.

Motion is global: quantum, transmutational, metabolic with the source being the Tide or it’s fulcrum – the Dynamic Stillness.

“Mechanism” defined as an interelational system (i.e., Breath of Life, Fluid Drive, Tidal Forces, different rates, and others). Words have sensory foundations that are clearly stated.

CRI is not an expression of the Breath of Life nor is it a therapeutic force.

Perception of stillness and slow movement is a conscious, skillful act, requiring training and moment-to-moment adjustment, not automatic.

Stress and trauma is especially imprinted in the unified fluid field of the body. Illness is seen as a systemic dysfunction of the whole person.

Primary site is variable. Problems are not automatically corrected; sequences are not conceptual. Priorities are established by the Tide of Primary Respiration.

Midline and the heart are primary to the therapeutic process.

References
Adapted from The Biodynamic Model of Osteopathy in the Cranial Field by John McPartland, DO, and Evelyn Skinner, DO, in EXPLORE, January 2005
(1, 1). pp 21-32